Doom

# Doom: Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 — Benchmark Analysis

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 targets high-refresh-rate 1440p and playable 4K in id Software's 2016 FPS classic. With 24 cores and a 5.50 GHz boost clock driving a 16 GB Ada Lovelace GPU, this system sits in the 86th percentile for GPUs and 96th percentile for CPUs, suggesting a config built to eliminate bottlenecks. The measured data across three resolutions and four settings presets reveals a system that scales predictably with graphical load while maintaining headroom at lower resolutions, though the frame rate deltas between presets hint at where the real performance ceiling lies.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings, but the pattern reveals a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 295 FPS at 1920x1080 to 191 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 35% reduction — and then to 104 FPS at 3840x2160, another 46% drop from 1440p. That steep cliff between 1440p and 4K indicates the RTX 4080's 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed hard at 4K, but the GPU still delivers playable triple-digit averages.

Low settings show the most dramatic scaling curve: 401 FPS at 1080p, 260 FPS at 1440p, and 141 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 141 FPS (35%) is nearly identical to the High preset's percentage loss, but the 1440p-to-4K decline of 119 FPS (46%) matches High's pattern too. This consistency across presets suggests the limiting component shifts from CPU at 1080p to GPU at 4K, but the proportional losses stay uniform — a sign that Doom's Vulkan-based engine scales resolution predictably.

Ultra settings amplify the 4K bottleneck: 241 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and just 85 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 18% lower than 4K High, while at 1080p the gap between Ultra and High is only 54 FPS (18% as well). This parallel percentage drop across resolutions implies the RTX 4080's raw compute — 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 — is the primary constraint at Ultra, not memory bandwidth or CPU throughput.

The Medium preset data includes minimum FPS values, which provide a window into frame-time consistency. At 4K Medium, the average is 123 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS — a 19 FPS variance that suggests minor stutters under load. At 1440p Medium, the 226 FPS average pairs with a 192 FPS minimum (34 FPS variance), and 1080p Medium shows 350 FPS average with 297 FPS minimum (53 FPS variance). The growing delta between average and minimum as resolution drops indicates that CPU-side frame pacing becomes more variable at lower resolutions where the GPU is less taxed.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests High settings offer the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate for this hardware. At 4K, High delivers 104 FPS average — 19 FPS below Medium's 123 FPS but 19 FPS above Ultra's 85 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 15% performance while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 18%, making High the sweet spot for maintaining a comfortable margin above 100 FPS at 4K.

At 1440p, High's 191 FPS average clears 144 Hz refresh displays with room to spare, while Ultra's 156 FPS still exceeds 144 Hz. For gamers prioritizing maximum visual quality at 1440p, Ultra is viable, but the 35 FPS sacrifice over High may not justify the incremental fidelity gains on a 2016 title. Low settings at 1440p push 260 FPS, which only matters for 240 Hz panels or competitive play where every frame counts.

The 1080p results make every preset playable, with Low hitting 401 FPS and Ultra still managing 241 FPS. However, the 1080p Medium minimum of 297 FPS versus the 350 FPS average suggests the CPU — with its 24 threads and 36 MB L3 cache — is doing heavy lifting to feed the GPU at these frame rates. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus's 5.50 GHz boost clock and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth appear sufficient to avoid a hard CPU wall, but the variance at Medium indicates some thread scheduling overhead.

For 4K gamers, Medium is the pragmatic choice: 123 FPS average with a 104 FPS minimum keeps frame times stable enough for smooth play, and the 19 FPS gain over High is more noticeable than the visual drop on a 4K panel. Ultra at 4K should be avoided unless 85 FPS is acceptable, as the 38 FPS gap to High represents a 31% performance penalty.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus brings 24 cores and 24 threads across a 3 nm Arrow Lake Refresh design, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost up to 5.50 GHz. Its 36 MB shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 bandwidth feed the RTX 4080's 16 GB frame buffer without obvious starvation, based on the measured frame rates.

Benchmark data shows this CPU scores 44,253 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,439 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its Passmark multi-thread score of 68,574 and single-thread score of 5,068 reinforce a dual-strength profile: enough raw multi-threading for modern workloads and strong single-thread performance for game logic. The nearest rivals — Intel Xeon 6520P at 93,786 average score (0% delta), AMD EPYC 4564P at 95,183 (-1.5%), and AMD EPYC 9175F at 95,615 (-1.9%) — are all server-class parts, underscoring that this desktop CPU punches above its weight class in synthetic tests.

In Doom, the CPU's role becomes evident in the 1080p Low result of 401 FPS. At such high frame rates, the GPU is far from saturation, so the CPU must process draw calls, physics, and game logic quickly enough to maintain that pace. The 5.50 GHz boost clock and 24 threads give this system the headroom to reach 400+ FPS, though the Medium preset's 350 FPS average with a 297 FPS minimum suggests that frame pacing becomes less consistent when the CPU juggles more game-state updates alongside rendering commands.

The 4K results show the CPU stepping back: at 4K Ultra, 85 FPS average means the RTX 4080 is the clear bottleneck, and the CPU's 24 threads are likely idle much of the time. This is a classic sign of a well-balanced pairing for 1440p, where the CPU has enough single-thread speed to avoid limiting the GPU while the GPU handles the resolution load.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 215th out of 3,712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations in the database. The rank reflects the system's ability to leverage both high core counts and strong GPU compute, though the 2016 game's engine may not fully utilize all 24 threads or the RTX 4080's RT cores.

The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54,247 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the RTX 4080 SUPER at 54,209 (0.1% delta) — a negligible difference that suggests the 4080 is essentially matched by its successor in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 1.1% at 54,828, while the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and Radeon 8060S sit 2.6% and 2.7% behind, respectively. This GPU's strength in Doom is its 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 9728 shading units, which handle the game's texture-heavy environments at 4K without swapping.

The CPU's rank versus all CPUs at 96th percentile, combined with the GPU's 86th percentile, suggests the combo's 215th overall rank is slightly dragged down by the GPU. In a game like Doom that favors high clock speeds over core counts, the CPU's 5.50 GHz boost is more valuable than its 24 threads, which may explain why the combo doesn't crack the top 200 — some configurations with faster single-core CPUs but weaker overall specs could match or exceed this pairing in Doom specifically.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with the AD103 chip, packs 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs across 45,900 million transistors. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, and the boost clock of 2505 MHz drives 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These specs position the 4080 as a high-end part, though its 86th percentile rank and end-of-life production status indicate it's been superseded.

In Doom, the GPU's role scales directly with resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, the 4080 is barely taxed — 401 FPS average means the card is waiting on the CPU. At 4K Ultra, 85 FPS shows the GPU working hard, with the 16 GB frame buffer likely storing large textures and the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth streaming them efficiently. The 4K Medium result of 123 FPS with a 104 FPS minimum suggests the GPU can sustain high throughput but occasional spikes in memory pressure cause minor frame drops.

The RTX 4080's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are closely matched: the RTX 4080 SUPER at 0.1% ahead, and AMD parts trailing by 1-3%. This tight grouping means in-game performance differences are more likely attributable to driver optimization than raw hardware capability. Doom's Vulkan API support is well-implemented on NVIDIA hardware, which may explain why the 4080 achieves 104 FPS at 4K High — a solid result for a 2016 title that predates the GPU by six years.

The 2,205 MHz base clock and 2,505 MHz boost clock provide a 12% overclock headroom out of the box, and the 320 W TDP is supported by a 700 W suggested PSU. The triple-slot cooler and 310 mm length indicate this card is designed for high sustained loads, which the 4K Ultra test at 85 FPS would certainly deliver.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 401 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 350 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 295 FPS at 1080p High.

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, all four settings presets at 3840x2160 produce averages above 85 FPS. The lowest is Ultra at 85 FPS, while Medium achieves 123 FPS, High reaches 104 FPS, and Low hits 141 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54,247 on average, which is 0.1% behind the RTX 4080 SUPER at 54,209. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% ahead at 54,828, while the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB trails by 2.6%.

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

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 215th out of 3,712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations in the database.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes a limiting factor at 1080p Low, where 401 FPS average indicates the GPU is underutilized. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, with the CPU having ample headroom from its 24 threads and 5.50 GHz boost clock.

Q: What memory specifications does the RTX 4080 use?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s and an effective memory clock of 22.4 Gbps.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 401 FPS average
• Medium: 350 FPS average, 297 FPS minimum, 402 FPS maximum
• High: 295 FPS average
• Ultra: 241 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 260 FPS average
• Medium: 226 FPS average, 192 FPS minimum, 260 FPS maximum
• High: 191 FPS average
• Ultra: 156 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 141 FPS average
• Medium: 123 FPS average, 104 FPS minimum, 141 FPS maximum
• High: 104 FPS average
• Ultra: 85 FPS average

The Medium preset at each resolution includes minimum and maximum values, revealing the frame-time envelope. At 1080p, the spread from 297 to 402 FPS (105 FPS range) shows the CPU and GPU trading off under varying scene complexity. At 4K, the 104 to 141 FPS range (37 FPS) is tighter, indicating the GPU's consistent workload dominates at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset at 4K dips to 85 FPS, which is 18% below the 104 FPS High result — a meaningful drop for a setting that likely adds marginal visual improvements on a 2016 engine.