Doom

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 presents a starkly lopsided configuration in Doom (2016). The 24-core processor is among the fastest CPUs available, sitting in the 96th percentile of all tested chips, while the RX 570 is a much older, end-of-life graphics card built on the 14nm Polaris 20 GPU. This combination yields playable frame rates only at lower resolutions and settings, with the GPU acting as the dominant constraint across nearly every measured scenario. The data shows a clear ceiling imposed by the graphics card, regardless of the CPU’s immense headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS figures reveal a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, a classic symptom of GPU-bound rendering. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 92 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 60 FPS, a 34.8% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 32 FPS, which is 65.2% below the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern is not linear; the gap between 1440p and 4K is nearly as large as the gap between 1080p and 1440p, indicating that the RX 570’s pixel throughput is rapidly exhausted as resolution climbs.

The High preset tells a similar story but with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p High, the average is 68 FPS. Dropping to 1440p High yields 44 FPS, a 35.3% decline. At 4K High, the average plummets to 24 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset shows 80 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, the most demanding, starts at 56 FPS at 1080p, falls to 36 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 19 FPS at 4K.

These numbers illustrate that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The CPU’s performance does not waver with resolution; its job is to feed frames, and it has far more capacity than the RX 570 can utilize. The fact that the 1080p Low result of 92 FPS is the only measured point above 90 FPS, while 4K results never exceed 32 FPS even on Low, confirms that the rendering load is what throttles the system. The 4K Ultra figure of 19 FPS is particularly telling—it is barely a slideshow, and the data suggests that no CPU upgrade could rescue this pairing at that resolution.

The delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution also highlights GPU pressure. At 1080p, Low nets 92 FPS while Ultra nets 56 FPS, a 36 FPS spread. At 1440p, that spread narrows to 24 FPS (60 vs 36). At 4K, the spread is just 13 FPS (32 vs 19). As resolution increases, the settings-based performance gap shrinks because the GPU is already saturated by raw pixel count; reducing quality settings cannot compensate for the lack of fill rate. This is the signature of a card that is out of its depth at high resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture with the Polaris 20 chip, manufactured on a 14nm process at GlobalFoundries. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. The GPU’s base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz. Memory is 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The card’s pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 159.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance listed at 5.095 TFLOPS.

In the context of Doom, these specifications explain the measured FPS. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and even 1440p at most settings, but the 4K results suggest that memory pressure may contribute to the severe drops—though the data does not explicitly confirm VRAM overflow. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is moderate by modern standards, and the game’s texture streaming at 4K likely strains it. However, the more decisive factor is raw compute: 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 is low for 4K rendering, which explains why the 4K High average is exactly 24 FPS and 4K Ultra is 19 FPS.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 74th percentile among all GPUs, which is respectable for its era but far from high-end. Its average benchmark score is 28766, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (deltaPct -0.4), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (deltaPct 0.7), the AMD Radeon RX 470 (deltaPct -0.8), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (deltaPct 1.2). These deltas are all within 1.2%, meaning the RX 570 performs nearly identically to those cards in synthetic tests. The RX 6800M, a mobile GPU, is essentially a tie with the RX 570 in average score, which underscores how dated the desktop card is.

The card’s launch MSRP was 169 USD, and it is now end-of-life. Its memory clock is 1750 MHz with an effective data rate of 7 Gbps. The boost clock of 1244 MHz is modest, and the card relies on its 256-bit memory bus for throughput. In Doom, the data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p Low. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 56 FPS average is likely GPU-limited, as the CPU is capable of far higher frame rates in this game. The RX 570’s 150 W TDP and dual-slot design are irrelevant to performance but confirm its mid-range positioning.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, codenamed Arrow Lake Refresh, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s, and it includes 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its TDP is 125 W, and it uses the Intel Socket 1851.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU is a powerhouse. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 51731, and its single-core score is 7303. In PassMark, it achieves a multi-thread score of 60860 and a single-thread score of 4823. Its average benchmark score is 84003, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (deltaPct 0.2), the AMD EPYC 4584PX (deltaPct 1.1), the AMD EPYC 9135 (deltaPct 1.2), and the AMD EPYC 7F72 (deltaPct -1.3). These deltas are all under 1.3%, meaning the 290K Plus is statistically tied with those server-class and high-end desktop chips in overall performance.

For Doom, the CPU’s role is to maintain a high frame rate floor, but the measured FPS shows it is never the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 92 FPS, which is likely near the RX 570’s maximum output in that scenario. The CPU has 24 threads and a 5.80 GHz boost clock, far more than any 2016-era game requires. The game’s engine is known for scaling well with multi-core CPUs, but the RX 570 cannot push beyond roughly 92 FPS even at the lowest settings. The data shows no scenario where the CPU’s performance would be the ceiling.

The memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s is ample for the game, and the L3 cache of 36 MB helps with data locality. However, these are secondary factors. The CPU’s percentile rank of 96 means it outperforms 96% of all tested CPUs, yet in this pairing, that advantage is wasted. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (19 FPS) is identical to what a much weaker CPU could achieve with the same GPU, because the GPU is fully saturated. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.80 GHz is impressive, but Doom at 4K does not stress it; the render thread is waiting on the GPU’s 5.095 TFLOPS.

The fact that the CPU has no launch MSRP in the data pack means we cannot state a price, but its performance class is clear. It is a top-tier desktop part, yet the RX 570 nullifies its advantage. In CPU-bound scenarios, this processor would excel, but the benchmark results for this combo show none. The 24 threads and 24 cores are overkill for a game that was released in 2016, and the data confirms that the GPU is the sole determinant of performance in every measured row.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. For 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 92 FPS average, while Medium delivers 80 FPS, High delivers 68 FPS, and Ultra delivers 56 FPS. All four presets are playable at 1080p, but the data suggests that High is the best balance: 68 FPS is smooth, and the visual uplift over Medium (80 FPS) is significant. Ultra at 56 FPS is still above 50 FPS, but the marginal visual gains may not justify the 17.6% drop from High. Low at 92 FPS is the fastest, but the visual quality loss is substantial. For competitive play, Low is the choice; for general play, High is recommended.

At 2560x1440, the choices narrow. Low averages 60 FPS, Medium averages 52 FPS, High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The 60 FPS Low result is the only preset that hits the 60 FPS target, making it the only fully smooth option at this resolution. Medium at 52 FPS is acceptable but not ideal, and High at 44 FPS is borderline. Ultra at 36 FPS is too choppy for fast-paced FPS action. The recommended preset is Low for a consistent 60 FPS, or Medium if the user can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS—the Medium row shows min FPS of 44 and max of 60, indicating frame time variance.

At 3840x2160, every preset fails to reach 60 FPS. Low averages 32 FPS, Medium averages 28 FPS, High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. None of these are playable for a smooth experience. The data shows that this combo is not viable for 4K gaming in Doom. If forced to choose, Low at 32 FPS is the least bad, but it is still below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for playability—and even that is marginal. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 24 and max FPS of 32 confirm instability. The recommendation is to avoid 4K entirely with this pairing, or to drastically reduce the resolution.

The data also shows that the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs only 12 FPS (92 to 80), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 12 FPS (80 to 68). The jump from High to Ultra costs 12 FPS as well (68 to 56). This linear degradation suggests that each preset tier imposes a similar rendering cost, and the GPU’s limits are reached gradually. At 1440p, the cost per tier is 8 FPS (60 to 52, 52 to 44, 44 to 36), indicating that the GPU is closer to its ceiling. At 4K, the cost per tier is 4 FPS (32 to 28, 28 to 24, 24 to 19), showing that the GPU is nearly maxed out even on Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in Doom is 2812 out of 2930 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 4% of all combos (since 2812/2930 is approximately 96.0% of the way from the top, meaning it is worse than 2811 combos and better than 118 combos). This is a remarkably poor ranking for a system with a top-tier CPU, and it is entirely attributable to the RX 570’s limitations. The data shows that the combo’s rank is driven by the GPU’s performance, not the CPU’s.

To contextualize, the CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, has an average score that is 0.2% lower than the 290K Plus, meaning the CPU is essentially tied with its direct predecessor in synthetic tests. Yet in Doom, the combo rank is still 2812, which would be the same for any CPU paired with this GPU. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, has a deltaPct of -0.4, meaning the RX 570 scores 0.4% higher on average. But that 0.4% advantage does not translate into a better rank because the combo is so heavily GPU-bound.

The rank of 2812 out of 2930 indicates that the vast majority of other tested combos—whether they use newer GPUs, more balanced pairings, or higher-end graphics cards—outperform this one. The only combos ranked lower are those with even weaker GPUs or possibly mismatched configurations. The data does not provide a percentile for the combo, but the rank alone is telling: this is a bottom-tier outcome for Doom. The takeaway is that pairing a 96th-percentile CPU with a 74th-percentile GPU creates a system that ranks in the bottom 4% for this specific game, because the game is far more sensitive to GPU performance.

The CPU’s 96th percentile rank and the GPU’s 74th percentile rank create a mismatch that the benchmark exposes. In a CPU-light game like Doom, the GPU’s lower relative standing becomes the sole determinant of the combo’s rank. The measured FPS at 4K (19-32 FPS) and even 1440p (36-60 FPS) are all below what a modern mid-range GPU would achieve, and the rank reflects that. The combo is not competitive in this game, and the data suggests that users should prioritize a GPU upgrade over any CPU change.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all four presets exceed 50 FPS, with Low at 92 FPS, Medium at 80 FPS, High at 68 FPS, and Ultra at 56 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low reaches 60 FPS, while at 3840x2160, all presets fall below 33 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU has a 96th percentile ranking and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, while the GPU’s 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance cannot exceed 92 FPS even at 1080p Low. The 4K Ultra result of 19 FPS is consistent with GPU saturation.

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not playably. The highest 4K average is 32 FPS on Low settings, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. None of the 4K presets reach 60 FPS, and even Low is below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 28766, with the AMD Radeon RX 6800M at -0.4% delta, the AMD Radeon R9 M295X at 0.7% delta, the AMD Radeon RX 470 at -0.8% delta, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 at 1.2% delta. All are within 1.2% of the RX 570.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2812 out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the bottom 4% of all systems. This low rank is due to the GPU’s performance ceiling, not the CPU.

Q: Which settings preset should I use at 1080p?

A: For a balance of visual quality and performance, High at 68 FPS is recommended. If maximum frame rate is needed, Low at 92 FPS is the fastest, while Ultra at 56 FPS is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High.