Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT shows a steep performance gradient as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 209 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops that to 135 FPS, a reduction of roughly 35%. At 3840x2160 High, the average falls to 73 FPS, which is about 65% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical for a game that becomes progressively more GPU-bound at higher pixel counts, but the absolute numbers reveal where the bottleneck shifts.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low produces 284 FPS versus 171 FPS on Ultra, a spread of 113 FPS. At 1440p, that spread narrows to 74 FPS (184 Low versus 110 Ultra). At 4K, the spread compresses further to 39 FPS (99 Low versus 60 Ultra). This compression indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K; the CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates, but the Radeon RX 7800 XT cannot sustain them when pixel count quadruples.

The 4K Ultra result of 60 FPS is particularly telling. It sits right at the threshold many builders consider the minimum for smooth play, but the 1080p Ultra figure of 171 FPS shows the combo is nowhere near CPU-limited at lower resolutions. The data suggests that at 4K, the RX 7800 XT is the primary constraint, while at 1080p, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus's 24 cores and 5.50 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to feed the GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo hit 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in Doom?

A: Yes, the measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is exactly 60 FPS. It meets the baseline, but there is no headroom for dips, and the Medium preset at 4K delivers 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, which is safer for consistent performance.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the combo averages 160 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS, making it suitable for 144 Hz displays. For 240 Hz panels, 1920x1080 Low at 284 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds that refresh rate.

Q: How does the RX 7800 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 11627 places it at the 51st percentile. It sits 0.9% above the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, 1.3% above the NVIDIA Tesla K20c, and 0.5% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, which is its closest competitor with a deltaPct of -0.5.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus a strong CPU for gaming workloads?

A: The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 96, and its average benchmark score is 93785. It is 1.5% behind the AMD EPYC 4564P and 2.1% behind the AMD EPYC 4565P, but it is effectively tied with the Intel Xeon 6520P at a 0% deltaPct.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 209 FPS. This is well above the 144 Hz threshold and close to 240 Hz, so most players will find High settings at 1080p to be the sweet spot for visual quality versus speed.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity affect Doom's performance?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. In Doom, the 4K High preset still delivers 73 FPS, and the game does not appear to be memory-constrained at any measured setting, as even the 4K Ultra preset maintains a playable average.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, along with 60 ray tracing cores. The chip contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 81.2 million per square millimeter. These specifications translate to a peak FP32 throughput of 37.32 TFLOPS, a texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s, and a pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s.

Clock speeds are set at a 1295 MHz base, a 2124 MHz game clock, and a 2430 MHz boost clock. Memory runs at 2438 MHz with 19.5 Gbps effective speed across a 256-bit bus, yielding 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The 16 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is generous for a card that targets 1440p and entry-level 4K gaming. In Doom, the GPU's role is clear from the scaling data: at 1080p, the card delivers 284 FPS on Low, which suggests it is not the limiting factor there. At 4K Ultra, the same card drops to 60 FPS, indicating that pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are being taxed heavily.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores provide context. It scores 24176 in Passmark G3D, 13473 in Passmark GPU Compute, and 54228 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 11627 places it at the 51st percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 at a 0.5% higher score, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M at 0.9% lower, and the NVIDIA Tesla K20c at 1.3% lower. This suggests that while the RX 7800 XT is a mid-pack performer in synthetic tests, its real-world Doom results are substantially stronger, likely due to the game's optimization for RDNA architectures.

The power delivery requirements are notable: a 263 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, and 2x 8-pin power connectors, with a suggested 600 W power supply. The card measures 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 50 mm in width. For builders, this means the RX 7800 XT needs adequate case clearance and a robust PSU, but the performance data in Doom justifies the physical footprint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces high frame rates across all presets. Low settings yield an average of 284 FPS. Medium settings deliver 247 FPS with a minimum of 210 FPS and a maximum of 284 FPS. High settings drop to 209 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 171 FPS. These numbers place the 1080p experience firmly in high refresh rate territory, with even Ultra exceeding 144 Hz.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the GPU's growing influence. Low settings average 184 FPS. Medium settings deliver 160 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS and a maximum of 184 FPS. High settings drop to 135 FPS. Ultra settings produce 110 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset is the only one that maintains a minimum above 136 FPS, which is important for 144 Hz displays with V-sync enabled.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. Low settings average 99 FPS. Medium settings deliver 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High settings drop to 73 FPS. Ultra settings produce exactly 60 FPS average. The 4K results show a clear hierarchy: Medium is the most balanced preset, offering 87 FPS with a 74 FPS minimum, while Ultra barely hits the 60 FPS floor.

The full dataset shows a consistent pattern: at each resolution, the gap between Low and Medium is smaller than the gap between Medium and High, and the gap between High and Ultra is the largest. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately heavy effects that cost more performance than the visual upgrade justifies, particularly at 4K where the 60 FPS average leaves no margin for error.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the data supports using High settings as the default. The 209 FPS average at 1080p High is well above 144 Hz and close to 240 Hz, making it suitable for most high refresh rate monitors. Ultra at 1080p drops to 171 FPS, which is still playable, but the 38 FPS penalty for Ultra over High is steep for incremental visual gains. Players with 240 Hz displays should consider Low at 284 FPS, but that preset sacrifices too much visual quality for most users.

For 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset. The 160 FPS average with a 136 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay on 144 Hz panels, and the visual quality is acceptable for most titles. High at 1440p drops to 135 FPS, which is below the 144 Hz threshold and may introduce noticeable tearing on standard monitors. Ultra at 1440p produces 110 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. Low at 1440p yields 184 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant.

For 4K, Medium is the only sensible choice. The 87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, while High at 73 FPS is borderline and Ultra at 60 FPS leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. Low at 4K produces 99 FPS, but the visual degradation at this resolution makes it counterproductive. The data clearly indicates that the RX 7800 XT is a 1440p-class card that can handle 4K only with reduced settings.

The overall recommendation across all resolutions is to favor Medium or High presets over Ultra. The performance cost of Ultra is consistently disproportionate to the frame rate drop, and the minimum FPS data for Medium presets shows better stability. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, 1440p Medium or 1080p High are the standout choices from the measured rows.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, codenamed Arrow Lake Refresh. It is built on a 3 nm process at TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The base clock is 3.70 GHz, and the boost clock reaches 5.50 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is dual-channel DDR5 with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, and the CPU has 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes.

In Doom, the CPU's role is best understood by examining the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 284 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that would stress most CPUs. The fact that the 1080p Low result is substantially higher than the 1440p Low result (184 FPS) and 4K Low result (99 FPS) indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. The GPU's pixel throughput limits higher resolutions, while the CPU has enough headroom to push 284 FPS at 1080p.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its strength. It scores 44253 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2439 in single-core, along with 24461 in Cinebench R20 multicore and 3453 in single-core. In Passmark, it scores 68574 in multithread and 5068 in single-thread. Its average benchmark score of 93785 places it at the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6520P at a 0% deltaPct, the AMD EPYC 4564P at -1.5%, and the AMD EPYC 9175F at -1.9%. This places the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus in elite company, though it is importantly these rivals are server-class processors.

In Doom specifically, the CPU's 24 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient. The game is not heavily threaded, so the high boost clock of 5.50 GHz is likely more important than core count. The single-core Passmark score of 5068 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2439 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is what matters for keeping frame rates high when the GPU is not saturated. The data shows no signs of CPU limitation at any measured setting, as the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior as resolution increases.

The CPU's TDP is 125 W, and it uses the Intel Socket 1851. It has an integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU, but this is irrelevant for Doom since the RX 7800 XT handles all rendering. The 36 MB of L3 cache is ample for gaming workloads, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s is sufficient to feed the 24 cores without constraining the GPU. The combination of high single-core clocks and a large core count makes this CPU a strong pairing for the RX 7800 XT in Doom, as it never becomes the limiting factor in any measured configuration.