Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, but struggles to maintain a locked 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. This combination sits in the 47th percentile of tested combos for this title, indicating solid mid-pack performance. The data shows a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases, while the CPU provides ample headroom for high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable and steep performance drop as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 167 FPS at 1080p to 108 FPS at 1440p, a 35% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K High, the average drops further to 59 FPS, another 45% decline. This pattern indicates that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario in a fast-paced FPS.

The scaling behavior at Low settings is even more pronounced. The combo delivers 227 FPS at 1080p Low, which drops to 147 FPS at 1440p Low and then to 80 FPS at 4K Low. The 4K Low result is notable—it is barely above the 4K High result of 59 FPS, suggesting that even at the lowest graphical preset, the GPU is still working hard to fill those pixels. The gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which points to the memory bandwidth and raw pixel throughput of the RTX 4070 being the limiting factor at 4K.

The diminishing returns from lowering settings at 4K are clear. While 1080p Low is 36% faster than 1080p High, 4K Low is only 36% faster than 4K High. This shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K regardless of settings, whereas at 1080p, the CPU can still feed the GPU enough to benefit from lower graphical loads. For a 144Hz 1080p monitor, this combo is ideal; for a 60Hz 4K display, it will require Medium or High settings and still may not hold a solid 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. Its architecture is Meteor Lake, built on a 7 nm process. The CPU has a substantial L3 cache of 24 MB shared across the cores, along with 2 MB L2 per core and 112 KB L1 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 15028 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1743 in single-core, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Doom, the CPU role is primarily to maintain a high minimum frame rate. The measured data shows that at 1080p, the average FPS scales from 137 at Ultra to 227 at Low, which means the CPU is capable of pushing well over 200 frames per second. The 1080p Medium result shows a min FPS of 168 and a max of 228, indicating that the CPU can handle the game's draw calls without becoming a major bottleneck. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 7 155H has an average benchmark score of 32697, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, 0.1% delta).

The CPU's single-thread performance is adequate for Doom's engine, which is known to respond well to high clocks. The boost clock of 4.80 GHz is sufficient for the game's physics and AI calculations, but the data suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios. Only at 1080p Low does the CPU potentially become a co-limiting factor, where the 227 FPS average is close to what the CPU can sustain. The 22 threads are overkill for this title, as Doom is not heavily multi-threaded, but the high per-core performance ensures that frame times remain consistent.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The GPU's theoretical performance includes 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s.

In Doom, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting tested, as the game is from 2016 and does not require large memory pools. The bottleneck at 4K is the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1440p, but at 4K, the pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s becomes a challenge. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 48, which is below playable smoothness for many users.

The RTX 4070's performance relative to its nearest rivals shows it is a mid-tier option. Its average benchmark score is 37648, which is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507). It is 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135). In this specific game, the GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS is more than enough for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results indicate that the card is not designed for 4K gaming at high settings. The 69 FPS average at 4K Medium is the best playable option for 4K, but it still dips to a min FPS of 59, which is borderline for a 60Hz display.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance. The average FPS ranges from 137 at Ultra to 227 at Low. High settings produce 167 FPS, and Medium produces 198 FPS. The Medium preset shows a min FPS of 168 and a max of 228, indicating stable frame times. All results at 1080p are well above 144 Hz, making this an excellent pairing for high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the GPU starting to work harder. The average FPS is 89 at Ultra, 108 at High, 128 at Medium, and 147 at Low. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a min FPS of 109 and a max of 148, which is a wide spread but still playable. The 1440p High result of 108 FPS is excellent for a 144Hz monitor, and even Ultra settings at 89 FPS are acceptable for a 90Hz or 120Hz display.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. The average FPS is 48 at Ultra, 59 at High, 69 at Medium, and 80 at Low. The Medium preset at 4K shows a min FPS of 59 and a max of 80, which means the frame rate fluctuates between 59 and 80 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that provides an average above 60 FPS, but the min FPS at 59 makes it a borderline experience. Low settings at 4K provide 80 FPS, but the visual quality reduction is substantial. For a 4K monitor, users will need to accept Medium settings for a smooth experience or High settings if they can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 1554 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 47th percentile, meaning roughly half of tested systems perform better and half perform worse. Given that the CPU is in the 83rd percentile and the GPU is in the 81st percentile of their respective categories, the combo's mid-pack ranking suggests that the pairing is balanced but not top-tier.

The rank indicates that there are many other combos that achieve higher frame rates in this title, likely those with higher-end desktop GPUs or CPUs with higher boost clocks. However, the 1080p and 1440p results show that this combo is more than sufficient for the vast majority of gamers. The 47th percentile ranking is not a reflection of poor performance; rather, it reflects the large number of high-end desktop systems that have been tested. In the mobile and compact desktop segment, this combo would be considered above average.

The delta between the CPU and GPU's individual percentiles (83rd and 81st) and the combo's 47th percentile suggests that the game is not heavily CPU-bound, and the GPU is the dominant factor in determining the final ranking. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the combo rank would be closer to the CPU's percentile. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield a higher combo rank, while upgrading the CPU would have a minimal impact on Doom performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a consistent 60 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 89 at Ultra, 108 at High, and 128 at Medium, all well above 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Medium (69 FPS average) and Low (80 FPS average) exceed 60 FPS, but Medium has a min FPS of 59.

Q: Is the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Doom?

A: Yes, the data shows no VRAM-related issues at any resolution or settings. Doom is from 2016 and does not require large memory pools; the 12 GB GDDR6X is more than adequate.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 7 155H compare to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core Ultra 7 155H has an average benchmark score of 32697, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H's score of 32812 (a delta of -0.4% from the Core Ultra's perspective).

Q: Can this combo handle 1080p gaming at high refresh rates?

A: Yes, the measured FPS at 1920x1080 ranges from 137 (Ultra) to 227 (Low). Even at High settings, the 167 FPS average is sufficient for a 165Hz or 144Hz monitor.

Q: What is the 4K Ultra experience like with this setup?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 48, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Users should lower settings to Medium for an average of 69 FPS, though the min FPS is 59.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among all tested systems in Doom?

A: It ranks 1554 out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the 47th percentile. This is a solid mid-pack result for a mobile CPU paired with a mid-range desktop GPU.