Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, ranking 45th out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations. This combination produces extremely high frame rates across all resolutions and settings, with the GPU clearly serving as the dominant component given the game's age relative to this modern hardware. The data shows a system that can push even 4K Ultra past 96 FPS average, while 1080p Low reaches 454 FPS, indicating headroom far beyond what most displays can utilize.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 45 out of 2930 tested combinations places this configuration firmly in the upper echelon of all tested systems for Doom. This percentile positioning reflects the synergy between a 14-core Arrow Lake processor and the flagship Blackwell GPU, though the rank is more attributable to the RTX 5090's raw throughput than any CPU advantage. The 89th percentile ranking for the CPU among all processors and the 92nd percentile for the GPU among all GPUs independently confirm that both components sit well above average, yet the GPU's slightly higher percentile suggests it carries more weight in this title.

Benchmark results indicate that the CPU's average benchmark score of 46062 places it within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030) and Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098), while running 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960). These negligible deltas mean the processor is effectively tied with its nearest rivals, none of which would meaningfully alter Doom's frame rates given the GPU-bound nature of this game. The GPU's average benchmark score of 79842 sits 0.3% above the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605) and 0.6% above the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396), while trailing the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80959) by 1.4% and leading the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940) by 1.1%.

The combination's rank becomes more impressive when considering that Doom's engine scales well with both CPU and GPU resources, yet the measured FPS numbers show the RTX 5090 doing the heavy lifting. At 4K Ultra, the combo still averages 96 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold that most consider smooth gameplay. The fact that this rank comes from measured data rather than estimates adds confidence to the positioning, as the 2930-combo pool includes a wide variety of hardware pairings, from budget systems to extreme enthusiast builds.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 serves as the primary performance driver in this configuration, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory subsystem is vastly overprovisioned for Doom, a game from 2016 that requires far less VRAM, but the bandwidth ensures texture streaming and high-resolution rendering never become bottlenecks. The GPU's 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, which explains why even 4K Ultra settings fail to stress the card.

Clock speeds see the GPU running at a base of 2017 MHz with a boost up to 2407 MHz, while memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. These clocks, combined with the massive CUDA core count, produce 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, a figure that dwarfs what Doom's engine can utilize. The GPU's FP16 performance matches FP32 at 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1), though this capability remains underused in a title that predates many modern compute-heavy rendering techniques.

The RTX 5090's 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are similarly underutilized in Doom, which does not employ ray tracing or DLSS in its standard rendering path. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support and Vulkan 1.4 compliance ensure compatibility with modern APIs, though Doom's original release used OpenGL primarily. Benchmark results show the GPU scoring 18355 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 334370 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376728 in Geekbench Vulkan, with a Passmark G3D score of 39650 and GPU Compute score of 26756.

The 575 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface provide ample power and bandwidth for sustained high frame rates, though the data shows the GPU rarely needs to work hard in this game. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 454 FPS average, which likely approaches engine limits rather than GPU limits. The 304 mm length and dual-slot design make installation straightforward in most cases, while the 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs support high refresh rate displays that can take advantage of the frame rates produced.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU that remains dominant even at the highest resolution tested. At High settings, average FPS falls from 334 at 1080p to 216 at 1440p and then to 117 at 4K, representing a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that while the RTX 5090 is still the limiting factor, even at 4K the frame rates remain far above playable thresholds.

Low settings show a similar trend: 454 FPS at 1080p drops to 294 at 1440p and 159 at 4K, a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K. Medium settings produce 396 FPS at 1080p, 256 at 1440p, and 139 at 4K, while Ultra settings deliver 273 at 1080p, 177 at 1440p, and 96 at 4K. The consistent pattern across all settings suggests that resolution scaling follows a predictable curve driven primarily by pixel count, with the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth determining performance.

The data shows that the CPU becomes less relevant as resolution increases, since lower resolutions put more pressure on the processor to feed frames. At 1080p Low, the 454 FPS average likely approaches the CPU's frame generation limit, as the Intel Core Ultra 5 235's 14 cores and 14 threads handle game logic and draw calls. However, even at this extreme frame rate, the CPU manages to keep up, indicating that its 5.00 GHz boost clock and 24 MB of L3 cache provide sufficient single-thread and multi-thread performance.

At 4K, the GPU's workload increases significantly, yet the RTX 5090 still delivers 96 FPS at Ultra settings. This indicates that the GPU has substantial headroom even at the highest resolution and quality preset tested, and the limiting factor shifts from GPU compute to memory bandwidth and pixel throughput. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures that even at 4K with Ultra textures, the GPU never starves for data, which explains why the performance drop from 1440p to 4K remains proportional to pixel count rather than exceeding it.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 454 FPS, Medium averages 396 FPS with a minimum of 336 and maximum of 455, High averages 334 FPS, and Ultra averages 273 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at Ultra settings, the system produces frame rates far beyond what most monitors can display, and the difference between Low and Ultra is only 40% (181 FPS). The Medium settings row provides the only min/max data at this resolution, showing a 119 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains exceptionally high. Low settings average 294 FPS, Medium averages 256 FPS with a minimum of 218 and maximum of 295, High averages 216 FPS, and Ultra averages 177 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows reductions ranging from 35% at High (334 to 216) to 39% at Low (454 to 294). The Medium settings at 1440p show a 77 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, which is tighter than the 1080p Medium spread, suggesting more consistent frame delivery at higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers very playable frame rates. Low settings average 159 FPS, Medium averages 139 FPS with a minimum of 118 and maximum of 160, High averages 117 FPS, and Ultra averages 96 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K reduces performance by roughly 45-46% across all settings, which aligns with the pixel count increase from 3.7 million to 8.3 million pixels. The Medium settings at 4K show a 42 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating that frame times remain stable even under heavier GPU load.

The complete dataset shows a clear hierarchy: Low settings always produce the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra producing the lowest. The gaps between settings remain relatively consistent across resolutions, with Ultra typically performing 30-40% below Low. The min FPS data, available only for Medium settings, reveals that the system maintains at least 118 FPS at 4K and 218 FPS at 1440p, confirming that even worst-case frame delivery stays above playable thresholds.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking maximum smoothness, Low settings at 1080p deliver 454 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play on high refresh rate monitors. However, the visual quality sacrifice may not be worth the frame rate increase given that even Ultra at 1080p produces 273 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most displays. The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with minimum FPS values recorded at every resolution: 336 at 1080p, 218 at 1440p, and 118 at 4K.

At 4K, Ultra settings average 96 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS standard for console-like smoothness but below the 120 FPS that many high-end monitors support. High settings at 4K produce 117 FPS, a 22% improvement over Ultra, while Medium produces 139 FPS, a 45% improvement. For players with 120 Hz or 144 Hz 4K displays, Medium settings at 4K offer the best chance of maintaining frame rates near the display's refresh rate, since the minimum FPS of 118 stays above 100.

At 1440p, the choice becomes easier. Ultra averages 177 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors (typically 144 Hz or 165 Hz). This means players can use Ultra settings at 1440p without sacrificing smoothness, as the minimum FPS (218 at Medium, likely similar at Ultra) remains well above typical refresh rates. High settings at 1440p produce 216 FPS, providing additional headroom for players with 240 Hz displays, while Low at 294 FPS serves those with 360 Hz panels.

The measured data indicates that Medium settings offer the most consistent frame delivery, as evidenced by the min/max data being recorded only for this preset. This consistency suggests that Medium avoids the CPU bottlenecks that can occur at Low settings and the GPU stress that occurs at Ultra. For most users, the recommendation is to start with High settings at 1080p or 1440p, since this preset delivers 334 FPS and 216 FPS respectively, and only drop to Medium if seeking maximum frame rate stability or if the display can show frame rates above 240 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing 14 cores and 14 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. The CPU's base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz deliver strong single-thread performance, which is important for Doom's game logic and physics calculations. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, while the dual-channel DDR5 memory bus provides 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

Benchmark results show the CPU achieving a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085, along with a Passmark multi-thread score of 37816 and single-thread score of 4516. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors indicates it outperforms the majority of CPUs, though its nearest rivals show that it does not lead its class. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX both score within 0.1% of this chip, meaning any of these processors would produce nearly identical results in Doom.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. At 1080p Low, the system produces 454 FPS, which likely requires significant CPU effort to issue draw calls and update game state. The 14-core configuration with 14 threads (no hyperthreading) provides adequate parallel processing for the game's threads, while the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded bottlenecks remain minimal. The CPU's 65 W TDP keeps thermals manageable even under sustained load at these high frame rates.

The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting tested. Even at 1080p Low where the GPU has the least work, the system maintains 454 FPS, indicating that the CPU can feed frames at this rate without becoming the bottleneck. The CPU's Passmark data compression score of 390711 and floating point math score of 117951 suggest strong compute capabilities, though these are largely irrelevant for gaming performance. The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 24EU remains unused given the discrete GPU, and its PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 5090's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235's release in January 2025 and the RTX 5090's release in January 2025 mean this combo represents contemporary hardware optimized for modern workloads. The CPU's 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die demonstrate the efficiency of the 3 nm process, though this architectural sophistication does not translate to gaming advantages over simpler designs. For Doom specifically, the CPU's performance is sufficient to keep the GPU fully utilized at all times, which is the ideal scenario for a gaming system. The measured FPS data confirms that this combination delivers elite performance across the board, with the CPU supporting rather than constraining the GPU's output.