Doom

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 paired with the Intel Core i5-14600K produces a highly playable Doom experience, with benchmark results showing a clear progression from 4K to 1080p and strong scaling across the four tested quality presets. The data indicates this combination ranks 1334th out of 1681 tested combos for this title, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database, yet the measured frame rates reveal a system capable of smooth performance at most settings, particularly at 1440p and below.

FAQ

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

A: 1920x1080 delivers the highest performance, with the Low preset achieving 176.5 FPS, while 2560x1440 offers a balanced experience at 115.3 FPS on Low and 84.1 FPS on High. The 3840x2160 results are playable but noticeably lower, with only the Low preset reaching 63.9 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 105.4 FPS, which is 23.1 FPS lower than the High preset's 128.5 FPS. This represents an 18% reduction in frame rate for the highest visual quality tier.

Q: Is the RX 6600 sufficient for high refresh rate gaming?

A: At 1080p, the data shows the High preset sustains 128.5 FPS and Medium reaches 151.5 FPS, which are strong for 144Hz displays. The 1440p results are more moderate, with High at 84.1 FPS, suggesting the GPU limits higher refresh rates at that resolution.

Q: What is the performance gap between 1080p and 4K?

A: Comparing the High preset, the 4K average of 46.8 FPS is 81.7 FPS lower than the 1080p average of 128.5 FPS. This massive drop indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark relative to its rivals?

A: The i5-14600K scores 49166 on average, which is 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 1% above the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H. It trails the i5-14600KF by 0.4% and the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.9%.

Q: What does the GPU percentile ranking indicate?

A: The RX 6600 sits at the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25235. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 890M, scores nearly identically at 25246, showing the GPU is competitively positioned in its class.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The card operates at a base clock of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz, with a memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with Navi 23 silicon, directly influence the measured frame rates in Doom.

At 4K resolution, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth become critical factors. The High preset averages 46.8 FPS, while the Low preset reaches 63.9 FPS, suggesting the 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient but the 128-bit bus limits fill-rate demands at higher settings. The pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for the game's fast-paced environments, yet the Ultra preset drops to 36.5 FPS at 4K, indicating the GPU struggles with the combined load of high resolution and maximum effects.

The benchmark data shows the GPU's compute capabilities, with an FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS and 1792 shading units, are well-matched for Doom's engine. The Vulkan API support (version 1.4) and DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) compliance allow the game to leverage modern rendering paths. The GPU's 28 ray accelerators and 64 ROPs contribute to the visual effects, though the measured results suggest these resources are more effective at lower resolutions where the pixel workload is lighter.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent and expected performance drop across all settings. At High, the frame rate falls from 128.5 FPS at 1080p to 84.1 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 44.4 FPS or 34.6%. The Medium preset scales similarly, dropping from 151.5 FPS to 100.8 FPS, a 33.5% decrease. This consistent scaling pattern indicates the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for the increased pixel workload.

Moving from 1440p to 4K produces a more dramatic decline. The High preset drops from 84.1 FPS to 46.8 FPS, a 44.4% reduction, while the Low preset falls from 115.3 FPS to 63.9 FPS, a 44.6% decrease. This steeper curve at higher resolutions is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios, where the RX 6600's memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s and 128-bit bus become increasingly strained. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 36.5 FPS, demonstrates the extreme end of this scaling, falling 65.3% below its 1080p counterpart of 105.4 FPS.

The data reveals that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642) ensures the GPU is fully utilized, as evidenced by the high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU's architectural limits dominate, and the CPU's contribution becomes less significant. The 1080p Low preset achieving 176.5 FPS, compared to the 4K Low at 63.9 FPS, highlights how the GPU's fill-rate and memory constraints cap performance as pixel count quadruples.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting maximum smoothness, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest measured average at 176.5 FPS, providing substantial headroom above 144Hz refresh rates. At 1440p, Low still achieves 115.3 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors and represents the best balance between visual clarity and performance in the measured data.

The Medium preset offers a strong compromise for visual quality. At 1080p, it reaches 151.5 FPS, only 25 FPS below Low but with improved graphical fidelity. The 1440p Medium result of 100.8 FPS remains above the 100 FPS threshold, making it a viable choice for competitive play where detail matters. The High preset at 1080p sustains 128.5 FPS, which is still smooth for most displays, but the drop to 84.1 FPS at 1440p suggests Medium is the safer option for that resolution.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 105.4 FPS at 1080p and 67.9 FPS at 1440p. While playable, the significant performance cost relative to High — 23.1 FPS lower at 1080p — makes it difficult to recommend unless visual fidelity is the primary concern. At 4K, only the Low preset (63.9 FPS) approaches playability, with High (46.8 FPS) and Ultra (36.5 FPS) falling below the 60 FPS target. The data suggests Medium at 1440p provides the best overall experience for this hardware combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high across all settings. The Low preset averages 176.5 FPS, Medium reaches 151.5 FPS, High achieves 128.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 105.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 71.1 FPS, with each step up in quality costing roughly 20-25 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains solid but shows the expected reduction. Low averages 115.3 FPS, Medium hits 100.8 FPS, High delivers 84.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 67.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 47.4 FPS, a narrower gap than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more saturated at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates decline significantly. Low averages 63.9 FPS, Medium achieves 56.7 FPS, High reaches 46.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows further to 27.4 FPS, demonstrating that at 4K, the preset choice has less impact on performance as the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. The 1080p Low result of 176.5 FPS versus the 4K Low result of 63.9 FPS represents a 63.8% performance drop, while the same comparison for Ultra (105.4 to 36.5 FPS) shows a 65.4% drop.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores (with 20 threads) and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz to this configuration, built on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its benchmark results are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881 and a single-core score of 4642, placing it at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. The CPU's average benchmark score of 49166 places it within 1% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel Xeon Gold 5318H.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The high single-thread performance is particularly relevant for this game, as modern FPS titles often rely on a few heavily loaded threads. The measured frame rates suggest the i5-14600K is not the bottleneck at any tested resolution. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 176.5 FPS, which is likely approaching the engine's frame rate ceiling, while the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures consistent frame delivery without drops.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide low-latency access to game data, which supports the high frame rates observed. The memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, allows for sufficient bandwidth to keep the CPU's cores fed. At 4K, the CPU's workload decreases relative to the GPU, and the measured results show the GPU becoming the limiting factor, with the CPU maintaining its performance headroom even at lower frame rates. The CPU's percentile ranking of 93rd versus the GPU's 69th percentile further indicates that the processor is far less likely to constrain gaming performance than the graphics card.