Doom

# Doom — Intel Core Ultra X9 388H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with 4K remaining playable at most settings. The measured data shows this combo ranks in the 55th percentile of all tested combinations for this title, sitting at position 2033 out of 3712. The CPU's 16 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock, combined with the GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, create a balanced platform where frame rates scale predictably across resolutions and quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between components. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 227 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 147 FPS, a reduction of 80 FPS or roughly 35%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 80 FPS, another 67 FPS decline from 1440p. This pattern indicates that at lower resolutions, the system is not GPU-bound; the 227 FPS ceiling at 1080p suggests headroom remains in the rendering pipeline.

The scaling curve steepens dramatically at higher settings. With Ultra presets, the averages are 137 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p Ultra is 48 FPS, while 1440p to 4K loses 41 FPS. This near-linear degradation across resolutions points to the RTX 4070 Mobile becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases, particularly when shader complexity and texture detail rise with the Ultra preset.

Medium settings show the most consistent scaling pattern. The measured averages are 198 FPS at 1080p, 128 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. The percentage declines between successive resolutions are roughly 35% and 46% respectively. This suggests that at Medium, the GPU's 15.62 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 244.1 GTexel/s texture rate are being utilized efficiently, with the 8 GB frame buffer not yet causing capacity-related stutters.

The 4K High result of 59 FPS sits just below the 60 FPS threshold commonly targeted for smooth gameplay. The gap between 4K Medium (69 FPS) and 4K High (59 FPS) is 10 FPS, while 4K Ultra (48 FPS) falls 21 FPS below the Medium result. This indicates that Doom's High preset introduces additional shading work that pushes the GPU near its limits at 2160p, whereas the Medium preset leaves enough compute headroom for consistent frame delivery.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Mobile operates with a base clock of 1395 MHz and a boost clock of 1695 MHz. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Doom, a game built on id Tech 6 with heavy texture streaming, this bandwidth appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a constraint at 4K Ultra where the 48 FPS result suggests the memory subsystem is saturated.

The GPU's 4608 shading units and 144 texture mapping units deliver strong raw throughput. The 15.62 TFLOPS FP32 figure places this mobile part near desktop mid-range performance, which aligns with the observed 1080p Ultra average of 137 FPS. The 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores are present but Doom's original release does not utilize ray tracing, so these resources remain idle during the measured runs.

The 81.36 GPixel/s pixel rate helps explain the 4K performance envelope. At 3840x2160, the GPU must fill approximately 8.3 million pixels per frame. With a 59 FPS average at High settings, the pixel throughput requirement is roughly 490 GPixel/s, which exceeds the theoretical fill rate by a factor of six. This indicates that the game's rendering pipeline at 4K is not purely fill-rate limited; rather, the combination of shading, texture fetch, and memory bandwidth collectively determine the final frame rate.

The 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs in the benchmark database confirms this is a mid-to-upper tier mobile part. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, scores within 0.1% on average, yet the RTX 4070 Mobile's lower power envelope (115 W TDP) and portable form factor make it a distinct option for laptop implementations.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3712 tested CPU-GPU combinations in Doom, this pairing holds the 2033rd position. That places it in the 54.8th percentile, meaning roughly 45% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates. The ranking reflects the mobile nature of both components; desktop parts with higher power budgets and larger thermal envelopes naturally occupy the upper percentiles.

The CPU's own benchmark percentile is 88th among all processors, while the GPU sits at 73rd. The combo's mid-pack ranking in Doom specifically suggests the game's engine does not heavily favor either component's strengths. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H achieves a passmark single-thread score of 4280 and a multithread score of 36811, both respectable for mobile silicon. The RTX 4070 Mobile's passmark G3D score of 19587 further confirms its mid-range positioning.

The deltaPct values from the nearest rivals provide context. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D scores 0.2% lower on average CPU benchmarks, while the Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 0.3% higher. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the CPU choice between these parts would not meaningfully alter Doom's frame rates. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 3090, scores 0.5% higher on average, but that desktop card draws significantly more power and produces more heat.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 137 FPS average provides the smoothest experience without sacrificing visual quality. The gap between Ultra and High (167 FPS) is only 30 FPS, but the visual fidelity increase from High to Ultra in Doom's particle effects and shadow quality justifies the modest performance cost. The Medium preset at 198 FPS offers no tangible benefit on standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz panels, as both exceed refresh rate capabilities.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 108 FPS average, which is ideal for 100 Hz+ displays. The Ultra preset at 89 FPS remains playable but drops below the 100 FPS threshold that competitive FPS players often prefer. The Medium preset at 128 FPS provides the highest frame rate while still maintaining acceptable visual quality for a fast-paced shooter where reaction time matters more than texture detail.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 69 FPS is the recommended choice. It stays above the 60 FPS playability threshold while offering better visual fidelity than Low (80 FPS). The High preset at 59 FPS sits on the borderline; the 10 FPS drop from Medium to High may introduce perceptible judder on 60 Hz panels. The Ultra preset at 48 FPS is not recommended for competitive play, though it remains usable for slower-paced exploration.

The measured min and max FPS values for Medium settings provide additional guidance. At 1440p Medium, the range spans 109 to 148 FPS, while 4K Medium spans 59 to 80 FPS. The 1080p Medium range of 168 to 228 FPS shows excellent frame pacing consistency. These ranges indicate that Medium settings produce the most stable frame delivery across all resolutions, with no severe dips below the average.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Doom?

A: Yes, but only with the Medium preset, which averages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS. The High preset averages 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS target, while Ultra drops to 48 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Mobile compare to desktop GPUs in this game?

A: The nearest rival in the benchmark database is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 0.5% higher on average GPU benchmarks. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT scores identically (0% delta), suggesting comparable Doom performance potential.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. The 227 FPS average at 1080p Low indicates the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently. The CPU's passmark single-thread score of 4280 ranks in the 88th percentile, providing ample headroom for high-refresh-rate gaming.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play?

A: 1080p with the Ultra preset yields 137 FPS, while the High preset reaches 167 FPS. For maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 227 FPS offers the lowest latency, but the High preset balances visual clarity and speed for spotting enemies.

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

A: It ranks 2033rd out of 3712 combinations, placing it in the 55th percentile. This is a mid-pack result, reflecting the mobile component configuration rather than any specific weakness in Doom's engine.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance at any settings?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 48 FPS suggests memory pressure may contribute to the performance drop, but the Medium and High 4K results (69 and 59 FPS) indicate the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth handles standard texture loads without severe penalties.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H features 16 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This Panther Lake architecture part, built on Intel's 3 nm process, achieves a passmark multithread score of 36811 and a single-thread score of 4280. The 18 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 per core provide ample data locality for Doom's level streaming and entity management.

In the measured frame rates, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the 227 FPS average suggests the processor can sustain high draw-call throughput. Doom's id Tech 6 engine is known for efficient multi-threading, and the 16-thread configuration allows the game's job system to distribute work across physical cores without hyperthreading contention. The 88th percentile CPU ranking confirms this part outperforms the majority of installed processors.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, scores 0.2% lower on average, while the Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 0.3% higher. These differences are within measurement noise for gaming workloads. The 25 W TDP figure underscores the mobile efficiency focus, but the boost clock of 5.10 GHz ensures single-threaded performance remains competitive with desktop parts. The 153.6 GB/s memory bandwidth from LPDDR5X support provides sufficient data throughput for the game's texture streaming demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields 48 FPS average, the lowest measured result. The High preset improves to 59 FPS, Medium reaches 69 FPS with a range of 59 to 80 FPS, and Low achieves 80 FPS. The progression from Ultra to Low represents a 32 FPS improvement, or 67% higher frame rate at the lowest settings.

The 2560x1440 results show a similar pattern with higher absolute values. Ultra averages 89 FPS, High reaches 108 FPS, Medium delivers 128 FPS (range 109 to 148), and Low tops out at 147 FPS. The spread between Ultra and Low is 58 FPS, indicating that at this resolution, settings choices have a more pronounced impact on performance than at 4K.

The 1920x1080 measurements demonstrate the combo's high-refresh-rate capability. Ultra averages 137 FPS, High reaches 167 FPS, Medium delivers 198 FPS (range 168 to 228), and Low peaks at 227 FPS. The 90 FPS gap between Ultra and Low represents the full range of visual quality versus performance trade-offs available to the user.

The Medium preset is the only configuration with complete min and max FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the 168 FPS minimum and 228 FPS maximum show a 60 FPS range, indicating some frame-time variance during intense combat sequences. At 1440p, the range narrows to 39 FPS (109 to 148), while at 4K it tightens further to 21 FPS (59 to 80). This pattern suggests that higher resolutions reduce the CPU's ability to cause frame spikes, as the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck and maintains more consistent frame pacing.