Doom

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a dominant performance in Doom, clearing the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution and preset combination measured. At 4K, the system can run the game at Ultra settings with an average of 66 FPS, while at 1440p and 1080p, the Ultra preset produces 122 FPS and 189 FPS respectively, confirming that this hardware combination is far beyond the demands of the game's engine.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, yielding an average of 66 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset dips near the playable threshold, but it still maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS line. The High preset at this resolution averages 81 FPS, and Medium averages 96 FPS, offering additional headroom for those who prefer smoother motion over maximum fidelity.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset runs at an average of 122 FPS, making it the clear choice for the best visual quality without any performance compromise. The High preset at 150 FPS and Medium at 177 FPS are available, but the data shows that even the most demanding settings leave substantial performance on the table at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 189 FPS, which is vastly above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 231 FPS, Medium at 273 FPS, and Low at 314 FPS all demonstrate that this hardware combination is effectively unconstrained by the game at this resolution. Benchmark results indicate that the system's performance ceiling at 1080p is determined by the game engine's frame rate limits rather than by hardware capabilities.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling of measured FPS across resolutions and presets reveals that the GPU is the primary performance driver in Doom, though the CPU's headroom ensures that it never becomes a bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 189 to 122, a reduction of approximately 35%. Continuing to 3840x2160 at Ultra, the average falls to 66 FPS, another 46% decrease. This consistent degradation with increasing pixel count is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads.

The Low preset shows similar scaling: 314 FPS at 1080p, 203 FPS at 1440p, and 110 FPS at 4K. The proportional drops across resolutions are consistent with the GPU handling the bulk of the rendering work. The Intel Core i7-14700K, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, provides ample single-thread and multi-thread performance — its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and single-core score of 2160 place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs — but the game's frame rates scale almost entirely with the RTX 4070's workload.

At 4K, the gap between Low (110 FPS) and Ultra (66 FPS) is 44 FPS, while at 1080p the same gap is 125 FPS (314 to 189). This widening delta at lower resolutions suggests that the CPU becomes relatively more important as resolution decreases, but even at 1080p, the system never approaches a CPU-limited scenario. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming and memory bandwidth are not limiting factors at any settings level.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K Ultra settings above 60 FPS?*

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 4K.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 314 FPS while Ultra averages 189 FPS. This represents a 125 FPS difference, with Ultra still delivering more than triple the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 bottleneck the i7-14700K in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary scaling factor. FPS drops consistently as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which is typical of GPU-bound workloads. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking suggests it provides sufficient headroom for the GPU to operate at its full potential.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 177, with a minimum of 150 and maximum of 204. This provides a significant performance buffer above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Is the Ultra preset at 4K worth using given the lower frame rate?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 66 FPS, which is just 6 FPS above the playable threshold. If frame rate stability is a priority, the High preset at 81 FPS or Medium at 96 FPS offer more headroom while still maintaining high visual quality.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 96, with a minimum of 81 and maximum of 110. This is the only resolution where min/max data is available for the Medium preset.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has an average benchmark score of 69515, which is 0.2% higher than the i7-14700K's average score of 69355. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 (0.7% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 (0.9% higher). All of these processors would deliver nearly identical performance in Doom, as the game is GPU-bound at the tested settings. The AMD EPYC 9115 scores 69288, just 0.1% lower, and would also behave similarly despite being a server-class part.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile has an average score of 38135, which is 1.3% higher than the RTX 4070's 37648, making it the closest performance match among the listed rivals. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 37628 (0.1% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507 (0.4% lower). The AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157, which is 1.3% lower. In practical terms, all of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Doom, with differences of less than 2% in synthetic benchmarks translating to imperceptible real-world FPS variations.

The RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This pairing ranks 860th out of 3712 combinations tested for this game, placing it in the top 23% of all hardware pairings for Doom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 110 FPS average
• Medium: 96 FPS average, 81 FPS minimum, 110 FPS maximum
• High: 81 FPS average
• Ultra: 66 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 203 FPS average
• Medium: 177 FPS average, 150 FPS minimum, 204 FPS maximum
• High: 150 FPS average
• Ultra: 122 FPS average

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 314 FPS average
• Medium: 273 FPS average, 232 FPS minimum, 314 FPS maximum
• High: 231 FPS average
• Ultra: 189 FPS average

The min/max data available for Medium presets shows tight frame time distributions. At 4K Medium, the range from 81 to 110 FPS around a 96 average indicates stable performance. At 1440p Medium, the 150 to 204 range around 177 shows similar consistency. At 1080p Medium, the 232 to 314 range around 273 demonstrates that even the minimum frame rate is nearly four times the playable threshold.

The Verdict

This system can run Doom exceptionally well at every resolution and preset combination. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings presets are playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The best playable setting at 4K is Ultra, with an average of 66 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra runs at 122 FPS, and at 1080p, Ultra runs at 189 FPS.

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a minimum of 66 FPS across all tested configurations, with the lowest performance occurring at 4K Ultra. Given that the game was released in 2016, this modern hardware pairing provides massive headroom for high refresh rate displays at 1080p and 1440p, while still delivering a fully playable 4K experience. The data shows no configuration where the system falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold, making this an unequivocally capable setup for Doom.