Doom

# Doom with Intel Core i5-14400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

This combination of an Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 sits at rank 1766 out of 2930 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The data shows a system that can handle the game at 1080p with high refresh rates, but struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K on higher presets. This pairing pairs a 10-core, 16-thread CPU with an 8 GB GDDR6 GPU that has a 128-bit memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, creating an interesting dynamic where the CPU appears capable of feeding the GPU well at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1766 out of 2930 places this system in the 60th percentile of all tested combinations for Doom, which is a modest standing given the hardware involved. The RTX 5050 GPU itself holds a percentile rank of 66 among all GPUs, while the i5-14400F achieves a percentile rank of 83 among all CPUs, suggesting the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card in the broader benchmark landscape. When examining the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713), and it trails the AMD Radeon HD 8970M by 1% (21237) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile by 1.6% (21379). The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL is essentially tied at 21153 with a delta of -0.6%, meaning the RTX 5050 is competitively positioned among these older or mobile-oriented parts, which contextualizes its mid-pack ranking in Doom.

For the CPU side, the i5-14400F's average benchmark score of 32279 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, delta 0.2%), while it slightly edges out the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, delta -0.2%) and the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, delta 0.5%). This clustering within 0.5% of rivals suggests the CPU is not a differentiator in most scenarios, yet the combo's overall rank in Doom indicates that the GPU's performance ceiling is what ultimately defines the experience. The fact that this combo ranks lower than the individual component percentiles might suggest that Doom's engine is particularly sensitive to GPU throughput, or that the 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes a limiting factor at certain settings and resolutions.

GPU Role

The RTX 5050 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with base and boost clocks of 2317 MHz and 2572 MHz respectively. The GPU contains 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines, along with 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. Its pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s, combined with 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, indicate a GPU designed for 1080p and 1440p gaming rather than 4K dominance.

In Doom specifically, the measured FPS data reveals that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and bandwidth constraints become apparent at 4K resolution. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 43 FPS, which drops below the 52 FPS seen at High settings and the 62 FPS at Medium. The jump from 4K Ultra (43 FPS) to 4K Low (71 FPS) represents a 65% improvement, highlighting how much headroom exists in the game's settings scaling. The 128-bit memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth may struggle with the higher texture and geometry demands at 4K, especially on Ultra where the game likely pushes memory allocation closer to the 8 GB limit. The GPU's 32 ROPs also contribute to fill-rate limitations at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the steep performance drops when moving from 1440p to 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 149 FPS average, which is already excellent for competitive play, but the Low preset reaches 202 FPS and Medium achieves 176 FPS, suggesting that even Ultra at 122 FPS is playable for most users. For 1080p, the data suggests High is the sweet spot: it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Low while maintaining 149 FPS, and the jump from Medium (176 FPS) to High (149 FPS) costs only 27 FPS, which is a reasonable trade-off for improved fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS, making it the best choice for smooth gameplay on 144 Hz monitors, while High drops to 96 FPS and Ultra falls to 79 FPS. The 1440p Low preset hits 131 FPS, but given that Medium only sacrifices 17 FPS for presumably better visuals, Medium is the recommended starting point. For 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained: only Low (71 FPS) and Medium (62 FPS) achieve playable frame rates, while High (52 FPS) and Ultra (43 FPS) dip below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for an FPS. The data indicates that 4K gamers should stick to Low or Medium presets, with Medium providing a better visual experience at 62 FPS at the cost of 9 FPS compared to Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear scaling pattern across settings: Low averages 202 FPS with a maximum of 203 FPS, Medium averages 176 FPS with a minimum of 150 FPS and maximum of 203 FPS, High averages 149 FPS, and Ultra averages 122 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 80 FPS, representing a 66% drop, which indicates that Doom's Ultra preset imposes significant GPU load even at 1080p. The Medium preset's minimum of 150 FPS suggests that frame pacing remains consistent, with no severe drops below the average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings hierarchy persists but with tighter margins: Low averages 131 FPS, Medium averages 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS, High averages 96 FPS, and Ultra averages 79 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at each preset results in roughly a 35% performance reduction, which is consistent with the increase in pixel count from 2.07 million to 3.69 million (a 78% increase). This suggests the GPU is not purely pixel-bound but also benefits from the lower geometry and texture pressure at lower resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the results become more strained: Low averages 71 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 71 FPS, High averages 52 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 52 FPS is notably lower than its average, indicating occasional dips that could be noticeable in fast-paced combat. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is below the 52 FPS minimum of the Medium preset, showing that Ultra settings at 4K push the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the limiting component in this combo. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 176 at 1080p to 114 at 1440p (a 35% drop) and then to 62 at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p, or 65% from 1080p). The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p, which indicates that the GPU is increasingly the bottleneck at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively stable or drop more gently as resolution increases, since the CPU workload stays constant while the GPU workload grows.

The data supports a GPU-bound scenario: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 202 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability, but as resolution increases and GPU load grows, the FPS drops proportionally. The fact that the 4K Low preset (71 FPS) is lower than the 1080p Ultra (122 FPS) demonstrates that resolution has a greater impact on performance than settings, which is typical for a GPU-limited system. However, the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz are sufficient to avoid becoming the primary constraint at 1080p, as evidenced by the 202 FPS result on Low settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, drawing 65 W TDP. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache, with support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration. The processor's benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and single-core score of 3055, a Geekbench multi-core score of 11268 and single-core score of 2058, and a Passmark multi-thread score of 25470 with a single-thread score of 3701.

In Doom, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but at 1080p it enables high frame rates. The measured 202 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can feed the GPU with enough draw calls to sustain over 200 FPS, which requires strong single-thread performance and adequate multi-core scaling. The i5-14400F's single-core performance (Cinebench R23 score of 3055) is competitive with its rivals, and its multi-core score of 21645 shows it can handle background tasks while gaming. The processor's 20 MB of L3 cache is shared across all cores, which helps with game engine physics and AI calculations, but the data suggests that in Doom, the GPU's 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the primary determinant of frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the GPU utilization is maximized.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Doom at 4K with 60+ FPS?

A: No, not at higher settings. The measured data shows 4K Medium averages 62 FPS, but High drops to 52 FPS and Ultra to 43 FPS. Only Low (71 FPS) and Medium (62 FPS) exceed the 60 FPS threshold, and Medium's minimum FPS is 52, indicating occasional dips below 60.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides the best balance, with an average of 114 FPS and a minimum of 97 FPS. High averages 96 FPS, which is also playable, but Medium offers a higher minimum framerate and only slightly lower visual quality than High.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713), and it trails the AMD Radeon HD 8970M by 1% (21237) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile by 1.6% (21379). It is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, delta -0.6%).

Q: Does the i5-14400F bottleneck the RTX 5050 in Doom?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears capable of sustaining high frame rates, as evidenced by the 202 FPS result on Low settings. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with FPS dropping significantly from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, indicating the CPU is not the primary constraint in those scenarios.

Q: What are the key specifications of the RTX 5050 that affect Doom performance?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, base and boost clocks of 2317 MHz and 2572 MHz, and 2560 shading units. These specifications contribute to its measured performance, with the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus potentially limiting at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is 80 FPS, with Low averaging 202 FPS and Ultra averaging 122 FPS. This represents a 66% reduction in frame rate from Low to Ultra, suggesting that Ultra settings impose significant GPU load even at 1080p.