Doom

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the AMD Radeon 8060S delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, but the data shows that the integrated GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where even the lowest settings struggle to maintain high refresh rates. This combination ranks 1671 out of 2930 tested combos for this title, placing it in the 57th percentile of all tested systems, a position driven largely by the GPU’s strong mid-range performance rather than the CPU’s top-tier compute power. Benchmark results indicate that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh 1080p play, capable of exceeding 200 FPS on low settings, but the frame rate drops sharply as resolution increases, revealing a clear GPU-bound scenario at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1671 out of 2930 tested combinations in Doom places it squarely in the upper-middle tier of the database. This is not a top-tier competitive combination, but it is far from a weak one. The ranking reflects a balance where the CPU’s excellent single-thread and multi-thread performance (88th percentile among all CPUs) is paired with a GPU that sits in the 87th percentile among all GPUs. However, the game’s engine, which favors raw GPU throughput at high resolutions, means the final ranking is more indicative of the graphics solution’s capabilities than the processor’s.

The CPU itself, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, performs almost identically to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score. Its average score of 44466 is a mere 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D’s 44573, and 0.3% above the Intel Core i9-13950HX’s 44342. This negligible delta (the difference between the 7500X3D and the i9-13950HX is only 0.5%) means that for any CPU-bound scenario in Doom, swapping between these processors would yield virtually indistinguishable frame rates. The data shows that the 388H is not a bottleneck here; its 16 cores and 16 threads, boosting to 5.10 GHz, provide ample headroom for the game’s logic and physics threads.

The GPU, the AMD Radeon 8060S, tells a similar story in its own benchmarks. Its average score of 55757 is 0.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB’s 55698, and 0.6% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080’s 56083. The delta to the RTX 4080 (54247) is 2.8%. These margins are tight, indicating that the 8060S is a solid mid-to-high-tier mobile graphics solution. Yet, the combo’s in-game rank of 1671 suggests that many other tested combos, likely featuring discrete desktop GPUs or more powerful mobile parts, outpace it in Doom’s specific rendering load. The conclusion is clear: this combo is a strong performer for its class, but it is not designed to top the charts in a demanding FPS title at maximum settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is the primary driver of this combo’s gaming performance, and its specifications reveal why it behaves as it does in Doom. The GPU is based on the Strix Halo chip, built on TSMC’s 4 nm process, and features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. It also includes 40 ray tracing cores, though Doom (2016) does not utilize ray tracing, so those units are idle in this title. The GPU’s clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1295 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. This high boost clock, combined with the 2560 shaders, yields a pixel rate of 185.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 464.0 GTexel/s, translating to 14.85 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

In Doom, a game that relies heavily on fast geometry processing and fill rate, the 8060S’s texture and pixel throughput are the key factors. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 155 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. At 1440p High, the average drops to 101 FPS, still excellent. The GPU’s memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it uses the system’s LPDDR5X memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which is a crucial caveat. In practice, this shared memory arrangement can limit performance in scenarios where the GPU and CPU compete for bandwidth, although the data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, this is not a severe bottleneck.

The GPU’s 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it alongside the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and RTX 5080 in raw compute benchmarks. However, in Doom, the measured results show that the 8060S is more than capable of driving high frame rates up to 1440p. At 4K, the limitations become apparent, with the average FPS at Ultra settings falling to 45, which is below the 60 FPS target for many players. The GPU’s role is thus defined: it is a high-performance integrated solution that excels at mainstream resolutions but reaches its ceiling at 4K, particularly on higher presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 211 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 137 FPS, a 35.1% reduction. At 4K Low, the average is 74 FPS, a 46.0% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario: as resolution increases, the pixel load on the GPU grows, and frame rates fall proportionally.

For High settings, the scaling is similar. At 1080p, the average is 155 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 101 FPS, a 34.8% reduction. At 4K, it falls to 55 FPS, a 45.5% reduction from 1440p. The consistent percentage drops across Low and High settings indicate that the limiting component is the GPU’s fill rate, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p, as the CPU frame time would remain constant while the GPU frame time increases. Instead, the data shows that each resolution step incurs a similar relative penalty, confirming that the 8060S is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The jump from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings illustrates this well: the average FPS goes from 184 to 119, a 35.3% drop. At 4K Medium, the average is 65 FPS, a 45.4% drop from 1440p. The uniformity of these drops suggests that the GPU’s compute units and memory bandwidth are saturated at 4K, regardless of the settings preset. For players targeting 4K, this combo will require the Low preset to achieve an average of 74 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. The data shows that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p, where even Ultra settings maintain an average of 82 FPS, and High settings reach 101 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its strongest performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 211, with the Medium preset delivering 184 FPS (minimum 156, maximum 212). High settings yield 155 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 127 FPS. These numbers indicate that for competitive play, where high frame rates are paramount, the Low or Medium presets at 1080p are ideal, offering well over 180 FPS. Even at Ultra, the 127 FPS average is smooth, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 28 FPS (an 18.1% drop) for what is typically a modest visual improvement in shadow and post-processing quality.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU’s load. Low settings average 137 FPS, Medium 119 FPS (minimum 101, maximum 137), High 101 FPS, and Ultra 82 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is roughly 35%, which is expected given the pixel count increase of 78%. The 1440p High setting at 101 FPS is particularly noteworthy: it provides a good balance of visual fidelity and speed, matching the 4K Low setting’s frame rate but with significantly better graphics. For players with a 1440p monitor, the Medium or High presets are recommended, as they keep the average FPS above 100.

At 3840x2160, the combo’s limits are exposed. Low settings average 74 FPS, Medium 65 FPS (minimum 55, maximum 74), High 55 FPS, and Ultra 45 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset at 45 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most consider the minimum for a smooth experience in an FPS. Even at Low, the 74 FPS average is playable, but it is a significant step down from the 137 FPS achievable at 1440p Low. The data suggests that 4K is only viable with the Low or Medium presets, and even then, players may experience occasional dips (the Medium preset’s minimum FPS is 55). The 4K High and Ultra presets are best avoided if frame rate consistency is a priority.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor based on the Panther Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 25 W TDP that allows it to fit into mobile platforms. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides ample bandwidth for the game’s data streams. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18911 and a single-core score of 2200.5, placing it in the 88th percentile among all CPUs.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but it is not negligible. The game’s engine is well-threaded, and the 388H’s 16 threads ensure that no single core becomes a bottleneck. The single-core performance is also critical, as Doom’s main thread handles game logic and input. The 388H’s single-core score of 4280 in Passmark (listed as both "single_thread" and "singlethread") indicates strong per-core performance. The data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the combo still achieves 211 FPS, suggesting that the CPU can feed the GPU with frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions. If the CPU were weak, we would expect to see a plateau in FPS at 1080p Low, but the 211 FPS average indicates no such limitation.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and Intel Core i9-13950HX, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (44573 and 44342, respectively). The 388H’s average of 44466 is within 0.3% of both. In Doom, this means that the CPU choice will not meaningfully alter frame rates, as the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions tested. The only scenario where the CPU might matter is at 1080p Low with a more powerful discrete GPU, but with the 8060S, the combo never reaches a CPU-bound state. The 388H’s 18 MB of L3 cache and high boost clock provide sufficient headroom for the game’s streaming and physics, but the data does not show any CPU-related stutter or frame pacing issues.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p players with a 144Hz or higher monitor, the Medium preset is the best choice. It delivers an average of 184 FPS with a minimum of 156 FPS, ensuring that frame times stay below the 6.9 ms threshold needed for 144 Hz. The High preset at 155 FPS is also viable, but the drop to Medium yields an additional 29 FPS (a 15.8% improvement) with minimal visual degradation in Doom’s fast-paced combat. The Ultra preset at 127 FPS is still above 120 FPS, but the extra visual features are not worth the 15% frame rate loss.

For 1440p, the High preset is recommended. It averages 101 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS mark that many players consider the target for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 119 FPS is even better, but it requires a visual downgrade. If the player prefers maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 82 FPS is acceptable, but it dips into the 70s, which may be noticeable on a high-refresh display. The data shows that 1440p High is the sweet spot, providing a balance between the 119 FPS of Medium and the 82 FPS of Ultra.

For 4K, the Low preset is the only option that maintains a playable average frame rate above 70 FPS. The 74 FPS average is adequate, but the Medium preset at 65 FPS is borderline, with a minimum of 55 FPS that could cause stutters in intense firefights. The High preset at 55 FPS and Ultra at 45 FPS are not recommended for an FPS title where quick reactions are essential. Players who prioritize frame rate over resolution should consider dropping to 1440p, where the High preset at 101 FPS offers a significantly better experience than 4K Low at 74 FPS. The data clearly indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, with 4K reserved for less demanding titles or those who can tolerate lower frame rates.