Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800M delivers a performance profile in Doom that is heavily dictated by resolution, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases. The measured data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern from 1080p through 4K across all four settings presets, revealing where this mobile combination excels and where it begins to struggle.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is substantial across every settings preset, indicating that the Radeon RX 7800M is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 144 at 1080p to 93 at 1440p, a reduction of 51 FPS, and then further down to 50 at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 46% decrease in average frame rate, from 93 to 50 FPS. This steep decline points squarely at the GPU’s rendering capacity being saturated as the pixel workload quadruples from 1440p to 4K.

Low settings exhibit the most dramatic absolute drop, starting at 195 FPS at 1080p, descending to 126 at 1440p, and finally landing at 68 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 127 FPS, which is a 65% reduction. This pattern suggests that even when the graphical load is minimized, the RX 7800M cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K, and the CPU has ample headroom that remains unused at that resolution.

Medium settings follow a similar trajectory, with 170 FPS at 1080p, 110 at 1440p, and 60 at 4K. The 4K result of 60 FPS aligns almost exactly with the 60 FPS average seen at Medium 1080p, but the consistency ends there. Ultra settings show the most constrained performance, with 117 FPS at 1080p, 76 at 1440p, and just 41 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS is below the 50 FPS High setting at the same resolution, showing that the Ultra preset’s additional graphical demands cost roughly 18% performance compared to High.

The scaling data indicates that this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the GPU can keep up with the CPU’s output. At 4K, the RX 7800M’s 12 GB of VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are not sufficient to maintain smooth frame rates, and the measured numbers confirm that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, 68 FPS is modest by modern standards.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on a 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide the raw single-thread performance necessary for Doom’s engine, which relies heavily on a few primary threads for game logic and draw calls. The CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth support the GPU with timely data delivery, but the benchmark results show that at higher resolutions, this headroom is largely irrelevant.

The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17984.5 and single-core score of 1810.5 place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong overall performance. In Doom, the single-core score is more relevant, as the game’s frame rate at 1080p Low (195 FPS) suggests the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond what the RX 7800M can render at 4K. The PassMark single-thread score of 3697 further confirms that the Core Ultra 9 185H is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 9 185H’s average benchmark score of 35670 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35719, delta -0.1%) and Intel Core 7 250H (35728, delta -0.2%). This means that in synthetic benchmarks, the CPU is essentially on par with those chips, but in Doom, the measured FPS depends far more on the GPU. The CPU’s 16 cores and 22 threads are more than sufficient for a game that released in 2016, and the data shows that at 1080p, the frame rate is likely capped by the GPU’s fill rate rather than the CPU’s instruction throughput.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800M is the primary driver of Doom’s performance, and its specifications explain the measured results. Based on the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, the GPU features 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. Its boost clock of 2335 MHz and game clock of 2145 MHz provide the compute throughput, with FP32 performance rated at 35.87 TFLOPS.

The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a significant amount of VRAM for a mobile GPU, but the 4K results suggest that capacity is not the issue—bandwidth and raw compute are. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 41, which is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth. The pixel rate of 224.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 560.4 GTexel/s are high, but the demands of 4K at Ultra settings overwhelm the GPU.

The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 17613 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2994 place it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (avg score 27839, delta +0.2%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (avg score 28020, delta -0.5%). These are desktop-class GPUs from an older generation, and the RX 7800M matches them in synthetic benchmarks. In Doom, the RX 7800M’s performance at 1440p High (93 FPS) and 1080p High (144 FPS) shows it is a capable mid-range mobile part, but it is not a 4K powerhouse.

The GPU’s 60 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate are irrelevant for Doom, which uses older rendering techniques, but the raw rasterization performance is what matters. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (195 FPS) likely represents the upper limit of the GPU’s rendering speed, and the CPU is not holding it back.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low preset achieves 195 FPS average, Medium reaches 170 FPS (with min 145 and max 196), High hits 144 FPS, and Ultra drops to 117 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 78 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects cost significant performance but still leave the game well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. Low preset averages 126 FPS, Medium 110 FPS (min 94, max 127), High 93 FPS, and Ultra 76 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 30% across all settings, which is typical for a resolution that nearly doubles the pixel count. The Ultra preset at 1440p still clears 60 FPS, making it a viable option for high-refresh monitors.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes. Low preset averages 68 FPS, Medium 60 FPS (min 51, max 69), High 50 FPS, and Ultra 41 FPS. These numbers show that only Low and Medium settings maintain an average above 60 FPS, and even then, the Medium minimum of 51 FPS suggests occasional dips below smoothness. High and Ultra presets fall below 60 FPS, and Ultra’s 41 FPS is borderline unplayable for fast-paced action.

The Medium preset at 4K provides the only data row with both min and max values (51 to 69 FPS), showing a variance of 18 FPS, which indicates inconsistent frame pacing under load. This variance is less pronounced at 1440p Medium (min 94, max 127, variance 33 FPS) and 1080p Medium (min 145, max 196, variance 51 FPS), suggesting that the GPU’s frame output becomes more erratic as resolution increases and the workload becomes more demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and AMD Radeon RX 7800M combination ranks 1938 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 66th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning; the CPU is in the 85th percentile, but the combo’s overall rank is dragged down by the GPU’s 73rd percentile standing.

This rank of 1938 out of 2930 means that roughly two-thirds of tested combos perform better in Doom. Given that the CPU is a high-end mobile part and the GPU is a mid-range mobile part, this result is expected. The combo is likely held back by the GPU at higher resolutions, and at 1080p, the CPU’s power is underutilized. The rank suggests that for Doom specifically, a stronger GPU would yield better results than a stronger CPU, as the game is not particularly CPU-intensive.

The combination’s rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. At 1080p, the combo achieves 144 FPS at High settings, which is competitive, but at 4K, the 50 FPS High result is below average. The rank of 1938 indicates that while the combo is not a top performer, it is not in the bottom tier either, and it handles 1080p and 1440p well.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At High settings, it averages 93 FPS, and even Ultra averages 76 FPS, both above the 60 FPS threshold. 4K Ultra drops to 41 FPS, making it unsuitable.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35670, which is only 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35719) and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core 7 250H (35728). It is effectively tied with these chips in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the GPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: Yes. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The frame rate drops from 68 FPS at Low to 41 FPS at Ultra, showing the GPU cannot handle the pixel workload. At 1080p, the GPU is still the limiting factor, as the CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS values recorded?

A: The only rows with both min and max values are the Medium presets. At 1080p, min is 145 and max is 196. At 1440p, min is 94 and max is 127. At 4K, min is 51 and max is 69.

Q: How does the GPU's synthetic score compare to older desktop GPUs?

A: The RX 7800M’s average benchmark score of 27883 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27839) and 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28020, delta -0.5%). It matches these older desktop parts.

Q: Does the combo rank well among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 1938 out of 2930 combos, which places it in the middle of the pack. The CPU is in the 85th percentile, but the GPU’s 73rd percentile brings the overall rank down.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering 93 FPS average. If higher frame rates are desired, the Medium preset at 1080p yields 170 FPS with a minimum of 145, ensuring no drops below the refresh rate of a 144 Hz monitor.

At 4K, only the Low preset is recommended, as it averages 68 FPS, which is above 60. The Medium preset at 4K averages exactly 60 FPS, but the minimum of 51 FPS means stutter is possible. Ultra at any resolution above 1080p is not recommended; at 1440p it averages 76 FPS, which is playable, but at 4K it drops to 41 FPS, which is too low for a fast-paced FPS.

For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p provides the highest measured average of 195 FPS, maximizing the response time advantage. The Ultra preset at 1080p still averages 117 FPS, so it is viable for those who prioritize visuals over raw speed. Ultimately, the data suggests that 1440p High is the recommended balance, as it maintains high frame rates while leveraging the GPU’s capabilities without the steep performance penalty seen at 4K.