Doom

# Doom: Intel Core i5-14600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a broadly playable Doom experience across all tested resolutions and settings, with the data showing a clear performance hierarchy that favors lower settings for high-refresh-rate displays. This combination ranks 863rd out of 1681 tested combos in this game, placing it just above the midpoint of the database, yet the measured frame rates suggest the pairing is well-balanced for this 2016 FPS title. The following analysis walks through optimal settings, GPU-specific characteristics, and resolution scaling based solely on the measured data.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows for this combo indicate that the Ultra preset is the most demanding option at every resolution, while Low offers the highest frame rates. At 1080p, the Ultra setting yields an average of 143.4 FPS, which is still smooth, but the jump to Medium at 207.8 FPS represents a substantial 45% improvement in headroom. For players prioritizing maximum fluidity on a 144Hz or higher monitor, Low at 240.9 FPS is the clear choice, as it nearly doubles the Ultra result and stays above the 240 FPS threshold that some competitive displays target.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern holds: Low delivers 158.8 FPS, Medium drops to 135.1 FPS, High sits at 116.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 93.2 FPS. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p gaming on this combo, as it maintains over 135 FPS while presumably retaining more visual fidelity than Low. High is also viable for those who prefer quality over raw speed, but the 22 FPS gap between Medium and High indicates diminishing returns. At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. High produces 59.9 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target, while Medium achieves 73.8 FPS and Low reaches 81.5 FPS. Ultra at 51.2 FPS is the only setting that falls below playable thresholds, making it the least recommended option for 4K.

The best overall experience depends on resolution. For 1080p, Medium or High offers a balanced trade-off, with 207.8 and 177.7 FPS respectively. For 1440p, Medium at 135.1 FPS provides the best combination of smoothness and quality. For 4K, Low or Medium is necessary to stay comfortably above 60 FPS, with Medium being the safer choice for visual consistency. The data clearly shows that Ultra should be avoided at 4K, as its 51.2 FPS average is the only measured result below the 60 FPS baseline.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a critical factor in Doom's performance, as the game's texture-heavy environments can strain VRAM at higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 2280 MHz and boost clock of 2497 MHz, combined with 3840 shading units, drive the measured frame rates. The GPU's FP32 compute power is rated at 19.18 TFLOPS, which aligns with the strong performance seen in the 1080p and 1440p results.

The RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for Doom at the tested settings, as the 4K Ultra result of 51.2 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS outcome, suggesting that memory bandwidth rather than capacity is the limiting factor at that extreme. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is substantial for a 128-bit interface, and the data shows that the GPU scales well from Low to High settings at 1440p, with only a 27% frame rate drop from 158.8 to 116.8 FPS. At 4K, the scaling is steeper: Low to High results in a 26% drop from 81.5 to 59.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU is approaching its limits.

The GPU's passmark G3D score of 20891 and its 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggest it is a mid-to-upper-tier performer. Compared to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, the RTX 5060 has an identical average benchmark score with a deltaPct of 0%, meaning these two cards are statistically tied in synthetic tests. This parity is reflected in the game's measured FPS, which shows consistent performance across settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU-GPU combination ranks 863rd out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 51st percentile of all system configurations in the database. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the strong individual benchmarks of both components. The Intel Core i5-14600KF has a percentileVsAllCpus of 93, meaning it outperforms 93% of all CPUs in the database, while the RTX 5060's percentileVsAllGpus of 73 places it above 73% of GPUs.

The discrepancy between the component-level rankings and the combo's overall rank suggests that Doom is not particularly demanding on either component, allowing many lower-tier CPUs and GPUs to achieve comparable frame rates. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, has an average benchmark score of 49166 versus the 14600KF's 49367, a deltaPct of 0.4% in favor of the KF variant. This negligible difference means the combo's performance is effectively identical to what a 14600K would deliver. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X trails by 0.6%, while the EPYC 4345P leads by 0.5%, all within a 1.4% band that has no practical impact on game FPS.

The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, matches the RTX 5060 exactly with a 0% deltaPct, while the RX 570 is 0.2% behind. This tight clustering means that system-to-system variance in Doom is more likely to come from other factors like memory speed or driver optimizations than from the core components.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low yields 240.9 FPS, Medium produces 207.8 FPS, High delivers 177.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 143.4 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 40% performance penalty, which is expected for a game with scalable graphics options. The 33.1 FPS gap between Medium and High is larger than the 30.1 FPS gap between High and Ultra, indicating that the Medium-to-High step is where the most significant visual changes occur.

At 1440p, the results are: Low at 158.8 FPS, Medium at 135.1 FPS, High at 116.8 FPS, and Ultra at 93.2 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with Low losing 82.1 FPS, Medium losing 72.7 FPS, High losing 60.9 FPS, and Ultra losing 50.2 FPS. This suggests that lower settings are more resolution-sensitive, as they are less bound by GPU shading and more by memory bandwidth.

At 4K, the measured values are: Low at 81.5 FPS, Medium at 73.8 FPS, High at 59.9 FPS, and Ultra at 51.2 FPS. The Ultra setting is the only one that fails to reach 60 FPS, making it the sole non-playable option at this resolution. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 8.7 FPS, which is smaller than the 23.6 FPS gap at 1440p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck at higher resolutions, compressing the differences between settings.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear pattern of frame rate decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 240.9 at 1080p to 158.8 at 1440p (a 34% reduction) and further to 81.5 at 4K (a 66% reduction from 1080p). At Ultra settings, the decline is less steep in absolute terms but similar in percentage: 143.4 at 1080p falls to 93.2 at 1440p (35% reduction) and then to 51.2 at 4K (64% reduction from 1080p).

This consistent percentage drop across settings indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as resolution scaling primarily stresses the graphics processor. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, is more than capable of handling Doom's engine at these frame rates, as evidenced by its high benchmark scores in multi-threaded workloads like Cinebench R23 (32889 multicore) and Passmark multithread (38697). The GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 19.18 TFLOPS compute are the binding constraints at 4K, where the pixel throughput demands exceed what the RTX 5060 can sustain at Ultra settings.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for GPUs with 8 GB of VRAM, as the larger frame buffer requirements at 4K may also introduce capacity-related stalls. However, the fact that Low settings at 4K still achieve 81.5 FPS suggests that the game is not memory-limited at lower quality presets, and the GPU's bandwidth is sufficient when texture detail is reduced.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for 1080p gaming on this combo?

A: Medium at 207.8 FPS or High at 177.7 FPS both provide excellent smoothness, with Medium offering a 17% FPS advantage over High. Low at 240.9 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rates are critical.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at Low (81.5 FPS) or Medium (73.8 FPS) settings. High at 59.9 FPS just misses the 60 FPS target, and Ultra at 51.2 FPS is below the threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT has an identical average benchmark score with a 0% deltaPct, meaning they are statistically equal. The RX 570 is 0.2% behind, and the Tesla M60 is 0.5% ahead.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Doom?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent percentage FPS drops from 1080p to 4K across all settings. The CPU's high percentile rank (93rd) indicates it is not constraining performance.

Q: What is the worst-performing setting in the dataset?

A: Ultra at 4K, yielding 51.2 FPS, is the only measured result below 60 FPS. It should be avoided for smooth gameplay, as even High at 4K offers 59.9 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in the database for Doom?

A: It ranks 863rd out of 1681 tested combos, placing it in the 51st percentile. This is lower than the individual component percentiles suggest, indicating that Doom is a well-optimized title that does not heavily tax either the CPU or GPU.