Doom

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings a 14-core, 20-thread configuration to this Doom benchmark pairing, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Raptor Lake Refresh part, built on Intel's 10 nm process, sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs tested, indicating that its processing headroom is far above what most games demand. The architecture uses an 80 KB L1 cache per core, a 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps feed the Radeon RX 6700 XT with minimal stutter-inducing delays.

What is interesting here is how the CPU's benchmark profile translates to Doom's frame rates. The i5-14600K posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881 and a single-core score of 4642, with Geekbench scores of 15846 multi-core and 2803 single-core. These numbers place the chip within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in average benchmark score, and 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-14600KF. The data suggests that the 14600K is not the limiting factor in this pairing — even at 1080p with Low settings, where the CPU has the most influence, the system still delivers 229.1 FPS on average. That is a frame rate where the CPU's single-thread strength and cache hierarchy are clearly doing their job.

The question becomes whether Doom actually leverages all 20 threads. The game launched in 2016, and its engine was designed for an era where quad-core CPUs were common. The measured results show that dropping from Ultra to Low at any resolution yields a substantial FPS increase, which points to GPU-bound workloads at higher settings. But at 1080p Low, the system is producing 229.1 FPS — a figure that suggests the CPU is still providing ample headroom. The i5-14600K's PassMark single-thread score of 4270 and multi-thread score of 38682 reinforce that this is a processor capable of handling both the game's main thread and its background tasks without becoming a bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 229.1, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the peak performance envelope for this pairing.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in raw compute?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49166, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X's 49062. It also sits 0.4% below the Intel Core i5-14600KF's 49367.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data shows a significant FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 167.5 at 1080p to 59.6 at 4K, indicating the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 924th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the middle of the database's results for this game.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and does it matter for Doom?

A: The Radeon RX 6700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Doom's Ultra preset at 4K still delivers 48.9 FPS, suggesting VRAM capacity is sufficient for this title.

Q: What is the CPU's launch MSRP?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K had a launch MSRP of $319. No other pricing information is available in the data.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear hierarchy among the four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 140.4 FPS, which is already far beyond what most displays can refresh. Moving to High settings increases the average to 167.5 FPS, while Medium reaches 200.1 FPS and Low peaks at 229.1 FPS. The jump from Ultra to High at 1080p is 27.1 FPS, but the jump from Medium to Low is 29 FPS — nearly identical in magnitude.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Ultra produces 92.8 FPS, High delivers 112.1 FPS, Medium hits 132.9 FPS, and Low reaches 150.2 FPS. The scaling here is more linear, with each step down in settings adding roughly 18-20 FPS. This suggests that at 1440p, the GPU is starting to feel the load, but the system still maintains excellent playability even at the highest quality preset.

For 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. Ultra drops to 48.9 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider essential. High settings bring this up to 59.6 FPS — just barely above 60. Medium reaches 70.6 FPS, and Low achieves 82.3 FPS. The data indicates that for 4K gaming, High settings offer the best balance between visual quality and smooth frame delivery, as it is the only preset that stays above the 60 FPS line while maintaining meaningful graphical fidelity. For 1080p and 1440p users, High or Ultra settings are recommended since both comfortably exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra providing the richest visual experience at 140.4 FPS and 92.8 FPS respectively.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 924 out of 1681 tested combinations places this system in the 55th percentile of all pairings tested in Doom. This is a middle-of-the-pack result, which might seem surprising given the strong individual performance of both components. The CPU sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. Yet when combined, the system only lands slightly above the median of tested combos.

The explanation lies in the game's engine and its demands. Doom is a fast-paced FPS that can run on modest hardware, so many older or lower-end combos likely achieve playable frame rates. The measured data shows this pairing excels at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results are more modest, with Ultra settings producing only 48.9 FPS. This suggests that the combo's ranking is pulled down by its performance at higher resolutions, where the GPU's 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth become limiting factors.

In comparison to its nearest GPU rivals, the RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 33721, which is 0.7% below the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 1% above the AMD Radeon HD 7950. The data implies that this combo's rank is more a function of the GPU's position in the market than any deficiency in the CPU. For a game like Doom, where the engine is well-optimized, the GPU's raw throughput at higher resolutions determines the final ranking.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K tells a compelling story about system balance. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 167.5 at 1920x1080 to 112.1 at 2560x1440, then to 59.6 at 3840x2160. That is a 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear — the 4K resolution demands significantly more from the GPU.

Looking at Low settings, the pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers: 229.1 FPS at 1080p, 150.2 FPS at 1440p, and 82.3 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are roughly 34% and 45%, respectively. This consistency across settings presets indicates that the scaling factor is resolution-driven rather than setting-driven. The GPU's pixel throughput — measured at 165.2 GPixel/s — is being taxed by the sheer number of pixels at 4K, regardless of the graphical workload.

The data also reveals what happens when both resolution and settings are pushed to their limits. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 48.9 FPS, which is only 21% of the 1080p Low result of 229.1 FPS. This severe drop-off suggests the GPU is the limiting component at high resolutions, as the CPU's performance does not degrade with resolution — it is the GPU's rendering load that increases. The RX 6700 XT's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are working hard at 4K, and the data shows that a mid-range GPU from the RDNA 2 generation cannot maintain high frame rates at that resolution with maximum quality settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low settings produce 229.1 FPS, Medium reaches 200.1 FPS, High achieves 167.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 140.4 FPS. The spread from lowest to highest setting is 88.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution. Even the most demanding preset exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers remain strong but show the GPU beginning to work harder. Low settings yield 150.2 FPS, Medium hits 132.9 FPS, High delivers 112.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 92.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 57.4 FPS, narrower than at 1080p. This compression suggests that the GPU is becoming a more significant factor, as the pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low settings produce 82.3 FPS, Medium reaches 70.6 FPS, High achieves 59.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 48.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is now just 33.4 FPS. Notably, the 4K Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K High barely clears it. The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step reduces the average FPS by roughly 40-50%, regardless of the settings preset.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It packs 17,200 million transistors into a 335 mm² die, with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2321 MHz and a boost clock of 2581 MHz, with a game clock of 2424 MHz. This configuration yields 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s.

The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Doom's texture-heavy environments even at 4K Ultra settings. The data shows the GPU's performance in the 77th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 33721. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800, scores 33493 — only 0.7% lower — while the NVIDIA RTX A5000 trails by 1.3%.

In the context of Doom's measured results, the GPU's role becomes clear when examining the resolution scaling. At 1080p, the GPU is not the bottleneck — the CPU can feed it enough data to reach 229.1 FPS on Low settings. But as resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload expands, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The 4K Ultra result of 48.9 FPS indicates that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are being fully utilized at that setting. The fact that 4K Low still achieves 82.3 FPS shows that the GPU has enough raw power to handle the resolution, but the additional visual effects at higher settings push it past its limits.