(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)
Just to avoid any confusion, this isn't a full review of Doom: The Dark Ages. You can get that by clicking the link. Instead, I'm going to use the game to put Nvidia's top-end GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU through its paces. In other words, just how well does the powerhouse chip handle a trip through Hell? I was very eager to find out.
I ran our first GeForce RTX 50 mobile tests when the chip series launched, using a new Razer Blade 16 with an RTX 5090 inside. Now, with that same gaming laptop, I plunged into Doom: The Dark Ages—a medieval-themed entry in id Software and Bethesda Softworks' grimdark first-person-shooter franchise. And I gave the GPU the toughest workout I could.
Important note before we get into the blood and guts of the review: I played a preview version of the game (releasing on May 15 for PC, at a price of $69.99), with a code provided by Nvidia, running on pre-release drivers. Now off we go!
Hardware Requirements and Supported Nvidia Features for Doom: The Dark Ages
First, let’s take a look at the minimum and recommended specs. The game requires an AMD "Zen 2"-based or an Intel 10th Gen or later processor, 16GB of RAM, and a ray-tracing-capable GPU with 8GB or more of VRAM. (Think the RTX 2060 Super or Radeon RX 6600, or better.) These requirements tune to a 60-frame-per-second (fps), 1080p experience with Low settings. The game also requires 100GB of storage space and Windows 10 or 11.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)For a better experience, the developers recommend a "Zen 3" or 12th Gen CPU, 32GB of memory, and a GPU with 10GB or more of VRAM (at least an RTX 3080, or a newer RTX 40 or 50 series GPU). These suggestions tune to a 60fps 1440p experience with High settings. (Doom: The Dark Ages has many visual settings beyond this that I’ll get into.)
Our Blade 16 test laptop (pictured below) contains an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, an RTX 5090 GPU, 32GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. The screen is a 240Hz, 1600p-resolution (2,560-by-1,600-pixel) panel, and I stuck to this native resolution throughout testing.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)There's another crucial piece of spec info you need to know: This new Doom is a DLSS 4 title for compatible RTX 50-series GPUs. That means it supports Multi-Frame Generation (MFG), Super Resolution upscaling, and Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing (DLAA) using new transformer-based AI models. Soon after release, one more major lighting feature, Ray Reconstruction, will be added in a post-launch patch.
I explained these DLSS 4 features and tested them via our usual lineup of benchmark games in this detailed RTX 5090 testing piece. The GPU is quite capable on its own, but DLSS 4 vastly improves frame rates on a game-by-game basis. Read that coverage for further details.
(Credit: Bethesda Softworks)On to the tests. Unfortunately, Doom: The Dark Ages does not have a built-in benchmark test, which made it trickier to put the GPU through its paces. Instead, I used a mix of anecdotal and experiential testing. For casual and subjective feedback, I ran through several sections of the game while monitoring performance and switching between visual settings to gauge how it felt. I then captured some sections’ average frame rate using Nvidia’s Frameview application.
Testing the GeForce RTX 5090 With The Dark Ages: Ripping and Tearing Through Frames
Running Doom: The Dark Ages on the RTX 5090-clad Blade 16 was a generally positive experience, with a steady 60fps in reach at most settings. Of course, with so much graphics power under the hood, any result less than 60fps would have been disappointing. But I'm surprised at how well the RTX 5090 maintained that rate, even without the help of DLSS.
Let's get into the details. You'll find several tiers of graphics settings in this game, including three above the High preset: Ultra, Nightmare, and Ultra Nightmare. I started my experience on High, and got frame rates in the 70s and 80s as I played through the campaign with no DLSS active.
(Credit: Bethesda Softworks)Keeping my eye on Frameview’s real-time frame-rate readout, I saw some dips as the action became more frenetic. However, it stayed comfortably above 60fps on average and did not inhibit my experience.
Naturally, I wanted to check out the Ultra Nightmare preset. For this test, I wanted more empirical data, so I had Frameview measure performance across two-minute intervals of gameplay. (Frameview logs average frame rates, 1% lows, and other statistics from a timed run into a spreadsheet file.) I ran through a section of a level—tearing through enemies as required and moving through to the next area—until two minutes elapsed. I repeated this three times for each settings run and averaged the results.
Granted, the test isn't as precisely repeatable as a scripted benchmark. But, given that I played the same slice of the game across two minutes, the room for hugely different experiences is small. Indeed, I made an effort to repeat my in-game steps as closely as possible each time.
I expected to need DLSS 4 to run this above 60fps. But in my tests, the RTX 5090 handled the graphics chores well all by itself, without any frame-boost oomph needed from DLSS 4.
Here are the numbers. On Ultra Nightmare settings with no DLSS (and TAA active instead), my repeat runs averaged 65.8fps, with a 1% low of 53.9fps. This scenario is, essentially, the most demanding the game can produce for this laptop: maximum resolution for the Blade 16's screen (1600p), the highest detail settings, and no scaling assistance. Even so, the processor still beat the minimum target of 60fps on average, if not by a wide margin.
That calls into question how well lesser GPUs, which I did not have the chance to test, will handle this game. Doom: The Dark Ages generally seems well optimized. But RTX 50-series GPUs lower in the hierarchy will likely need to adjust to keep up with the game's demands, using lower presets to reach 60fps without DLSS assistance. Of course, remember that this laptop is powerful enough to accomplish this at 1600p—less-powerful laptops can take off much of that burden by running at just 1080p.
(Credit: Bethesda Softworks)Alternatively, you can keep the settings cranked up and employ DLSS to boost frame rates. I ran the same slice of the game on Ultra Nightmare plus DLSS, averaging 97.5fps (with a 1% low frame-rate reading of 52.2fps). Of note, I found more variance in the 1% low score with DLSS active. Mostly, such dips aren’t detectable while playing, though you may catch small frame drops during massive explosions and other events, depending on your sensitivity to such things. And there are a lot of such swings in this game: Doom has a wide array of gameplay moments, including quieter sessions of traversal and menu navigation between bouts of frenetic combat.
I also wanted to see what maximum DLSS could achieve with DLSS 4’s Multi-Frame Generation (MFG), which inserts artificially generated frames (through machine learning) between the rendered frames. As I saw in my original RTX 5090 testing, this results in sky-high frame rates—my repeat runs averaged 237fps with DLSS set to 4X MFG.
In short, DLSS 4 will virtually always ensure you experience way above 60fps, making the most of high-refresh screens, if you have one. But the usual DLSS caveats apply. You might notice a slight visual decline with a high level of DLSS active, most noticeable to me when viewing enemy models from a distance. This drawback affects most games: Blurrier distant objects and some ghosting can result from the effort to boost frame rates.
(Credit: Bethesda Softworks)This compromise is probably my least favorite thing about DLSS. This issue has improved as Nvidia has developed the technology, but you'll still find some visual concessions. For instance, you still won't see quite the same sharpness in objects and models outside of your immediate field of vision with DLSS active, though I don't think it's especially severe in this game, even at the 4X level.
One last caveat here: Newer drivers should go live for launch-day players to experience even better performance, though I couldn’t test them in time for this piece.
My Takeaway? Hell Has Never Looked So Good
Finally, some subjective thoughts on how Doom: The Dark Ages looks. Outside of DLSS caveats, the game's visuals are sharp and rich, with cutting-edge effects and focus on the right aspects for the genre. Textures and enemy models are just detailed enough, and while the terrain is simpler, the buildings and interiors have loads of detail. Crucially, battle effects are bright, colorful, and constant for this fast-moving game. While I don’t think Doom: The Dark Ages sets a new standard for realistic visual fidelity, that’s not necessarily what you expect from a Doom game.
(Credit: Matthew Buzzi)Maintaining a high frame rate is part of that Doom feeling, and The Dark Ages looks sweet when you’re in full flow. The game is, fittingly, generally pretty dark, so there's not as much room for the beautiful sunrises and peaceful forests you see in some open-world games. (Granted, I only played the earlier portions of the game for this piece; maybe The Dark Ages gets sunnier later, but I doubt it.) But the game is attractive in its own way: Demonic portals glow violently and cast an orange light around the rocky environment, and beaming light shafts highlight ghastly scenes, like impaled soldiers and other gruesome wreckage.
(Credit: Bethesda Softworks)Some indoor scenes are especially striking, and lighting helps liven up some outdoor environments. Rain collects in droplets on your visor, and lightning flashes add to the atmosphere. Ray tracing assists with these effects, though I am curious to see the post-launch path tracing in action. The RTX 5090 and DLSS 4 will really be put to work with this advanced real-time technique active.
Overall, this is a well-running game with many visual settings to tune. With seven graphics presets, multiple DLSS levels, and several scaling options, this fully featured DLSS 4 game should allow you to tweak it to your specific needs or preferences based on your system's capabilities. I would have liked to test this game on a range of lower-end systems, but we have years of testing the range of RTX 50-series GPUs in laptops ahead of us.
Check out our complete Doom: The Dark Ages review, and be on the lookout for our full review of the Razer Blade 16 laptop soon.