Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a robust 1080p experience in Doom, with performance scaling predictably as resolution increases. Benchmark data shows this combination ranks 1577th out of 2930 tested combos for this title, placing it in the upper half of the database. The measured frame rates across four settings presets and three resolutions reveal a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the 20-core processor provides ample headroom at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings presets, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 165 at 1920x1080 to 107 at 2560x1440, then to 58 at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that has ample compute power at lower resolutions but begins to saturate its memory bandwidth and shading resources as the render target grows.

At Low settings, the same trend emerges: 224 FPS at 1080p drops to 145 FPS at 1440p (a 35% decrease) and then to 79 FPS at 4K (a 45% decrease from 1440p). The similarity in percentage drops across Low and High presets suggests that resolution scaling is dominated by the GPU's rasterization throughput rather than by specific settings features. The RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for 4K textures in this title, but the raw pixel throughput of 201.0 GPixel/s becomes the bottleneck at 3840x2160.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest resolution penalty. The average FPS at 1080p is 135, dropping to 87 at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 47 at 4K (a 46% reduction from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth for an FPS, while the 1440p Ultra result of 87 FPS remains highly playable. Medium settings sit between Low and High: 195 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium at 4K is 58, matching the High preset's average at that resolution, which suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable during intense combat sequences.

The frame rate behavior across resolutions indicates that the 2560x1440 resolution is the sweet spot for this combo. The GPU delivers 107 FPS at High and 126 FPS at Medium, both comfortably above 100 FPS, while 4K High at 58 FPS is borderline and 4K Ultra at 47 FPS falls short of smooth gameplay expectations. The scaling data shows diminishing returns when moving from 1440p to 4K, as the RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is stretched thin by the 8.3 million pixel count of 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die. Its 6144 shading units operate at a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, delivering 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory runs at 1750 MHz with a 28 Gbps effective data rate, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth across the 192-bit bus. These specifications place the RTX 5070 in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 40377.

In Doom, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 89 FPS (224 vs 135), which indicates that the GPU can easily handle the lower preset and has spare capacity to render additional effects at higher presets. At 4K, the same preset range yields only 32 FPS difference (79 vs 47), showing that the GPU is nearing its limits regardless of settings. The texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s are the key metrics that determine how quickly the GPU can fill the screen, and the 4K results suggest these rates are insufficient for maintaining high frame rates at maximum settings.

The RTX 5070's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 with an average score of 40318 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at 40063 (0.8% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 40870 (1.2% higher). The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile trails at 39568 (2.0% lower). These close benchmark scores indicate that the RTX 5070 sits in a competitive performance tier, though the Doom-specific results show that its 12 GB memory configuration is adequate for this title's requirements.

The GPU's 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present in the hardware, but Doom's 2016 release predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so these units likely contribute little to the measured frame rates. The fixed-function rasterization pipeline, represented by the 80 ROPs, is what drives the pixel throughput, and the 4K results demonstrate that 80 ROPs can only fill so many pixels per frame. The GPU's dual-slot design and 250 W TDP are consistent with a mid-range enthusiast card that prioritizes efficiency, though the 600 W suggested PSU indicates that system-level power draw is not trivial.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread processor from the Arrow Lake-HX family, built on TSMC's 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz boosts up to 5.30 GHz, and it carries 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth, and its 55 W TDP classifies it as a mobile part despite its high core count. In synthetic benchmarks, the 265HX achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40642 and a single-core score of 5737, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Doom, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p, where the GPU can render frames quickly enough that the processor must keep up with game logic and draw calls. The 224 FPS average at Low settings suggests that the 265HX's 20 cores are more than sufficient for this workload, as the frame rate is likely GPU-limited even at this resolution. The processor's 5.30 GHz boost clock provides strong single-thread performance, which is important for a game engine that typically relies on a few primary threads for simulation and rendering setup.

The CPU's benchmark scores relative to its nearest rivals show a tightly clustered group. The Intel Core i7-13790F averages 63080 (0.1% higher than the 265HX's 63173), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G averages 63331 (0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 averages 62839 (0.5% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX averages 62738 (0.7% lower). These negligible differences suggest that any of these processors would deliver nearly identical Doom performance when paired with the same GPU, reinforcing the conclusion that the RTX 5070 is the performance bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The L3 cache of 30 MB shared across all cores helps maintain high hit rates for game data, while the 3 MB L2 per core reduces latency for frequently accessed memory. The processor's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is modest compared to the GPU's 672.0 GB/s, but Doom's CPU-side memory traffic is far lighter than what the GPU requires for texture streaming and frame buffer operations. The 265HX's PassMark multi-thread score of 47985 and single-thread score of 4500 indicate a balanced design that excels at both heavily threaded and latency-sensitive tasks, which suits Doom's mixed workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with High at 165 FPS and Ultra at 135 FPS. The 30 FPS difference between these two presets may be worth accepting for the visual improvements that Ultra settings provide, especially since even Ultra at 1080p exceeds the refresh rate of most standard 60 Hz monitors. Low settings at 224 FPS offer no meaningful advantage unless the user has a 240 Hz display, and the visual quality loss is significant.

At 2560x1440, the choice becomes more nuanced. High settings at 107 FPS provide a strong balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, while Ultra at 87 FPS remains playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing issues become noticeable. Medium at 126 FPS is the best option for competitive play, offering a 19 FPS advantage over High while still maintaining decent visual quality. Low at 145 FPS is unnecessary unless maximizing frame rate is the sole priority, as the visual degradation is substantial.

For 3840x2160, the recommendations are constrained by the GPU's limits. High settings at 58 FPS are the best balance, providing playable performance with good visual quality. Medium at 68 FPS is the highest frame rate option that remains above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for users who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity. Low at 79 FPS is playable but sacrifices too much visual quality for the modest frame rate gain over Medium. Ultra at 47 FPS should be avoided, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and the visual improvements over High are not worth the 11 FPS penalty.

The Medium preset shows the most consistent behavior across resolutions, with minimum FPS values recorded at each resolution matching the next lower preset's average: 166 FPS minimum at 1080p (matching High's average of 165), 107 FPS minimum at 1440p (matching High's average of 107), and 58 FPS minimum at 4K (matching High's average of 58). This suggests that Medium provides a stable experience without the frame time spikes that might occur at Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 1577th out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the GPU's 82nd percentile score and the CPU's 93rd percentile score, indicating that the combo underperforms relative to what its individual components suggest. The discrepancy arises because Doom is a 2016 title that does not heavily utilize multi-core processors, so the 265HX's 20 cores provide diminishing returns compared to a higher-clocked CPU with fewer cores.

The combo's ranking is influenced by the fact that many higher-ranked systems likely use desktop-class GPUs with greater pixel throughput than the mobile-oriented RTX 5070. The GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is competitive, but its 192-bit memory bus and 12 GB capacity limit its 4K performance compared to cards with wider buses and more memory. The 4K High result of 58 FPS places the combo in a territory where many other systems achieve 60 FPS or higher, which likely pushes the ranking down.

Despite the mid-pack ranking, the combo's performance is consistent with its component specifications. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and GPU's 82nd percentile ranking would predict a combo ranking in the high 80s percentile if the game scaled perfectly with both components, but Doom's single-threaded tendencies mean the CPU's multi-core strength is underutilized. The 1080p results, where the combo achieves 165 FPS at High settings, demonstrate that the system is capable of high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor, but the 4K results highlight the GPU's constraints.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 224, Medium 195, High 165, and Ultra 135. The Medium preset records a minimum FPS of 166 and a maximum of 224, indicating that frame times are consistent with occasional dips. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 40% reduction in frame rate, with each preset step costing approximately 30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 145, Medium 126, High 107, and Ultra 87. The Medium preset's minimum of 107 and maximum of 145 show a 38 FPS range, which is proportionally similar to the 1080p Medium range. The drop from 1080p to 1440p averages 35% across all presets, confirming the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 79, Medium 68, High 58, and Ultra 47. The Medium preset records a minimum of 58 and maximum of 79, which spans the entire range of High's average and Low's average, respectively. The 4K results show that even Low settings cannot reach 80 FPS, and Ultra dips below 50 FPS, making 4K the most demanding scenario for this combo.

The data reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution decreases: 89 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the GPU has enough spare capacity to render the additional effects required by Ultra settings, while at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that the difference between presets shrinks. The minimum FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings, but they consistently match the average FPS of the next lower resolution at the same settings, suggesting that the game's engine maintains stable frame pacing.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 224, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At High settings, the 1080p average is 165 FPS, and at Ultra it drops to 135 FPS.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: At 4K, the combo achieves 79 FPS on Low, 68 FPS on Medium, and 58 FPS on High. Only Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS; High falls just below at 58 FPS, and Ultra is well below at 47 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score is 40377. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 40318 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40063 (0.8% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40870 (1.2% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile scores 39568 (2.0% lower).

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking and how does it compare to the Core Ultra 7 255HX?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 63173. The Core Ultra 7 255HX scores 62738, which is 0.7% lower.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings delivers 107 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining strong visual fidelity. Medium at 1440p offers 126 FPS if higher frame rates are preferred.

Q: What are the GPU's clock speeds and memory specifications?

A: The RTX 5070 has a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. It features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus running at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth.