Doom

The Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers overwhelming performance in Doom (2016), a game whose id Tech 6 engine is known for scaling exceptionally well across hardware. Measured data shows this pairing never dips below 85 FPS even at 4K with Ultra settings, and at 1080p the frame rates soar past 400 FPS on Low. This is a case where both the CPU and GPU are far ahead of what the game demands, making it a flawless experience at any resolution or preset tested.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains at least 60 FPS at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 85 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data shows all four presets (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra) are playable at 4K, with Ultra being the most demanding option that still averages 85 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-14600K compare to its closest rival in raw compute?

A: The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48,618, placing it in the 90th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, scores 48,698, which is only 0.2% higher. The AMD EPYC 4345P trails by 0.3%, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is 0.8% behind.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 significantly faster than the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: No, the difference is negligible. The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, a delta of just 0.1%. In practical gaming terms, the two cards would be indistinguishable in Doom.

Q: What is the frame rate jump from 1440p to 1080p on Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average FPS is 226. Dropping to 1920x1080 Medium increases the average to 350 FPS, a gain of 124 FPS. The minimum FPS also rises from 192 at 1440p to 297 at 1080p.

Q: Does this combo rank high among all tested configurations?

A: Yes. This CPU and GPU pairing ranks 215th out of 3,712 tested combos, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations in the database for this game. This indicates the hardware is far more capable than what Doom requires.

Q: Which component is the bigger bottleneck at Ultra settings?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 85, while at 4K Low it is 141. At 1080p, the gap narrows: Ultra averages 241 FPS versus 401 FPS on Low. The CPU headroom from the i5-14600K is sufficient to feed the RTX 4080 at all tested settings, as evidenced by the massive frame rates at lower resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the i5-14600K and RTX 4080 changes predictably as resolution scales. At 1080p, the system is largely GPU-bound at higher presets, but the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures no bottleneck. The i5-14600K's single-core Cinebench R23 score of 2,064 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,491 indicate excellent per-thread performance, which is crucial for a game like Doom that relies on a primary render thread.

Looking at the scaling data, the GPU's influence grows with resolution. At 1080p, going from Low to Ultra reduces average FPS from 401 to 241, a 40% drop. At 1440p, the same preset change drops FPS from 260 to 156, a 40% reduction as well. At 4K, Low averages 141 FPS while Ultra averages 85, a 40% decrease. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions indicates the GPU is the dominant factor when changing presets, while the CPU maintains enough headroom to avoid becoming the primary constraint.

The resolution scaling itself reveals the GPU's workload. Moving from 1080p Ultra (241 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (156 FPS) represents a 35% performance reduction, and further to 4K Ultra (85 FPS) is another 46% drop. These figures align with the pixel count increases (1.78x from 1080p to 1440p, 2.25x from 1440p to 4K), confirming the RTX 4080's rendering throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Conversely, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 401 FPS, which requires the CPU to process over 400 frames per second of game logic and draw calls. The i5-14600K's 14 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, are more than adequate for this task. The multi-core Cinebench R23 score of 24,491 and PassMark multithread score of 38,682 place it well above the needs of Doom's engine, which historically scales well with high-frequency cores.

For 1440p gaming, the balance shifts toward the GPU. At 1440p Ultra, the average of 156 FPS shows the RTX 4080 handling the increased pixel workload efficiently. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are not stressed by Doom's 2016-era textures, so the frame rate is determined almost entirely by shader and rasterization throughput.

At 4K, the GPU is unquestionably the dominant component. Even at Low settings, the 4K resolution demands significant fill rate, and the RTX 4080 delivers 141 FPS. The jump from Medium (123 FPS) to Ultra (85 FPS) at 4K shows a 31% performance hit for the highest preset, which is a modest cost for the visual upgrade. The i5-14600K's role at 4K is minimal, as the CPU can easily supply frames faster than the GPU can render them at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 holds the 215th position out of 3,712 tested combinations in the database for Doom. That places it in the top 5.8% of all configurations, a remarkable result for a game released in 2016. The high rank reflects not just the individual strength of each component but also their compatibility with the game's engine.

The i5-14600K sits in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 48,618. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698, 0.2% faster), AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470, 0.3% slower), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287, 0.7% slower). These small deltas indicate the i5-14600K is tightly clustered with other high-end processors in synthetic tests, though in Doom the real-world performance will be influenced more by single-thread speed than multi-core scores.

The RTX 4080 achieves the 86th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 (0.1% slower), meaning the two are effectively identical in compute. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% faster, and the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% faster in these aggregate benchmarks, though these differences are within measurement noise and do not translate to meaningful FPS differences in Doom.

The combination's rank of 215 suggests there are 214 other configurations that perform better in this game. Given that Doom is not particularly demanding by modern standards, most of those higher-ranked combos likely include even more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher clock speeds. However, the practical takeaway is that this combo sits comfortably in the upper echelon of performance, with no risk of falling short of playable frame rates at any tested setting.

The Verdict

This PC can run Doom flawlessly at every resolution and preset tested. The verdict data confirms that all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160, with average frame rates far exceeding the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 1080p, the performance is extraordinary. The Ultra preset averages 241 FPS, which is four times the playable threshold. Medium averages 350 FPS, High averages 295 FPS, and Low reaches 401 FPS. Even the minimum recorded FPS at 1080p Medium is 297, which is nearly five times the minimum playable frame rate.

At 1440p, the results are equally impressive. Ultra averages 156 FPS, Medium averages 226 FPS, High averages 191 FPS, and Low averages 260 FPS. The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 192, still more than three times the playable threshold. This resolution offers a sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors, as even the most demanding preset stays well above 144 FPS.

At 4K, the system remains highly capable. Ultra averages 85 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable margin. High averages 104 FPS, Medium averages 123 FPS, and Low averages 141 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 104, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. For players with 4K displays, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, as it provides the best visual quality while maintaining an average of 85 FPS.

The only consideration is that Doom is a fast-paced FPS where higher frame rates translate to lower input latency and smoother motion. While 85 FPS at 4K Ultra is playable, players with 144 Hz or 240 Hz displays may prefer 1440p or 1080p to fully utilize their monitor's refresh rate. At 1440p Ultra, the 156 FPS average exceeds most high refresh rate displays, and at 1080p, even Ultra settings push 241 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals to the i5-14600K in synthetic benchmarks all fall within 0.8% of its average score. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698, 0.2% faster) and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48,995, 0.8% faster) are essentially interchangeable in CPU-bound scenarios. The AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470, 0.3% slower) and Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287, 0.7% slower) would produce nearly identical frame rates in Doom, as the game is not heavily multi-threaded and the single-thread performance of these chips is comparable.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080's nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54,209 versus the RTX 4080's 54,247, a 0.1% difference. In Doom, these two cards would deliver virtually identical performance. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828, 1.1% faster) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, 2.6% faster) also fall within a narrow performance band, though their real-world gaming performance may vary due to driver and architecture differences.

For a system builder looking at this exact combo, swapping the i5-14600K for any of its nearest CPU rivals would not change the gaming experience in Doom. The frame rates are so high that even a 1% difference would be imperceptible. Similarly, choosing an RTX 4080 SUPER over the RTX 4080 would yield no practical benefit, as the 0.1% benchmark delta is within measurement error.

The data suggests that this performance tier is well-populated with similar options. A user with an Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX and RTX 4080 SUPER would achieve nearly identical results in Doom, as would a system with an AMD EPYC 4345P and Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, despite the latter being a workstation CPU paired with a mid-range GPU.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 241 FPS. This is the obvious choice for maximum visual quality on a 1080p display, as the frame rate is more than sufficient for any monitor refresh rate up to 240 Hz. The minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 297, and Ultra's average of 241 FPS suggests the minimum would still be well above 200 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is again the best setting, averaging 156 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin and is suitable for 144 Hz monitors. The jump from High (191 FPS) to Ultra (156 FPS) represents a 18% performance cost for the highest preset, which is a reasonable trade-off for the visual improvements. Medium averages 226 FPS and Low averages 260 FPS, but these lower presets sacrifice visual fidelity for frame rates that exceed what most displays can show.

At 3840x2160, Ultra remains the recommended setting, averaging 85 FPS. This is the most demanding configuration tested and still provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High averages 104 FPS, Medium averages 123 FPS, and Low averages 141 FPS. For 4K displays with 60 Hz refresh rates, Ultra is the ideal choice. For 4K displays with 120 Hz or higher refresh rates, dropping to High (104 FPS) or Medium (123 FPS) would be necessary to fully utilize the display's capabilities, though the visual trade-off may not be worth it.

In summary, the Ultra preset is the best choice at every resolution, as it provides the highest visual quality while maintaining average frame rates of 241 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. The system's performance headroom is so substantial that even the most demanding settings never come close to the 60 FPS playable threshold.