Doom

The benchmark results for Doom on the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT show a configuration that delivers exceptional frame rates across all test conditions. The combination of a high-core-count processor and a current-generation GPU produces a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions but still capable of triple-digit frame rates even at 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and consistent pattern of frame rate reduction as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 249 FPS at 1920x1080 to 161 FPS at 2560x1440, and further down to 87 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 65% drop from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering workload scales directly with pixel count.

The scaling behavior reveals important information about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At 1080p Low settings, the combination achieves 338 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates. However, the gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is substantial — 338 FPS versus 203 FPS — which shows that even at this resolution, the GPU is handling a significant portion of the workload. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a drop from 132 FPS to 71 FPS, a 46% reduction, which is proportionally similar to the pixel count increase between these resolutions.

The data indicates that the RX 7900 XT becomes the primary limiting factor at 4K resolution. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 48 FPS (119 FPS versus 71 FPS), demonstrating that the GPU's fill rate and shader throughput are the dominant constraints at this resolution. The CPU's influence on performance diminishes as resolution increases, with the 4K Ultra result of 71 FPS being well below what the processor alone could theoretically sustain.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination ranks 533rd out of 2930 tested combos in Doom. This places the system in the top 18.2% of all configurations tested for this game, which is a strong result given the age of the title and the wide range of hardware combinations in the database.

The percentile ranking for the CPU alone is 96, meaning the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus outperforms 96% of all CPUs in the database. The GPU's percentile ranking is 55, reflecting that the RX 7900 XT is positioned near the median of all GPUs tested, despite being a high-end part. This discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that the processor has significant headroom for more demanding graphics workloads, while the graphics card is more closely matched to the current performance landscape.

The combo rank of 533 out of 2930 indicates that while the CPU is a top-tier part, the overall system performance in Doom is constrained by the GPU. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which showed the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Systems with this CPU paired with faster graphics cards would likely rank higher, while the same GPU with a slower processor would probably achieve similar frame rates at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This processor is built on a 3 nm process with an Arrow Lake Refresh codename and belongs to the Core Ultra Series 2 generation. The L3 cache is 36 MB shared across the chip, and the processor supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 338 FPS, which is close to the practical limit for many display refresh rates. The high core count and boost clock of 5.80 GHz contribute to the processor's ability to maintain high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its performance capabilities. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 51731 in multicore and 7303 in single-core tests. The single-core performance is particularly relevant for Doom, as the game's engine typically relies on one or two primary threads. The PassMark multithread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 further confirm the processor's strength in both parallel and single-threaded workloads.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with an average score of 83807 and a delta of 0.2%, showing the 290K Plus is essentially tied with its predecessor. The AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83090 with a delta of 1.1%, and the AMD EPYC 9135 scores 82980 with a delta of 1.2%. These margins are within 1.3% of each other, indicating that the 290K Plus offers no significant advantage over these alternatives in CPU-bound scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 338 FPS, while Medium settings achieve 295 FPS with a minimum of 251 FPS and a maximum of 339 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 249 FPS, and Ultra settings bring it down to 203 FPS. The frame rate range across all settings at 1080p spans from 203 FPS to 338 FPS, showing that the GPU is capable of handling the game at very high speeds when pixel count is low.

Moving to 2560x1440 resolution, the average frame rates remain high. Low settings produce 219 FPS, Medium settings achieve 191 FPS with a minimum of 162 FPS and maximum of 219 FPS, High settings deliver 161 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 132 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with approximately 30% fewer frames at each quality level. This suggests that the GPU is still the primary constraint at this resolution, but the CPU continues to provide enough headroom to avoid limiting performance.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the frame rates drop more significantly. Low settings produce 119 FPS, Medium settings achieve 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 FPS and maximum of 119 FPS, High settings deliver 87 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 71 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 48 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at lower resolutions. This indicates that the GPU is heavily loaded at 4K, and the CPU has ample capacity to keep up with the rendering demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate this combination can achieve in Doom?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 338 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the performance at 4K Ultra compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average frame rate is 71 FPS, while at 1920x1080 Ultra it is 203 FPS. This represents a 65% reduction in performance at the higher resolution.

Q: Is this combination more limited by the CPU or the GPU in Doom?

A: The data shows the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 338 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 71 FPS, indicating the RX 7900 XT is the primary constraint at higher pixel counts.

Q: What is the lowest recorded frame rate in the measured data?

A: The minimum frame rate recorded is 88 FPS, which occurred at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its closest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The processor scores 84003 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's score of 83807, and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX's score of 83090.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings produce 161 FPS while Ultra settings produce 132 FPS, a difference of 29 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest refresh rate displays, Low settings at 1080p provide the maximum frame rate of 338 FPS, which exceeds the capabilities of most gaming monitors. At 1440p, Low settings deliver 219 FPS, still sufficient for 165 Hz or 240 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 191 FPS with a minimum of 162 FPS, making it a strong choice for maintaining high frame rates while improving visual quality.

At 4K resolution, the choice of settings depends on the desired frame rate target. Ultra settings produce 71 FPS, which is marginally above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay on standard displays. High settings at 4K yield 87 FPS, providing a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS. Medium settings at 4K achieve 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 FPS, making it the best option for players who want both high frame rates and reasonable visual fidelity at this resolution.

The data suggests that Medium settings offer the best balance of performance and quality across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 295 FPS with a minimum of 251 FPS, ensuring no frame rate drops below the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. At 1440p, Medium produces 191 FPS with a minimum of 162 FPS, and at 4K it achieves 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 FPS. The minimum frame rate data for Medium settings shows consistent performance without significant dips, making it the recommended preset for most users.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip and features 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 render output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s.

In Doom, the GPU's role is dominant at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling. The 20 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game at all tested settings, and the memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s allows for high texture throughput without bottlenecks. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s are key specifications that directly impact the game's rendering performance.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 5623, while Geekbench Vulkan shows 71068 and OpenCL shows 12756. The PassMark G3D score of 29009 and GPU compute score of 16828 further characterize its performance capabilities. The nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 660M with a delta of -0.5% and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile with a delta of -0.5%, showing the RX 7900 XT is closely matched to these parts in the average benchmark score.

The GPU's role as the limiting factor at 4K resolution is clear from the measured data. At 3840x2160, the frame rate scales from 119 FPS at Low to 71 FPS at Ultra, a range of 48 FPS. This demonstrates that the GPU's compute and memory resources are heavily utilized at this resolution, and the CPU has sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a constraint. The combination of the RX 7900 XT's 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth provides the rendering power needed for high frame rates in Doom, but the game's engine still demands more from the GPU as pixel count increases.