Doom

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Doom?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 3652 out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom. This places the combo in the bottom 2% of all tested systems, indicating that the GPU is a severe constraint for this title.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its nearest rival GPUs in general benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti's average benchmark score is 4193, which places it in the 25th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R5 M330 (score 4170, 0.6% slower), NVIDIA Quadro K2100M (score 4151, 1% slower), and NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (score 4241, 1.1% faster). This shows the GPU sits in a tightly clustered performance tier at the low end of the spectrum.

Q: What is the difference in CPU benchmark scores between the i5-14600K and its closest rival?

A: The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48618. Its nearest rival is the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H with a score of 48698, which is 0.2% faster. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48470, which is 0.3% slower. These small delta percentages show the CPU is extremely competitive with its nearest alternatives.

Q: Which resolution yields the highest average FPS for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, producing 74 FPS. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, as even 1080p Medium reaches only 65 FPS and 1080p High drops to 55 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 19 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings (where average FPS is 23 and maximum is 26). This is the only configuration with a reported minimum FPS below 20, though many other settings lack reported minimum values.

Q: How much VRAM does the GTX 1050 Ti have, and does it appear sufficient for Doom?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus. Given that the 1080p Ultra setting still produces 45 FPS average, the memory capacity appears adequate for this game at lower resolutions, but the overall GPU compute power limits performance more than memory capacity at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture using the GP107 chip, manufactured on a 14 nm process at Samsung. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1291 MHz and a boost clock of 1392 MHz, with memory running at 1752 MHz (7 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus. This configuration yields a memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s, which is modest by modern standards but must be understood in context for a game released in May 2016.

The GPU's compute resources include 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The pixel rate is 44.54 GPixel/s, texture rate is 66.82 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance reaches 2.138 TFLOPS. These specifications place the GTX 1050 Ti in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 4193. When compared to its nearest rivals, the performance deltas are remarkably small: the AMD Radeon R5 M330 is 0.6% slower, the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M is 1% slower, and the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M is 1.1% faster.

The measured FPS data reveals an interesting pattern: at 1920x1080, the GPU produces 74 FPS on Low, 65 FPS on Medium, 55 FPS on High, and 45 FPS on Ultra. This shows that the GPU has a baseline capability around 74 FPS at the lowest settings, but each step up in quality costs roughly 10-20% performance. At 2560x1440, the same progression yields 48, 42, 35, and 29 FPS respectively, while at 3840x2160, it drops to 26, 23, 19, and 16 FPS.

The GPU's DirectX 12 support (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 support are all present, which is relevant because Doom is known for its Vulkan renderer. However, the benchmark data does not distinguish between API paths, so the impact of this compatibility cannot be directly quantified. The 4 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for the tested settings, but the GPU's raw compute performance becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 3652 out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom. This rank places the system in the bottom 1.6% of all tested combos, which is a striking result given that the CPU is a high-end 14th Gen Core processor. The data strongly suggests that the GPU is almost entirely responsible for this poor ranking.

The CPU alone performs in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, 0.2% faster), AMD EPYC 4345P (48470, 0.3% slower), Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48287, 0.7% slower), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48995, 0.8% faster). These small deltas indicate that the CPU is well within the performance envelope of its peers.

In contrast, the GPU ranks in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 4193. The discrepancy between the CPU's 90th percentile ranking and the GPU's 25th percentile ranking is enormous. This combo rank of 3652/3712 confirms what the component-level data suggests: the system is bottlenecked by the GPU to an extreme degree in this game.

The implications are clear. Users with this CPU who are experiencing poor performance in Doom would see substantial improvements from upgrading the GPU, while upgrading the CPU would yield negligible gains. The combo rank data, combined with the component percentiles, provides a definitive picture of where the performance bottleneck resides.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 74 FPS, Medium produces 65 FPS (with minimum 55 and maximum 74), High produces 55 FPS, and Ultra produces 45 FPS. This resolution is the only one where any setting reaches the 60 FPS threshold, and only the Low preset achieves it comfortably.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 48 FPS, Medium averages 42 FPS (minimum 36, maximum 48), High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. None of these configurations reach 60 FPS, and only the Low setting approaches playable smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. Low settings average 26 FPS, Medium averages 23 FPS (minimum 19, maximum 26), High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS. All of these values are below 30 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for playable frame rates in fast-paced FPS games.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each resolution step up (from 1080p to 1440p to 4K) costs roughly 30-35% of the average FPS at each settings level. For example, at Low settings, the progression is 74 → 48 → 26 FPS, which represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the progression is 45 → 29 → 16 FPS, representing a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K.

The minimum FPS values are only reported for Medium settings at each resolution: 55 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. These minimums suggest that frame pacing is relatively stable at Medium settings, with the minimum staying within 15-17% of the average across all three resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, based on the Raptor Lake architecture (Raptor Lake-R codename) manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 24491 and single-core score of 2064, a Geekbench multicore score of 16673 and single-core score of 2491, and a Passmark multithread score of 38682 with a single-thread score of 4270. These scores place the CPU in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within 1% performance delta, which shows how competitive this processor is in its class. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H is 0.2% faster, the AMD EPYC 4345P is 0.3% slower, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX is 0.7% slower, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is 0.8% faster.

In the context of Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. Given that the GPU is a GTX 1050 Ti, the CPU is vastly overqualified for this pairing. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 74 FPS, which is likely near the GPU's maximum capability. The CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads are far more than Doom requires, and the game's frame rate is almost certainly GPU-bound across all tested configurations.

The CPU's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 2064 Cinebench R23 single-core score and 4270 Passmark single-thread score, would be beneficial for games that are CPU-bound, but Doom with this GPU does not fall into that category. The data implies that any FPS differences between settings are driven by GPU workload changes, not CPU limitations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this combo is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which produces an average of 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS. This configuration offers the best balance between visual quality and playability, as it stays above 55 FPS at all times while providing better visual fidelity than Low settings.

The Low setting at 1080p achieves 74 FPS, which is the highest average frame rate in the dataset. However, the Medium setting is only 9 FPS slower while offering improved visuals, making it the better choice for most players. The High setting at 1080p drops to 55 FPS, which is still playable but may feel less smooth in fast-paced combat scenarios. The Ultra setting at 1080p produces 45 FPS, which is playable but represents a significant visual quality trade-off for the frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Medium setting averages 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS, which is borderline playable for a game like Doom. The Low setting at this resolution reaches 48 FPS, which may be preferable for players who prioritize frame rate over visual detail. The High and Ultra settings at 1440p (35 and 29 FPS respectively) are less recommended due to the frame rate dropping below 30 FPS at Ultra.

At 3840x2160, all settings produce average FPS below 30, with Low at 26 FPS, Medium at 23 FPS, High at 19 FPS, and Ultra at 16 FPS. None of these are recommended for smooth gameplay, as the minimum FPS at Medium is 19, which will cause noticeable stuttering in a fast-paced FPS.

The data indicates that the best experience is achieved at 1080p Medium, with 1080p Low as a viable alternative for players who want maximum frame rate headroom. Players with 1440p monitors should consider 1440p Low for the most playable experience, though they will sacrifice visual quality compared to 1080p Medium.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals critical information about the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 74 at 1080p to 48 at 1440p to 26 at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, which suggests the GPU is the limiting factor.

At Medium settings, the progression is 65 → 42 → 23 FPS, representing a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the progression is 55 → 35 → 19 FPS, representing a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the progression is 45 → 29 → 16 FPS, representing a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is telling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU workload does not scale with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally with the pixel count, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

The absolute FPS values reinforce this conclusion. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 74 FPS, which is far below what the i5-14600K is capable of driving. The CPU's benchmark scores (90th percentile) versus the GPU's benchmark scores (25th percentile) show an enormous performance gap. The GPU is clearly the limiting component at every resolution and settings combination tested.

The practical implication is that players with this combo should run the game at 1080p to achieve playable frame rates, and even then, the GPU will limit them to Low or Medium settings for consistent 60+ FPS performance. Upgrading the GPU would provide a dramatic improvement in Doom, while upgrading the CPU would provide no measurable benefit in this game.