Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination delivers a decisive experience in Doom, with performance scaling that reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. At 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, producing frame rates that exceed what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. Moving to 1440p and 4K, the load transfers to the graphics card, with frame rates dropping in a pattern that aligns with the pixel count increase. The data indicates that this pairing is well-balanced for high-refresh 1440p gaming, while 4K remains playable but demands settings adjustments to maintain smooth motion.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent and predictable decline as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 179 FPS at 1080p to 116 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 35%. Pushing to 4K High yields 63 FPS, which is a further 46% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep scaling curve is typical of a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions, where the RTX 5060’s 8 GB GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus become the limiting factors.

The Low settings row provides the clearest view of the CPU’s ceiling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 243 FPS, while 1440p Low delivers 157 FPS and 4K Low reaches 85 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Low (86 FPS) is larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K Low (72 FPS), suggesting that the GPU starts to throttle performance even at lower quality presets once the resolution increases. The 4K Low result of 85 FPS is notably higher than the 4K High result of 63 FPS, indicating that lowering settings provides a meaningful performance headroom at this resolution.

Ultra settings exacerbate the GPU bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 146 FPS, which is still respectable but 97 FPS lower than Low. At 1440p Ultra, the average falls to 95 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 51 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure is the only measured result below 60 FPS, which suggests that the absolute maximum quality preset is not viable for smooth gameplay at native 4K. The pattern across all settings indicates that the RTX 5060’s compute throughput—19.18 TFLOPS FP32—is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s becomes a constraint at 4K.

The scaling from Medium to High at each resolution is also telling. At 1080p, Medium averages 211 FPS and High averages 179 FPS, a 32 FPS difference. At 1440p, the same settings gap is 21 FPS (137 vs. 116), and at 4K, it narrows to 11 FPS (74 vs. 63). This diminishing gap at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is the primary limiter, as the incremental cost of High over Medium is absorbed by the graphics processor’s workload rather than the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 5060 ranks 1259 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 57th percentile of all systems evaluated. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component performance, but it reflects the fact that Doom is a well-optimized title that can run on a wide range of hardware. The rank of 1259 suggests that many older or lower-end GPUs can still achieve playable frame rates in this game, compressing the overall distribution.

The CPU component alone performs better than its rivals in synthetic benchmarks. The Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196) and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228). It also outperforms the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8%. This places the Ultra 5 245 in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance for its class.

The GPU, however, lags its rivals in aggregate scoring. The RTX 5060’s average benchmark score is 26331, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon 860M (26401) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26421). It also trails the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary by 0.8% but beats the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT by 1.2%. The GPU’s 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs is respectable, but the near-parity with integrated and entry-level discrete solutions in synthetic tests suggests that the RTX 5060’s real-world gaming performance may be more dependent on driver optimization and game-specific workloads.

In Doom specifically, the combo’s rank of 1259 out of 2930 indicates that while the system is capable of high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, there are many other combinations that achieve similar or better results. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title, as even the 1080p Low result of 243 FPS is well above the refresh rates of most monitors. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM capacity, while sufficient for Doom’s texture requirements at 1080p and 1440p, may limit performance at 4K Ultra where memory pressure is highest.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with High settings averaging 116 FPS and Ultra averaging 95 FPS. 1920x1080 offers higher frame rates (up to 243 FPS at Low) but does not utilize the GPU’s full potential, while 3840x2160 drops below 60 FPS at Ultra.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 74, and at 4K Low, it rises to 85 FPS. However, 4K Ultra falls to 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Lowering settings to Medium or Low is necessary for consistent 4K performance.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in Doom?

A: The Core Ultra 5 245 has 14 cores and 14 threads, with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In Doom, the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 243 FPS. The game is primarily GPU-bound, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 243 FPS, Medium averages 211 FPS, High averages 179 FPS, and Ultra averages 146 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 97 FPS, which represents a 40% reduction in performance for the highest quality preset.

Q: Is the RTX 5060 a good match for the Core Ultra 5 245?

A: The pairing is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p, the CPU’s performance ceiling is not fully utilized, as frame rates are already very high. The GPU’s 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for Doom’s requirements at 1080p and 1440p.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 1259 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the upper-middle range. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 72nd percentile. The system’s overall rank is influenced by the game’s scalability across a wide range of hardware.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data suggests using 2560x1440 with High settings. This configuration yields an average of 116 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a significant visual improvement over Medium (137 FPS) without the performance penalty of Ultra (95 FPS). The 21 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is a reasonable trade-off for the additional graphical fidelity, but High offers the best balance of smoothness and quality.

At 1920x1080, Medium settings at 211 FPS are the recommended choice for competitive play, as the difference between Medium and High (32 FPS) is noticeable but the visual gains are minimal in a fast-paced FPS. Low settings at 243 FPS are only advisable for esports scenarios where maximum frame rate is paramount, but the 146 FPS at Ultra is still playable for those who prioritize visuals.

For 4K, the data strongly recommends Medium settings, which average 74 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains frame rates above 60 FPS without dropping to Low (85 FPS) or suffering the 51 FPS penalty of Ultra. High at 63 FPS is also acceptable, but the 11 FPS gain from Medium to High is marginal, and Medium provides a more stable experience with a minimum of 63 FPS.

The measured minimum and maximum values for Medium settings provide additional context. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 63 FPS and the maximum is 85 FPS, indicating a 22 FPS variance. At 1440p Medium, the range is 116 to 157 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it is 180 to 243 FPS. These ranges suggest that Medium settings offer the most consistent frame pacing, making it the safest choice for maintaining smooth gameplay across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 in Doom is as follows:

At 3840x2160, the system achieves 63 FPS on High, 85 FPS on Low, 74 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS), and 51 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show a clear progression from Low to Ultra, with a 34 FPS spread between the lowest and highest quality presets.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 116 FPS on High, 157 FPS on Low, 137 FPS on Medium (minimum 116 FPS, maximum 157 FPS), and 95 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results demonstrate that even at Ultra, the frame rate remains above 90 FPS, making this resolution the sweet spot for the combo.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 179 FPS on High, 243 FPS on Low, 211 FPS on Medium (minimum 180 FPS, maximum 243 FPS), and 146 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show that the system is capable of exceeding 200 FPS at Medium settings, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each setting is consistent: High drops from 179 to 63 FPS (a 65% reduction), Low drops from 243 to 85 FPS (65% reduction), Medium drops from 211 to 74 FPS (65% reduction), and Ultra drops from 146 to 51 FPS (65% reduction). This uniform scaling indicates that the GPU’s performance is directly proportional to the pixel count, confirming that Doom is not CPU-limited at any resolution tested.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and it has a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ultra 5 245 scores 32924 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 4648 in Cinebench R23 single-core. These scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196, -0.4% delta), AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228, -0.5% delta), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, +0.6% delta), and Intel Core i5-14600K (48618, +0.8% delta). This places the Ultra 5 245 near the top of its performance class.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (243 FPS) is the highest result across all configurations, indicating that the CPU can feed frames faster than the RTX 5060 can render them at higher resolutions. The 14 cores and 14 threads are more than sufficient for Doom’s engine, which does not heavily utilize multi-threading. The boost clock of 5.10 GHz provides strong single-threaded performance, which is more relevant for this game’s frame generation.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s and L3 cache of 24 MB ensure that data can be fed to the GPU without bottlenecks. The lack of a vCache3d and the modest L3 cache size are not limiting factors in Doom, as the game’s asset streaming is not particularly cache-sensitive. The CPU’s 90th percentile ranking confirms that it is not the weak link in this pairing, and the combo’s mid-pack rank of 1259 out of 2930 is primarily attributable to the GPU’s 72nd percentile standing.