Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a classic high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU combination. In Doom, this pairing produces playable results at 1080p and 1440p, but the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor as resolution and settings increase. The data shows a system that can handle the game's fast-paced action smoothly at lower presets, but it will struggle to maintain high refresh rates at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Doom with this combo for a high refresh rate experience?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo achieves an average of 150.6 FPS on Low and 110.5 FPS on High settings. This is the only resolution where the system consistently delivers frame rates above the 100 FPS mark, making it the target for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 50.1 on Low to 29.5 on Ultra. For a playable experience, you would need to use the Low preset, as the Medium preset drops to 45 FPS and High falls to 40.1 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in raw performance?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics. It is 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, indicating these cards perform nearly identically in synthetic tests.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the system hits 150.6 FPS, but the CPU's massive processing power is not fully utilized. The CPU's average benchmark score of 79102 puts it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU only sits in the 55th percentile, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between Ultra and High settings at 1440p?

A: The drop from High to Ultra at 2560x1440 costs 9.9 FPS, bringing the average from 67.5 FPS down to 57.6 FPS. This is a significant 14.7% performance hit for the visual upgrade.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1474th out of 1681 tested combinations for Doom. This places it in the lower portion of the database, reflecting the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than the CPU's high-end capability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the defining component in this system's gaming performance. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for Doom's texture-heavy environments at 1080p and 1440p. The GPU's base clock runs at 1530 MHz and boosts up to 1785 MHz, and the data shows these clocks translate into a PassMark G3D score of 12699.

The GPU's 1408 shading units and 88 texture mapping units handle Doom's Vulkan-based rendering efficiently. Benchmark results show the card achieves a PassMark DirectX 11 score of 104, but a significantly lower DirectX 12 score of 50, indicating the card's Turing architecture is not optimized for the newer API. However, Doom is known for its Vulkan support, and the GPU's Geekbench Vulkan score of 59933 suggests it can leverage this API effectively.

The performance data reveals a clear pattern: the GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs means it is positioned at the lower end of mid-range hardware. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 29.5, which is below the 30 FPS threshold generally considered playable. The card's 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is simply not enough to push 8.3 million pixels at high detail settings. Even at 1440p, the Ultra preset only manages 57.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced shooter.

The GPU's memory capacity also becomes a factor at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but shows strain at 4K, particularly on Ultra settings where texture streaming demands exceed the available memory. The card's 48 ROPs limit pixel throughput, which is why we see such a dramatic FPS drop when moving from 1440p High (67.5 FPS) to 4K High (40.1 FPS).

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide exceptional single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060. This is critical for Doom's game logic and physics calculations, which rely heavily on single-thread speed.

The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to frequently used data, reducing latency in gameplay scenarios. Its PassMark single-thread score of 4904 places it among the fastest desktop processors available. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR5 memory with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensure it can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU's dominance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 50009 and PassMark multithread score of 58838 demonstrate massive parallel processing capability. However, in gaming, this power is largely untapped. The CPU's 97th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 55th percentile creates a massive imbalance. In Doom, the data indicates the CPU is never the limiting factor; at 1080p Low, the system reaches 150.6 FPS, but the CPU could likely push far higher if the GPU allowed.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals shows how close the top-tier processors are. The Core Ultra 7 265K scores 0.2% lower than the Core Ultra 7 265KF and Core i9-14900KF, and 0.9% lower than the Core i9-14900K. These tiny deltas mean that swapping to any of these CPUs would not change gaming results with this GPU. The CPU's 20 threads are more than sufficient for Doom, which typically uses fewer than 8 threads, meaning the game leaves most of the CPU's capacity idle.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1474th out of 1681 tested combos for Doom. This places the system in the bottom 12% of all configurations in the database. This ranking is almost entirely due to the GPU, as the CPU is one of the most powerful consumer processors available.

The ranking reflects the reality of pairing a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU. While the CPU's 97th percentile performance is wasted in this configuration for gaming, the GPU's 55th percentile performance caps the system's potential. The data shows this combo performs roughly in line with other GTX 1660 SUPER configurations, regardless of the CPU used.

Comparatively, the GPU's nearest rivals — AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics — all produce similar average scores within 0.2% of each other. This means that any of these GPUs paired with the Core Ultra 7 265K would likely produce nearly identical gaming results. The system's ranking is more indicative of the GPU's tier than the CPU's capability.

The 1681 total combos include many configurations with lower-end CPUs but higher-end GPUs, which would outrank this setup. The inverse — this CPU with a high-end GPU — would rank much higher, demonstrating that the bottleneck is firmly on the graphics side. For Doom specifically, the game's well-optimized engine means even older GPUs can perform well, but the 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM and 48 ROPs limit its ability to compete with cards that have more memory and pixel throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. On Low settings, the average FPS is 150.6, which drops to 131.7 on Medium, 110.5 on High, and 89 on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 61.6 FPS, representing a 40.9% reduction in frame rate for maximum visual quality. All 1080p presets are playable, with even Ultra staying above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. The Low preset averages 96.5 FPS, Medium averages 85.8 FPS, High averages 67.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 57.6 FPS. The High preset at 1440p provides 67.5 FPS, which is smooth, but the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS, making it less ideal for competitive play. The jump from 1080p to 1440p at High settings costs 43 FPS, a 38.9% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. The Low preset averages 50.1 FPS, Medium averages 45 FPS, High averages 40.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 29.5 FPS. Only the Low preset exceeds 50 FPS, and the Ultra preset is below the 30 FPS playability threshold. The drop from 1440p High (67.5 FPS) to 4K High (40.1 FPS) is 27.4 FPS, a 40.6% reduction.

The scaling across resolutions shows the GPU's memory bandwidth constraint. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 150.6 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 50.1 FPS, a 66.7% reduction. The settings scaling at 4K is also steep: Low to Ultra is a 20.6 FPS difference, but the percentage drop is 41.1%, showing that the GPU cannot maintain performance as quality increases at high resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For a 1920x1080 display, the High preset at 110.5 FPS is the optimal balance. It provides a significant visual improvement over Low and Medium while staying well above 100 FPS. The Ultra preset at 89 FPS is also viable, offering 21.5 FPS less than High for maximum quality. For competitive play where frame rate matters most, the Low preset at 150.6 FPS is the best choice.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 67.5 FPS is the recommended setting. It maintains smooth gameplay while delivering good visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 85.8 FPS provides a higher frame rate but with reduced visual effects. The Ultra preset at 57.6 FPS is borderline; it may be acceptable for single-player, but the frame rate dips below 60 FPS could cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced combat.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 50.1 FPS is the only sensible choice. The Medium preset at 45 FPS and High at 40.1 FPS do not provide enough visual benefit to justify the frame rate loss. The Ultra preset at 29.5 FPS is not recommended for gameplay. None of the 4K presets reach 60 FPS, so this resolution should only be used if you prioritize resolution over smoothness.

Overall, the data indicates that 1080p High is the sweet spot for this combination. It delivers 110.5 FPS, which is smooth for a fast-paced FPS, while the High preset's visual quality is close to Ultra. If you have a 1440p monitor, the High preset at 67.5 FPS is a viable alternative, but do not expect to use Ultra settings. For 4K, stick to Low settings and accept the lower frame rate.