Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear narrative: this combo is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU headroom becoming visible only when the resolution drops. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, average FPS falls from 214.2 to 137.3, a drop of roughly 36%. The further step to 3840x2160 at High yields 72.9 FPS, another 47% reduction. This steep scaling curve indicates the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the limiting component at 4K, while the Intel Core i5-14600K's 14 cores and 20 threads have ample capacity to feed frames at lower resolutions.

The pattern repeats across all settings presets. At Low settings, 1080p delivers 291.7 FPS, 1440p drops to 188.3 FPS, and 4K falls to 102.4 FPS. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low is 189.3 FPS, suggesting the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth (512.0 GB/s) become bottlenecks as pixel count quadruples. Ultra settings show the same trend but with lower absolute numbers: 175.2 FPS at 1080p, 116.0 FPS at 1440p, and 58.4 FPS at 4K.

What does this say about the limiting component? At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642) and boost clock of 5.30 GHz are sufficient to push frame rates beyond 200 FPS. The fact that even Low settings at 4K only reach 102.4 FPS — while the same settings at 1080p hit 291.7 FPS — demonstrates that the Radeon RX 6800 XT's 4608 shading units are the primary constraint once resolution increases. The GPU's pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s are being saturated at higher resolutions, while the CPU sits relatively idle.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-14600K bottleneck the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT in Doom?

A: Only at 1080p with lower settings. At Low settings, the combo achieves 291.7 FPS, which suggests the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock and strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 score of 4642) are keeping pace. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, as FPS drops proportionally with resolution increases.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS on Ultra?

A: Both 1080p and 1440p Ultra exceed 60 FPS, with 175.2 and 116.0 FPS respectively. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 58.4 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. For a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, dropping to High settings yields 72.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 49982 places it at the 87th percentile. It sits 0.5% above the Intel Arc A550M (49737), 1.7% below the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (50826), and 1.9% above the NVIDIA CMP 50HX (49071). The closest competitive gap is with the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, which trails by 2.6% (48704).

Q: Is the CPU's multi-core performance strong enough for modern gaming workloads?

A: Yes. The i5-14600K scores 32881 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, placing it at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scores 49062, a negligible 0.2% difference. The 14 cores and 20 threads provide substantial headroom beyond what Doom requires.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the GPU have, and does it matter for Doom?

A: The RX 6800 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. This proves sufficient for 4K Ultra, where the combo still manages 58.4 FPS. The memory clock runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 587th out of 1681 tested combos, placing it in the 65th percentile. This is a strong showing given that many higher-ranked combos likely pair flagship CPUs with top-tier GPUs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores and 20 threads from the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide the single-threaded muscle that Doom's engine benefits from. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain high frame rates in fast-paced scenes.

In Doom specifically, the CPU's role becomes evident when comparing 1080p Low (291.7 FPS) to 1440p Low (188.3 FPS). The 103.4 FPS difference at the same settings is purely resolution-driven, meaning the CPU is not the constraint at 1080p. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642 and multi-core score of 32881 both sit well above what this 2016 title requires, even at maximum refresh rates.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all processors (avg benchmark score 49166) places it in elite company. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scores 49062 (0.2% lower), while the Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 49367 (0.4% higher). This tight grouping suggests the i5-14600K delivers near-flagship CPU performance without being the bottleneck in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 291.7 FPS, Medium reaches 256.0 FPS, High hits 214.2 FPS, and Ultra still maintains 175.2 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at Ultra, the GPU has headroom, and the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock is doing the heavy lifting to exceed 170 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings drop to 188.3 FPS, Medium to 166.7 FPS, High to 137.3 FPS, and Ultra to 116.0 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra (175.2 to 116.0, a 33.8% reduction) is less severe than the 1080p to 4K drop, indicating the GPU's compute resources are still somewhat underutilized at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low settings manage 102.4 FPS, Medium 87.6 FPS, High 72.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 58.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High (14.7 FPS) and High to Ultra (14.5 FPS) shows consistent cost per preset tier. The 4K Ultra result of 58.4 FPS is the only measured configuration that dips below 60 FPS, making it the borderline case for competitive play.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 587th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the upper 35% of all configurations, a strong result given the GPU's end-of-life production status and the CPU's mid-range positioning. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and the GPU's 87th percentile ranking both contribute to this solid overall placement.

The GPU's nearest rival data provides context: the RX 6800 XT scores 49982 on average, sitting just 0.5% above the Intel Arc A550M. The NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti SUPER trails by 2.6%, meaning the AMD card holds a slight edge over that modern competitor in synthetic benchmarks. The CPU's ranking is tighter still, with the i5-14600K within 1% of all four nearest rivals, showing that mid-range Intel parts now match or exceed flagship AMD and Intel server parts from previous generations.

This combo's 587th rank suggests it outperforms roughly 65% of all tested configurations, which is impressive for a GPU released in late 2020 paired with a CPU from late 2023. The data indicates this pairing is well-balanced for Doom, with neither component dramatically outclassing the other.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the data strongly favors High settings. At 3840x2160, High delivers 72.9 FPS, which is 24.8% above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra drops to 58.4 FPS — below that threshold. The jump from Medium (87.6 FPS) to High costs 14.7 FPS but likely provides meaningful visual improvements. Low settings at 4K (102.4 FPS) sacrifice too much visual fidelity for only marginal gains over Medium.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is the recommended preset. The combo achieves 116.0 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 60 FPS and approaches the 120 Hz threshold. High settings (137.3 FPS) offer a 18.4% improvement but at the cost of visual quality. For players with 144 Hz displays, Medium at 166.7 FPS or Low at 188.3 FPS become viable options, though the visual compromise is substantial.

For 1080p, all presets exceed 175 FPS, making Ultra the obvious choice. The 175.2 FPS at Ultra is more than sufficient for any modern display, and the 116.5 FPS gap between Ultra and Low (291.7 FPS) shows diminishing returns from lowering settings. Players with 240 Hz monitors could consider High (214.2 FPS) or Medium (256.0 FPS) to push frame rates higher, but the visual trade-off may not be worth it.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the defining component in this combo's 4K performance. Its RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process, packs 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for Doom's 4K textures. The GPU's boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz drive the 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 49982 places it at the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the Intel Arc A550M, scores 49737 — just 0.5% lower. This tight margin shows the RX 6800 XT remains competitive despite being end-of-life. The 72 RT cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) ensure modern API compatibility, while the 2x 8-pin power connectors and 300 W TDP reflect its high-performance positioning.

In Doom, the GPU's VRAM capacity and bandwidth are the primary determinants of 4K performance. The 512.0 GB/s bandwidth allows the 16 GB frame buffer to feed the 4608 shading units efficiently, as evidenced by the 72.9 FPS at 4K High. The pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s are well-matched to this game's engine, which was designed for the era of 4K-ready GPUs. The GPU's end-of-life status does not diminish its capability in this title, as the measured data confirms.