Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT shows a clear progression as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 194 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at High settings drops that to 126 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 3840x2160 High, the average falls to 68 FPS, which is 65% below the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the system becomes progressively more GPU-limited as pixel count rises.

The Low settings row tells a similar story but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the average is 264 FPS, while 1440p Low produces 171 FPS and 4K Low yields 93 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 65%, nearly identical to the High preset's 65% reduction. This consistency suggests that the scaling is primarily resolution-driven rather than setting-driven.

The Medium preset shows the only complete min/max data in the measured set. At 1080p Medium, the average is 230 FPS with a minimum of 196 FPS and maximum of 265 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 149 FPS with min/max of 127/171 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 81 FPS with min/max of 69/93 FPS. The gap between minimum and maximum FPS narrows as resolution climbs, from 69 FPS at 1080p to 24 FPS at 4K, indicating that frame pacing becomes more consistent when the GPU is more heavily loaded.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates across all resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 159 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, 103 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, 56 FPS. The 1080p-to-4K drop at Ultra is 65%, again matching the other presets. This uniform scaling across all four quality levels strongly indicates that the limiting component transitions from the CPU at lower resolutions to the GPU at higher resolutions, but the proportional relationship remains stable.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU has headroom to spare, as even Ultra settings maintain well above 144 FPS. At 1440p, the GPU begins to assert dominance, with Ultra dropping to 103 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is decisively the bottleneck, with only the Low preset exceeding 90 FPS. Users targeting 4K should expect to sacrifice quality settings to maintain high frame rates, while 1080p and 1440p users have more flexibility.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT achieves a rank of 1054 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the 64th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 64% of combos tested in this game perform worse, while 36% perform better. The rank reflects the mid-to-upper tier positioning of this pairing, consistent with the GPU's 67th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 93rd percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores provide context for its contribution. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 scores 64,640 average across all benchmarks, with the AMD EPYC 4464P scoring 64,823 (0.3% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scoring 64,438 (0.3% lower), the AMD EPYC 7343 scoring 64,202 (0.7% lower), and the AMD EPYC 9124 scoring 65,104 (0.7% higher). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the CPU sits in a tightly clustered group where no single rival provides a meaningful advantage in synthetic tests.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT posts an average benchmark score of 22,549. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 22,435 (0.5% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile at 22,729 (0.8% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22,895 (1.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 at 22,170 (1.7% lower). These small deltas indicate that the RX 7700 XT performs in a band where desktop and mobile parts from both NVIDIA and AMD converge within a 3% performance window.

In Doom specifically, the 1054th rank out of 2930 combos suggests that this pairing is competitive but not exceptional. The game's 2016 release date means it is not particularly demanding by modern standards, yet the combo still lands in the upper third of tested systems. This positioning aligns with the GPU's percentile ranking, suggesting the GPU is the primary determinant of in-game placement, while the CPU's high synthetic scores do not translate into a top-tier gaming rank because the game is not heavily multithreaded.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed. These specifications are directly relevant to Doom's performance, as the game's texture-heavy environments and effects benefit from adequate VRAM capacity and bandwidth. The 12 GB allocation is sufficient for all tested resolutions and settings, as evidenced by the consistent scaling patterns across quality presets.

Clock speeds for the GPU show a base of 1435 MHz, a game clock of 2171 MHz, and a boost clock of 2544 MHz. The difference between base and boost clocks is substantial, indicating that the card can dynamically increase performance under load. In Doom, which is a well-optimized Vulkan and OpenGL title, the GPU likely operates near its boost clock during sustained gameplay, contributing to the high frame rates observed at lower resolutions.

The GPU's compute resources include 3456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The pixel rate is 244.2 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 549.5 GTexel/s. These figures support the measured FPS data: at 4K Ultra, the 56 FPS average suggests the GPU is near its fill-rate limits, while at 1080p Low, the 264 FPS average indicates the GPU has ample headroom. The FP32 performance of 35.17 TFLOPS provides additional context for the GPU's overall capability, though Doom's rendering workload is more dependent on rasterization throughput than raw compute.

The GPU's benchmark results across different APIs show varying strengths. PassMark DirectX 11 scores 232, DirectX 12 scores 79, and DirectX 9 scores 294. The higher DirectX 9 and 11 scores suggest that legacy API performance is solid, which is relevant for Doom given its 2016 release. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3316 indicates modern DirectX 12 performance, while Geekbench Vulkan scores 46,443 and OpenCL scores 138,383. These varied results demonstrate the GPU's versatility across different rendering paths.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest recorded average is 264 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The maximum observed frame rate in any measurement is 265 FPS, recorded at 1080p Medium.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 56 FPS. This is the lowest average across all tested configurations, indicating that 4K Ultra is not ideal for smooth gameplay with this pairing.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for Doom performance with this combo?

A: The data shows that at 1080p, even Ultra settings maintain 159 FPS average, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 65% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings.

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

A: The combo ranks 1054th out of 2930 tested combos. This places it in the upper third of all configurations tested in this game.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7700 XT scores 22,549 on average. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22,895 (1.5% higher), the RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22,729 (0.8% higher), the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 22,435 (0.5% lower), and the RX 5700 scores 22,170 (1.7% lower).

Q: What is the frame time consistency at different resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the gap between minimum (196 FPS) and maximum (265 FPS) is 69 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the gap narrows to 44 FPS (127 to 171 FPS). At 4K Medium, the gap further narrows to 24 FPS (69 to 93 FPS), indicating more consistent frame pacing at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080 users, the data shows that all settings presets deliver playable frame rates. Ultra settings produce 159 FPS average, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. Given that the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 196 FPS, and no minimum data is recorded for other presets, Ultra is a safe recommendation for 1080p without sacrificing visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the choice becomes more nuanced. High settings yield 126 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 103 FPS. Both are playable, but the 23 FPS difference may be noticeable on 144Hz displays. Medium settings offer 149 FPS average with a minimum of 127 FPS, providing a balance between visual fidelity and frame rate headroom. For users with 144Hz monitors, Medium or High are recommended, while Ultra is acceptable for 60Hz displays.

For 3840x2160, the data presents a clear trade-off. Ultra settings average 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for many users. High settings improve this to 68 FPS, Medium to 81 FPS, and Low to 93 FPS. The Medium preset offers the best combination of visual quality and frame rate, with a minimum of 69 FPS ensuring that even demanding scenes stay above 60 FPS. Users with 60Hz displays can comfortably use High, while those prioritizing frame rate should consider Low.

The measured data suggests that the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, it delivers 230 FPS with a narrow 69 FPS min-max spread. At 1440p, it maintains 149 FPS with a 44 FPS spread. At 4K, it achieves 81 FPS with a 24 FPS spread. This consistency makes Medium a reliable default recommendation, with adjustments based on display refresh rate and personal preference for visual quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU has a 65W TDP and is built on TSMC's 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The architecture is Arrow Lake-S, part of the Core Ultra Series 2, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. This configuration provides substantial multithreading capability, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42,216 and a single-core score of 5,960.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The game, released in 2016, was designed for older multi-core processors, and the 20-core Ultra 7 265 provides far more parallel processing capability than the game requires. This is reflected in the measured FPS data: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 264 FPS average, which is likely near the game engine's frame rate ceiling rather than a CPU limitation. The high single-core performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4,689) ensures that the game's primary thread is handled efficiently.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64,640. Its nearest rivals are all server-class EPYC processors, which indicates that the Ultra 7 265 competes with enterprise silicon in raw throughput. However, in gaming workloads like Doom, the CPU's advantage over less powerful processors is unlikely to manifest as higher FPS because the game is not CPU-bound at the tested settings and resolutions.

The PassMark physics score of 2,923 and multithread score of 49,682 provide additional context for the CPU's gaming performance. Physics processing, which is relevant to Doom's combat interactions and environmental destruction, benefits from the CPU's 20 cores. However, Doom's engine is well-optimized and does not heavily tax even moderate CPUs, so the Ultra 7 265's capability in this area is more than sufficient.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 264 FPS, Medium produces 230 FPS with a minimum of 196 FPS and maximum of 265 FPS, High produces 194 FPS, and Ultra produces 159 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is 34 FPS, from Medium to High is 36 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 35 FPS. This consistent ~35 FPS drop per quality level suggests each preset increment adds a similar GPU workload.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 171 FPS for Low, 149 FPS for Medium (min 127, max 171), 126 FPS for High, and 103 FPS for Ultra. The deltas between settings are 22 FPS from Low to Medium, 23 FPS from Medium to High, and 23 FPS from High to Ultra. The absolute differences are smaller than at 1080p, but the relative pattern remains consistent. The Medium preset's minimum of 127 FPS ensures the frame rate stays above 120 FPS even in demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 93 FPS for Low, 81 FPS for Medium (min 69, max 93), 68 FPS for High, and 56 FPS for Ultra. The deltas are 12 FPS from Low to Medium, 13 FPS from Medium to High, and 12 FPS from High to Ultra. At this resolution, the GPU is the dominant bottleneck, and each quality level has a smaller absolute impact on frame rate than at lower resolutions.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data. At 1080p, the min-max spread is 69 FPS (196 to 265 FPS). At 1440p, the spread is 44 FPS (127 to 171 FPS). At 4K, the spread is 24 FPS (69 to 93 FPS). This narrowing spread indicates that at higher resolutions, the frame rate becomes more stable because the GPU workload is more uniform, whereas at lower resolutions, frame time variance is more pronounced due to CPU and game engine variations.