Doom

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a robust performance profile in Doom, with benchmark results showing a clear hierarchy where resolution scaling impacts frame rates far more dramatically than preset changes. The data reveals that this combination is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K Ultra settings push the system to its limits. The measured frames per second (FPS) across twelve distinct configurations provide a detailed map of how the CPU and GPU share the workload, offering insights into which component becomes the primary bottleneck as graphical demands increase.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a steep and consistent drop in average FPS across all settings presets, indicating that the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 169 FPS at 1920x1080 to 110 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 59 FPS, and then further drops to 59 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a total decline of 110 FPS from the baseline. This pattern suggests that the Radeon RX 6700 XT's rendering pipeline is increasingly strained as pixel count grows, with the 4K resolution requiring nearly three times the processing effort compared to 1080p for the same visual quality.

Low settings exhibit the same scaling behavior but from a higher starting point, with average FPS at 230 at 1080p, 149 at 1440p, and 81 at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is 81 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 68 FPS, showing a slightly less severe penalty at the highest resolution when visual complexity is minimized. Interestingly, the Medium preset shows the most balanced scaling, with average FPS of 200 at 1080p, 130 at 1440p, and 70 at 4K, and it is the only preset that provides both minimum and maximum FPS values in the data, with 4K Medium ranging from 60 to 81 FPS and 1440p Medium ranging from 110 to 149 FPS.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates at every resolution, with averages of 138 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs 48 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K costs 41 FPS, which is a smaller absolute drop than other presets but results in the least playable experience at 4K. These results imply that for 4K gaming, even the most powerful presets struggle to maintain 60 FPS, while 1440p remains viable across all settings, and 1080p is largely CPU-bound at lower presets given the high frame rates achieved.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, provides 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. The GPU's clock speeds are notably high, with a base clock of 2321 MHz, a game clock of 2424 MHz, and a boost clock of 2581 MHz, which contribute to its ability to sustain high frame rates in Doom. The memory operates at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed, and the card features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines, along with 40 ray tracing cores.

These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 13.21 TFLOPS. In Doom, the GPU's role becomes increasingly critical as resolution rises, with the data showing that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 49, which is below the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for smooth gameplay. The 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for the game's requirements, as even at 4K the memory does not appear to be a limiting factor based on the measured results, which show consistent scaling without sudden drops that would indicate VRAM capacity issues.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27425, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile with a delta of 0%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at -0.5%, and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell at 1.1%. This positioning suggests that the RX 6700 XT performs comparably to these alternatives in general benchmarks, though in Doom specifically, the measured FPS data shows it is capable of exceeding 200 FPS at 1080p Medium, indicating strong optimization for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 1951 out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the upper half of all possible pairings. This ranking is noteworthy given that the CPU itself sits in the 89th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is in the 72nd percentile, suggesting that the overall combo performance is somewhat constrained by the GPU relative to the CPU's capabilities. The rank of 1951 indicates that roughly 52% of tested combinations perform better in this specific game, which is a nuanced result given the hardware's individual strengths.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 with a delta of -0.2%, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 at -0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX at 0.5%, showing that the i7-13700K is essentially on par with these processors in general performance. However, in Doom, the combo's rank reflects not just CPU power but also the GPU's contribution, and the data shows that the RX 6700 XT's performance is the more significant factor at higher resolutions. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile at 0% delta, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 at -0.5%, and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell at 1.1%, indicating that the GPU is competitive with these cards in synthetic benchmarks.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking, as the combo achieves high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but falls short at 4K Ultra, which likely contributes to its mid-pack ranking. For a game like Doom, which is known for its fast-paced action, the ability to maintain high minimum FPS is crucial, and the data shows that at 1440p Medium, the minimum FPS is 110, while at 4K Medium, it is 60, providing a playable experience in most scenarios. The rank of 1951 suggests that while this combo is not top-tier for Doom, it offers a solid balance for gamers prioritizing high refresh rates at lower resolutions over maximum visual fidelity at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings for this combo?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 169 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values provided in the data.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 49, which is below the 60 FPS target, indicating that 4K Ultra is not ideal for this configuration.

Q: Which resolution provides the highest frame rates?

A: The highest average FPS in the data is 230 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, followed by 200 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in Doom?

A: The combo ranks 1951 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all pairings tested for this game.

Q: Does the GPU's memory capacity limit performance in Doom?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6 memory does not appear to be a limiting factor, as the frame rates scale consistently without sudden drops that would indicate VRAM exhaustion at any resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 60 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, while at 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 110 FPS, and at 1920x1080 Medium, it is 170 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K, based on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node, features 16 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This processor has a TDP of 125 W and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116, while Geekbench reports a multicore score of 19429 and a single-core score of 2529.

In Doom, the CPU's role is most pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed, allowing the processor to drive higher frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 230, which is significantly higher than the 4K Low average of 81 FPS, indicating that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data at lower pixel counts. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample processing power for the game's logic and physics, and its boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game engines.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 46881, places it ahead of rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (delta -0.2%) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (delta -0.3%), while being slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (delta 0.5%) and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (delta 0.5%). This performance headroom means that in Doom, the CPU is unlikely to be a bottleneck at any resolution tested, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p where the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The processor's 3DMark scores, including 12412 for max threads and 1136 for single thread, further demonstrate its capability to handle the demands of modern FPS titles without constraining the GPU's output.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's priority for frame rate versus visual quality. For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset offers an average of 200 FPS with a minimum of 170 FPS and a maximum of 230 FPS, providing a smooth experience that exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, while the High preset at 169 FPS is also excellent for competitive play. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers an average of 130 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS, which is suitable for fast-paced action, while the High preset at 110 FPS remains playable but starts to approach the lower limits for high-refresh-rate displays.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the only viable option, with an average of 70 FPS and a minimum of 60 FPS, which just meets the standard for smooth gameplay, while the High preset at 59 FPS is borderline and the Ultra preset at 49 FPS is not recommended. The Low presets, while offering the highest frame rates at each resolution (230 FPS at 1080p, 149 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K), sacrifice visual fidelity significantly, which may not be desirable for a game like Doom that features detailed environments. The data suggests that the Medium preset provides the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions, as it consistently offers the highest minimum FPS values, ensuring a stable experience without major frame drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low settings produce the highest average FPS of 230, followed by Medium at 200 FPS with a minimum of 170 FPS and a maximum of 230 FPS, High at 169 FPS, and Ultra at 138 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 92 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for higher visual quality at this resolution. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 149 FPS, Medium averages 130 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 149 FPS, High averages 110 FPS, and Ultra averages 90 FPS, with a spread of 59 FPS between the lowest and highest presets.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 81 FPS, Medium averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS, High averages 59 FPS, and Ultra averages 49 FPS, with a spread of 32 FPS across presets. The data shows a clear pattern where the absolute difference between presets narrows as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K regardless of settings. The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions, with the minimum FPS values of 170 at 1080p, 110 at 1440p, and 60 at 4K, providing a reliable indicator of worst-case performance for this configuration. The maximum FPS values for Medium are 230 at 1080p, 149 at 1440p, and 81 at 4K, showing that the combo can deliver high peak frame rates even at higher resolutions when the scene allows.