Doom

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a highly playable experience across most of Doom’s settings, but the data reveals a clear hierarchy. At 1080p, the Ultra preset still produces a strong 113 FPS average, while Medium reaches 164 FPS, and Low pushes to 188 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 73 FPS, but Medium remains smooth at 106 FPS. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint; only the Low preset achieves a playable 66 FPS, while Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The measured rows indicate that for the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the most compelling experience, as it maintains a 106 FPS average with a minimum of 90 FPS. At 1080p, Medium provides an excellent 164 FPS average, making it the optimal choice for high-refresh-rate displays. For 4K, users should accept the Low preset’s 66 FPS as the only viable option, since higher presets dip below the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combination shows a consistent pattern where the Medium preset provides the most efficient performance-to-quality trade-off. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 164 FPS average, which is 51 FPS higher than Ultra’s 113 FPS and only 24 FPS lower than Low’s 188 FPS. The Medium preset also shows a minimum of 139 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery without significant dips. This makes Medium the recommended setting for 1080p gaming, as it captures most of the visual improvements over Low while maintaining a wide margin above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again stands out with a 106 FPS average and a 90 FPS minimum, making it the only preset at this resolution that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS while retaining decent visual quality. The High preset at 89 FPS is playable but offers diminishing returns, while Ultra’s 73 FPS average may cause noticeable stutter on some displays. For 4K, the data unequivocally points to the Low preset as the only sensible choice, as it is the sole preset to break the 60 FPS barrier with a 66 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K produces 57 FPS, which is borderline, but the Low preset’s 66 FPS provides the necessary headroom for consistent gameplay.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize Medium settings at 1080p and 1440p, as this preset yields the best combination of frame rate and visual fidelity across the measured spectrum. For users who demand maximum smoothness, Low at 1080p offers 188 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial. Conversely, Ultra at 1080p remains viable at 113 FPS, but the 51 FPS penalty compared to Medium suggests that the extra graphical features are not worth the performance cost unless the display can only handle 60 Hz.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combination for this hardware in Doom?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings provides the best overall experience, achieving a 164 FPS average with a 139 FPS minimum. This combination offers the highest frame rate while retaining adequate visual detail, making it ideal for fast-paced FPS gameplay.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, but only at the Low preset, which produces a 66 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 57 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS, indicating that higher presets are not viable for smooth 4K play.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers 73 FPS, while Medium achieves 106 FPS. This represents a significant 33 FPS advantage for Medium, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional graphical effects are too costly for the GPU at this resolution.

Q: Is the RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Doom?

A: The measured data indicates that VRAM is not a limiting factor in this game, as the GPU’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth supports all presets up to 4K. The frame rate drops are primarily correlated with the GPU’s compute load rather than memory capacity.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 produces a 188 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. This indicates that the CPU-GPU combination has substantial headroom when graphical load is minimized.

Q: How does the minimum frame rate affect gameplay at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset shows a minimum of 139 FPS at 1080p and 90 FPS at 1440p. These minimums are well above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring that frame pacing remains consistent even during intense combat sequences.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the primary driver of performance in this Doom configuration, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU features a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, with 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game’s texture streaming requirements at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that the Low preset still achieves 66 FPS.

The data shows a clear scaling pattern: as resolution increases, the GPU’s role becomes more dominant. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 75 FPS (188 vs 113), while at 4K, this difference narrows to 26 FPS (66 vs 40). This suggests that the GPU is already near its limits at 4K, where even the simplest presets cannot push beyond 66 FPS. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 9.754 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K data indicates that the RX 5700 XT is outclassed by the resolution’s demands.

The passmark G3D score of 16277 places this GPU at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M at a delta of 0.1%. This indicates that the RX 5700 XT is a mid-range performer, and the measured FPS data aligns with this assessment. The GPU’s 64 ROPs are sufficient for the game’s fill rate requirements, but the 40 FPS Ultra result at 4K highlights that the architecture’s compute throughput is the limiting factor, not memory bandwidth or VRAM capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system’s performance across three resolutions and four presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 188 FPS, Medium 164 FPS, High 138 FPS, and Ultra 113 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 139 FPS indicates excellent frame consistency, while the gap between High and Ultra (25 FPS) suggests that the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately heavy effects. At this resolution, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are likely sufficient to feed the GPU, as even the highest FPS values do not show signs of CPU bottlenecking.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are more pronounced. Low produces 121 FPS, Medium 106 FPS, High 89 FPS, and Ultra 73 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 90 FPS shows that the GPU can maintain playable frame rates even when the load increases. The proportional drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 35% for Low, 35% for Medium, 35% for High, and 35% for Ultra, indicating a uniform scaling factor across all presets. This uniformity suggests that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the primary bottleneck, as the relative performance penalties are consistent.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. Low produces 66 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, High 48 FPS, and Ultra 40 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, indicating significant frame variability. The drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 45% across all presets, which is larger than the 1080p to 1440p drop, highlighting the GPU’s diminishing capabilities as resolution increases. The 4K results confirm that the RX 5700 XT is not designed for this resolution, as even the Low preset barely breaks the 60 FPS barrier.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis reveals that the system exhibits a consistent performance degradation as pixel count increases. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS across all presets drops from a weighted mean of roughly 150 FPS to 97 FPS, a decrease of approximately 35%. This scaling is close to the theoretical pixel difference (1.78x), suggesting that the GPU is the limiting component at these resolutions, as the CPU has sufficient headroom to maintain frame delivery.

From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 97 FPS to 53 FPS, a decrease of approximately 45%. This steeper decline indicates that the GPU is approaching its architectural limits, as the pixel count increases by 2.25x but the FPS drops by less than half. The 4K results show that the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and FP32 throughput of 9.754 TFLOPS are insufficient to maintain the same scaling efficiency as lower resolutions.

The data implies that the system is GPU-bound across all measured configurations, but the degree of GPU-boundedness intensifies at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU’s 2.50 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost clocks are likely capable of keeping up with the GPU’s output, as evidenced by the 188 FPS Low result. However, at 4K, the GPU’s frame delivery drops to 66 FPS on Low, which is well below the CPU’s potential, confirming that the RX 5700 XT is the definitive bottleneck. The scaling pattern suggests that users should target 1440p or 1080p for optimal performance, as 4K requires a more powerful GPU to achieve playable frame rates across all presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing sufficient processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. The CPU features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core provide adequate data locality for game logic, while its 65 W TDP indicates efficient power consumption.

The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055, place it at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, has a delta of 0.1%, indicating near-identical performance. The CPU’s 10 cores are more than sufficient for Doom’s threading model, which typically utilizes 4-8 threads, meaning that the CPU is unlikely to limit frame rates in any of the measured configurations.

The measured FPS data supports this assessment. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 188 FPS, which is well below the CPU’s theoretical maximum frame output. The CPU’s passmark single-thread score of 3701 and multi-thread score of 25470 indicate that it can handle high frame rates without stuttering. However, at 1080p with Ultra settings, the FPS drops to 113, which is more attributable to the GPU’s load than CPU limitations. The CPU’s role becomes even less significant at 4K, where the GPU’s 40 FPS Ultra result shows that the processor is far from being the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 2758 out of 3712 combos, placing it in the 74th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the RX 5700 XT’s 59th percentile among GPUs drags down the overall performance despite the CPU’s strong 83rd percentile ranking.

The combo’s ranking indicates that it outperforms roughly a quarter of all tested configurations, but it is far from the top-tier systems. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, shows a delta of -0.3%, meaning the RX 5700 XT is slightly slower, while the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 is also 0.3% faster. This suggests that the GPU is competitive with other mid-range cards but cannot compete with higher-end offerings.

The measured FPS data confirms this ranking, as the system delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K. The combo’s rank of 2758 out of 3712 suggests that users should not expect high-refresh-rate 4K gaming, but the system is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p esports or single-player FPS titles. The CPU’s strong performance ensures that any future GPU upgrade would yield substantial improvements, as the processor will not bottleneck a more powerful graphics card. Overall, this combo represents a balanced mid-range system that excels at lower resolutions, with the GPU being the primary constraint on performance.