Doom

Doom, the 2016 reboot of the id Software franchise, remains a demanding title that scales significantly with hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT. The data indicates a system capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p, with substantial headroom at higher resolutions, though the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases. The following breakdown uses the measured FPS data to characterize the behavior of this specific configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 242 FPS on Low to 145 FPS on Ultra. This represents a 97 FPS reduction, or approximately 40% lower performance when moving to the highest preset.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: The average FPS on the High preset falls from 178 at 1920x1080 to 115 at 2560x1440, and further to 62 at 3840x2160. This indicates a performance drop of roughly 35% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% drop when moving from 1440p to 4K.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in the measured data?

A: The highest average frame rate is 242 FPS, which is achieved at the 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Does this system maintain a 60 FPS average at 4K?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 62 FPS for High and 74 FPS for Medium. However, the Ultra preset dips to an average of 51 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rival in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640. Its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 4464P, scores 64823, which is a 0.3% difference. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F is 0.3% behind, and the AMD EPYC 9124 is 0.7% ahead.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT holds a percentile rank of 71, indicating it performs better than 71% of all GPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score is 26011.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is a RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 2600 MHz, with a game clock of 2495 MHz. In this configuration, the GPU's role is central to the frame rates observed in Doom, particularly as resolution increases.

At 1920x1080, the GPU's capabilities are sufficient to produce very high frame rates, with the CPU likely not being the primary limiting factor at lower settings. The data shows that the GPU can push an average of 242 FPS at Low settings, which suggests a strong rendering pipeline for this title. However, the gap between Low and Ultra presets at 1080p (242 FPS vs 145 FPS) highlights the significant impact of the GPU's shading units, texture mapping units, and pixel rate when handling increased graphical loads.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are tasked with processing the game's visual effects. As resolution scales to 2560x1440, the average FPS on High drops to 115, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 62. This pattern is a classic indicator of GPU-bound performance, where the demand on the Radeon RX 6750 XT's 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and pixel fill rate (166.4 GPixel/s) increases exponentially with pixel count. The 12 GB VRAM buffer is adequate for the measured presets, as the data does not indicate any performance anomalies that would suggest memory capacity limitations. The GPU's performance percentile of 71 places it in a solid mid-to-high tier, which aligns with its ability to deliver playable frame rates at 1440p and entry-level 4K in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a system that becomes increasingly GPU-limited. The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 is significant, but the jump to 3840x2160 is even more pronounced.

On the High preset, the average FPS is 178 at 1080p, 115 at 1440p, and 62 at 4K. This represents a 35.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 46.1% drop from 1440p to 4K. The doubling of pixel count from 1080p to 4K results in a 65.2% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the RX 6750 XT's rendering throughput is being heavily taxed at the highest resolution. The Low preset shows a similar trend, with 242 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. While the absolute numbers are higher, the relative drop from 1080p to 4K (64.9%) is nearly identical, suggesting that the scaling is consistent across settings.

This data implies that for a 60 FPS target, the system is viable at 4K on High and Medium presets, but Ultra is only playable at 1440p and below. The limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU. The CPU's performance, while not directly measured in this game-specific context, has enough headroom based on its high multi-threaded scores (e.g., 42216 in Cinebench R23) to not be the bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU's pixel processing speed is the primary constraint. The inverse is true at 1080p Low, where the high frame rates suggest the GPU is still keeping pace, but the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes more relevant, though the data does not show a plateau that would indicate a hard CPU limit.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of this system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. Here is the exact breakdown:

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Low: Average FPS of 242.
• Medium: Average FPS of 210, with a minimum of 179 and maximum of 242.
• High: Average FPS of 178.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 145.
• The spread from Low to Ultra is 97 FPS, showing a 40% decrease in performance.

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Low: Average FPS of 156.
• Medium: Average FPS of 136, with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 157.
• High: Average FPS of 115.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 94.
• The spread from Low to Ultra is 62 FPS, a 39.7% decrease.

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Low: Average FPS of 85.
• Medium: Average FPS of 74, with a minimum of 63 and maximum of 85.
• High: Average FPS of 62.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 51.
• The spread from Low to Ultra is 34 FPS, a 40% decrease.

The data shows a consistent relative performance gap between settings presets across all resolutions. The Medium preset offers a notable jump from Low, while Ultra provides the most significant graphical quality increase at the cost of roughly 40% of the performance compared to Low. The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset indicate that frame pacing remains consistent, with the minimum being within a reasonable range of the average. For instance, at 1440p Medium, the minimum of 116 FPS is 85% of the average, suggesting a stable experience without severe stutters.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT combination is ranked 1301 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 55.6th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating it performs better than a majority of systems but is not at the top tier. This ranking is consistent with the hardware's overall benchmark standings: the CPU is in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 71st percentile among all GPUs. The combo's rank suggests that while the CPU is a high-end part, the GPU is the limiting factor in achieving higher frame rates in this game.

The system's position in the middle of the pack is noteworthy. It outperforms the lower half of the database, but it is outclassed by configurations with more powerful GPUs. The nearest GPU rivals, such as the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (0.5% slower) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (1.1% faster), have similar average benchmark scores, but this does not directly translate to game-specific performance. The rank of 1301 suggests that this specific pairing is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, but for 4K Ultra settings, it would fall behind systems with higher-tier GPUs that are ranked higher in the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU's substantial multi-threading capabilities are evident in its benchmark scores, such as 42216 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 49682 in Passmark multithread. In Doom, a game that primarily relies on a few high-performance threads, the CPU's single-core performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960.

The role of the CPU in this configuration is to ensure that the GPU is fed with enough data to maintain high frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 242 FPS. At this level, the CPU's processing power is crucial for handling game logic and draw calls. The high boost clock of 5.30 GHz helps in this regard, as Doom's engine benefits from high IPC and clock speeds. However, the data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound workload, as the CPU's performance does not degrade with resolution, while the GPU's does.

The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide a large pool for data that can be reused across frames. This helps maintain consistent frame times. The 65W TDP indicates that the processor is power-efficient, which allows the system to allocate more power budget to the GPU if necessary. In this specific game, the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it has ample headroom. The lack of a measured FPS plateau at lower resolutions or settings implies that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output, making the Radeon RX 6750 XT the definitive performance limiter as resolution and settings increase.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and frame rate preference. The data provides clear guidance on which presets deliver the best experience for different scenarios.

• For 1080p esports or high-refresh-rate displays: The Low preset, with an average of 242 FPS, is the best choice for maximizing frame rate. If a higher visual quality is preferred, the Medium preset still offers a very high 210 FPS average, which is ideal for 144Hz or 165Hz monitors. The High preset at 178 FPS is also suitable for 144Hz displays, providing a good balance between visuals and speed. The Ultra preset at 145 FPS is still playable but sacrifices some smoothness for maximum detail.

• For 1440p gaming: The Ultra preset, averaging 94 FPS, is a viable option for 60Hz to 100Hz displays, offering the best visual quality. The High preset at 115 FPS is the sweet spot for 100Hz+ monitors, providing a significant performance boost over Ultra with a minor visual compromise. The Medium preset at 136 FPS is also excellent for high refresh rate 1440p displays. Given the data, High is recommended as it ensures a smooth experience on most 1440p high-refresh monitors while maintaining good fidelity.

• For 4K gaming: The Medium preset, with an average of 74 FPS, is the only preset that consistently stays above the 60 FPS target. The High preset at 62 FPS is also technically above 60 FPS, but it has less headroom. The Ultra preset at 51 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold. Therefore, for a 4K60 experience, the Medium preset is the best choice, offering a stable frame rate with a minimum of 63 FPS. The Low preset at 85 FPS is an option for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but Medium provides the best balance of performance and image quality at this resolution.

In summary, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the most versatile, delivering high frame rates across all three resolutions, while the High preset is excellent for 1440p and acceptable for 4K. The Ultra preset is best reserved for 1440p, where it can still achieve a playable frame rate.