Doom

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 88th out of 3712 tested combos in Doom. This places the combination in the top 2.4% of all tested systems, a position that reflects the exceptional headroom both components bring to this title. The rank is particularly notable because Doom is a highly optimized engine that rewards raw throughput, and this pairing delivers on both the CPU and GPU fronts. The i5-14600KF holds a 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the RTX 4090 sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, so both parts are operating near the top of their respective hierarchies. The data indicates that this combo is not merely adequate for Doom but is positioned to saturate high-refresh displays at nearly every setting level tested. For context, the CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarking include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which trails by a mere 0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388, which leads by 0.8%, showing that the i5-14600KF is competitive with flagship silicon from other vendors. On the GPU side, the RTX 4090's nearest rival is the Intel Arc Pro A60, which matches its average score within 0%, though the absolute performance delta in this game's measured frames is far more decisive.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 serves as the primary driver of frame rates in Doom, leveraging its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus to deliver 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective, which is ample for the texture streaming demands of this 2016 title even at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are high for the Ada Lovelace architecture, and the 16384 shading units provide a massive parallel execution substrate. In practical terms, the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is far beyond what Doom requires, which explains why the measured FPS at lower settings scales to extreme heights. The GPU also carries 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, though Doom's original release predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so these units are largely idle in this workload. The 176 ROPs ensure pixel throughput remains high, with a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. Across the measured data, the GPU's dominance is clear: at 4K Low, the combo achieves 156 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it still holds 94 FPS, a range that brackets the refresh rates of most high-end monitors. The GPU's 450 W TDP is a consideration, but the benchmark results show the silicon is being fully utilized, not throttling, given the consistent scaling between settings.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience in Doom. At 1080p, all settings produce frame rates well above 240 FPS, making the choice more about visual fidelity than playability. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 267 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth, but the drop from High's 327 FPS is only 18%, suggesting that Ultra is a reasonable pick if the display supports it. However, the data shows a more nuanced story at 1440p and 4K. At 1440p, the High preset delivers 211 FPS, while Ultra drops to 173 FPS, a reduction of 18% that may be noticeable on a 240 Hz panel. For 4K, the gap widens: High runs at 115 FPS, Medium at 136 FPS, and Ultra falls to 94 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the sweet spot, as it provides 136 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS, which is a 45% improvement over Ultra's average and still maintains a smooth experience. At 1080p and 1440p, the Low preset offers the highest frame rates—444 FPS and 287 FPS respectively—but these are overkill for most displays. The recommendation from the data is to prioritize Medium or High settings depending on resolution: at 1080p, High is the best balance, at 1440p, High or Medium, and at 4K, Medium is the optimal choice to stay above 120 FPS without sacrificing too much visual quality.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers extraordinary performance across all four settings. The Low preset averages 444 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 387 FPS with a minimum of 329 FPS and a maximum of 445 FPS, showing a tight distribution that indicates no frame pacing issues. High averages 327 FPS, while Ultra settles at 267 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a 40% reduction, but even the lowest value remains far beyond any display's refresh rate. Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with more moderate absolute numbers. Low averages 287 FPS, Medium 250 FPS with a minimum of 213 FPS and maximum of 288 FPS, High 211 FPS, and Ultra 173 FPS. The delta from Low to Ultra here is 40% as well, consistent with the 1080p scaling. At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits relative to the CPU. Low averages 156 FPS, Medium 136 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS, High 115 FPS, and Ultra 94 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only measured configuration that dips below 100 FPS, and the Medium preset's minimum of 115 FPS suggests that the RTX 4090 is still capable of holding a high floor even under load. The data reveals that the step from Medium to High at 4K costs 21 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs another 21 FPS, showing a linear degradation in the higher settings range.

# FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: The data shows that 1440p High provides 211 FPS, which is a strong balance of visual quality and performance. At 4K, the Medium preset at 136 FPS is the highest playable option above 120 FPS, while 1080p delivers 327 FPS on High for those prioritizing maximum frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347, which is matched by the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326 (0% delta), while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M leads by 2.5% and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 trails by 2.9%. This indicates the 4090 is tightly clustered with competitors in synthetic tests, but the measured FPS in Doom shows its real-world advantage.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The measured FPS scaling suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where the GPU is fully utilized to produce 444 FPS on Low. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as frame rates drop to 94 FPS on Ultra, indicating the CPU has headroom left.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset across resolutions?

A: The data lists minimum FPS only for Medium settings: 329 FPS at 1080p, 213 FPS at 1440p, and 115 FPS at 4K. These minimums are close to the averages, showing consistent frame delivery.

Q: How does the i5-14600KF's performance compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49394, with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scoring 49228 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49196 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 at 48995 (0.8% lower). The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 leads by 0.8% at 49796.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra preset playable with this combo?

A: At 4K Ultra, the measured average FPS is 94, which is below the 100 FPS threshold often desired for smooth play. The Medium preset at 136 FPS is a better choice for 4K, as it provides a 45% higher frame rate with only a moderate visual step down.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF provides the computational foundation for this combo, with 14 cores and 20 threads running at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This 14th Gen Raptor Lake-R processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594, both of which are strong indicators of its ability to feed the RTX 4090 in Doom. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache reduce memory latency, which is critical for a fast-paced FPS where draw calls and physics updates need rapid processing. In aggregate benchmarks, the i5-14600KF's average score of 49394 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (0.3% lower) and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 (0.8% higher) showing that it is competitive with flagship alternatives. The Geekbench multi-core score of 17085 and single-core score of 2445 further confirm that the CPU has ample single-thread performance for Doom's engine, which is often limited by a single main thread. The PassMark multi-thread score of 38697 and single-thread score of 4273 reinforce this picture. Given that Doom is a 2016 title, the CPU's capabilities are far beyond the game's requirements, and the measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 444 FPS, which is likely near the engine's internal limits rather than a CPU bottleneck. The CPU's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for overclocking headroom, though the stock performance is already sufficient to avoid limiting the RTX 4090.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions provides a clear picture of how the workload shifts between components. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 28-35% depending on the setting. For example, at High settings, the frame rate goes from 327 FPS at 1080p to 211 FPS at 1440p, a 35% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is even more pronounced: at High, from 211 FPS to 115 FPS, a 45% reduction. This accelerating decline as resolution increases indicates that the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At 1080p, the CPU has more influence, as the RTX 4090 can render frames faster than the CPU can feed it, but the sheer power of the i5-14600KF keeps frame rates above 267 FPS even at Ultra. By 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput is the bottleneck, with the RTX 4090's 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate being taxed by the 8.3 million pixels of a 4K frame. The data shows that the scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is consistent at around 40%, but the absolute delta grows: at 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 177 FPS, while at 4K it shrinks to 62 FPS. This narrowing suggests that at 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units are being saturated, leaving less headroom for setting changes. The Medium preset's minimum FPS values—329 at 1080p, 213 at 1440p, and 115 at 4K—show that the combo maintains a stable frame delivery even under load, with the 4K minimum being 84% of the average, indicating no severe frame hitches. Overall, the resolution scaling analysis points to a system that is CPU-bound at 1080p, balanced at 1440p, and GPU-bound at 4K, with the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM never becoming a constraint even at the highest settings.