Doom

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, placing the combo in the 175th position out of 3712 tested configurations. This places it firmly in the top 5% of all recorded results, indicating a highly capable system for this title. The data shows that the combination of a strong 14-core processor and the Blackwell-architecture GPU produces frame rates that will satisfy even the most demanding display setups.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available settings presets, with each step up in quality demanding a measurable toll on average frame rates. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset still delivers an average of 250 FPS, which is more than sufficient for competitive play on high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the gap between Medium and Ultra at this resolution is significant, with the latter being roughly 31% slower than the former, suggesting that the visual gains from Ultra may not justify the performance cost for all users.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. The High preset produces an average of 198 FPS, while Ultra drops to 162 FPS. The Medium preset sits comfortably in between at 235 FPS, offering a balance that appears ideal for this resolution. The data indicates that Medium at 1440p provides a substantial 45% performance advantage over Ultra while likely retaining most of the visual fidelity that matters during fast-paced gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens considerably. The Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for dips during intense combat sequences. High settings at this resolution yield 107 FPS, a more comfortable margin, while Medium reaches 127 FPS with a recorded minimum of 108 FPS. For 4K gaming, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, delivering nearly 22% more performance than Ultra while maintaining a higher level of detail than Medium.

The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates at every resolution, sacrifices too much visual quality to be recommended for a game where atmosphere and environmental detail contribute to the experience. The data shows that High settings provide the best overall experience across all three resolutions, as it consistently outperforms Ultra by a meaningful margin while staying within striking distance of Medium's raw speed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 sits at the heart of this system's gaming prowess, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, which translates into a substantial compute capacity of 56.28 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This raw horsepower is complemented by 10752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units, allowing the card to handle the fast-paced rendering demands of Doom with ease.

Memory configuration plays a critical role in the observed results. The RTX 5080 comes equipped with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This high-bandwidth memory subsystem ensures that texture streaming and geometry processing at 4K resolution do not become bottlenecks. The memory clock runs at 1875 MHz with an effective data rate of 30 Gbps, which is more than adequate for the demands of this 2016 title, even when pushed to its visual limits.

The GPU's transistor count of 45,600 million on a die size of 378 mm² results in a density of 120.6 million transistors per square millimeter. This architectural efficiency is reflected in the benchmark scores, with the GPU achieving a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8637. The card's percentile ranking of 87 against all GPUs indicates it outperforms the vast majority of competing hardware, though its nearest rivals show that the performance gap is not insurmountable.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a clear scaling pattern that highlights the GPU's dominance in this configuration. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 306 FPS at 1080p to 198 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 35%, and then to 107 FPS at 4K, a further 46% decline. This steep drop-off at higher resolutions is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the increased pixel count places additional strain on the rendering pipeline.

The Low preset shows similar scaling behavior, with frame rates falling from 416 FPS at 1080p to 269 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 146 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent at roughly 35% and 46% respectively, indicating that the RTX 5080's compute resources scale predictably with resolution. The fact that even at 4K Low settings the system maintains an average of 146 FPS demonstrates the GPU's substantial headroom for this title.

The Medium preset provides the only complete dataset with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded. At 1080p, the average is 363 FPS with a minimum of 308 FPS and a maximum of 417 FPS. At 1440p, these figures become 235 average, 199 minimum, and 270 maximum. At 4K, the average drops to 127 FPS with a minimum of 108 FPS and a maximum of 146 FPS. The narrowing of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming more consistently utilized as the workload increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves remarkable frame rates across all settings. The Low preset leads with 416 FPS average, followed by Medium at 363 FPS, High at 306 FPS, and Ultra at 250 FPS. The Medium preset's recorded minimum of 308 FPS indicates that even in the most demanding scenes, the system rarely drops below the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The spread between Low and Ultra is 166 FPS, showing that visual quality settings have a substantial impact even at this resolution where the GPU is not heavily taxed.

The 2560x1440 results show a similar pattern but with reduced absolute numbers. Low averages 269 FPS, Medium 235 FPS, High 198 FPS, and Ultra 162 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution records a minimum of 199 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS, suggesting that frame pacing remains consistent. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 107 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of increased pixel count, but still maintains robust performance throughout.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve becomes more gradual. Low leads with 146 FPS, Medium follows at 127 FPS, High at 107 FPS, and Ultra trails at 88 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 108 FPS and maximum of 146 FPS show a tighter distribution than at lower resolutions, which could indicate that the GPU is now the primary limiting factor. The Ultra preset, while still playable, drops below the 100 FPS threshold that many users consider essential for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 175 out of 3712 tested configurations places this system in the 95th percentile of all recorded results for Doom. This ranking is particularly impressive given the game's age, as many newer and more powerful systems have been tested since its release. The top 5% positioning indicates that the i5-14600KF and RTX 5080 combination offers near-flagship level performance without requiring the absolute top-tier components available.

Looking at the CPU's position relative to its peers, the i5-14600KF achieves an average benchmark score of 49394, which places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, scores 49228, a difference of only 0.3%, indicating that these processors are effectively tied in overall performance. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49796, which is 0.8% higher, but this margin is negligible in real-world gaming scenarios.

The GPU's ranking follows a similar pattern. The RTX 5080 achieves an average benchmark score of 56083, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon 8060S, scores 55757, a 0.6% difference, while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE leads by 2.2% with a score of 57367. These tight margins suggest that the GPU's performance is well within the expected range for its class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF brings 14 cores and 20 threads to the table, operating at a base clock of 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This configuration, based on the Raptor Lake architecture, provides a strong foundation for gaming workloads. The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache, combined with 2 MB of L2 cache per core, ensures that frequently accessed data remains close to the execution units, reducing latency during gameplay.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data. The i5-14600KF's single-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594, is more than sufficient for this task. The processor's multi-core capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544, provide additional headroom for background tasks and any game engine threads that can utilize more cores.

The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make this CPU a practical choice for a high-performance gaming system. Its percentile ranking of 90 against all CPUs confirms that it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market. The nearest rivals show that the Ryzen 9 7900 and Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G are within 0.4% of its average score, indicating that this processor sits at the top of the mid-range performance tier.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 delivers an average of 107 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. Ultra drops to 88 FPS, while Medium reaches 127 FPS, making High the recommended choice for 4K.

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 250 FPS. This is sufficient for even the fastest refresh rate monitors available, providing a smooth and responsive gaming experience.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 269 FPS while Ultra averages 162 FPS. This represents a 66% performance increase for Low settings, though the visual quality trade-off may not be worth it for most players.

Q: Is the RTX 5080's 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for Doom?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for this title. The game runs at 146 FPS on Low at 4K, indicating no memory-related bottlenecks.

Q: How does the i5-14600KF compare to its nearest CPU rival?

A: The i5-14600KF scores 49394 in average benchmarks, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900's 49228 score. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 is 0.8% faster with a score of 49796.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among all tested systems?

A: This configuration ranks 175th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 5% of all recorded results for Doom. This indicates near-flagship performance for this specific title.