Doom

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a distinctly GPU-bound experience in Doom, where the 2016 shooter’s well-optimized engine leaves the Polaris 20 chip as the clear performance limiter across all tested resolutions. With the processor’s 14 cores and 20 threads, alongside a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, the CPU side of this combo is far ahead of what the RX 580 can feed it, making frame rates largely a function of graphics settings rather than processor capability. The data shows a predictable scaling pattern: as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, average FPS drops consistently at every preset, confirming that the RX 580’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are the primary constraints in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS values reveal how sharply Doom’s performance degrades as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 75 FPS, which drops to 49 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 26 FPS at 3840x2160 — a reduction of roughly 35% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 47% when stepping up to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the RX 580 is saturated well before the i5-14600K’s headroom is exhausted; the CPU can easily maintain frame pacing at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s 1,257 MHz base and 1,340 MHz boost clocks cannot keep up with the increased fragment work at higher resolutions.

Looking at Low settings, the pattern repeats but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 102 FPS average, which falls to 66 FPS at 1440p and 36 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 36 FPS is significant, but the 1440p-to-4K drop of 30 FPS is proportionally smaller, suggesting that at Low settings the GPU is still managing memory bandwidth reasonably well until the 4K pixel count overwhelms the 256.0 GB/s throughput. The Medium settings row provides additional granularity, with 89 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K — the min FPS values of 76, 49, and 27 respectively show that frame dips become more pronounced at higher resolutions, likely due to texture streaming demands on the 8 GB frame buffer.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling. The combo averages 62 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and just 22 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 22 FPS and the 1440p-to-4K drop of 18 FPS indicate that Ultra’s increased shading and post-processing effects place a heavy load on the RX 580’s 2,304 shading units and 32 ROPs. At 4K Ultra, the 22 FPS average is below playable thresholds for most users, while even 1440p Ultra at 40 FPS sits only at the edge of acceptable smoothness. Across all four presets, the delta between 1080p and 4K is remarkably consistent — around 65-70% average FPS loss — which strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck at every configuration, with the i5-14600K’s performance never becoming a limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3397 out of 3712 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the lower 8.5% of all pairings. This low rank is not surprising given the age and tier of the GPU relative to the CPU; the RX 580’s percentileVsAllGpus of 53 indicates it sits near the median of all GPUs, but in a fast-paced FPS like Doom, that mid-range standing translates to modest frame rates. The combo’s rank reflects that most other tested combinations either pair the i5-14600K with a stronger GPU or use a less powerful CPU with a more balanced graphics card.

Breaking down the components individually, the i5-14600K’s avgBenchmarkScore of 48618 places it in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (avgScore 48698, deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD EPYC 4345P (avgScore 48470, deltaPct 0.3). This puts the CPU in elite company, far above what the RX 580 needs for Doom. The GPU’s avgBenchmarkScore of 12928 puts it at the 53rd percentile, with nearest rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (avgScore 12940, deltaPct -0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (avgScore 12986, deltaPct -0.4). The RX 580 is essentially on par with those cards in synthetic benchmarks, but Doom’s Vulkan and OpenGL paths favor the older GCN architecture less than newer designs.

The 3397 rank out of 3712 means nearly 92% of tested combos outperform this pairing in Doom. That harsh ranking stems from the mismatch: the i5-14600K is a high-end desktop processor with 24 MB of L3 cache and PCIe Gen 5 support, while the RX 580 is an end-of-life GPU from 2017. In a game that scales well with GPU throughput, the CPU’s advantages — like its 3640 Cinebench R15 multicore score or 24491 R23 multicore score — go largely unused. The data indicates that users would need to drop the GPU tier significantly to find a worse pairing, or conversely, upgrade the GPU to see any meaningful improvement in Doom’s frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so low (3397 of 3712) despite having a top-tier CPU?

A: The i5-14600K ranks in the 90th percentile among CPUs, but the RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among GPUs. In Doom, the GPU is the limiting component, so the CPU’s high benchmark scores (e.g., 24491 in Cinebench R23 multicore) do not translate to high frame rates. The low rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range performance relative to other tested combos.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where average FPS exceeds 60 across all presets except Ultra (62 FPS at High, 102 at Low, 89 at Medium). At 2560x1440, only Low settings reach 66 FPS, while High and Medium fall to 49 and 58 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, all presets average below 40 FPS, making 1080p the practical choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RX 580’s memory configuration affect Doom’s performance?

A: The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. At 4K resolutions, the memory bandwidth becomes strained, as shown by the 22 FPS average at Ultra settings. The 8 GB capacity is sufficient for Doom’s textures, but the bandwidth limits how quickly the GPU can access frame data at higher pixel counts.

Q: Is the i5-14600K bottlenecked by the RX 580 in this game?

A: Yes, benchmark results indicate the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. The i5-14600K’s boost clock of 5.30 GHz and 20 threads far exceed Doom’s requirements at any preset. The measured FPS drops are consistent with GPU-side limitations; for example, dropping from High to Low at 1080p increases FPS from 75 to 102, a 27 FPS gain that only the GPU can deliver.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 102 FPS while Ultra averages 62 FPS — a 40 FPS difference. The gap widens at 1440p (66 FPS vs 40 FPS) and 4K (36 FPS vs 22 FPS). This shows that Ultra settings impose a roughly 39% performance penalty at 1080p, which is substantial for a mid-range GPU.

Q: Does the combo perform better at Medium or High settings?

A: At every resolution, Medium outperforms High by a small margin. At 1080p, Medium averages 89 FPS versus 75 FPS for High; at 1440p, 58 FPS versus 49 FPS; at 4K, 31 FPS versus 26 FPS. The gap is consistent at around 14-19%, suggesting High settings add shading effects that cost noticeable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full measured FPS table shows 12 distinct configurations across four resolutions and four settings. At 3840x2160, the scores are consistently low: Low averages 36 FPS, Medium averages 31 FPS with min/max of 27/36, High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for fast-paced shooters, and even the best 4K result (36 FPS at Low) is only half of what a smooth experience requires. The min FPS values at 4K Medium (27 FPS) indicate that frame dips can be severe, potentially causing stutter during intense combat sequences.

At 2560x1440, the picture improves but remains mixed. Low settings deliver 66 FPS average, which is playable, while Medium hits 58 FPS with a min of 49 FPS. High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS. The 1440p results suggest that users prioritizing frame rate should stick to Low or Medium, as High and Ultra fall below the 60 FPS mark. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 49 shows that even mid-range settings can produce noticeable frame drops in busy scenes.

At 1920x1080, the combo finally reaches acceptable performance levels. Low averages 102 FPS, Medium averages 89 FPS with min/max of 76/103, and High averages 75 FPS. Ultra is the only preset that dips below 60 FPS at 62 FPS average, though that remains playable for most users. The 1080p Medium result is particularly noteworthy: its min FPS of 76 ensures that even worst-case frame times stay well above 60 FPS, making this the most consistent configuration in the dataset. The max FPS of 103 at Medium also shows that the i5-14600K can push the RX 580 to its limits without CPU-induced stalls.

Comparing across resolutions, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35-40% of average FPS at each preset, while the step from 1440p to 4K costs another 45-50%. This compounding effect means that 4K performance is only about one-third of 1080p performance at the same settings. For example, High settings drop from 75 FPS at 1080p to 49 FPS at 1440p to 26 FPS at 4K — a total loss of 49 FPS. The data clearly shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p requiring reduced settings, and 4K being largely impractical.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580’s role in this combo is decisive, as its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with 2,304 shading units and 32 ROPs, produce a fill rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s. For Doom, which was released in 2016 and uses the id Tech 6 engine, these figures are adequate for 1080p but insufficient for higher resolutions, as evidenced by the sharp FPS drops at 1440p and 4K.

The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus yields 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a double-edged sword: the capacity is more than enough for Doom’s textures even at Ultra settings, but the bandwidth is a limiting factor at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 22 FPS suggests that the GPU is spending significant time fetching texture data, while the 4K Low result of 36 FPS indicates that even reduced texture loads cannot overcome the bandwidth constraint. The memory clock of 2000 MHz is relatively modest by modern standards, and this shows in the scaling behavior.

The RX 580’s production status is end-of-life, and its architecture is GCN 4.0 on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. The GPU’s 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die give it a compute throughput of 6.175 TFLOPS FP32. In Doom’s Vulkan mode, which the game supports, the RX 580’s GCN architecture performs reasonably at 1080p but falls behind newer designs at higher pixel counts. The 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that this is a mid-range part, and pairing it with a 90th-percentile CPU like the i5-14600K creates an imbalance where the GPU is always the bottleneck.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (deltaPct -0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (deltaPct -0.4), indicating that the RX 580 is competitive with those cards in synthetic tests. However, in Doom’s real-world workloads, the RX 580’s older architecture may not extract as much performance per unit of compute as those newer designs, which partly explains why the combo ranks so low. The GPU’s 8 GB memory capacity does allow it to handle Ultra textures at 1080p (62 FPS average), but the 32 ROPs limit pixel throughput at 4K, where the 22 FPS Ultra result falls well below playable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers the best balance of visual quality and performance, averaging 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS. This means the combo never dips below 60 FPS, providing a smooth experience even during intense firefights. The High preset at 75 FPS is also viable, but its lack of min/max data makes it harder to guarantee consistency; the 14 FPS gap between High and Medium suggests that High’s extra effects are not worth the performance cost for most users.

For users who prioritize maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p achieves 102 FPS average, which is excellent for competitive play. However, the visual downgrade from Medium to Low is noticeable, and the 13 FPS gain may not justify the reduced fidelity. The Ultra preset at 62 FPS is borderline — it exceeds 60 FPS but leaves little headroom for frame dips, and given that the Medium preset offers 27 FPS more on average, Ultra is hard to recommend unless visual quality is paramount and the user can tolerate occasional stutter.

At 2560x1440, the choices become more constrained. The Low preset at 66 FPS is the only configuration above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for 1440p gaming. The Medium preset at 58 FPS is close but its min FPS of 49 indicates that frame drops can be significant, potentially causing noticeable hitches. High and Ultra at 49 and 40 FPS respectively are playable for slower games but not ideal for a fast FPS like Doom, where reaction time matters. Users with 1440p monitors should accept the Low preset’s visual compromises to maintain smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves playable frame rates. The best result is Low at 36 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and only marginally above the 30 FPS console-like threshold. Medium at 31 FPS and High at 26 FPS are too low for enjoyable gameplay, and Ultra’s 22 FPS is effectively unplayable. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo in Doom, regardless of settings. Users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution to 1440p or upgrade the GPU, as the RX 580’s 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 32 ROPs simply cannot handle the pixel count.

The overall recommendation is to run Doom at 1080p with Medium settings, which provides the most consistent frame pacing across the dataset. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 76 at 1080p is the highest minimum among all tested configurations, indicating that this setting avoids the worst frame drops. For users who want to push to 1440p, the Low preset is the only sensible choice, while 4K should be avoided entirely. The i5-14600K has ample headroom in all cases, so the settings recommendations are purely GPU-driven.