Doom

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a combination that sits in the 1314th position out of 2930 tested combos for Doom. This places the pairing in the upper-middle tier of the database, outperforming roughly 55% of all recorded configurations. The percentile ranking for the GPU alone is 58, while the CPU sits in the 90th percentile against all processors, indicating that the central processor is the stronger component in this pairing relative to its peers. The combination's overall standing suggests that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it provides a substantial performance envelope that handles the game's demands without significant compromise.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1314 out of 2930 in Doom reflects a configuration that is solidly positioned within the tested field. This is not a leading-edge pairing, but it is far from the bottom tier, and the data indicates a balanced system where neither component is drastically underpowered for the title. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, combined with the GPU's 58th percentile versus all GPUs, shows a clear asymmetry; the processor is a high-end part while the graphics card is more mid-range. This dynamic is crucial for understanding the performance ceiling in Doom, as the GPU becomes the primary arbiter of frame rates at higher resolutions and settings.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 49394 is remarkably close to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228, a delta of just 0.3 percent. The i5-14600KF also edges out the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.4 and 0.8 percent, respectively, while trailing the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 by 0.8 percent. These negligible differences mean that in CPU-bound scenarios, the choice between these processors would yield almost identical results. For the GPU, the RX 7700's average benchmark score of 15852 places it within 0.1 percent of the AMD Radeon R9 370X, 1 percent behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060, and 1.1 percent ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti leads this group with a score of 16129, putting the RX 7700 1.7 percent behind. These narrow margins in synthetic benchmarks, however, do not directly translate to the measured FPS in Doom, where the game's optimization and the specific hardware configuration play a larger role.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The GPU's memory subsystem is substantial, with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The base clock is 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. In terms of raw compute, the card delivers 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, a figure that is identical for FP16 due to a 1:1 ratio. The pixel rate is 236.1 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 393.4 GTexel/s.

In Doom, the GPU's role is critical, and the data shows how its capabilities directly influence frame rates. At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 51, which is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. This indicates that the RX 7700 is stressed at the highest resolution and settings, but it still maintains a playable frame rate. The 16 GB VRAM allocation is more than sufficient for this title, and the high bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and memory-intensive scenes do not become bottlenecks. The boost clock of 2459 MHz allows for aggressive performance scaling when thermal headroom permits, which is evident in the jump from Low to Medium settings at 4K, where FPS increases from 85 to 74, a 13 percent reduction in performance for a significant visual uplift. The GPU's 58th percentile ranking indicates that it is outperformed by a large portion of the market, yet in this specific game, it manages to provide a satisfying experience, particularly at 1440p and 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, specifically the Raptor Lake-R refresh. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and features PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes. Its benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594. In Geekbench, it scores 17085 multi-core and 2445 single-core, while PassMark shows a multithread score of 38697 and a single-thread score of 4273.

In Doom, the CPU's high single-thread performance is essential, as the game engine often relies on a few heavily loaded threads for physics and game logic. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that these threads are processed as quickly as possible, preventing the CPU from becoming a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The data supports this: at 1080p Low settings, the average FPS reaches 241, which is near the refresh rate ceiling of many monitors. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 145, a figure that suggests the CPU is still providing ample headroom. The 90th percentile ranking of the CPU, combined with its proximity to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, indicates that the i5-14600KF is more than capable of feeding the RX 7700 in this game. The multi-core performance, while not as critical for Doom, ensures that background tasks and any additional load do not interfere with frame pacing.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-14600KF compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14600KF scores 49394 on average, which is 0.3 percent higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228) and 0.4 percent higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196). It also leads the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.8 percent but trails the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 by 0.8 percent, which scores 49796.

Q: What is the GPU's performance ranking relative to other graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has a percentile ranking of 58 against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 15852, which is 0.1 percent higher than the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) and 1.1 percent higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679). It is 1 percent behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014) and 1.7 percent behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129).

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Doom?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 241 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This demonstrates the system's ability to push very high frame rates when the graphical load is minimized.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded, and under what conditions?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 51 FPS, achieved at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the most demanding configuration tested and shows the GPU's limits at 4K with maximum image quality.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU act as the primary bottleneck in Doom for this combo?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. For example, at 4K Ultra the FPS is 51, while at 1080p Ultra it is 145, a 2.8x increase. This scaling suggests that the CPU can handle the game's logic at high frame rates, but the GPU's rendering capabilities cap performance as resolution and settings increase.

Q: How does the memory configuration support the performance of this combo?

A: The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. This is ample for Doom, ensuring that the 16 GB allocation prevents any memory-related stuttering or texture pop-in, even at 4K Ultra settings where the frame rate is already constrained by the GPU's compute power.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how performance scales with resolution. Starting at 1080p, the system demonstrates significant headroom. At Low settings, the average FPS is 241, which drops to 210 at Medium, 178 at High, and 145 at Ultra. This indicates a 40 percent reduction in FPS from Low to Ultra at 1080p, showcasing the GPU's workload increase as settings rise. Moving to 1440p, the average FPS at Low is 156, which is 35 percent lower than at 1080p Low. The scaling continues with Medium at 136, High at 115, and Ultra at 94. The drop from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra is 35 percent, which is a substantial decrease but still leaves the game highly playable.

At 4K, the performance takes a more significant hit. The average FPS at Low is 85, which is 45 percent lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings at 4K yield 74 FPS, High yields 62, and Ultra yields 51. The transition from 1440p to 4K for Ultra settings results in a 46 percent reduction in FPS, from 94 to 51. This pattern strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the frame rate drops by roughly 65 percent from Low to Ultra at 4K. The CPU's role becomes less prominent as resolution increases, as the GPU's rendering time dominates the frame time budget. The data shows a consistent scaling curve, with diminishing returns at higher resolutions, which is typical for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 145 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on many monitors, making it the best choice for a high-refresh-rate experience without sacrificing image quality. The High preset at 178 FPS offers a marginal FPS increase but a noticeable visual downgrade, so Ultra is recommended for most users at this resolution. At 1440p, the Ultra preset averages 94 FPS, which is playable but may not fully saturate a 144 Hz display. The High preset at 115 FPS provides a better balance for higher refresh rates, offering a 22 percent FPS increase over Ultra while still maintaining high visual fidelity. For users prioritizing smoothness over absolute image quality, the Medium preset at 136 FPS is a viable option, though the visual difference between Medium and High is often more pronounced than the FPS gain suggests.

At 4K, the situation changes. The Ultra preset averages only 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 62 FPS just meets this threshold, but the Medium preset at 74 FPS provides a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Low preset at 85 FPS offers the highest frame rate but at a significant visual cost. For a 4K experience, the Medium settings are recommended, as they deliver an average FPS of 74 with a minimum of 63, ensuring that frame drops do not become jarring. The Ultra preset is not recommended at 4K due to the sub-60 FPS average, which can lead to a less responsive feel in a fast-paced FPS like Doom. The data suggests that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p with High or Ultra settings, where the system can deliver both high frame rates and high image quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates across all settings are consistently high. Low settings produce 241 FPS, Medium settings produce 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 and a maximum of 242, High settings produce 178 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 145 FPS. The range between Low and Ultra is 96 FPS, representing a 40 percent performance cost for maximum visual fidelity. The Medium setting's minimum FPS of 179 is notably lower than its average, indicating some frame time variance, but it remains well above playable thresholds.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 156 FPS for Low, 136 FPS for Medium with a minimum of 116 and a maximum of 156, 115 FPS for High, and 94 FPS for Ultra. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with an average reduction of approximately 35 percent across all settings. The Medium setting at 1440p shows a minimum FPS of 116, which is 85 percent of its average, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to feel the load of higher resolution. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 85 FPS for Low, 74 FPS for Medium with a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 85, 62 FPS for High, and 51 FPS for Ultra. The scaling from 1440p to 4K results in an average FPS reduction of roughly 45 percent. The Ultra setting at 4K drops below 60 FPS, while the Medium setting maintains an average of 74 FPS with a minimum of 63, making it the only 4K preset that consistently stays above the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows that the RX 7700's performance is heavily dependent on resolution, with the 16 GB VRAM and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth providing enough headroom for high-resolution textures, but the GPU's compute capabilities limiting the maximum settings at 4K.