Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 340.1 FPS, which drops to 216.6 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 120.6 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64.5% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset, indicating that the rendering workload at higher resolutions is increasingly dominated by the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities.

The scaling behavior shifts noticeably when examining the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 201.5 FPS, which declines to 133.7 FPS at 1440p and 73.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 63.4%, nearly identical to the Low preset's scaling. This consistency across settings suggests that the RX 7900 XT's memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s and its 320-bit bus width are the primary constraints at higher resolutions, rather than the shading compute or texture fill rates.

Looking at the High preset, the frame rates of 248.8 FPS at 1080p, 162.9 FPS at 1440p, and 86.6 FPS at 4K show a steeper decline of 65.2% from the lowest to highest resolution tested. The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 296.4 FPS at 1080p, 188.4 FPS at 1440p, and 105.7 FPS at 4K, a 64.4% reduction. These narrowly clustered percentage drops across all four settings — ranging from 63.4% to 65.2% — indicate that resolution scaling in Doom is remarkably uniform regardless of graphical complexity.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU may begin to exert some influence on performance. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 138.6 FPS (340.1 vs 201.5), while at 4K that same gap narrows to 46.8 FPS (120.6 vs 73.8). This compression of the settings delta at higher resolutions is a classic indicator that the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor as pixel count rises. At 4K, even the Low preset cannot exceed 120.6 FPS, which is well below what the CPU's 16 threads could potentially deliver in a less demanding scene.

The Radeon RX 7900 XT's 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 5376 shading units provide ample raw horsepower for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results — particularly the 73.8 FPS at Ultra — show that the card's 192 ROPs, while substantial, still bottleneck at the highest pixel counts. The 20 GB GDDR6 memory pool is never a capacity concern in this title, but the effective bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s appears to be the ceiling for the most demanding 4K scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can this system achieve at 4K with Ultra settings in Doom?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 73.8 FPS. This is the lowest result across all tested configurations, indicating that 4K Ultra pushes the RX 7900 XT to its limits in this title.

Q: How much performance difference exists between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 340.1 FPS while Ultra produces 201.5 FPS. This represents a 138.6 FPS gap, meaning Ultra settings cost roughly 40.8% of the Low preset's frame rate at this resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data indicates GPU dominance. At 1080p, the settings delta (Low to Ultra) is 138.6 FPS, while at 4K it shrinks to 46.8 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions confirms the GPU is the limiting component, especially at 4K where even Low settings cap at 120.6 FPS.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset delivers 162.9 FPS, which comfortably exceeds standard 144Hz display refresh rates while maintaining high visual fidelity. This represents a strong balance, as 1080p Ultra offers 201.5 FPS but with less detail, and 4K High drops to 86.6 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT's benchmark standing compare to its measured gaming performance?

A: The GPU holds an 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 38358. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile with a deltaPct of 0. The 4K Ultra result of 73.8 FPS in Doom is consistent with this upper-midrange positioning.

Q: What is the maximum FPS recorded in the entire test suite?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 340.1, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling for this combo in Doom under the tested conditions, reflecting the GPU's strong geometry and compute throughput at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the Doom experience with this hardware combination. For players targeting 60 FPS as a minimum, the 4K Ultra preset's 73.8 FPS average is technically sufficient, but it leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The 4K High preset at 86.6 FPS offers a more comfortable margin while sacrificing minimal visual fidelity, as the step from High to Ultra in Doom typically involves subtle shadow and post-processing refinements rather than dramatic changes.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers 133.7 FPS, which is adequate for high-refresh monitors but not for 144Hz displays with v-sync enabled. The High preset at 1440p produces 162.9 FPS, crossing the 144Hz threshold with approximately 13% headroom. For competitive play where frame rate takes precedence over visual polish, the Medium preset at 188.4 FPS provides an excellent middle ground, offering better anti-aliasing and texture filtering than Low while still maintaining frame times well above typical display refresh rates.

The 1080p results are uniformly excellent, with even the Ultra preset achieving 201.5 FPS. The Low preset's 340.1 FPS at 1080p is the only configuration that approaches the 360Hz territory, suggesting that esports-oriented players with ultra-high refresh monitors could benefit from Low settings at this resolution. However, for typical 240Hz displays, the Medium preset at 296.4 FPS offers substantial visual improvements while still exceeding the display's maximum refresh rate.

The optimal recommendation based on the data is 1440p High for most users, as it delivers 162.9 FPS — a 64.4% improvement over the 4K Ultra result — while retaining the majority of Doom's visual effects. Players with 4K displays who prioritize smoothness over fidelity should consider the High preset (86.6 FPS) over Ultra (73.8 FPS), as the 17.3% performance gain likely outweighs the incremental visual differences. The Low presets at any resolution are only recommended when chasing maximum competitive frame rates, as the visual degradation is substantial relative to the performance gains.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 340 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places the system in the top 20.2% of all configurations tested for this title. The rank reflects the GPU's strong overall benchmark position — 82nd percentile among all GPUs — combined with the CPU's 88th percentile ranking among all processors.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its contribution to gaming performance. The Intel Core i7-12800H matches the i5-14400F's average benchmark score exactly (32513 vs 32508, deltaPct 0), while the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 trails by just 0.2% and the AMD Ryzen 7 250 leads by 0.2%. This clustering indicates that the i5-14400F sits at a performance plateau where minor architectural differences do not meaningfully impact gaming workloads.

On the GPU side, the RX 7900 XT's average benchmark score of 38358 places it in a similar cluster. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile matches at 38349 (deltaPct 0), while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX trails by 0.3% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile trails by 0.6%. The close grouping suggests that Doom's performance is largely determined by the GPU's raw throughput, and the combo's rank of 340/1681 aligns with the GPU's 82nd percentile standing.

The rank of 340 indicates that roughly 1341 tested combinations outperform this system in Doom, which is expected given the GPU's mid-high-end positioning rather than flagship status. The combination of a 10-core, 16-thread CPU with a 5376-shader GPU creates a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other, allowing the system to achieve frame rates that are competitive with many higher-priced configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads, operating at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boosting to 4.70 GHz. This configuration, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process, delivers strong single-thread and multi-thread performance as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 scores of 3093 single-core and 21914 multi-core. The processor's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core provide ample data locality for game workloads.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the frame rate ranges from 201.5 FPS at Ultra to 340.1 FPS at Low, suggesting that the CPU can sustain frame rates well above what most displays can show. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 25783 and single-thread score of 3723 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for Doom's engine that scales well with both thread count and individual core efficiency.

The 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 32508, places the i5-14400F in strong company. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, achieves a nearly identical average score of 32513, demonstrating that the 14th-generation desktop chip's performance is comparable to a high-end mobile processor. This suggests that the CPU is more than capable of avoiding bottleneck scenarios in Doom, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, along with dual-channel configuration, allows for flexible system building without compromising gaming performance. The 65W TDP and active production status indicate a power-efficient design that maintains strong performance without requiring exotic cooling solutions. For Doom specifically, the CPU's 16 threads are more than sufficient, as the game's engine was designed for systems with far fewer cores at its 2016 release.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 340.1 FPS, followed by Medium at 296.4 FPS, High at 248.8 FPS, and Ultra at 201.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 138.6 FPS, with each successive settings tier costing approximately 15-20% of the previous tier's performance. The 1080p results demonstrate that this combo can easily drive 240Hz displays at any preset, and even 360Hz displays at Low settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable. Low delivers 216.6 FPS, Medium produces 188.4 FPS, High achieves 162.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 133.7 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs between 27.3% (Low) and 33.6% (High) of the frame rate, depending on the preset. The 1440p Ultra result of 133.7 FPS is notable as it remains above 120 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh gaming.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become apparent. Low settings yield 120.6 FPS, Medium produces 105.7 FPS, High achieves 86.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 73.8 FPS. The 4K results show a compression of the settings delta, with only 46.8 FPS separating Low from Ultra. This narrowing suggests that at 4K, the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints dominate over shader complexity differences.

The complete data set shows a consistent pattern where the Medium preset offers the best frame rate per visual quality step at every resolution. At 1080p Medium (296.4 FPS) provides 17.4% more performance than High (248.8 FPS) while retaining most visual features. At 1440p Medium (188.4 FPS) sits 15.6% above High (162.9 FPS). At 4K Medium (105.7 FPS) delivers 22.1% more performance than High (86.6 FPS). The Ultra preset's additional cost in frame rate ranges from 19.5% at 1080p to 30.2% at 4K when compared to High, making it the least efficient setting in terms of performance per visual gain.