Doom

The pairing of Intel’s Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with AMD’s Radeon RX 5700 XT presents a fascinating study in system balance for Doom (2016). With the CPU ranking in the 96th percentile among all processors and the GPU sitting in the 59th percentile, the data suggests a significant performance hierarchy at play. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal where the bottleneck shifts and what this specific combination can deliver, ranking 2161st out of 2930 tested combos in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shifting burden of performance. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 188 FPS, but this drops to 121 FPS at 1440p and further to 66 FPS at 4K. This represents a 65% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as the pixel count increases.

The High preset tells a similar story with a slightly compressed range: 138 FPS at 1080p, falling to 89 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 48 FPS at 4K. Here, the drop from 1080p to 4K is 65%, nearly identical to the Low preset’s scaling. This consistency suggests that the resolution scaling pattern is relatively uniform across different quality settings.

However, the Ultra preset behaves differently. It starts at 113 FPS at 1080p, drops to 73 FPS at 1440p, and reaches just 40 FPS at 4K. The decline from 1080p to 4K is 65% here as well, but the absolute values are lower across the board. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 75 FPS, while at 4K it narrows to 26 FPS. This compression of the performance envelope at higher resolutions strongly implies that the RX 5700 XT is the limiting factor at 4K, as even the most demanding settings cant push the frame rate much below the 40 FPS mark, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data in the measured results. At 1080p, the average is 164 FPS with a minimum of 139 and maximum of 188. At 1440p, the average drops to 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 and maximum of 122. At 4K, the average falls to 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 and maximum of 66. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS is tightest at 4K (17 FPS difference) compared to 1080p (49 FPS difference), further suggesting that at higher resolutions the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing frame time variance.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 188, achieved at 1080p with Low settings. The High preset at 1080p reaches 138 FPS, while Medium at 1080p reaches 164 FPS.

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

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 40 FPS. This is the lowest measured performance across all tested configurations, indicating the GPU is heavily taxed at this resolution and quality level.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Given the CPU’s 96th percentile ranking and the RX 5700 XT’s 59th percentile ranking, the data suggests the GPU is the limiting component at 1080p. The 188 FPS at Low settings shows the CPU can push very high frame rates, but the GPU cannot sustain those numbers at higher quality presets.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 121 FPS while Ultra produces 73 FPS. This represents a 48 FPS difference, or roughly 40% lower performance when switching from the lowest to highest quality preset.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top half of tested combinations for this game?

A: Yes, the combo ranks 2161st out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the upper 26% of all tested pairings for Doom. This is a solid position given the GPU’s mid-range percentile ranking.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all measured settings?

A: The lowest minimum FPS reported is 49, which occurs at 4K with Medium settings. The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 90, and at 1080p Medium it is 139.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This Arrow Lake Refresh chip, built on a 3nm process from TSMC, delivers substantial multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,253 and single-core score of 2,439. The PassMark multi-thread score of 68,574 and single-thread score of 5,068 further confirm its strength in both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads.

In the context of Doom, which is a first-person shooter from 2016, the game’s engine can leverage multiple cores but also benefits from strong single-thread performance. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking among all processors means it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs available, and its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are server-class chips like the Intel Xeon 6520P and AMD EPYC 4564P. This indicates that the 270K Plus is far more powerful than necessary for this game.

The measured FPS data supports this assessment. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 188 FPS, which is likely near the practical ceiling for this GPU. The fact that increasing resolution to 1440p drops the Low preset performance to 121 FPS — a 36% reduction — while the CPU remains constant, demonstrates that the GPU is the primary constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect similar frame rates regardless of resolution, which is not the case. The CPU’s 24 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom for the game’s logic, AI, and physics calculations, ensuring that the RX 5700 XT receives a steady stream of frames to render.

The L3 cache of 36 MB shared across the cores and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth also contribute to the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU quickly, reducing potential stutter or frame pacing issues. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.50 GHz is particularly important for Doom, as the game’s single-threaded performance can be a limiting factor on older or weaker processors, but the 270K Plus has this well covered.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings produce 188 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 164 FPS with a minimum of 139 and maximum of 188. High settings drop to 138 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 113 FPS. The variance between settings is substantial, with a 75 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings maintain 121 FPS, Medium achieves 106 FPS (minimum 90, maximum 122), High reaches 89 FPS, and Ultra drops to 73 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 48 FPS, reflecting the increased GPU load at higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more modest. Low settings produce 66 FPS, Medium averages 57 FPS (minimum 49, maximum 66), High manages 48 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The performance envelope is compressed, with only a 26 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. This indicates that at 4K, even the lowest settings push the GPU hard, and the Ultra preset is barely playable by most standards.

The Medium preset’s complete data at all three resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the minimum FPS is always roughly 85% of the average, while the maximum is around 15% higher than the average. This consistency suggests stable frame delivery without major spikes or drops, which is positive for gameplay smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2161st out of 2930 tested combinations for Doom, placing it in the 74th percentile of all tested pairings. This means it outperforms roughly 74% of all CPU-GPU combinations tested in this game, which is a respectable showing for a GPU that only ranks in the 59th percentile among all graphics cards.

The ranking discrepancy between the CPU (96th percentile) and GPU (59th percentile) explains the overall combo position. The 270K Plus is capable of much higher frame rates than the RX 5700 XT can deliver, meaning the GPU holds the combo back from achieving higher ranks. If paired with a more powerful GPU, this CPU could likely rank much higher, but with the RX 5700 XT, the combo is limited by the graphics card’s performance ceiling.

In the context of the benchmark database, this ranking places the combo in the upper-middle tier of tested systems for Doom. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (0.1% faster), NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (0.3% slower), and AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (0.3% slower), all of which are within 1% performance of each other, indicating a tightly clustered performance band around the RX 5700 XT’s level.

Settings Recommendations

Based solely on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers an excellent balance, delivering 164 FPS average with a minimum of 139 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and even exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate common on many displays.

For 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 106 FPS average with a minimum of 90 FPS. This is still highly playable, providing a smooth experience even during intense action sequences. The High preset at 89 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset’s higher minimum frame rate of 90 FPS offers greater consistency.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset produces 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, while Medium achieves 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS. The Low preset at 66 FPS is the only setting that reaches above 60 FPS at 4K. For a playable 4K experience, Low settings are recommended, while Medium may be acceptable for those who prioritize visual quality over frame rate stability.

The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where it achieves 113 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 73 FPS which is still playable, but at 4K it falls to 40 FPS, which is borderline for a fast-paced FPS like Doom. The data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions, making it the default recommendation for this combo.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 10 chip, manufactured on a 7nm process from TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1905 MHz and a game clock of 1755 MHz.

The GPU’s FP32 performance is rated at 9.754 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s. The 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for Doom, which is a 2016 title and does not have the massive texture requirements of modern games. However, the GPU’s 59th percentile ranking among all graphics cards places it in the mid-range tier, and its average benchmark score of 16,361 is closely matched by its nearest rivals, all within 1% performance.

In Doom, the GPU’s role is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the frame rates drop to 40-66 FPS depending on settings, while at 1080p, the GPU can push 113-188 FPS. The 4K performance is constrained by the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth, as the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K with demanding settings.

The GPU’s support for DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 ensures compatibility with Doom’s rendering API. The 8 GB VRAM is not a bottleneck in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is likely limited by raw compute and fill rate rather than memory capacity. The GPU’s boost clock of 1905 MHz helps maintain performance under load, but the RDNA 1.0 architecture’s efficiency is not as high as newer designs, which contributes to the observed performance scaling across resolutions.