Doom

# Doom Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H + AMD Radeon 890M

The combination of Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H processor and AMD's Radeon 890M integrated graphics represents a mobile-first pairing that targets mainstream gaming rather than enthusiast-tier performance. In Doom, this combo achieves a rank of 2758 out of 2930 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 6% of all tested systems. The data reveals a configuration that can handle the game at 1080p with playable frame rates on lower settings, but struggles significantly as resolution increases, with the integrated GPU clearly emerging as the primary constraint. This analysis explores how the measured FPS across resolutions and settings tells a story of a capable CPU paired with a GPU that reaches its limits quickly in a fast-paced FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, revealing the GPU as the dominant bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, Doom runs at 95 FPS average, which drops to 61 FPS at 1440p and further to 33 FPS at 4K — a reduction of approximately 36% from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a system where the integrated GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are being saturated, rather than a CPU-bound scenario where resolution changes would have minimal impact.

The Medium settings row provides additional insight, with average FPS of 82 at 1080p, 53 at 1440p, and 29 at 4K. The percentage drops here are roughly 35% and 45% respectively, showing a consistent trend across quality levels. The fact that performance degrades so predictably with resolution suggests that the Radeon 890M's 32 ROPs and 64 TMUs are being overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count, regardless of the quality preset chosen. At 4K, even the Low preset only manages 33 FPS, which is barely playable for a fast-paced shooter, while Ultra at 4K drops to just 20 FPS — a figure that would make the game feel like a slideshow.

Comparing the resolution scaling at High settings specifically: 70 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. These numbers indicate that the gap between 1440p and 4K is proportionally larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which is typical for GPUs that run out of pixel processing throughput. The data implies that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can deliver a consistently smooth experience, and even then, only at lower to medium quality settings. The steep drop-off at 4K strongly suggests that the integrated GPU's 5.939 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply insufficient for modern resolutions in this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is an integrated graphics solution based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, featuring 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It operates with a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 185.6 GTexel/s. These specifications, combined with the 5.939 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, place the GPU in the 45th percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database. This percentile ranking aligns with the measured performance in Doom, where the GPU's capabilities are clearly the limiting factor across all resolutions.

The memory configuration is system-shared, with bandwidth described as "system dependent." This means the GPU relies on the same DDR5 memory as the CPU, accessed via a dual-channel bus with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. In Doom, a game that benefits from fast memory access for texture streaming and geometry, this shared memory arrangement likely contributes to the performance ceiling observed. The fact that the GPU's memory bus width and bandwidth are system-dependent rather than dedicated suggests that memory contention between CPU and GPU could be exacerbating the frame rate drops at higher resolutions.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility indicate it can handle modern API features, yet the benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 590 is modest, and the Passmark G3D score of 8076 places it in direct competition with older dedicated GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, which scores 9273. The nearest rival data shows the 890M within 1% of the GTX 960, GTX 465, and even the Radeon Vega 8 (9221, 9294, and 9221 respectively). This positioning suggests that while the 890M is a capable integrated solution, it performs at the level of mid-range dedicated GPUs from several generations ago, which explains its struggles with Doom at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where average frame rates exceed 60 FPS, achieving 95 FPS at Low, 82 FPS at Medium, and 70 FPS at High settings. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset reaches 61 FPS, while all other settings fall below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Radeon 890M compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The 890M's average benchmark score of 9210 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294), with delta percentages of -0.1%, -0.7%, and -0.9% respectively. This places it squarely in the range of older mid-range dedicated GPUs.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H holding back performance in Doom?

A: The CPU appears sufficient for this game. With 16 cores, 22 threads, and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, the processor ranks in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. The FPS drops across resolutions follow a GPU-bound pattern, suggesting the CPU is not the limiting component.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with the lowest settings?

A: The data shows 33 FPS average at 3840x2160 with Low settings, while Medium achieves 29 FPS (with a minimum of 25 and maximum of 33), High drops to 24 FPS, and Ultra falls to 20 FPS. None of these are ideal for a fast-paced FPS.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a meaningful improvement over High in this game?

A: At every resolution, Ultra actually delivers lower average FPS than High: 57 vs 70 at 1080p, 37 vs 45 at 1440p, and 20 vs 24 at 4K. The visual quality gain from Ultra is not reflected in the data, making it a poor trade-off for this hardware.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Doom?

A: This combination ranks 2758 out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 6% of systems. This low ranking is consistent with the measured frame rates, which only exceed 60 FPS at 1080p with Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2758 out of 2930 tested combinations places this system firmly in the lower tier of Doom performance. With only 172 combos ranked below it, this pairing of the Core Ultra 7 155H and Radeon 890M is near the bottom of the database's tested configurations. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strong individual performance — the Intel chip sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 32697, nearly identical to rivals like the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662).

The disconnect between CPU and GPU performance tiers explains this low combo ranking. The Radeon 890M's 45th percentile GPU ranking and its average score of 9210, which is within 1% of the AMD Radeon Vega 8, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465, creates a significant bottleneck. In Doom, a game that scales heavily with GPU throughput, the CPU's capabilities are largely wasted because the integrated graphics cannot feed frames fast enough to utilize the processor's potential. This is a classic case of an imbalanced pairing, where the CPU is overqualified relative to the GPU.

The data suggests that this combo would perform similarly to systems with older integrated graphics or entry-level dedicated GPUs, given the 890M's proximity to the GTX 960 in benchmark scores. The low combo rank also reflects the reality that most tested systems likely pair this CPU with a discrete GPU, or this integrated GPU with a lower-end processor, making this particular combination less common and less optimized for gaming. For Doom specifically, the 2758th rank indicates that users would need to significantly lower expectations compared to the majority of tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience in Doom with this hardware, the measured data points clearly to 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings as the primary recommendation. This combination achieves 95 FPS average, providing the smoothest gameplay with ample headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 1080p still delivers 82 FPS, making it a viable alternative for those seeking better visual quality without sacrificing too much performance.

At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 61 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves no margin for frame rate drops during intense combat sequences. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 53 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced sections but risky for a game like Doom that demands quick reactions. The High preset at 1080p offers 70 FPS, providing a balanced option for users who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates.

The Ultra preset is difficult to recommend at any resolution. At 1080p, it delivers 57 FPS — below the 60 FPS target — while at 1440p and 4K, it falls to 37 FPS and 20 FPS respectively. The performance penalty from Ultra settings is substantial, with average FPS dropping by 13-19% compared to High across all resolutions. Given that Ultra typically offers marginal visual improvements over High in most games, the data suggests this preset is not worth the frame rate cost.

For users with 4K displays, the measured results are uniformly poor, with even Low settings only achieving 33 FPS. This resolution should be avoided entirely unless the user is willing to accept well below 30 FPS average. The Medium settings at 4K do provide a minimum FPS of 25 and maximum of 33, but the average of 29 FPS makes for a choppy experience in a fast-paced shooter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings shows a clear hierarchy: Low at 95 FPS, Medium at 82 FPS (with a range of 70-95), High at 70 FPS, and Ultra at 57 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra represents a 40% performance penalty, which is relatively modest compared to the resolution scaling, suggesting that the GPU handles quality setting changes more gracefully than pixel count increases.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to: Low at 61 FPS, Medium at 53 FPS (range 45-61), High at 45 FPS, and Ultra at 37 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium settings (45) is notably close to the average, indicating frame time consistency is maintained even as performance degrades. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution widens to 39%, similar to the 1080p spread.

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are: Low at 33 FPS, Medium at 29 FPS (range 25-33), High at 24 FPS, and Ultra at 20 FPS. The minimum FPS of 25 at Medium settings is only 4 FPS below the average, showing that even at 4K, frame pacing remains relatively stable. However, all values at this resolution fall below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for playable gaming, and far below the 60 FPS ideal for competitive shooters.

The progression across resolutions at each setting tells a consistent story: Low settings lose approximately 35% performance from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% from 1440p to 4K. Medium settings follow a similar pattern with 35% and 45% drops, while High settings show 36% and 47% drops. This uniform scaling confirms that the GPU's pixel processing capability is the binding constraint, with no single setting or resolution disproportionately affected.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 7 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a 24 MB shared L3 cache and per-core L1 and L2 caches of 112 KB and 2 MB respectively. The processor's TDP of 28 W indicates a power-efficient mobile design that prioritizes battery life while still delivering solid compute performance.

In CPU benchmarks, the 155H demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028 and a single-core score of 1743. The Passmark multi-thread score of 24873 and single-thread score of 3468 further confirm its competence. With an average benchmark score of 32697 and an 83rd percentile ranking, this CPU is positioned well above the median for all processors, making it more than adequate for gaming workloads that typically rely on fewer cores.

The nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, 0% delta), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, 0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 7400F (32750, -0.2% delta), and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812, -0.4% delta). These near-identical scores suggest that the 155H performs equivalently to a range of desktop and mobile processors from both Intel and AMD, reinforcing that the CPU is not the performance bottleneck in Doom.

The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth available to the CPU, shared with the integrated GPU, could be a subtle factor in gaming performance. Doom's engine benefits from fast memory access, and while the CPU can likely keep up with the game's logic and physics calculations, the shared memory subsystem may introduce latency when the GPU is heavily loading textures. However, the measured FPS scaling pattern points overwhelmingly to GPU limitations rather than CPU or memory constraints, as the frame rates drop consistently with resolution increases — a hallmark of GPU-bound rendering.