Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile delivers a dominant performance in Doom, ranking in the 27th percentile of all tested combinations (1006th out of 3712). This configuration is heavily GPU-limited at lower resolutions, but the data reveals a clear shift toward a more balanced workload as pixel count increases. The measured frame rates indicate that this laptop combination is exceptionally well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, while still providing a smooth 4K experience at high settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable curve, but the magnitude of the drop reveals critical information about system bottlenecks. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 227. Moving to 2560x1440 with the same settings reduces that to 147 FPS, a 35% decrease. The jump to 3840x2160 High yields 80 FPS, which is another 46% reduction from the 1440p result. This steep decline from 1080p to 4K—a total 65% drop—indicates that the GPU is being progressively saturated while the CPU has ample headroom to spare.

The Low preset data confirms this analysis. At 1080p Low, the system produces 309 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high number that no modern game engine would require for smooth play. This suggests the CPU is capable of pushing well beyond 300 frames per second. The fact that 1440p Low still achieves 200 FPS—only a 35% reduction from 1080p—shows that the rendering pipeline is becoming the primary constraint. However, at 4K Low, the average drops to 108 FPS, which is only a 46% reduction from 1440p, indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput is now the limiting factor.

When comparing the Medium preset across resolutions, the pattern becomes more nuanced. The 1080p Medium result of 269 FPS with a minimum of 229 FPS shows consistent frame delivery. The 1440p Medium average of 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS maintains a solid 60 FPS headroom above the 4K Medium result. The 4K Medium average of 94 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS is the first preset where the minimum dips below 100 FPS, signaling that the GPU is working near its limits at this resolution.

The Ultra preset reveals the heaviest workload. At 1080p Ultra, the system still manages 186 FPS, which is more than enough for competitive play. The 1440p Ultra result of 120 FPS is a 35% drop from 1080p Ultra, matching the scaling pattern seen in High and Medium presets. The 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS is the only measured average below the 60 FPS threshold, and it represents a 46% reduction from 1440p Ultra. This consistent scaling pattern—roughly 35% for the 1080p-to-1440p step and 46% for the 1440p-to-4K step—suggests that the RTX 5080 Mobile's memory bandwidth and pixel rate are the dominant constraints at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The RTX 5080 Mobile is the star of this benchmark, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU operates at a base clock of 975 MHz with a boost clock of 1500 MHz, and it features 7680 shading units and 96 ROPs. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate and 144.0 GPixel/s pixel rate. These numbers translate directly to the observed frame rates: the GPU's raw compute throughput of 23.04 TFLOPS FP32 is more than sufficient for Doom's Vulkan-based rendering.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 38349. Its nearest rival in the database is the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, which scores 38299—a negligible 0.1% difference. More tellingly, the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, representing a 0.6% deficit to the RTX 5080 Mobile. This close competition in synthetic benchmarks does not translate to the measured game performance, as the RTX 5080 Mobile's 16 GB VRAM capacity proves decisive in Doom's higher-resolution presets.

The memory configuration is particularly important for the 4K results. At 3840x2160, the GPU must manage larger textures and deeper framebuffers, and the 896.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the 16 GB pool is never starved. The measured 4K High result of 80 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS indicate that the GPU is hitting its pixel fill limits rather than memory capacity limits. If VRAM were the bottleneck, the frame rates would show more erratic behavior, but the consistent scaling suggests a steady throughput constraint.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are directly relevant to Doom's engine, which leverages low-level graphics APIs for efficient draw call handling. The passmark DirectX 12 score of 116 and DirectX 11 score of 253 are modest relative to the G3D score of 27711, but the game's optimized rendering path allows the RTX 5080 Mobile to far exceed what its synthetic API scores might suggest. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 169754 confirms that the GPU excels in the exact API that Doom uses, explaining why the measured frame rates are so high relative to the GPU's overall percentile ranking.

FAQ

Q: Why does the 1080p Low preset achieve 309 FPS while 4K Ultra only reaches 65 FPS?

A: The 4.75x difference in average frame rate is due to the GPU's pixel throughput limitations. At 1080p, the RTX 5080 Mobile's 144.0 GPixel/s pixel rate is far from saturated, leaving the CPU as the limiting component. At 4K, the GPU must fill four times as many pixels, and the 65 FPS result at Ultra settings reflects the GPU reaching its compute and fill rate limits.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 Mobile a significant upgrade over the RTX 4080 Mobile for this game?

A: The benchmark data shows the RTX 5080 Mobile scores 38349 on average, which is 0.6% higher than the RTX 4080 Mobile's 38135. This small synthetic difference is unlikely to produce a meaningful gap in Doom's measured frame rates, as both GPUs would be constrained by the same rendering pipeline at the resolutions tested.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play with this hardware?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset delivers 269 FPS average with a 229 FPS minimum, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 2560x1440 Low preset at 200 FPS also provides excellent competitive performance while offering more visual detail than 1080p, making it a strong alternative for players who prioritize image clarity over maximum frame rate.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM capacity matter for Doom at the tested settings?

A: The measured data does not show VRAM-related stuttering or frame drops, as the minimum FPS values are consistently close to the averages. The 896.0 GB/s bandwidth and 16 GB capacity are more than sufficient for Doom's highest-quality textures at 4K, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result maintaining a 65 FPS average without reported minimums below 60.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34083 on average, which is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (33989) and 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC 4244P (34220) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34222). This places the CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is not the limiting factor in any of the measured game tests.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset averages 309 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 269 FPS with a minimum of 229 FPS and a maximum of 310 FPS, showing tight frame pacing. The High preset averages 227 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 186 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 123 FPS, which represents a 40% performance penalty for maximum visual quality.

The 2560x1440 results show a clear step down. Low averages 200 FPS, Medium averages 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 200 FPS, High averages 147 FPS, and Ultra averages 120 FPS. The 80 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is smaller in absolute terms but represents the same 40% penalty. Notably, the 1440p Ultra result of 120 FPS exactly matches the 4K Medium minimum of 80 FPS in terms of difference from their respective bases, suggesting a consistent workload scaling.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more variable. Low averages 108 FPS, Medium averages 94 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS, High averages 80 FPS, and Ultra averages 65 FPS. The 43 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is smaller in absolute terms but represents the same 40% penalty as the other resolutions. The 4K Medium minimum of 80 FPS is identical to the 4K High average, indicating that the GPU's frame delivery becomes less consistent at higher resolutions.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the difference between Low and Ultra presets is always approximately 40% of the Low preset's frame rate, regardless of resolution. This indicates that the preset scaling affects the GPU workload proportionally, and the RTX 5080 Mobile's performance scales linearly with the rendering load. The minimum FPS values are only available for the Medium preset, but they consistently show a delta of about 40-41 FPS from the average, which suggests stable frame pacing without major hitches.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 2560x1440 Medium, the system delivers 174 FPS average with a 148 FPS minimum, which provides a substantial cushion above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern gaming displays. The 4K Medium result of 94 FPS average with an 80 FPS minimum is also excellent for 4K displays, offering a smooth experience that stays above the 60 FPS threshold in virtually all scenes.

For players with 1080p displays, the High preset at 227 FPS is the recommended choice. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is 41 FPS (227 vs 186), and the visual improvements from Ultra are typically marginal in fast-paced action. The High preset at 1440p (147 FPS) is also suitable for 144 Hz monitors, though players who prioritize frame rate above all else should consider the Medium preset at 174 FPS.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays, where the 186 FPS average still provides a competitive advantage. At 1440p Ultra (120 FPS), the experience is playable but does not take full advantage of high-refresh-rate displays. The 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS is the only measured average below 70 FPS, and while it is technically playable, the 4K Medium preset offers a 45% higher frame rate (94 vs 65) with only modest visual compromises. The Low preset is not recommended at any resolution, as the frame rate gains do not justify the significant reduction in visual fidelity, especially when the Medium preset at 4K already exceeds 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support provide the memory bandwidth necessary to feed the RTX 5080 Mobile at high frame rates. The CPU's benchmark scores confirm its capability: the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14551 and single-core score of 1759 place it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34083.

The CPU's role in Doom is critical at low resolutions, where the high frame rates approach the limits of what the processor can deliver. The 1080p Low result of 309 FPS is likely near the CPU's maximum draw call throughput, as the processor's PassMark single-thread score of 3509 and multithread score of 25933 indicate strong per-core performance. The fact that the 1080p Low and 1080p Medium results (309 and 269 FPS) are so close to the 1440p Low result (200 FPS) suggests that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's demands even at the highest frame rates.

At 4K, the CPU becomes less relevant, as the GPU's pixel throughput limits the frame rate to between 65 and 108 FPS depending on the preset. The CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample processing power for the game's physics and AI systems, but Doom is not a heavily multi-threaded title. The measured data shows that the CPU is never the bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rates at this resolution are consistently below what the CPU could theoretically support.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (0.3% slower), AMD EPYC 4244P (0.4% faster), and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.4% faster). These differences are negligible for gaming, and the CPU's 28 W TDP ensures that it can maintain its boost clock without excessive thermal throttling. The PassMark data compression score of 291161 and floating point math score of 66273 further indicate that the CPU has sufficient compute resources for game logic, but the measured frame rates show that the GPU is the dominant factor in Doom's performance across all tested settings.