Doom

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a highly playable experience in Doom, with the data showing that the combination ranks 2617th out of 3712 tested combos. The benchmark results indicate that this pairing is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p and remains fluid at 1440p, but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K on the highest settings. The measured FPS values across the three resolutions and four presets reveal a system that is largely GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the 20-core CPU provides ample headroom to avoid bottlenecks even at lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across the four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—at each of the three tested resolutions. For players prioritizing smoothness at 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 141 FPS, which represents a significant jump from the Ultra preset's 115 FPS. The Low preset pushes the frame rate to 192 FPS, but the Medium preset at 167 FPS offers a better balance between visual fidelity and performance, with a minimum of 142 FPS ensuring consistent frame pacing. Given that the gap between High and Low is 51 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 26 FPS, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot for competitive play at 1920x1080, as it retains most of the visual quality of Ultra while staying well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold.

At 2560x1440, the High preset maintains an average of 91 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS baseline for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 108 FPS shows a 17 FPS improvement over High, but this comes at the cost of visual detail. The Ultra preset drops to 75 FPS, which is playable but begins to show the GPU's limits. For users with a 144 Hz monitor, the Low preset at 124 FPS is the only option that approaches that target, though the Medium preset at 108 FPS offers a more visually appealing experience without dropping below 92 FPS in the minimum frame rate. The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it provides a 17 FPS advantage over High while maintaining a minimum of 92 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset averages 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth play, while the Medium preset at 59 FPS barely misses that mark. The Low preset at 67 FPS is the only setting that achieves a playable frame rate above 60, but it still falls short of the 90 FPS that would be ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset at 40 FPS is not recommended for competitive play, as it introduces noticeable stutter. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining fluidity, though the Medium preset at 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS may be acceptable for less demanding scenarios. Overall, the data indicates that 1080p High and 1440p Medium are the optimal presets for this combo, depending on the user's resolution preference.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average FPS at 1920x1080 is 192 FPS, achieved with the Low preset. The Medium preset follows at 167 FPS, while High and Ultra deliver 141 FPS and 115 FPS, respectively.

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 67 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset averages 59 FPS, just below the threshold, while High and Ultra average 50 FPS and 40 FPS, respectively, indicating that 4K gaming requires the Low preset for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU's core count affect performance in Doom?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has 20 cores and 28 threads, which provides substantial headroom for this title. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the FPS reaches 192, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the CPU, as the processor's multi-threaded capabilities (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122) are far beyond what Doom requires.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with the Medium preset, the measured minimum FPS is 92, while the average is 108 FPS and the maximum is 125 FPS. This 33 FPS range between minimum and maximum indicates relatively stable performance, with the minimum staying well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2617th out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the lower-middle percentile. This ranking reflects the GPU's age, as the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks at the 91st percentile.

Q: Is the Ultra preset viable at any resolution for this combo?

A: The Ultra preset is only playable at 1920x1080, where it averages 115 FPS. At 2560x1440, it drops to 75 FPS, which is still playable but below the 90 FPS target for high refresh rate displays. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 40 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. In the context of Doom, this CPU provides far more processing power than the game can utilize, as evidenced by the benchmark results. At 1080p with the Low preset, the system achieves 192 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all settings and resolutions. This suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this scenario, as even the lowest GPU load still allows the frame rate to reach nearly 200 FPS.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 with a score of 4958, is critical for Doom's game logic and physics. However, the benchmark data shows that the frame rate drops more significantly when resolution increases from 1080p to 1440p and 4K, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p High, the FPS is 141, while at 1440p High it drops to 91, a 35% reduction that aligns with the increased pixel count rather than CPU limitations. The 20-core processor's multi-threaded capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122, are largely unused in this title, as Doom's engine is optimized for fewer threads.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) contribute to its overall responsiveness, but the data suggests that for this particular game, the processor's role is to ensure that frame times remain consistent. The gap between the Low preset at 1080p (192 FPS) and the Medium preset at 1080p (167 FPS) is 25 FPS, which is smaller than the gap between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings. This pattern indicates that the CPU maintains its performance headroom across settings, while the GPU's workload scales with resolution and visual complexity. In summary, the i7-14700F is more than sufficient for Doom, and its high core count provides future-proofing for more demanding titles, but it does not meaningfully influence the measured FPS in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2617th out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the 70th percentile of all combos. This ranking is driven primarily by the GPU, which sits at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 91st percentile. The disparity between the two components' percentiles highlights that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the weaker link in this pairing, as the CPU's performance is well above average.

To contextualize the GPU's standing, its average benchmark score of 18093 is close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, which scores 18159, a delta of -0.4%. The RTX 2060 SUPER also trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, -0.5%) and the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, -1.5%), while the Intel Arc A770M leads with 18383, a -1.6% difference. These rival GPUs are all within a narrow performance band, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER is competitive with mid-range offerings from its generation.

The CPU's nearest rivals further illustrate its strong position. The Intel Xeon 6505P scores 53701, which is 0.2% higher than the i7-14700F's average benchmark score of 53620. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 trails by 0.3% with 53469, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD EPYC 7313P score 53288 and 53206, respectively, representing 0.6% and 0.8% deltas. This shows that the i7-14700F is comparable to high-end workstation and enthusiast processors, reinforcing that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo's ranking. The overall rank of 2617 suggests that while the combo can handle Doom at playable frame rates, it is not competitive with higher-end configurations that feature newer GPUs with greater rasterization performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 141 at 1080p to 91 at 1440p, a 35.5% reduction, and then to 50 at 4K, an additional 45.1% reduction from 1440p. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the frame rate decreases in proportion to the pixel count. At 1080p, the pixel count is 2.07 million, at 1440p it is 3.69 million (1.78x), and at 4K it is 8.29 million (2.25x). The FPS drops are roughly consistent with these increases, confirming that the RTX 2060 SUPER is being pushed to its limits at higher resolutions.

The Low preset shows a similar trend, with 192 FPS at 1080p, 124 FPS at 1440p (a 35.4% drop), and 67 FPS at 4K (a 46.0% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset follows the same pattern: 167 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p (35.3% drop), and 59 FPS at 4K (45.4% drop). The Ultra preset, while having lower absolute values, also scales predictably: 115 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p (34.8% drop), and 40 FPS at 4K (46.7% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets strongly suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU's workload remains constant regardless of resolution.

The fact that the FPS reduction from 1080p to 1440p is nearly identical across all presets (around 35%) indicates that the system is not CPU-limited at any point. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would plateau at higher resolutions, but instead it continues to decline. The 4K results are particularly telling: even at the Low preset, which minimizes GPU load, the FPS drops to 67, which is only 53% of the 1440p Low score. This confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU's capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values across the four presets are as follows: Low at 192 FPS, Medium at 167 FPS, High at 141 FPS, and Ultra at 115 FPS. The Medium preset includes a minimum FPS of 142 and a maximum of 192, showing that the frame rate can vary by 50 FPS during gameplay. The High and Ultra presets do not have reported minimum or maximum values, but the average scores indicate a 26 FPS gap between High and Ultra, and a 26 FPS gap between High and Medium. The Low preset is the only one that achieves an average above 180 FPS, making it suitable for 165 Hz displays, while the Medium preset at 167 FPS is also viable for high refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 124 FPS, Medium at 108 FPS, High at 91 FPS, and Ultra at 75 FPS. The Medium preset reports a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 125 FPS, indicating a tighter range than at 1080p. The gap between Low and Medium is 16 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 17 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 16 FPS. These consistent 16-17 FPS steps suggest that each preset tier imposes a similar additional GPU load. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but the 91 FPS High preset offers a better balance for 144 Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values drop significantly: Low at 67 FPS, Medium at 59 FPS, High at 50 FPS, and Ultra at 40 FPS. The Medium preset includes a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 67 FPS, showing that the frame rate can dip below the 60 FPS target during intense scenes. The gap between Low and Medium is 8 FPS, between Medium and High is 9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 10 FPS, indicating that the GPU's performance degrades more steeply at higher settings when the resolution is already demanding. The Low preset at 67 FPS is the only configuration that maintains an average above 60, making it the sole playable option for 4K. Across all resolutions, the data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is most comfortable at 1080p, where it can deliver over 140 FPS on High settings, while 1440p requires Medium for a smooth experience, and 4K demands Low settings.