Doom

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a formidable experience in Doom, securing the 537th position out of 1681 tested combinations. This places the combo in the upper third of all configurations, roughly the 68th percentile, which is a strong showing for a title that rewards high frame rates. The data indicates this pairing is well-balanced for the game’s engine, with the CPU’s robust multi-threaded performance and the GPU’s high bandwidth ensuring neither component becomes a consistent bottleneck across the tested settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 537 out of 1681 places it in the top 32% of all tested systems. This positioning is supported by the individual component benchmarks. The Core i7-13700K achieves an average benchmark score of 47282, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700KF, which scores 47334 (a mere 0.1% difference), and the AMD EPYC 4364P at 47131 (0.3% behind). This shows the processor is performing essentially at parity with its closest competitors, with deltas under 0.5% in either direction.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3080 holds an average benchmark score of 35787, ranking in the 80th percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores 35860, which is only 0.2% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE trails by 0.9% with a score of 36101, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile leads by 1% at 35435. These tight margins indicate that the RTX 3080’s compute performance is well within the expected range for its class, and in Doom, this translates directly into the high frame rates seen in the measured results.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across all resolutions provides a clear hierarchy for settings. At 4K, the Ultra preset yields an average of 63.7 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom. Dropping to High at 4K increases the average to 80.3 FPS, a 26% improvement, making it the optimal choice for a smoother experience without a major visual sacrifice. The Medium preset at 4K offers 89.5 FPS, but the jump from High to Medium is only 11%, whereas the jump from Ultra to High is 26%, suggesting High is the sweet spot for 4K.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 144.1 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset still delivers 115.8 FPS, which is sufficient for most displays, but the 24% gain from moving to High makes it the recommended choice for competitive play. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset hits 179.4 FPS, so all settings are viable, but the Low preset reaches 300 FPS, which is ideal for maximum refresh rates. The data suggests High is the best balance across all resolutions, as it consistently provides a significant frame rate boost over Ultra while maintaining visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 300 FPS, which is likely a cap or a point where the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor. As resolution increases to 1440p, the same Low preset drops to 197.6 FPS, a 34% decrease, indicating the GPU is starting to take on more work. Moving to 4K Low, the average falls to 103.7 FPS, another 48% drop from 1440p.

This pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. With Ultra, the frame rate drops from 179.4 FPS at 1080p to 115.8 FPS at 1440p (a 35% reduction), and then to 63.7 FPS at 4K (a 45% reduction from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops suggest that the RTX 3080 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s 16 cores and 24 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The data indicates that the i7-13700K’s strong multi-core scores, such as its Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 39000, prevent it from holding back the GPU until the frame rate approaches the 300 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 3080 and i7-13700K combination produces exceptional results. The Low preset averages 300 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the dataset. Medium follows at 259.4 FPS, High at 220.7 FPS, and Ultra at 179.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 40%, showing that the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution, with the CPU’s single-thread score of 5505 in Cinebench R23 helping to sustain high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the averages remain high. Low settings produce 197.6 FPS, Medium 168.1 FPS, High 144.1 FPS, and Ultra 115.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 41%, but the absolute numbers are still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K results show a more significant drop. At 3840x2160, Low averages 103.7 FPS, Medium 89.5 FPS, High 80.3 FPS, and Ultra 63.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 65 FPS, highlighting the GPU’s limits when pushing four times the pixels of 1080p.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080’s specifications directly explain its performance in Doom. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. This high bandwidth is crucial for the texture-heavy environments in Doom, especially at 4K where memory throughput becomes a key factor. The boost clock of 1710 MHz, paired with 8704 shading units, delivers a peak FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS, which drives the high fill rates seen in the benchmark data.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s support the frame rates observed. At 4K High, the 80.3 FPS average suggests the card is utilizing its 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores efficiently, even without explicit ray tracing in the 2016 title. The 8 nm process node and 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die contribute to the card’s 320 W TDP, which is managed by a dual-slot cooler. The memory clock of 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) ensures that the 10 GB frame buffer is never a limiting factor, as the data shows no anomalous drops at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 144.1 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz displays. The Ultra preset still provides 115.8 FPS, but High offers a 24% performance increase with minimal visual impact.

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

A: Yes, but only on select presets. The High preset at 3840x2160 averages 80.3 FPS, while Medium averages 89.5 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 63.7 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but with less headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest rival in raw compute?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Duo’s score of 35860. It also trails the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE by 0.9%, but leads the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile by 1%.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 300 FPS, which is the highest recorded value. This suggests the CPU’s single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5505, is sufficient to push frame rates to the limit, but the GPU may become the limiting factor beyond this point.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 4K Ultra and 4K Low?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 63.7 FPS, while the 4K Low preset averages 103.7 FPS. This represents a 63% increase in performance when dropping from Ultra to Low settings.

Q: How does the i7-13700K rank against other CPUs?

A: The i7-13700K is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 47282. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700KF, scores 47334, which is only 0.1% higher, indicating near-identical performance.