Doom

The benchmark data for Doom with the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT shows a pairing that is heavily skewed toward GPU performance at higher resolutions, but one that still delivers exceptionally high frame rates across the board. The measured results indicate that this combination is more than capable of handling the game’s fast-paced action, with the primary performance ceiling shifting from the graphics card at 4K to a mix of CPU and GPU overhead at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but the absolute numbers remain playable at every step. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 208.8 at 1920x1080 to 136.5 at 2560x1440, a reduction of about 34.6%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average drops to 76, which is a 63.6% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern reveals that the GPU is the dominant limiting factor as resolution increases, with the RX 7800 XT’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth being pushed harder at 4K.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings also widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (283.3 FPS) and Ultra (170.1 FPS) is 113.2 FPS, while at 4K the same settings gap is only 36.8 FPS (97.1 vs 60.3). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance, where the graphics card’s raw compute and memory throughput become the bottleneck regardless of how much you lower the graphical load. The data suggests that at 4K, even dropping to Low settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count, whereas at 1080p, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are more likely to influence the upper frame rate ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the High preset is the clear choice at 1440p and 4K. At 2560x1440, High delivers 136.5 FPS average, which is well above the 111.3 FPS of Ultra but still a substantial jump from the 159 FPS of Medium. The visual difference between High and Ultra is typically minor in Doom, but the 25.2 FPS penalty at 1440p is significant. At 3840x2160, High’s 76 FPS average is a solid target for a smooth experience, while Ultra drops to 60.3 FPS, which risks dipping below the 60 FPS threshold during intense combat scenes.

At 1080p, the situation flips. The High preset at 208.8 FPS is already excellent, but the data shows that Medium (245.6 FPS) and Low (283.3 FPS) offer diminishing returns in terms of playability since the game is already running far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. For competitive play on a high-refresh display, Low at 283.3 FPS is the optimal choice, but for a standard 144Hz panel, High provides the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The Ultra preset at 1080p (170.1 FPS) is still viable, but the 38.7 FPS loss compared to High is not worth the marginal graphical upgrade.

GPU Role

The RX 7800 XT is the star of this pairing, with its 16 GB of VRAM proving ample for Doom’s textures at all settings. The card’s boost clock of 2430 MHz and game clock of 2124 MHz contribute to its strong performance, with the 3840 shading units and 96 ROPs handling the game’s render load efficiently. The measured frame rates show that the GPU is not VRAM-limited at any resolution, as even at 4K Ultra, the 60.3 FPS average suggests the card is compute-bound rather than memory-bound.

The GPU’s 76th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32619, places it in the upper mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro S9300 X2, scores 32540 (0.2% higher), while the NVIDIA P104-100 scores 32747 (0.4% lower). These narrow margins indicate that the RX 7800 XT is competitively positioned, though its real-world Doom performance is what matters here. The card’s 37.32 TFLOPS FP32 compute power is more than sufficient for this game, which is based on the id Tech 6 engine and scales well with raw shader throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is playable with headroom. Low settings produce an average of 283.3 FPS, Medium hits 245.6 FPS, High reaches 208.8 FPS, and Ultra still manages 170.1 FPS. These numbers indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as the frame rates scale nearly linearly with the graphical load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 179.8 FPS for Low, 159 FPS for Medium, 136.5 FPS for High, and 111.3 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 68.5 FPS, which is a 38.1% reduction, showing that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of higher pixel counts.

At 3840x2160, the results are 97.1 FPS for Low, 87.4 FPS for Medium, 76 FPS for High, and 60.3 FPS for Ultra. The Ultra preset barely maintains a 60 FPS average, while Low stays above 90 FPS. This resolution is where the RX 7800 XT’s limits are most apparent, but the card still delivers playable performance across all presets. The combo rank of 619 out of 1681 combinations in this game suggests that while this is not a top-tier setup, it is well above average for Doom specifically.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 76, which is smooth for most players. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 60.3 FPS, which is still technically playable but may feel less consistent during heavy action.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: At 1080p, Ultra gives 170.1 FPS compared to High’s 208.8 FPS, a 38.7 FPS penalty for visual gains that are often subtle in motion. At 4K, the penalty is smaller (15.7 FPS) but the absolute frame rate is lower, so High is the better choice for maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: The i5-14400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, ensure that the CPU is never the primary bottleneck at 1440p or 4K. At 1080p Low settings, the 283.3 FPS average suggests the CPU is still keeping up, but the frame rate ceiling is likely influenced by the CPU’s single-thread performance.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 1440p, High settings with 136.5 FPS is the ideal match. At 1080p, Medium (245.6 FPS) or High (208.8 FPS) both provide plenty of headroom above 144 FPS, allowing you to choose based on visual preference.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM make a difference in Doom?

A: The data shows that the card is never VRAM-limited, as even at 4K Ultra the frame rate is compute-bound. The 16 GB capacity is more than enough for this game, ensuring texture streaming is not a factor in the measured results.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its direct rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7800 XT scores 32619 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 and 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA P104-100. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, where the measured Doom FPS tells the full story.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on Raptor Lake, 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 per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for feeding the GPU in Doom. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 88th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508, places it in the upper echelon of desktop processors, though its nearest rivals (Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446) are within 0.2% delta, indicating that synthetic performance is tightly clustered.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p with Low settings, where the 283.3 FPS average is close to the engine’s practical frame rate limit. The game’s id Tech 6 engine is known for being well-optimized, and the i5-14400F’s strong single-core performance (3093 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures that the main game thread is not a limiting factor. The 65W TDP and unlocked memory support for DDR5 also contribute to consistent frame pacing, but the measured data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences across settings and resolutions. For players using this CPU with the RX 7800 XT, the pairing is balanced, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the GPU even at high frame rates.