Doom

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 paired with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 delivers a formidable 1080p experience in Doom, with frame rates that remain highly playable even at 4K Ultra settings, though the scaling pattern reveals a system that is firmly GPU-bound at higher resolutions and only begins to show CPU headroom at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent downward trend as resolution increases, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-limited scenario. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 218 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces that to 141 FPS, a drop of 77 FPS or roughly 35%. At 4K High, the average falls to 76 FPS, which is a further 65 FPS decrease from 1440p, representing a 46% reduction. This steep decline between 1440p and 4K indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU bottleneck.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when looking at the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 296 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 192 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 104 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings results in a 104 FPS loss, while the 1440p to 4K step loses 88 FPS. This relatively consistent drop across resolution steps suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is the primary limiter, as the frame rate is not plateauing at lower resolutions, which would indicate a CPU constraint.

Comparing the High and Ultra presets at each resolution provides further insight into the scaling. At 1080p, the gap between High (218 FPS) and Ultra (178 FPS) is 40 FPS. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 26 FPS (141 vs 115). At 4K, the gap is just 14 FPS (76 vs 62). This tightening gap demonstrates that as resolution increases, the incremental cost of moving from High to Ultra settings becomes relatively smaller in absolute FPS terms, but the percentage difference remains significant. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the system is struggling to maintain 60 FPS, hitting just 62 FPS on average, which is close to the limit for smooth gameplay.

The fact that 4K Low (104 FPS) is substantially faster than 4K Ultra (62 FPS) indicates that the game's Ultra preset includes effects that are particularly demanding on the GPU's compute and memory resources. The differential between Low and Ultra at 4K is 42 FPS, while at 1080p it is 118 FPS (296 vs 178). This shows that at lower resolutions, the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough to exploit the full difference between settings, but at 4K, the GPU becomes so saturated that the relative cost of Ultra settings is compressed.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the dominant component in this pairing for Doom. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The large memory pool is more than sufficient for Doom at all tested resolutions and settings, as the game is from 2016 and does not require the capacity that modern titles might. The 16 GB capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there is no risk of memory capacity limiting performance, allowing the GPU to focus purely on rendering throughput.

The GPU's clock behavior is relevant to the observed results. It has a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The difference between the game and boost clocks suggests that the card can sustain high frequencies under load, which is critical for maintaining the high frame rates seen at 1080p. The pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s are substantial, and they directly contribute to the ability to push 296 FPS at 1080p Low, where fill-rate and texture throughput are the primary bottlenecks.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its performance class. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 25381, which places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (deltaPct -1.2) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S (deltaPct -0.8), indicating that the RX 9070 is slightly ahead of these cards in general compute. However, in Doom specifically, the measured FPS figures suggest that the card is performing well above what its general percentile might imply, likely due to the game's efficient Vulkan API and the card's strong raw throughput.

The FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS is a key indicator for Doom, as the game relies heavily on standard shader math. The RDNA 4.0 architecture's compute capabilities are well-suited to this workload. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures full feature compatibility, though Doom primarily uses Vulkan. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 provides another reference point, showing that the card is capable in modern API workloads.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable at 4K with this combo?

A: The highest 4K average is 104 FPS, achieved at Low settings. For more demanding presets, Medium yields 90 FPS, High yields 76 FPS, and Ultra yields 62 FPS.

Q: How does the system perform at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 258, with a minimum of 219 and a maximum of 296. This indicates a very smooth experience with minimal frame drops.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p High?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1440p High, the system produces 141 FPS, and the scaling from 1080p High (218 FPS) shows a significant drop, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: The difference is 42 FPS. Low settings average 104 FPS, while Ultra averages 62 FPS, demonstrating a substantial performance cost for the highest visual quality.

Q: Does the combo maintain above 60 FPS at all tested settings and resolutions?

A: No. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 62, which is above 60 but close to the threshold. All other tested configurations at 1440p and 1080p are well above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's general benchmark percentile relate to its Doom performance?

A: The GPU is in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, but its Doom performance is strong relative to its nearest rivals. It scores slightly higher than the RTX 2080 SUPER (deltaPct -1.2) and RX 6800S (deltaPct -0.8) in general benchmarks, and the measured FPS suggests it is well-optimized for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 840th out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the top 28.7% of all configurations, which is a solid result for a mid-range pairing. The rank of 840 indicates that while there are many faster combos, this system outperforms the majority of tested setups in this specific game.

The combo's ranking is likely influenced by both the CPU and GPU working in concert. The CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, which is very strong. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (deltaPct -0.5) and the Intel Core i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.8), meaning the Ultra 5 245 is roughly on par with these high-end processors in general compute. This strong CPU showing ensures that the GPU is not starved of data, particularly at 1080p where frame rates are highest.

The GPU's percentile of 69 is notably lower than the CPU's 90, suggesting that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing. However, the GPU's performance in Doom is still respectable, as evidenced by the measured FPS. The 840th rank out of 2930 combos reflects a system that is well-balanced but not at the extreme high-end. To improve the ranking, a more powerful GPU would be the logical upgrade path, as the CPU has more headroom to push higher frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which are strong frequencies for desktop gaming. The lack of hyper-threading means 14 threads, but the high single-core boost clock is crucial for Doom's performance, as the game's engine scales well with single-threaded performance.

The CPU's benchmark results show it is a capable performer. It scores 32924 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4648 in single-core. The single-core score is particularly important for gaming, as many game engines, including Doom's id Tech 6, rely heavily on a few fast cores. The Passmark single-thread score of 4394 is also strong, indicating that the CPU can handle the game's main game logic thread efficiently.

In the context of Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and process game physics. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 296 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that requires significant CPU throughput. The fact that the frame rate drops significantly when moving to 1440p (192 FPS) suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is still able to keep up, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases. However, the 104 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings indicates that the CPU is not the primary limiter, as a CPU-bound scenario would show similar FPS across resolutions.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache is ample for Doom's working set, and the 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth supports fast data transfer to the GPU. The processor's TDP of 65 W is modest, indicating it runs efficiently and does not require extreme cooling. The CPU's overall percentile of 90 vs all CPUs places it firmly in the high-performance tier, and its nearest rivals include the Ryzen 9 7900, which is a much more expensive chip, yet the Ultra 5 245 is only 0.5% behind in average score. This suggests that the CPU is not holding back the RX 9070 in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 296 FPS. Medium settings yield 258 FPS, with a minimum of 219 and a maximum of 296. High settings average 218 FPS, and Ultra settings average 178 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 118 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a significant cost, but even at Ultra, the frame rate is far above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on high-end monitors.

At 2560x1440, performance remains very strong. Low settings average 192 FPS. Medium settings average 167 FPS, with a minimum of 142 and a maximum of 192. High settings average 141 FPS, and Ultra settings average 115 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 77 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a constraint. The minimum FPS of 142 at Medium settings shows that even in demanding scenes, the system stays above 140 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to show its limits. Low settings average 104 FPS, which is still very playable. Medium settings average 90 FPS, with a minimum of 77 and a maximum of 104. High settings average 76 FPS, and Ultra settings average 62 FPS. The minimum FPS of 77 at Medium settings indicates that there are occasional dips, but they remain above 60 FPS. At Ultra, the average of 62 FPS is close to the 60 FPS target, and while there is no minimum recorded, the average suggests that some stutter may be perceptible in the most intense scenes.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the system is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and it can handle 4K with adjusted settings. The Medium preset at 4K provides a good balance of visual quality and performance, with a 90 FPS average. For players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low settings at 4K offer 104 FPS, which is a significant improvement over Ultra. The measured FPS figures confirm that this combo is well-suited for Doom, with no configuration falling below 60 FPS on average.