Doom

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT delivers a remarkably fluid experience in Doom (2016), with the data showing that this combination is capable of pushing well beyond the 144Hz threshold at mainstream resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the hardware scales predictably with settings, but the most notable finding is the sheer headroom available at 1080p, where even the most demanding preset maintains a triple-digit frame rate. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across three resolutions and four quality presets, interpreting what the numbers mean for actual gameplay and system balance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frames per second (FPS) data strongly suggests that the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for this combination, provided the display can take advantage of it. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 147 FPS, which is not only playable but also smooth on high-refresh-rate monitors. While the Low preset at 240 FPS offers the highest raw performance, the visual fidelity trade-off is substantial, and the 147 FPS figure at Ultra is already above the typical 144Hz refresh rate target. For users with 1440p displays, the Ultra preset drops to 96.5 FPS, which is still a solid experience for a fast-paced single-player title, though the High preset at 116.7 FPS presents a better balance of visual quality and frame rate for competitive play.

At 4K (3840x2160), the situation changes. The Ultra preset produces an average of 52.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data shows that dropping to High at 4K yields 62 FPS, making it the clear recommendation for 4K displays, as it crosses the 60 FPS line while maintaining a higher level of graphical detail than the Medium preset at 72.5 FPS. The Low preset at 4K reaches 81.5 FPS, but the visual degradation is likely too severe for a game like Doom, which relies on atmospheric lighting and texture detail. Therefore, the High preset at 4K is the best compromise, and the Medium preset is a viable fallback for those who prioritize frame rate stability over visual flair.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with maxed-out settings?*

A: No. The measured data shows the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 52.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The High preset at 4K averages 62 FPS, making it the highest settings tier that reaches a playable frame rate at this resolution.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this hardware at 1080p?

A: The benchmark results show a peak of 240 FPS at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The Ultra preset at the same resolution averages 147 FPS, indicating that the GPU is capable of very high refresh rates even with maximum quality settings.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its direct rival in synthetic tests?

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 score of 49062. This places the i5-14600K at the 93rd percentile across all CPUs.

Q: Is the GPU's performance consistent with its closest competitors?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 35327, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5600M's score of 35264 and 0.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile's score of 35435. It sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at the High preset?

A: At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 179.5 at 1920x1080 to 116.7 at 2560x1440, and further down to 62 at 3840x2160. This represents a 65.5% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the game scale well with settings at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale from 155.4 FPS at Low, 135.4 FPS at Medium, 116.7 FPS at High, and 96.5 FPS at Ultra. This shows a gradual and predictable decline in performance as visual quality increases.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the primary driver of performance in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the textures and geometry in Doom at all tested settings. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the base clock is 2150 MHz and the boost clock reaches 2600 MHz, with a game clock of 2495 MHz. These clock speeds directly influence the raw compute throughput, which is rated at 13.31 TFLOPS FP32.

The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The frame rate at 3840x2160 is nearly half of that at 2560x1440 at the same settings, indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput (166.4 GPixel/s) and texture rate (416.0 GTexel/s) are being saturated. At 1080p, the GPU still has headroom, as evidenced by the 240 FPS result at Low settings, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding it enough data. The GPU's position in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35327, places it as a solid mid-to-high-tier performer, and the measured results in Doom reflect this, showing strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, with playable but reduced performance at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 833rd out of 1681 tested combinations for Doom. This places it in the upper half of all configurations, which is a solid result given the GPU's age and market position. The rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance, as the CPU is a high-end part that sits in the 93rd percentile of all processors. The data suggests that the combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as the CPU is unlikely to bottleneck the GPU at these resolutions, but the GPU's limits become apparent at 4K.

Comparing the individual components to their nearest rivals provides context for this rank. The CPU's average score of 49166 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, showing it is essentially equivalent in synthetic performance. The GPU's average score of 35327 is 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, which is a notable gap. This means that while the CPU is a top-tier performer, the GPU is a step below the highest-end cards, which explains why the combo does not rank higher. The rank of 833 out of 1681 indicates that a significant number of other pairings, likely those with more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 179.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 116.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 35%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the frame rate drops further to 62 FPS, a reduction of 47% from the 1440p figure and 65.5% from the 1080p figure. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count at 4K (3840x2160) overwhelms the GPU's rendering capabilities.

The scaling is consistent across all settings. At Ultra, the frame rates are 147 FPS at 1080p, 96.5 FPS at 1440p, and 52.1 FPS at 4K. The relative drops are similar to the High preset, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau in frame rates at lower resolutions, where the CPU's limits would cap performance. This is not the case, as the frame rates continue to rise as resolution decreases, reaching 240 FPS at 1080p Low. This indicates that the CPU, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, has ample headroom to support the GPU at all tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional across the board. The Low preset achieves an average of 240 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the dataset. The Medium preset averages 208.9 FPS, the High preset averages 179.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 147 FPS. All settings are well above 144 FPS, meaning that users with high-refresh-rate monitors can enable Ultra while still enjoying a fluid experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high. The Low preset averages 155.4 FPS, the Medium preset 135.4 FPS, and the High preset 116.7 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 96.5 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS and suitable for most gamers, but it represents a 34% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result. This resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining playable frame rates at all settings.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more variable. The Low preset averages 81.5 FPS, the Medium preset 72.5 FPS, and the High preset 62 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 52.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard. These numbers indicate that 4K is only viable with lower settings, and the High preset is the recommended maximum for a stable experience. The data shows a clear trend: the GPU scales well at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, especially with the most demanding settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K plays a supporting role in this combination, providing the computational foundation that allows the GPU to operate at its full potential. The CPU features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It has 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 32881 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 4642 in single-core, with an average benchmark score of 49166, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution or setting. This is evidenced by the fact that frame rates continue to scale with resolution, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's high single-core performance, as shown by its 4642 score in Cinebench R23, is particularly important for a game like Doom, which relies on a single main thread for much of its logic. The 14 cores also provide ample multi-threading headroom for background tasks. The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, is essentially identical, with a 0.2% higher average score, meaning that either processor would deliver similar results in this game.