Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a strong showing in Doom, a 2016 FPS. The combination ranks 1577th out of 2930 tested combos in this game, placing it just above the median. The data indicates that the system is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K remaining a viable but more demanding target. The measured results provide a clear picture of how the CPU and GPU share the workload across different settings and resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For this hardware pairing, the measured data points to the High preset as the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves an average of 165 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset still delivers a very playable 107 FPS average, indicating that this setting is not overly taxing on the system. At 4K, the High preset drops to 58 FPS, which is still playable, but it shows the limits of the combination at this resolution.

Choosing the Ultra preset does provide a visual upgrade, but the performance cost is substantial across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra yields 135 FPS, which is a 30 FPS drop from High. At 1440p, Ultra falls to 87 FPS, and at 4K, it drops to 47 FPS. The step from High to Ultra introduces a significant performance penalty that may not be justified by the marginal visual improvements in a fast-paced game like Doom. The data suggests that for the smoothest experience, High is the sweet spot.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, delivering 195 FPS at 1080p and 126 FPS at 1440p. While these numbers are higher than High, the visual quality reduction is notable. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates—224 FPS at 1080p and 145 FPS at 1440p—but it sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that benefits from atmospheric lighting and textures. For competitive play, Low might be tempting, but the High preset's 165 FPS at 1080p is already sufficient for most players. The recommendation is to stick with High for the best overall experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of performance in Doom at higher resolutions and settings. This is evident from the FPS scaling patterns. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is more than sufficient for the textures and assets in Doom, even at 4K resolution. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2512 MHz, and its 6144 shading units handle the game's rendering workload efficiently.

The RTX 5070's performance percentile of 82 among all GPUs indicates it is a strong performer. In the benchmark results, the GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580, which scores within 0.1% in average benchmark score, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, which is 1.2% faster. This context shows that the RTX 5070 is a capable mid-to-high-end card that can handle modern titles well. For Doom, the GPU's raw power is the limiting factor at 4K with High settings, where the average FPS drops to 58.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a critical asset. At 4K Ultra settings, the game's memory demands are high, and the RTX 5070's VRAM buffer prevents any stuttering or texture pop-in that could occur with a smaller memory pool. The data shows that the GPU is not bottlenecked by memory, as the performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K (58 to 47 FPS) is consistent with an increase in shader and pixel workload rather than a memory limitation. The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, is built on a 5 nm process, which contributes to its efficiency and clock speed stability during extended gaming sessions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that highlights the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. When moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the High preset, the average FPS drops from 165 to 107, a decrease of 58 FPS. This is a significant 35% reduction in performance, which indicates that the GPU is working considerably harder to render the extra pixels. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even more pronounced, with the average FPS falling from 107 to 58, a 46% drop.

This scaling pattern suggests that the system is GPU-limited at 1440p and above. The CPU, an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, has enough headroom to feed the GPU at these resolutions, but the RTX 5070's rendering capabilities become the constraining factor. At 1080p, the scaling is less severe; the jump from High to Medium only reduces FPS from 165 to 195, showing that the CPU is still able to keep up with the GPU's output. The data implies that for maximum frame rates, 1080p is the resolution where the combo is most balanced.

The performance drop from Low to Ultra at each resolution further confirms the GPU's dominance. At 1080p, the difference between Low (224 FPS) and Ultra (135 FPS) is 89 FPS, which is a substantial range that gives players flexibility. At 4K, the same settings span from 79 FPS to 47 FPS, a narrower range that shows the GPU is nearing its limits. The FPS drops are not linear, indicating that the game's engine scales well with GPU load but that the RTX 5070's compute power is the defining factor in the higher resolution territory.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 1577th out of 2930 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the 54th percentile, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of other system configurations tested. This ranking is a holistic measure that considers the balance between CPU and GPU capabilities. The data shows that this is a middle-of-the-pack performer, not a top-tier combination, but certainly not a weak one either.

The ranking is influenced by the CPU's performance relative to its rivals. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has an average benchmark score of 34083, which puts it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H, has a score of 33989, a negligible 0.3% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, a popular desktop CPU, scores 34260, which is only 0.5% higher. This CPU performance is adequate for gaming, but it is not the strongest part of this combo.

The GPU's ranking is more influential. The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 40377, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40318, a 0.1% difference. The combination's overall rank of 1577 suggests that while both components are solid, they do not synergize to create a top-tier gaming machine. The rank is a reflection of the fact that the CPU, while capable, is a mobile part that may not fully unlock the GPU's potential in CPU-bound scenarios, even though the data shows the GPU is the main limiter at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H plays a supporting role in Doom, providing enough processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5070 at most settings. This mobile CPU features 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The architecture, Meteor Lake, is built on a 7 nm process and has a 24 MB shared L3 cache. For a game like Doom, which is not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's single-core performance is more critical than its multi-core might.

The CPU's benchmark results indicate strong single-core capability. In Cinebench R23, it scores 1759 in single-core and 14551 in multi-core. This single-core score is sufficient to handle the game's physics and AI calculations without creating a bottleneck. The data confirms this: at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 224 FPS, which is a frame rate that requires a CPU capable of feeding the GPU rapidly. The fact that the FPS scales well with GPU load suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor.

The CPU's TDP of 28 W is low for a mobile processor, but its boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures it can deliver bursts of performance when needed. The 22 threads are more than enough for Doom's engine, which typically uses fewer than eight threads. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H, has a benchmark score within 0.3%, indicating that the 165H is not uniquely positioned for gaming. In this combo, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery pipeline, and the measured FPS shows it does this effectively, especially at 1440p and 4K where the GPU takes on more of the workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 224 FPS, which is the highest measured value. The Medium preset averages 195 FPS, with a min of 166 FPS and a max of 224 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 165 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 135 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the combination is capable of driving high-refresh-rate monitors, with even the most demanding preset staying above the 120 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the GPU's increasing workload. The Low preset averages 145 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium averages 126 FPS, with a min of 107 FPS and a max of 145 FPS. The High preset averages 107 FPS, which is right at the edge of 100+ FPS gaming. The Ultra preset averages 87 FPS, which is playable but requires a G-Sync or FreeSync monitor to avoid screen tearing. The data shows a 38 FPS drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution, indicating a linear scaling of GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to struggle with the highest settings. The Low preset averages 79 FPS, which is smooth for 4K gaming. Medium averages 68 FPS, with a min of 58 FPS and a max of 79 FPS. The High preset averages 58 FPS, which is just at the threshold of playability for many gamers. The Ultra preset averages 47 FPS, which is not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. The 32 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the largest proportional drop, showing that the GPU is the clear limiting factor at this resolution. The min and max FPS values for the Medium preset at each resolution show that the frame pacing is consistent, with no severe stutters, which is a positive sign for gameplay smoothness.