Doom

Doom’s 2016 engine is exceptionally scalable, and the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 confirm that this pairing can dominate at nearly every setting. The data shows a clear hierarchy where the RTX 4080’s raw throughput is the primary driver of performance, leaving the 16-core Meteor Lake CPU with ample headroom. This combination ranks in the 67th percentile of all tested combos in this game, placing it firmly in the upper tier of systems. The key takeaway is that you have the hardware to prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing competitive frame rates, but the optimal settings depend heavily on your target resolution and refresh rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a straightforward path to the best experience. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 173 FPS. While this is a very playable number, the High preset jumps to 212 FPS, and Low hits 288 FPS. For competitive play on a high-refresh 1080p monitor, the data suggests that the Low preset is the most effective, as the 288 FPS average is substantially higher and will minimize input latency. However, the jump from High to Ultra costs 39 FPS on average, which is a significant 18% drop, indicating that the Ultra preset’s extra graphical features are demanding. For most users with a 144Hz display, High is the sweet spot—it provides a 212 FPS average, which is well above the refresh rate and leaves headroom for demanding scenes, while still looking noticeably better than Low.

Moving to 1440p, the story becomes more balanced. The Ultra preset still manages an average of 112 FPS, which is excellent for a high-resolution experience. The High preset, however, offers a massive boost to 137 FPS. This makes High the recommended preset for 1440p, as it keeps the frame rate comfortably in the high-refresh territory (above 120 FPS) while retaining most of the visual quality. The Medium preset at 162 FPS is also a strong option if you prefer maximum smoothness, but the 25 FPS difference between High and Medium suggests that High is the better balance of image quality and speed. The Low preset at 186 FPS is overkill for most 1440p monitors and sacrifices too much visual fidelity.

At 4K, the hardware finally meets its match. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 61 FPS, which is just at the edge of playability for a smooth experience. The High preset, however, provides a much more comfortable 74 FPS average. This is the recommended setting for 4K gaming. It offers a significant improvement over Ultra’s 61 FPS, which is critical for maintaining a consistent frame rate. The Medium preset at 88 FPS is also viable, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is more noticeable at this resolution. The data shows that High is the optimal 4K preset, delivering a playable frame rate without pushing the GPU to its absolute limit.

In summary, the best experience per the measured rows is to use the High preset at all resolutions. It provides the most balanced performance, with 212 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p and 1440p if you have a monitor with a lower refresh rate and prioritize maximum visual quality. The Low preset is reserved for competitive scenarios where every frame counts.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this specific configuration in Doom is 1222 out of 3712 tested combinations. This places the system in the top 32.9% of all recorded setups, which is a strong result for a mobile CPU paired with a high-end desktop-class GPU. The ranking reflects that the RTX 4080 is doing the heavy lifting, as the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title.

When looking at the GPU’s individual standing, the RTX 4080 has a benchmark percentile of 86, meaning it outperforms 86% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 54247, which is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209 with a delta of just 0.1%. This indicates that in synthetic workloads, the standard 4080 is effectively on par with the SUPER variant. The other nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1%), the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.6%), and the Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.7%)—are all slightly ahead in raw compute scores, but the RTX 4080’s specific architecture and driver optimization for Doom likely contribute to its strong in-game performance.

On the CPU side, the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has a percentile of 84 among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 34083, which is within a whisper of its rivals. The closest competitor is the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H with a score of 33989 (delta 0.3%), meaning the Ultra 7 is essentially tied with it. The AMD EPYC 4244P (34220, -0.4%), AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34222, -0.4%), and AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (34260, -0.5%) are all slightly higher in synthetic multi-threaded tests, but the differences are under 1%. This suggests that the Ultra 7 165H is a well-rounded processor, but its performance in Doom is not the limiting factor. The data clearly shows that the combo’s rank is driven by the GPU’s ability to push high frame rates, and the CPU’s 16 cores and 22 threads are more than sufficient for this engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use for the highest frame rates?

A: The data shows that 1080p with Low settings yields the highest average FPS at 288. For a balance of quality and speed, 1440p High provides 137 FPS, while 4K High is the most demanding option at 74 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from High to Ultra settings?

A: The measured rows show a consistent drop. At 1080p, the average FPS falls from 212 to 173, a decrease of 39 FPS. At 1440p, it drops from 137 to 112, a decrease of 25 FPS. At 4K, it drops from 74 to 61, a decrease of 13 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this combo?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary driver. The RTX 4080 has a high percentile rank, and the frame rates scale heavily with resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound tasks. The CPU’s 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample headroom, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p Low (288 FPS) where CPU overhead is typically highest.

Q: Can this system handle high refresh rate 4K gaming?

A: The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 61, which is below the 144Hz threshold. However, at 4K High, the average rises to 74 FPS. This is suitable for a 60Hz display but not for 120Hz or 144Hz monitors without lowering settings further.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The benchmark scores are nearly identical. The RTX 4080 scores 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, a delta of 0.1%. This indicates that in synthetic tests, the standard 4080 is essentially equivalent to the SUPER version.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like for this combo?

A: The measured data includes min and max FPS for the Medium settings only. At 1080p Medium, the average is 251 FPS with a minimum of 213 and a maximum of 289. At 1440p Medium, the average is 162 FPS with a minimum of 138 and a maximum of 187. At 4K Medium, the average is 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 101. This suggests good frame pacing, with the minimums staying well above playable thresholds.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS values are consistent across the board, showing a predictable scaling pattern. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 288 FPS. The Medium preset averages 251 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 213 FPS and a maximum of 289 FPS. The High preset averages 212 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 173 FPS. This shows a clear step-down of roughly 37-39 FPS between each tier.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 186 FPS. The Medium preset averages 162 FPS, with a minimum of 138 FPS and a maximum of 187 FPS. The High preset averages 137 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 112 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra here is 25 FPS, which is less severe than at 1080p but still significant.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 101 FPS. The Medium preset averages 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. The High preset averages 74 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 13 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a bottleneck at this resolution, and the extra visual features of Ultra are very costly.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 is capable of delivering over 200 FPS at 1080p and over 130 FPS at 1440p on High settings. The 4K numbers are playable but require a compromise on settings to maintain a high refresh rate. The Medium preset’s min/max values provide a glimpse into frame pacing, and the minimums are all well above 60 FPS, indicating a stable experience even in demanding scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 212. At 1440p High, it drops to 137 FPS, a decrease of 35%. At 4K High, it drops to 74 FPS, a further decrease of 46% from 1440p. This steep decline is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 4080 has to render four times the pixels at 4K compared to 1080p, and the data reflects that workload.

Looking at the Low preset, the drop is from 288 FPS at 1080p to 186 FPS at 1440p (a 35% decrease) and then to 101 FPS at 4K (a 46% decrease from 1440p). The percentage drops are nearly identical across settings, which confirms that the scaling is purely resolution-driven and not affected by the CPU. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the 1080p numbers to be closer to the 1440p numbers, as the CPU would struggle to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

The data shows that even at 1080p Low, the system achieves 288 FPS, which is a very high number. This indicates that the Core Ultra 7 165H’s 16 cores and 22 threads are capable of handling the game’s draw calls without becoming a bottleneck. The limiting component is clearly the GPU, as the frame rate scales almost perfectly with the pixel count. The 4K Ultra setting at 61 FPS is the only point where the system struggles, and this is expected given the extreme pixel count and the game’s high-fidelity settings. In summary, the RTX 4080 is the dominant factor, and the CPU is more than adequate for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. In Doom, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with geometry and game state data. The benchmark data suggests it does this exceptionally well, as the frame rates at 1080p are exceptionally high. The CPU’s benchmark scores show a strong multi-threaded capability, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759. This single-core performance is crucial for games, as most game engines rely heavily on a few primary threads.

The nearest rival data shows that the Ultra 7 165H is statistically tied with the Core Ultra 5 338H, the AMD EPYC 4244P, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, with all deltas under 1%. This means that in synthetic workloads, there is no meaningful performance difference between these processors. In Doom, this translates to a situation where the CPU choice has little impact on the final frame rate, as the GPU is the limiting factor.

The CPU’s L3 cache is 24 MB shared, and it supports DDR5 memory. The fact that the system can push 288 FPS at 1080p Low shows that the combination of the processor’s clocks and cache is sufficient to keep the RTX 4080 fully occupied. The game’s engine, released in 2016, is not particularly demanding on modern high-core-count CPUs. The data suggests that the Ultra 7 165H provides more than enough headroom for this game, and its performance is effectively a non-factor in the final FPS numbers. The GPU’s 86th percentile rank is the primary driver of the combo’s performance, while the CPU’s 84th percentile ensures there is no bottleneck.