Doom

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + AMD Radeon 880M combination in Doom?

A: This combo ranks 2858th out of 2930 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems tested for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35670, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35719), 0.2% lower than the Intel Core 7 250H (35728), 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802), and 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (35909).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon 880M ranks in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 8436.

Q: At which resolution and settings does this combo achieve the highest average FPS?

A: The highest average FPS is 90, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the same resolution, Medium reaches 78 FPS and High reaches 66 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium settings, the minimum FPS recorded is 43, with an average of 51 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS.

Q: Is the data in this analysis measured or estimated?

A: The data is measured, with the "dataIsMeasured" field set to true.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 45 W. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability. It scores 17984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1810.5 in single-core. Geekbench results show 11657 multi-core and 1794 single-core. PassMark multi-thread score is 29376, with a single-thread score of 3697. The CPU's average benchmark score is 35670, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

For Doom, a game released in 2016, the CPU's capabilities are largely sufficient. The game's engine is not particularly demanding on modern multi-core processors, and the Core Ultra 9 185H's 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample headroom. The boost clock of 5.10 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which matters for game logic and physics. The 24 MB shared L3 cache helps with data locality, though the game's asset streaming is more dependent on GPU memory bandwidth.

The nearest rivals in CPU performance are all within 0.7% of the Core Ultra 9 185H's average score. This indicates that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this combo's performance — it is competitive with other high-end mobile processors, but the bottleneck lies elsewhere.

Given Doom's age and optimization, the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting component at higher resolutions. The measured FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, suggesting the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the iGPU adequately, but at 4K, the GPU's throughput becomes the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 880M is an integrated GPU based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, built on TSMC's 4 nm process. It has a chip named "Strix Point" with 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GPU features 12 ray tracing cores and operates at a base clock of 400 MHz with a boost clock of 2900 MHz. Its FP32 performance is 4.454 TFLOPS, with a texture rate of 139.2 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 46.40 GPixel/s.

Memory is system-shared, meaning the GPU uses the same DDR5 memory as the CPU, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This is a critical limitation for gaming performance, as the iGPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth. The GPU's TDP is 15 W, which constrains sustained performance.

In GPU benchmarks, the Radeon 880M scores 7615 in PassMark G3D and 3719 in GPU compute. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 31285, and Vulkan score is 40006. The GPU ranks in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 8436. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (0.1% higher), NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (0.3% lower), AMD Radeon HD 8870M (0.3% lower), and AMD Radeon R9 M375X (1.3% higher).

For Doom, the Radeon 880M's performance is marginal at best. At 1080p, it achieves playable frame rates: 90 FPS at Low, 78 FPS at Medium, and 66 FPS at High settings. However, at 1440p, frame rates drop to 58 FPS at Low, 51 FPS at Medium, and 43 FPS at High. At 4K, the GPU struggles significantly, with only 31 FPS at Low and 23 FPS at High settings.

The boost clock of 2900 MHz is respectable for an iGPU, but the system-shared memory bandwidth is the primary bottleneck. The 768 shading units provide enough compute for 1080p gaming, but the lack of dedicated VRAM means the GPU must constantly access system memory, which limits performance at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and AMD Radeon 880M ranks 2858th out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the bottom 2.5% of all tested systems, which is consistent with the GPU's 43rd percentile ranking and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking. The disparity between CPU and GPU performance is stark: the CPU is a high-end mobile processor, while the GPU is a low-power integrated solution.

The rank reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities. In a game like Doom, which was designed for discrete GPUs of its era, an iGPU with shared memory is at a significant disadvantage. The combo's rank of 2858 suggests that the vast majority of tested systems, including those with older discrete GPUs, outperform this configuration.

The nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores are all older discrete GPUs: the GTX 675MX, MX330, HD 8870M, and R9 M375X. These are all from previous generations, yet they achieve similar or slightly better average benchmark scores. This contextualizes the Radeon 880M's performance — it competes with entry-level discrete GPUs from several years ago, not with modern gaming hardware.

The CPU's high percentile ranking does not translate to in-game performance because the GPU cannot leverage the CPU's capabilities. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 90 FPS, which is playable, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 19 FPS. The rank reflects this reality: the combo is only suitable for low-resolution, low-settings gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings yield an average of 90 FPS, Medium produces 78 FPS (with a range of 66 to 90 FPS), High achieves 66 FPS, and Ultra drops to 54 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is the sweet spot for this configuration, with even High settings remaining playable.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades noticeably. Low settings average 58 FPS, Medium averages 51 FPS (ranging from 43 to 58 FPS), High drops to 43 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30-35% of performance across settings, reflecting the GPU's inability to sustain frame rates as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the combo is largely unplayable. Low settings average 31 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS (ranging from 23 to 31 FPS), High drops to 23 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 19 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU is severely bandwidth-limited, with even the lowest settings failing to reach 60 FPS.

The FPS deltas between settings are consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 36 FPS; at 1440p, it is 23 FPS; at 4K, it is 12 FPS. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly bound by memory bandwidth rather than compute or shading capability. The settings impact is proportionally smaller at 4K because the pixel throughput is the dominant constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the most balanced experience is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which delivers an average of 78 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual quality. The Medium preset's FPS range of 66 to 90 also indicates stable performance without extreme dips.

For players prioritizing smoothness over visuals, 1920x1080 at Low settings achieves 90 FPS average. This is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches high-refresh-rate gaming, and it does so with the lowest graphical fidelity. The 90 FPS average suggests the combo can handle fast-paced Doom gameplay, but the visual compromises are significant.

At 2560x1440, Low settings at 58 FPS is the only playable option, and it barely misses the 60 FPS mark. Medium at 51 FPS may be acceptable for some players, but the 43 FPS minimum could cause noticeable stuttering in intense scenes. High and Ultra settings at 1440p are not recommended, as they dip to 43 and 35 FPS respectively.

At 3840x2160, no settings preset provides a playable experience. The highest average FPS is 31 at Low, which is below the minimum threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 19 FPS is essentially a slideshow. Players with 4K displays should either lower the resolution or accept significant performance compromises.

The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the best overall recommendation, as it balances visual quality with performance. For competitive play, 1080p Low offers the highest frame rates. For those who prefer higher resolutions, 1440p Low is the only viable option, though it requires accepting sub-60 FPS performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At Low settings, average FPS drops from 90 at 1080p to 58 at 1440p (a 35.6% reduction) and further to 31 at 4K (a 65.6% reduction from 1080p). At High settings, the drop is from 66 at 1080p to 43 at 1440p (34.8%) and 23 at 4K (65.2%).

These scaling percentages are consistent across settings, which indicates that the limiting factor is pixel throughput rather than any specific rendering feature. The GPU's 16 ROPs and 46.40 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU can fill the required pixels with relative ease, but at 4K, the pixel fill rate becomes the bottleneck.

The memory bandwidth constraint is evident in the scaling behavior. Since the GPU shares system memory with the CPU, the bandwidth available for graphics operations is limited. As resolution increases, the amount of data that must be read from and written to memory grows, exacerbating the bandwidth limitation. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth of the CPU is shared, and the GPU's access is further constrained by the system's architecture.

The resolution scaling also indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, as the CPU would be unable to feed the GPU faster. Instead, the FPS drops consistently with resolution, confirming that the GPU is the sole constraint.

The practical implication is that this combo is only suitable for 1080p gaming. At 1440p, the performance is borderline, and at 4K, it is unplayable. The 16 ROPs and 768 shading units provide enough compute for 1080p, but the shared memory and low power envelope prevent the GPU from scaling to higher resolutions. This is a fundamental architectural limitation of integrated graphics, and no settings adjustment can overcome it.