Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT produces a balanced 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, but the combination falls behind at 4K resolution. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the primary constraint as pixel count increases, while the CPU's 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock keep the engine fed at lower resolutions. This analysis uses only the provided benchmark data to interpret the performance characteristics of this specific hardware pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing the RX 5700 XT as the limiting component at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 138 FPS at 1920x1080 to 89 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 48 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a scaling curve typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are saturated.

The Ultra preset shows an even more pronounced drop. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 113 FPS, but at 1440p Ultra it drops to 73 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to just 40 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (188 FPS) and Ultra (113 FPS) is 75 FPS, while at 4K the same comparison yields only a 26 FPS difference (66 FPS vs 40 FPS). This compression at 4K indicates that the GPU's raw compute throughput, rated at 9.754 TFLOPS FP32, becomes the bottleneck regardless of graphical complexity.

Interestingly, the Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data points in the measured set. At 4K Medium, the average is 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 and maximum of 66. At 1440p Medium, the average is 106 FPS with min/max of 90/122, and at 1080p Medium, the average is 164 FPS with min/max of 139/188. These ranges show that frame pacing remains stable even when the GPU is under heavy load, with the spread between minimum and maximum staying within 17-24% of the average.

The scaling pattern from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At High settings, the drop from 89 to 48 FPS represents a 46% reduction for a 2.25x increase in pixel count. This is less than ideal scaling, suggesting the RX 5700 XT's 160 TMUs and 64 ROPs are unable to keep up with the fill rate demands at 4K. The data supports a conclusion that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows indicate that the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 164 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. At 1440p Medium, the 106 FPS average is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Even at 4K Medium, the 57 FPS average is playable, though it approaches the lower bound of what most players would consider acceptable.

High settings provide a modest visual upgrade over Medium but come at a measurable cost. At 1080p, High drops the average from 164 to 138 FPS, a 16% reduction. At 1440p, High falls to 89 FPS, which is still smooth but noticeably lower than Medium. At 4K High, the 48 FPS average dips below the 60 FPS target, making it a marginal choice for demanding players. The data suggests that High is a reasonable pick for 1080p and 1440p, but not for 4K.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p gaming. The 113 FPS average at 1080p Ultra is playable and provides the highest visual fidelity in the measured set. However, at 1440p Ultra, the 73 FPS average begins to show strain, and at 4K Ultra, the 40 FPS average is below the playability threshold for most action games. Low settings, while delivering the highest frame rates (188 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, 66 FPS at 4K), sacrifice too much visual quality for the marginal gains over Medium.

The best experience per the measured rows is Medium at 1080p or 1440p. The 164 FPS at 1080p Medium provides headroom for background tasks, while the 106 FPS at 1440p Medium delivers a high-refresh experience without requiring the GPU to work at its limits. For players with 4K displays, Medium is the only preset that maintains an average above 55 FPS, making it the clear choice despite the visual compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2161 out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all possible CPU/GPU pairings. This percentile position, combined with the GPU's 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 90th percentile among all CPUs, indicates an imbalance: the processor is far more capable than the graphics card for this specific title. The CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 puts it within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and AMD Ryzen 9 7900, while the GPU's average score of 16361 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and only 0.9% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2.

The rank of 2161 out of 2930 means that approximately 26% of tested combos perform worse in Doom, while 74% perform better. This places the pairing below the median, which aligns with the measured frame rates: while 1080p performance is strong, the 4K results are below what many modern combinations achieve. The gap between CPU and GPU capability is evident in the benchmark scores — the Core Ultra 5 245 outperforms the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8% in average score, but the RX 5700 XT sits in the 59th percentile, meaning a large portion of GPUs deliver higher frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios.

The data suggests that this combo would rank higher in CPU-intensive games, given the processor's 90th percentile standing, but Doom's engine scales heavily with GPU compute. The 2161st rank reflects the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions rather than any deficiency in the CPU. For players targeting 1080p, the combo's rank likely understates its competitiveness, as the measured FPS at that resolution are strong. However, the overall ranking is dragged down by 4K performance, where the RX 5700 XT's age (released 2019-07-06) shows.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low averages 188 FPS, Medium averages 164 FPS with a minimum of 139 and maximum of 188, High averages 138 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 75 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to handle increased graphical loads without severe frame rate penalties. The Medium preset's min/max range of 139-188 FPS indicates consistent frame delivery even during intense combat sequences.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably but remains playable. Low averages 121 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 and maximum of 122, High averages 89 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 31% at Low (188 to 121 FPS) to 35% at Ultra (113 to 73 FPS). The Medium preset's min/max of 90/122 shows that frame times stay relatively stable, with the minimum still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low averages 66 FPS, Medium averages 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 and maximum of 66, High averages 48 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is severe: Low falls by 45%, Medium by 46%, High by 46%, and Ultra by 45%. The Medium preset's minimum of 49 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, indicating occasional frame drops during demanding scenes. At 4K, only Low settings maintain an average above 60 FPS, and even that is marginal.

The complete measured data shows a consistent pattern: the RX 5700 XT delivers acceptable performance at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K requires significant settings reductions. The High preset at 4K (48 FPS) is 35 FPS slower than High at 1440p (89 FPS), a 39% reduction. The Ultra preset at 4K (40 FPS) is 33 FPS slower than Ultra at 1440p (73 FPS), a 45% reduction. These numbers quantify the GPU's limitations at higher pixel densities.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Doom?

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 delivers the highest frame rates, with all settings averaging above 113 FPS. At 2560x1440, all settings average above 73 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh monitors. At 3840x2160, only Low settings average above 60 FPS, so 4K is only recommended with significant graphical compromises.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 113 FPS versus Medium's 164 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra averages 73 FPS versus Medium's 106 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 4K, Ultra averages 40 FPS versus Medium's 57 FPS, a 30% reduction. The consistent 30-31% penalty suggests the graphical load scales evenly across resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to suggest the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. At 4K, the frame rates compress across settings (66 FPS Low to 40 FPS Ultra), which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. The CPU's 90th percentile benchmark ranking versus the GPU's 59th percentile supports this interpretation.

Q: What frame rates can I expect with the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The measured average is 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 and maximum of 122. This provides a smooth experience on 60 Hz and 100 Hz displays, with enough headroom to avoid noticeable frame drops. The min/max spread of 32 FPS indicates some variability, but the minimum remains well above playability thresholds.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2161 out of 2930 combos in Doom, placing it in the 74th percentile of worst-performing pairings. This rank is influenced by the GPU's 59th percentile standing, while the CPU's 90th percentile shows the processor is not the limiting factor. The combo performs better than its rank suggests at 1080p, where the measured FPS are competitive.

Q: Does the RX 5700 XT's 8 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The measured 4K results show significant frame rate drops, but the data does not isolate VRAM capacity as the cause. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game's textures at these settings, but the GPU's compute throughput (9.754 TFLOPS FP32) appears to be the limiting factor. The consistent 45-46% FPS drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings points to compute limitations rather than memory capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 brings 14 cores and 14 threads with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture processor, built on TSMC's 3 nm process, has a 24 MB shared L3 cache and 192 KB L1 cache per core. The CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, and it outperforms the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8% and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.6% in average score.

In Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU has more influence, show strong performance: 188 FPS at Low settings and 138 FPS at High. These numbers indicate the 14 cores are more than sufficient for this game's engine, which was released in 2016 and does not heavily utilize multi-threading. The single-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, ensures that the game's primary thread runs without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate system-level performance. The PassMark multi-thread score of 38706 and single-thread score of 4394 confirm that the processor excels in both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. In Doom, which typically relies on a few high-frequency cores, the 5.10 GHz boost clock is the key specification, allowing the game to maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is not fully saturated.

The 90th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 59th percentile creates a notable mismatch. This combo would benefit from a more powerful GPU to fully utilize the CPU's capabilities, but in Doom specifically, the CPU's high single-core performance ensures that it never becomes the limiting factor. The measured 4K frame rates, which remain above 40 FPS even at Ultra, suggest the CPU is still delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, built on the Navi 10 chip with RDNA 1.0 architecture, provides 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, boost clock is 1905 MHz, and game clock is 1755 MHz. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU's compute capabilities include 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 and 19.51 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1).

In Doom, the GPU's performance is the primary determinant of frame rates at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a clear ceiling: at 4K, the maximum average across all settings is 66 FPS (Low), and at 1440p, the maximum is 121 FPS (Low). The GPU's average benchmark score of 16361 places it in the 59th percentile, and it is within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and 0.3% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell. This mid-range positioning explains why the combo ranks 2161st out of 2930 in Doom.

The 7 nm process and 10,300 million transistors give the GPU a transistor density of 41.0M per mm², but the RDNA 1.0 architecture lacks the ray tracing cores found in newer GPUs. Doom's engine, released in 2016, does not use ray tracing, so this is not a factor in the measured results. The GPU's DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 API support are sufficient for the game's rendering needs.

The GPU's 225 W TDP and dual-slot design with 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connectors indicate a power-hungry card, but the measured frame rates show it is not delivering performance commensurate with its power draw at 4K. The 59th percentile ranking suggests that many GPUs outperform it in synthetic benchmarks, and the measured Doom results align with this assessment. For 1080p and 1440p gaming, the GPU provides solid performance, but 4K pushes it beyond its comfort zone.