Doom

# Doom Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p gaming experience in Doom, with the measured data showing this combination ranks 1766th out of 2930 tested combos for this game. The system achieves playable frame rates at 4K with reduced settings, but truly excels at 1440p where it maintains over 79 FPS on Ultra settings. The RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth prove sufficient for Doom's demands, while the 14-core CPU with a 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures the processor never becomes the bottleneck at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves in Doom?

A: The highest measured average is 202 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at the same resolution delivers 176 FPS average, with a maximum of 203 FPS observed.

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields only 43 FPS average, while High settings produce 52 FPS. Dropping to Medium raises the average to 62 FPS, and Low settings achieve 71 FPS, making 4K playable only at lower quality presets.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 places it 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153) and 1% behind the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237). It sits 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713) and 1.6% behind the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379).

Q: What CPU benchmark scores does the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 achieve?

A: In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 14769 multi-core and 2085 single-core. PassMark tests show 37816 for multithread and 4516 for single thread. The CPU's overall average benchmark score is 46062, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is there a frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, significant. At 2560x1440, Low settings average 131 FPS while Ultra averages 79 FPS, a difference of 52 FPS. The High preset sits between them at 96 FPS average.

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 235 scores 46062 on average, which is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030) and 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098). It also leads the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970) by 0.2% and the AMD EPYC 7303 (45960) by 0.2%.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 serves as the primary rendering engine in this configuration, and its specifications directly influence Doom's performance across all tested resolutions. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for Doom's texture-heavy environments, though the 8 GB capacity becomes a consideration at 4K Ultra settings where the average frame rate drops to 43 FPS.

The RTX 5050 operates at a base clock of 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz, and its memory runs at 2500 MHz effective 20 Gbps. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units process the game's geometry and effects. With 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, the architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), though Doom's traditional rasterization workload primarily engages the shading units. The GPU's 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 205.8 GTexel/s texture rate provide the computational foundation for the measured frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its gaming performance. The PassMark G3D score of 17326 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 indicate moderate DirectX 12 capability. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 90334 and Vulkan score of 89381 show strong compute performance, which supports the game's dynamic lighting and particle effects. The GPU's 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it as a mid-range performer, consistent with the measured Doom results showing playable but not exceptional 4K performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p High settings, the system averages 149 FPS, which drops to 96 FPS at 1440p High — a 35.6% reduction. Moving to 4K High brings the average down to 52 FPS, another 45.8% reduction from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates the RTX 5050 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demands exceed the GPU's 82.30 GPixel/s pixel rate.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows the GPU handling the 1.78x pixel count increase with a smaller frame rate penalty, suggesting some headroom in the rendering pipeline. However, the jump to 4K (2.25x pixels over 1440p) produces a more dramatic frame rate collapse, particularly at Ultra settings where the average falls to 43 FPS. This suggests the 8 GB VRAM capacity and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth become strained at 4K with high-quality textures and effects.

At 1080p, the frame rates across settings range from 122 FPS (Ultra) to 202 FPS (Low), showing the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution. The 1440p results show a compressed range of 79 FPS (Ultra) to 131 FPS (Low), indicating the GPU is working harder but still delivering smooth performance. The 4K results compress further to 43 FPS (Ultra) to 71 FPS (Low), revealing that the RTX 5050's capabilities are nearly exhausted at this resolution. The data confirms that 1440p represents the sweet spot for this combination, balancing visual quality with frame rates above 79 FPS even at Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance across all settings. The Low preset averages 202 FPS, with Medium averaging 176 FPS (minimum 150, maximum 203). High settings produce 149 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 122 FPS. These results show the RTX 5050 providing excellent 1080p performance, with even the most demanding preset maintaining well above 120 FPS for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the GPU working harder. Low settings average 131 FPS, Medium averages 114 FPS (minimum 97, maximum 131), and High produces 96 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 79 FPS, which remains smooth for most gaming scenarios but represents a 39% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result. The 1440p measurements indicate this resolution is the practical ceiling for high-refresh gaming with this GPU.

At 3840x2160, performance drops significantly across all presets. Low settings average 71 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS (minimum 52, maximum 71), and High produces 52 FPS. The Ultra preset averages just 43 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K results demonstrate that the RTX 5050 can handle 4K only at lower quality settings, and even then, the frame rates hover near playable thresholds.

The progression across resolutions shows consistent scaling: 1080p Low at 202 FPS drops to 131 FPS at 1440p Low (35% reduction) and then to 71 FPS at 4K Low (46% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 122 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. This consistent scaling indicates the GPU is the primary performance limiter, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom even at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to 1440p Medium as the optimal configuration for this system, delivering 114 FPS average with a minimum of 97 FPS. This preset balances visual quality with smooth performance, ensuring the frame rate never drops below 97 FPS even during intense combat sequences. The 1440p High preset at 96 FPS average is also viable for players prioritizing visual fidelity, though the tighter margin to the 60 FPS threshold makes Medium the safer recommendation.

For players with 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 122 FPS average provides the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness. The 1080p Ultra setting delivers a 44% improvement over 1440p Ultra (122 vs 79 FPS), making it the recommended choice for maximum quality on Full HD monitors. Players seeking maximum frame rates for competitive play can use the Low preset at 202 FPS, though the visual trade-offs are substantial.

At 4K, the data suggests Medium settings as the highest acceptable preset, averaging 62 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS. The High preset at 52 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 43 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. Players with 4K displays should accept Medium settings or consider reducing to 1440p for a better experience.

The frame time consistency, indicated by the minimum and maximum values for Medium presets, shows reasonable stability across resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range from 150 to 203 FPS represents a 35% spread, while 1440p Medium ranges from 97 to 131 FPS (35% spread) and 4K Medium from 52 to 71 FPS (37% spread). This consistent variance suggests the GPU maintains stable performance without major frame time spikes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provides the processing foundation for this gaming configuration, featuring 14 cores and 14 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture. The CPU runs at a base clock of 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and its 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain data flow for game logic and physics calculations. The 3 nm process node from TSMC houses 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate strong multi-threaded capability that supports modern game engines. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and PassMark multithread score of 37816 show robust parallel processing, while the single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085, PassMark single thread score of 4516) handles game logic and draw call submission. The PassMark physics score of 2570 indicates competent physics processing, relevant to Doom's interactive environments.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above most processors, and its average benchmark score of 46062 puts it in close competition with high-end mobile and desktop chips. The nearest rivals — AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030), Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098), AMD EPYC 4364P (45970), and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960) — all score within 0.2% of the Core Ultra 5 235, showing this CPU performs at the level of premium processors from previous generations.

In Doom specifically, the CPU's role becomes evident in the frame rate scaling pattern. At 1080p, where GPU load is lower, the system achieves up to 202 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU with sufficient draw calls and game state updates. The consistent frame rates across settings at each resolution indicate the CPU maintains adequate performance headroom. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient memory throughput for the game's data streaming requirements. The CPU's 14 threads, while not hyper-threaded, prove adequate for Doom's engine, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved at 1080p.