Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured results show a steep, consistent FPS penalty as resolution climbs, confirming that Doom becomes progressively GPU-bound at higher pixel counts. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 142.3 FPS; stepping to 1440p High drops that to 88.9 FPS (a 37.5% reduction), and 4K High lands at 52.1 FPS (another 41.4% drop from 1440p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario at 4K, where the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT's 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints.

The Low preset tells a similar but steeper story: 190.1 FPS at 1080p, 121.6 FPS at 1440p, and 69.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is particularly revealing — even with the lowest settings, the resolution alone cuts performance by 63.4% relative to 1080p Low. This indicates that pixel throughput, not scene complexity, is the dominant cost at 4K.

Ultra settings exacerbate the bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 38.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many displays target. The gap between 1080p Ultra (115.4 FPS) and 4K Ultra (38.9 FPS) is a 66.3% reduction, showing that the combination of high geometry detail and 4K resolution overwhelms the GPU's 10.60 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the Intel Core i5-14600KF's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom, but at 4K the RX 6600 XT's pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s becomes the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the decisive component in this game's performance envelope. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 128-bit bus yields 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K. The benchmark data supports this: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 38.9, while at 1080p Ultra it reaches 115.4 — a 66.3% gap that tracks closely with the GPU's compute limits rather than CPU capabilities.

The GPU's clock behavior reinforces its role. With a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz, the RX 6600 XT operates in a narrow frequency band that does not adjust meaningfully across resolutions. This means the FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are not due to clock throttling but to the fixed shader count of 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs. The texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s are the hard ceilings that cap 4K performance.

In the GPU's nearestRivals data, the RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score of 27985 places it 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (27883). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 by 0.9% (28238) and the AMD FirePro S7150 by 1.5% (28409). These margins are small, but in Doom's measured results, the RX 6600 XT delivers playable frame rates at 1440p across all settings, while 4K only becomes viable on Low (69.5 FPS) and Medium (58.8 FPS).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF provides substantial headroom for this GPU. With 14 cores (6 performance, 8 efficient) and 20 threads, the CPU's multithreaded capability is far beyond what Doom requires at any resolution. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32889 and single-core score of 4643 indicate strong per-thread performance, which matters for a game engine that still relies heavily on a few main threads.

The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz and base clock of 3.50 GHz are relevant because Doom's engine is sensitive to single-thread performance. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (190.1 FPS) approaches the practical ceiling for many displays, and the fact that increasing to 1080p Ultra only drops to 115.4 FPS suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor even at the highest settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller FPS differences between settings at the same resolution — but the data shows a consistent 25-30% drop from Low to Ultra at each resolution, which is characteristic of GPU-bound rendering.

The CPU's percentile rank of 93 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49367, places it in the top tier. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600K (49166, 0.4% lower), AMD EPYC 4345P (49595, 0.5% higher), AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062, 0.6% lower), and Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, 1.4% lower). None of these rivals would meaningfully change Doom's frame rates given the GPU constraint, confirming that the i5-14600KF is not the bottleneck in this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

In the full database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Doom, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 1246 out of 1681 combos. That places it in the 25.9th percentile — meaning roughly three-quarters of tested combos perform better in this specific game. This rank is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strength, but it reflects the GPU's mid-tier position: the RX 6600 XT's percentile rank of 71 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27985, is respectable but not top-tier.

The rank of 1246 suggests that in Doom, the GPU is the constraining factor for overall position. Combos ranked higher likely pair stronger GPUs with similar CPUs. The CPU's own percentile of 93 shows it is near the top of the CPU hierarchy, but the combo rank of 1246 out of 1681 demonstrates that CPU strength alone cannot overcome GPU limitations in this title. For context, the combo's measured FPS at 1080p High (142.3) is solidly playable, but the 4K Ultra result (38.9 FPS) falls short of the 60 FPS standard that many higher-ranked combos achieve.

FAQ

Q: What is this combo's rank among all tested combos in Doom?

A: It ranks 1246 out of 1681 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this game.

Q: Can this setup handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: At 4K Low it averages 69.5 FPS and at 4K Medium 58.8 FPS, but 4K High drops to 52.1 FPS and 4K Ultra to 38.9 FPS. Playable 4K requires Low or Medium settings.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: It scores 0.1% higher than the GTX 980 Ti, 0.4% higher than the R9 M395X, 0.9% lower than the RTX 3070, and 1.5% lower than the FirePro S7150.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. The i5-14600KF's 14 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom, evidenced by consistent FPS drops across settings that track GPU load.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1440p offers the best balance: High settings average 88.9 FPS, Medium 106.6 FPS, and Low 121.6 FPS, all above 60 FPS thresholds.

Q: What are the CPU's benchmark strengths?

A: The i5-14600KF scores 32889 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 4643 in single-core, and 38697 in Passmark multithread, with a 93rd percentile rank among all CPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience depends on resolution targets. For 1080p displays, Ultra settings at 115.4 FPS are the clear choice — this exceeds the 100 FPS threshold for high-refresh monitors while delivering maximum visual fidelity. The 1080p High preset (142.3 FPS) is unnecessary unless targeting a 144 Hz display, and 1080p Low (190.1 FPS) offers no practical benefit over High.

At 1440p, the recommendation is High settings at 88.9 FPS. This stays well above 60 FPS while providing strong visuals. Medium at 106.6 FPS is the choice for 100 Hz+ displays, and Low at 121.6 FPS suits competitive play, but High offers the best image quality per frame rate. Ultra at 72.8 FPS is playable but the 18% drop from High makes it hard to justify.

For 4K, the data recommends Low settings at 69.5 FPS. Medium at 58.8 FPS is borderline, and High at 52.1 FPS or Ultra at 38.9 FPS fall below the 60 FPS standard. The jump from Low to Medium costs 10.7 FPS (from 69.5 to 58.8) — a 15.4% penalty — which may not be worth the visual upgrade on a 60 Hz display.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 190.1 FPS average
• Medium: 166.9 FPS average
• High: 142.3 FPS average
• Ultra: 115.4 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 121.6 FPS average
• Medium: 106.6 FPS average
• High: 88.9 FPS average
• Ultra: 72.8 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 69.5 FPS average
• Medium: 58.8 FPS average
• High: 52.1 FPS average
• Ultra: 38.9 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier costs roughly 15-20% performance, and each resolution step costs roughly 35-40%. The only anomaly is 4K Ultra, which falls to 38.9 FPS — a 46.6% drop from 4K High (52.1 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects disproportionately tax the GPU at high pixel counts. Across all settings, the combo maintains playable frame rates (above 60 FPS) at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K only the Low preset clears that threshold.