Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a top-tier result in Doom, posting frame rates that place it comfortably among the fastest tested configurations. The combo ranks 45th out of 2,930 combinations, placing it in the top 1.5% of all tested systems for this title. This ranking reflects the synergy between a high-core-count Arrow Lake processor and the flagship Blackwell GPU, both of which are operating near their respective performance ceilings in this 2016 FPS title. The measured data shows that this pairing delivers exceptional headroom for high-refresh-rate displays, even at maximum settings and 4K resolution, which is a demanding scenario for any hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 45 out of 2,930 tested configurations places it in the 98.5th percentile of all pairings evaluated in Doom. This is an outstanding result, though not the absolute top, indicating that a few combinations—likely those with even more specialized high-frequency CPUs or overclocked variants—manage to edge ahead. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265’s average benchmark score of 64,640 places it at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 5090’s average score of 79,842 puts it at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. Neither component is the single absolute leader in its category, but their combined performance in Doom is greater than the sum of their individual percentile rankings suggests, pointing to efficient utilization of both resources.

Against its nearest CPU rivals, the Core Ultra 7 265 shows a tight cluster of results. The AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64,823, a mere 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64,438, 0.3% lower. The AMD EPYC 7343 trails by 0.7% with a score of 64,202, and the AMD EPYC 9124 leads by 0.7% with 65,104. These delta percentages are nearly negligible in real-world gaming terms, confirming that the 265 is operating within a performance band where architectural differences have minimal impact on average scores. For Doom specifically, the 265’s 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient, as the game’s id Tech 6 engine scales well across multiple threads but does not require the massive core counts of server-class chips.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090’s nearest rivals are all data-center or mobile parts, which underscores its position as a desktop flagship. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605, 0.3% higher, while the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396, 0.6% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT trails by 1.1% with 78,940, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X leads by 1.4% with 80,959. These comparisons are drawn from synthetic averages, but in Doom’s measured FPS, the RTX 5090’s advantage is decisive, particularly at 4K where GPU-bound scenarios dominate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this combo for Doom, especially at higher resolutions. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is far beyond what Doom requires but ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets never become a bottleneck. The GPU’s base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. These clocks are high for a flagship part, and the boost behavior is sustained under load, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across repeated runs.

At 4K Ultra settings, the RTX 5090 achieves 96 FPS average, which is a strong result for a game released in 2016 but still demanding at maximum settings. The GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample compute for the game’s lighting and particle effects. The 176 ROPs ensure that pixel throughput at 4K (3840x2160) is not a limiting factor, with a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s. The 680 TMUs handle texture filtering efficiently, and the 21,760 shading units process the game’s shader workloads with ease.

The RTX 5090’s percentile ranking of 92 places it just below the very top GPUs, but its nearest rivals in the data are not consumer gaming cards, which means in a gaming context it faces little competition. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18,355 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,728 confirm its compute capabilities, while the Passmark G3D score of 39,650 shows strong DirectX performance. For Doom, which supports Vulkan, the GPU’s Vulkan 1.4 API support is directly relevant, and the measured FPS reflects that the API is well-utilized.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 plays a supporting but critical role in this combo. With 20 cores and 20 threads, it provides ample parallel processing for Doom’s engine, which can utilize multiple threads for physics, AI, and rendering tasks. The base clock of 2.40 GHz is modest, but the boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is excellent—crucial for a game engine where the main thread often determines minimum frame rates. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache reduce memory latency, and the CPU’s DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient data throughput to keep the GPU fed.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 265 scores 42,216 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,960 in single-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The Passmark multi-thread score of 49,682 and single-thread score of 4,689 further confirm its balanced capabilities. For Doom, the CPU’s role becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. At 1080p Low settings, the combo hits 454 FPS average, which is so high that the CPU’s boost clock and cache architecture are likely the limiting factors, not the GPU.

The 265’s nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks are a mix of EPYC server chips and a sibling variant (the 265F), with deltas under 1%. This indicates that the 265 is not an outlier in raw compute, but its combination of high single-thread boost (5.30 GHz) and 20 cores makes it well-suited for Doom’s mixed workload. The CPU’s TDP of 65 W is low for a 20-core part, which means it can sustain boost clocks without thermal throttling in most systems, ensuring consistent frame times.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional results: 454 FPS on Low, 396 FPS on Medium (with a min of 336 and max of 455), 334 FPS on High, and 273 FPS on Ultra. These numbers are far above any display refresh rate currently available, indicating that at 1080p, the bottleneck is almost entirely CPU-driven, as the RTX 5090 is capable of far higher output.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but show the GPU starting to take on more responsibility. Low settings produce 294 FPS, Medium yields 256 FPS (min 218, max 295), High drops to 216 FPS, and Ultra falls to 177 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings is roughly 35-40%, which is consistent with the increase in pixel count (1.78x) but mitigated by the GPU’s massive bandwidth. At 1440p, the combo still exceeds 170 FPS at Ultra, making it ideal for high-refresh 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5090’s role becomes dominant. Low settings average 159 FPS, Medium averages 139 FPS (min 118, max 160), High averages 117 FPS, and Ultra averages 96 FPS. These figures show that even at 4K, the combo maintains playable frame rates at all settings, with Ultra dropping just below 100 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is roughly 45-50%, reflecting the 2.25x pixel increase, but the GPU’s 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 32 GB memory prevent any stuttering or texture pop-in.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck. At 1080p, the average FPS across all settings is around 364 FPS, while at 4K it falls to about 128 FPS, a 65% reduction. This is a steeper drop than the pure pixel count would suggest (2.25x), indicating that the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU at 1080p is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the 454 FPS result is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame generation capability, as the RTX 5090’s raw throughput would allow even higher numbers if the CPU could keep up.

From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more moderate. At Medium settings, 1440p yields 256 FPS and 4K yields 139 FPS, a 46% reduction. At Ultra, 1440p yields 177 FPS and 4K yields 96 FPS, a 46% reduction as well. This consistency suggests that at these resolutions, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, and the RTX 5090’s scaling with resolution is predictable. The min FPS values at Medium (118 at 4K, 218 at 1440p, 336 at 1080p) show that frame pacing remains stable, with no severe drops that would indicate CPU stalls or VRAM issues.

The data indicates that 1080p is CPU-bound, 4K is GPU-bound, and 1440p is a balanced point where both components contribute. For users with 1440p high-refresh displays, this combo is ideal, as it never drops below 170 FPS even at Ultra. For 4K, the Ultra setting at 96 FPS is just below the 100 FPS threshold commonly associated with 4K high-refresh gaming, but High at 117 FPS provides a comfortable margin.

FAQ

Q: Does the RTX 5090’s 32 GB VRAM matter for Doom?

A: Doom is a 2016 title that does not require more than a few GB of VRAM, but the 32 GB capacity ensures no memory-related stuttering, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth allows for maxed-out texture streaming at 4K without any performance dips.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data suggests so. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 454 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit, as the RTX 5090’s compute capability would allow for higher numbers. The CPU’s 5.30 GHz boost clock and 20 threads are still strong, but the frame ceiling is visible at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: According to the measured data, High settings at 3840x2160 yield 117 FPS average, which is better than Ultra’s 96 FPS. The difference in visual quality between High and Ultra is typically small, so High offers a better balance of frame rate and fidelity.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 5090’s nearest GPU rivals in Doom?

A: The nearest rivals are Tesla P100 and Radeon Pro parts, which are not gaming GPUs. In Doom, the RTX 5090’s gaming-specific features and driver optimizations give it a significant advantage, though the deltaPct in synthetic scores is under 1.5%.

Q: Does the CPU’s 20-core count help in Doom?

A: Doom’s engine scales well across multiple threads, so the 20 cores provide headroom for background tasks and ensure no core saturation. However, the game’s main thread is more dependent on the 5.30 GHz boost clock, which is excellent for this workload.

Q: What is the expected frame time consistency at 1440p Ultra?

A: At 2560x1440 Ultra, the combo averages 177 FPS with no min FPS reported, but at Medium, the min is 218 FPS, suggesting that frame pacing is stable. Given the high average, the experience is smooth and tear-free on 144Hz or 165Hz monitors.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the optimal setting is High, which delivers 117 FPS average compared to Ultra’s 96 FPS. The 21 FPS difference is substantial, and High retains most visual features that matter in Doom’s fast-paced action. If a user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity over frame rate, Ultra at 96 FPS is still playable, but High offers a better experience for competitive play. At 1440p, Ultra is the best choice, as it achieves 177 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors. The visual upgrade from High to Ultra is worth the 39 FPS drop, as the frame rate remains very high. At 1080p, all settings produce frame rates above 273 FPS, so Ultra is recommended to maximize image quality without any perceptible performance cost. The Medium setting provides the most consistent frame pacing, with min FPS values reported at all resolutions, but the averages are so high that even Ultra will not cause noticeable stuttering. For users with variable refresh rate monitors, enabling them will smooth out any minor frame time fluctuations, but the data shows this combo is exceptionally stable across all tested configurations.