Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Doom with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT show a predictable degradation as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop reveals important characteristics about where the bottleneck lies in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 314 FPS average, which stands as the highest measured result in the entire dataset for this configuration. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset drops the average to 203 FPS, a reduction of roughly 35%, while 4K Low yields 110 FPS, representing another 46% decline from the 1440p figure. These substantial percentage drops between each resolution tier indicate that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a game like Doom that relies on fast, direct rendering rather than heavy post-processing.

The scaling pattern shifts when examining the Ultra preset, which is the most demanding configuration tested. At 1080p Ultra, the average sits at 189 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, the average falls to 122 FPS, a 35% reduction that mirrors the Low preset's scaling behavior. However, the 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS represents a 46% drop from the 1440p figure, which is more severe than the equivalent step at Low settings. This suggests that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is being pushed substantially harder, and the margin for maintaining high frame rates narrows considerably as both resolution and graphical complexity increase simultaneously.

The data shows that the transition from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings yields 273 FPS down to 177 FPS, a 35% decrease, while the jump from 1440p to 4K Medium goes from 177 FPS to 96 FPS, a 46% decline. This consistent pattern across all settings presets—roughly a one-third reduction from 1080p to 1440p and nearly a one-half reduction from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling component at higher resolutions, but the CPU retains enough headroom at 1080p to keep frame rates extremely high. The fact that 1080p Low exceeds 300 FPS suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions, as the frame rate ceiling appears to be dictated more by the graphics card's ability to feed frames at that speed.

At 4K, the differences between settings presets compress relative to lower resolutions. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 44 FPS (110 down to 66), whereas at 1080p the same spread is 125 FPS (314 down to 189). This compression at 4K reinforces the interpretation that resolution scaling is GPU-bound, and the RX 9070 XT's raw throughput becomes the dominant constraint when pixel counts rise. The measured minimum FPS values, which are only recorded for Medium settings, show 81 FPS at 4K, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 232 FPS at 1080p, indicating that even the worst-case dips at each resolution remain well above playable thresholds for this fast-paced FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT brings substantial resources to this title, and the benchmark results reflect a GPU that is well-matched to Doom's rendering demands. The card features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which provides ample headroom for the game's texture streaming and geometry workloads at all tested resolutions. The boost clock of 2970 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2400 MHz, indicates that the GPU can sustain high frequencies under load, and the measured frame rates across the board confirm that thermal and power delivery are not causing significant throttling in this title.

The GPU's architecture, RDNA 4.0 on a 4 nm process from TSMC, includes 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s, which are directly relevant to Doom's rendering style that emphasizes high-resolution textures and fast fill rates. The FP32 throughput of 48.66 TFLOPS provides the computational muscle for the game's lighting and particle effects, and the 64 ray accelerators, while not heavily utilized in this 2016 title, ensure future compatibility without impacting current performance.

The measured frame rates show that the RX 9070 XT is capable of pushing 4K Ultra to 66 FPS average, which is playable but not optimal for a competitive FPS where high refresh rates matter. The GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all tested GPUs in the database, based on its average benchmark score of 13543, places it in the mid-range tier, yet its performance in Doom exceeds what that percentile might suggest. This discrepancy indicates that Doom is particularly well-optimized for this GPU architecture, or that the game's demands align favorably with the card's strengths in raw rasterization throughput.

The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark rankings—AMD Radeon HD 7770M, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, NVIDIA P106-090, and AMD Radeon Pro 555—all have average scores within 1% of the RX 9070 XT, but these are older or lower-tier cards that would not come close to matching the measured FPS in Doom. This highlights that synthetic benchmark averages do not always translate directly to real-world gaming performance, and the RX 9070 XT's actual gaming results in this title are far stronger than its overall database standing suggests. The 16 GB memory capacity also ensures that no texture quality settings need to be compromised at 4K, as the game's largest assets fit comfortably within the available VRAM.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 2930 tested CPU and GPU combinations for Doom, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT achieves a rank of 669. This places the combo in the top 23% of all tested configurations, which is a respectable position given that the CPU ranks in the 89th percentile among all processors and the GPU ranks in only the 55th percentile among all graphics cards. The combination of a strong processor with a mid-tier GPU produces a balanced result that outperforms many pairings with higher-end graphics cards that might be paired with weaker CPUs.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 46062 places it extremely close to its nearest rivals in the processor database. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46030, a delta of just 0.1%, while the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46098, a negative delta of 0.1% relative to the Ultra 5 235. These negligible differences mean that the choice among these processors would have virtually no impact on Doom's frame rates, as the game is not heavily CPU-bound at most settings. The AMD EPYC 4364P and AMD EPYC 7303 also score within 0.2% of the Ultra 5 235, further confirming that this processor sits in a tightly clustered performance tier.

The rank of 669 out of 2930 combos suggests that while this configuration is not at the absolute top tier for Doom, it delivers frame rates that satisfy high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p and 1440p, and remains playable at 4K. The measured data shows that the combo achieves 189 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors and approaches the requirements for 240 Hz displays. At 1440p Ultra, the 122 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for 120 Hz panels. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS is the only configuration that dips below the 100 FPS mark, indicating that this combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions rather than maximum fidelity at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this combo depends on the target resolution and the user's preference for frame rate versus visual quality. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 189 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for competitive play and visually demanding scenarios. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 42 FPS (231 down to 189), which is a 18% reduction for the added visual fidelity. Given that even the Ultra preset remains well above 144 Hz, the recommendation at 1080p is to use Ultra settings without hesitation, as the performance penalty is acceptable and the visual upgrade is meaningful.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides 177 FPS average, while High delivers 149 FPS and Ultra drops to 122 FPS. The Medium preset's measured minimum of 150 FPS ensures that even the most demanding scenes stay above the 144 Hz threshold, making it the safest choice for high-refresh-rate displays. However, the High preset at 149 FPS average is nearly identical to the Medium preset's minimum, suggesting that High at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for users with 144 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 122 FPS is still playable and would be suitable for 120 Hz displays, but the 27 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the additional graphical effects for all users.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset achieves 110 FPS average, which is the only 4K configuration that exceeds the 100 FPS mark. The Medium preset drops to 96 FPS, High falls to 81 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 66 FPS. For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 96 FPS offers the best compromise, as it maintains a frame rate that is close to 100 FPS while providing significantly better visual quality than Low. The High preset at 81 FPS is acceptable for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate, but the Ultra preset at 66 FPS approaches the lower boundary of what is comfortable for a fast-paced FPS, especially in competitive scenarios where reaction time matters.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces the following average frame rates: Low achieves 314 FPS, Medium achieves 273 FPS with a minimum of 232 FPS and a maximum of 314 FPS, High achieves 231 FPS, and Ultra achieves 189 FPS. The Medium preset's measured range from 232 to 314 FPS shows that the game can swing significantly in frame time depending on scene complexity, but even the minimum stays above 230 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of virtually all mainstream monitors. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 125 FPS, representing a 40% reduction from the Low baseline when all settings are maxed.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low at 203 FPS, Medium at 177 FPS with a range of 150 to 203 FPS, High at 149 FPS, and Ultra at 122 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 150 FPS is noteworthy because it exactly matches the threshold for 150 Hz displays, indicating that the combo can sustain high refresh rates at 1440p with moderate settings. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 81 FPS drop, which is a 40% reduction, consistent with the scaling observed at 1080p. The High preset at 149 FPS sits just below the Medium preset's minimum, suggesting that High may occasionally dip below 144 FPS in demanding scenes, while Medium maintains a more consistent frame pacing.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low at 110 FPS, Medium at 96 FPS with a range of 81 to 110 FPS, High at 81 FPS, and Ultra at 66 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 81 FPS matches the High preset's average, indicating that at 4K, the difference between Medium and High is relatively small in terms of the worst-case frame rates. The Ultra preset at 66 FPS is the only configuration that falls below the 70 FPS mark across all tested settings and resolutions, making it the least desirable option for this combo. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K represents a 44 FPS reduction, which is a 40% drop, mirroring the proportional reductions seen at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provides 14 cores and 14 threads, operating with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This processor, built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process from TSMC, delivers strong single-threaded performance that is critical for Doom's game logic and physics calculations. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and multi-core score of 14769 indicate that the CPU has both high per-core throughput and substantial overall compute capacity, which supports the high frame rates observed at 1080p where the CPU can become the limiting factor in less demanding scenes.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core provide low-latency access to frequently used data, which is beneficial for a game like Doom that features fast-paced movement and numerous simultaneous enemy interactions. The 14 threads, while not as numerous as some competing processors with hyper-threading, are sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck in this title, as evidenced by the fact that 1080p Low reaches 314 FPS without the CPU appearing to constrain the frame rate. The processor's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, based on an average benchmark score of 46062, places it in the upper tier of processors, and its nearest rivals all score within 0.2% of the Ultra 5 235, indicating that any of these CPUs would perform nearly identically in Doom.

The measured frame rates show that the CPU's role becomes more prominent at lower resolutions and lower graphics settings, where the GPU is not fully saturated. At 1080p Low, the 314 FPS result suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding frames at this rate, but it is unclear whether higher frame rates would be achievable with a faster processor. The fact that 1080p Ultra drops to 189 FPS while 1080p Low reaches 314 FPS indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint at Ultra settings, while the CPU has additional headroom that is only exposed at Low settings. This pattern is typical for a well-balanced pairing where neither component is drastically underpowered for the game's demands.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface ensures that data can be fed to the GPU without creating a starvation scenario, even at 4K where the GPU is consuming large amounts of texture and geometry data. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RX 9070 XT's PCIe 5.0 x16 connection, ensuring that there is no bottleneck in data transfer between the processor and graphics card. The combination of high single-thread performance, adequate core count, and fast memory subsystem makes the Ultra 5 235 a suitable companion for the RX 9070 XT in Doom, with the data confirming that the CPU does not meaningfully limit performance at any of the tested settings or resolutions.