Doom

The AMD Radeon 760M paired with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H delivers a strictly entry-level experience in Doom, with the combination ranking 2919th out of 2930 tested configurations. This places the system in the bottom 0.4% of all combos, a position that reflects the integrated GPU's fundamental limitations rather than any deficiency in the processor. The measured frame rates confirm that this setup is only viable at 1080p with reduced settings, and even then, it barely crosses the threshold of playability for a fast-paced FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 65, which occurs at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration where the system approaches a comfortable level of performance for the game's fast action.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Doom?

A: The combination ranks 2919th out of 2930 tested combos, placing it in the 0.4th percentile. This indicates that 99.6% of all tested configurations deliver better performance in this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 65 FPS on Low to 39 FPS on Ultra, a 40% reduction in performance. The gap between Low and Medium is smaller, with Medium producing 57 FPS.

Q: Is the Radeon 760M's integrated graphics comparable to any discrete GPUs?

A: Benchmark data shows the Radeon 760M has an average score of 6019, placing it within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 6400 and the NVIDIA Quadro P2000. Its percentile rank of 35 means it outperforms only 35% of all GPUs in the database.

Q: Does the CPU's single-core performance compensate for the GPU's weakness in this game?

A: The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has a strong single-thread score of 4280 in Passmark, but this does not translate to playable frame rates at higher resolutions. The data shows the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as frame rates drop significantly when resolution increases regardless of CPU capability.

Q: What resolution and settings combination provides the most balanced experience?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset, with an average of 57 FPS and a minimum of 48 FPS, offers the best balance between visual quality and smoothness. The Low preset at 65 FPS is the only option that provides a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 760M is an integrated graphics processor based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 800 MHz and a boost clock of 2599 MHz, with its memory being system-shared rather than dedicated. The GPU features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation pipelines, along with 8 ray tracing cores. Its peak pixel rate is 41.58 GPixel/s, and it delivers 5.323 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance.

The integrated nature of this GPU is the primary factor limiting Doom's performance. With system-shared memory and bandwidth described as "System Dependent," the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access. In a game like Doom, which demands consistent memory bandwidth for texture streaming and geometry processing, this shared arrangement creates a significant performance ceiling. The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce this: it achieves only 5310 in Passmark G3D and 400 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 35th percentile of all GPUs.

The data reveals a clear pattern where the GPU's capabilities dictate the playable envelope. At 4K Ultra settings, the average frame rate collapses to 14 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. Even at 1080p, the Ultra preset only manages 39 FPS, indicating that the GPU's 16 ROPs and 32 TMUs cannot keep pace with the game's higher-fidelity effects. The 760M's nearest rivals in benchmark scores—the RX 6400 and Quadro P2000—are discrete cards, yet the integrated part stays within 0.5% of their aggregate scores. This suggests the 760M's compute resources are competitive for its class, but Doom's specific demands expose its memory bandwidth limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and AMD Radeon 760M sits at rank 2919 out of 2930 tested combos in Doom, a position that places it in the bottom 0.4% of all configurations. This ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's performance tier, as the CPU is a high-end mobile processor. The data shows that this combo outperforms only 11 other tested configurations, making it one of the least capable systems in the database for this specific title.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 88 indicates that the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a strong processor, with an average score of 44466. Its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (scoring 44573, a 0.2% difference) and the Intel Core i9-13950HX (scoring 44342, a 0.3% difference). This places the CPU in the top 12% of all processors, yet the combo's rank in Doom remains abysmal. The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank highlights how severely the integrated GPU bottlenecks the system in gaming workloads.

This ranking pattern suggests that for Doom, the GPU is the sole determinant of playability. A user could pair this CPU with a discrete GPU and likely achieve dramatically better results, but as configured, the 760M's 35th percentile GPU rank drags the entire combo down. The 0.4th percentile combo rank versus the 35th percentile GPU rank shows that the pairing itself does not introduce any additional inefficiencies—the system performs exactly as the weakest component dictates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its only playable results. The Low preset produces an average of 65 FPS, which is the single instance where the combo exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings yield 57 FPS average with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, providing a workable experience for most of the game. High settings drop the average to 48 FPS, while Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 26 FPS, a 40% performance penalty for enabling higher visual fidelity.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates become increasingly marginal. Low settings average 42 FPS, Medium averages 37 FPS (with a minimum of 31 and maximum of 42), and High drops to 31 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages only 25 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a fast-paced shooter. The data shows a consistent 10 FPS reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level, indicating a predictable scaling pattern.

At 3840x2160, the system becomes effectively unplayable across all settings. Low averages 23 FPS, Medium averages 20 FPS (with a minimum of 17 and maximum of 23), High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 9 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is so heavily constrained at this resolution that settings changes have diminishing returns. The minimum FPS of 17 at 4K Medium highlights the worst-case performance scenario for this combo.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor from the Panther Lake architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 25 W. The CPU features a substantial cache hierarchy: 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports LPDDR5X memory on a dual-channel bus, providing 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth.

Benchmark results indicate this is a high-performing mobile CPU. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18911 and single-core score of 2200.5 place it well above average, and its Passmark multithread score of 36811 confirms strong multi-threaded capabilities. The CPU's percentile rank of 88, with an average benchmark score of 44466, shows it competes closely with desktop-class processors like the Ryzen 5 7500X3D and Core i9-13950HX, both of which are within 0.5% of its aggregate score.

In Doom, however, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The game's engine benefits from high single-thread performance, and the 388H's boost clock of 5.10 GHz should be sufficient for the game's core logic. The Passmark single-thread score of 4280 is notably strong, yet the measured frame rates show that the system never reaches CPU-limited performance. At 1080p Low, the 65 FPS average is likely near the GPU's maximum output for that configuration, not a CPU constraint. The data suggests that the CPU has ample headroom, and the bottleneck lies entirely with the Radeon 760M's ability to render frames.

Settings Recommendations

For users seeking a playable experience with this combo, the 1920x1080 Medium preset is the recommended starting point. It delivers an average of 57 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS, which is sufficient for most of Doom's single-player campaign. The minimum of 48 FPS indicates that some scenes may drop below the 60 FPS ideal, but the experience remains playable without major stutter. This setting provides a balance between visual quality and performance that neither High nor Ultra can match.

The Low preset at 1080p, averaging 65 FPS, is the only configuration that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. For players who prioritize smoothness above all else, this is the safest choice. The difference between Low and Medium is only 8 FPS, so the Medium preset's additional visual fidelity may be worth the slight performance reduction for most users. The High preset at 48 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS are not recommended for active gameplay, as the frame rates fall into a range where fast-paced combat becomes difficult to track smoothly.

At higher resolutions, no settings combination is recommended for play. The 1440p Medium preset at 37 FPS and 4K Low at 23 FPS both fall below the 40 FPS threshold generally considered the minimum for a playable FPS experience. Users with this hardware should remain at 1080p and accept either the Low or Medium preset. The data clearly shows that attempting higher resolutions will result in a subpar experience, regardless of settings adjustments.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound system with extreme sensitivity to resolution changes. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 57 at 1080p to 37 at 1440p, a 35% reduction, and then to 20 at 4K, a further 46% reduction from 1440p. This pattern indicates that the Radeon 760M's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are severely inadequate for higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior differs across settings, providing insight into the bottleneck. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p (65 FPS) to 1440p (42 FPS) is a 35% decrease, while the drop from 1440p to 4K (23 FPS) is a 45% decrease. At Ultra settings, the same transitions show a 36% decrease (39 to 25 FPS) followed by a 44% decrease (25 to 14 FPS). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that the GPU's fill rate is the limiting factor, rather than specific game effects.

The resolution scaling data implies that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not scale with pixel count. Instead, the frame rates halve at each major resolution step, which is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated at all resolutions. The 388H CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the 760M's 16 ROPs and 41.58 GPixel/s pixel rate simply cannot render Doom's scenes efficiently at 1440p or 4K. This combo is best understood as a 1080p solution, and even then, only with settings compromises.