Doom

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 lands at rank 770 out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places the pairing squarely in the upper-middle tier of the database, outperforming roughly 54% of all tested configurations while trailing the top 46%. For a game as well-optimized as Doom, this rank reflects a system that can handle the title comfortably at most settings, though it stops short of elite-tier performance.

The CPU itself is a strong contributor to this placement. The i7-14700F sits in the 94th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 54097. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, which scores 54450 (a 0.6% advantage), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D at 54681 (1.1% ahead). The Intel chip edges out the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 by 1.2% and the AMD EPYC 7313P by 1.7%. These margins are tight, meaning the i7-14700F is competitive with flagship-tier processors from a raw compute standpoint.

The GPU side is less dominant. The RTX 3070 ranks in the 72nd percentile for all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28238. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro S7150 (28409, 0.6% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985, 0.9% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956, 1% behind). The RTX 3070 is essentially neck-and-neck with these cards, which explains why the combo rank is solid but not spectacular.

In the context of Doom specifically, the data shows a configuration that can push high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K being the only real challenge. The overall rank of 770 reflects this balance of strengths and limitations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8nm process by Samsung. It packs 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation processors. The card also includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, though Doom's original 2016 release predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so these features have limited impact on this title's performance.

Memory configuration is a defining factor. The RTX 3070 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. In Doom, this bandwidth proves sufficient for 1080p and 1440p workloads, but the 8 GB capacity can become a constraint at 4K with higher texture settings, contributing to the FPS drops observed at that resolution.

Clock speeds are modest but effective. The base clock sits at 1500 MHz, boosting to 1725 MHz under load. The card's pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance is rated at 20.31 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 operations. These figures translate into strong rasterization performance for a game like Doom, which relies heavily on traditional rendering techniques.

The GPU's 220W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this class of card. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures adequate bandwidth for data transfer. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning it fully covers Doom's API requirements, which can leverage Vulkan for improved performance.

FAQ

Q: How does the i7-14700F compare to its closest CPU rivals in raw performance?

A: The i7-14700F scores 54097 on average, sitting 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (54450) and 1.1% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54681). It beats the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469) by 1.2% and the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206) by 1.7%.

Q: What is the RTX 3070's standing relative to other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 3070 ranks in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28238. It trails the AMD FirePro S7150 by 0.6% (28409) and the AMD Radeon R9 M295X by 1.1% (28541), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT by 0.9% (27985) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti by 1% (27956).

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Doom?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers over 155 FPS at every settings preset, with Low reaching 259.2 FPS. At 1440p, frame rates range from 99.1 FPS at Ultra to 166.2 FPS at Low, which remains highly playable. At 4K, performance drops to 56.1 FPS at Ultra and 68.6 FPS at High, which is borderline for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop is substantial. At High settings, average FPS falls from 190.2 at 1080p to 125.9 at 1440p, then to 68.6 at 4K. This represents a 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in Doom?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 155 FPS even at Ultra settings. The i7-14700F's 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample headroom. The GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, with 4K performance dropping significantly regardless of settings.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the RTX 3070?

A: The launch MSRP is 499 USD. This was set at the card's release on 2020-08-31.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Doom with this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a clear picture of performance scaling.

At 1920x1080, the combo excels across the board. Low settings deliver an average of 259.2 FPS, while Medium achieves 226.1 FPS. High settings produce 190.2 FPS, and even Ultra maintains a strong 155 FPS. All of these numbers are far above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors, with even the lowest result exceeding 144Hz.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains robust but begins to show the GPU's limits. Low settings hit 166.2 FPS, Medium reaches 145.2 FPS, and High maintains 125.9 FPS. Ultra drops to 99.1 FPS, which is still playable but no longer reaches triple-digit frame rates. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 67.1 FPS, indicating a significant settings impact.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3070's 8 GB memory and bandwidth constraints become evident. Low settings produce 93.9 FPS, Medium achieves 79.3 FPS, and High drops to 68.6 FPS. Ultra falls to 56.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for many gamers. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 37.8 FPS, showing that settings adjustments can still yield meaningful gains.

The data shows a consistent pattern: performance scales predictably with both resolution and settings. The combo is capable of 4K gaming but only at lower presets, while 1080p and 1440p offer headroom for higher quality settings.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU bottleneck. At High settings, average FPS drops from 190.2 at 1080p to 125.9 at 1440p, a 34% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, FPS falls further to 68.6, a 45% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 121.6 FPS, representing a 64% performance loss.

This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-limited scenario. The i7-14700F has ample compute capacity, as evidenced by its 94th percentile CPU ranking and strong multi-core scores like 35443 in Cinebench R23. The RTX 3070, however, struggles to maintain frame rates as pixel count increases. The 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting factors at 4K, particularly at higher settings.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar but less severe. Performance drops from 259.2 FPS at 1080p to 166.2 FPS at 1440p (36% reduction), then to 93.9 FPS at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 165.3 FPS, or 64%. This suggests that even at minimal settings, the GPU's raw throughput caps performance at higher resolutions.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU may actually constrain maximum frame rates, as the GPU has headroom to push beyond 250 FPS. At 1440p, the system is more balanced. At 4K, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck, with frame rates dropping below 100 FPS even at Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

For this combo, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate.

At 1080p, Ultra settings are the clear recommendation. The average of 155 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, and the visual quality improvements from Ultra are worthwhile. Even if a 240Hz display is used, High settings at 190.2 FPS would be a better choice than dropping below 155 FPS.

At 1440p, High settings offer the best balance. The 125.9 FPS average is smooth on 120Hz or 144Hz displays, while Ultra's 99.1 FPS is acceptable but leaves less headroom for frame time spikes. Medium settings at 145.2 FPS would be preferable for competitive play, but High provides a better visual experience without sacrificing playability.

At 4K, the recommendation is Low or Medium settings. Low achieves 93.9 FPS, which is smooth on 60Hz displays and playable on 90Hz or 100Hz panels. Medium at 79.3 FPS is also viable, but High at 68.6 FPS and Ultra at 56.1 FPS fall below the 60 FPS target that most gamers prefer. Given the GPU's limitations at this resolution, sacrificing visual fidelity for frame rate is the sensible choice.

Overall, the data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can handle high or ultra settings with ease. 4K gaming is possible but requires significant settings compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10nm process. It features a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR4 and DDR5 in a dual-channel configuration, with ECC support available.

In Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The i7-14700F's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003, ensures that the game's main thread is not a bottleneck. Its multi-threaded capabilities, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 16571, provide ample headroom for background tasks and any additional game threads.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 94th percentile of all processors, with an average score of 54097. This is competitive with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (54450) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54681), which are 0.6% and 1.1% ahead respectively. The i7-14700F outperforms the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469) and the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206) by 1.2% and 1.7%.

In Doom specifically, the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 155 FPS even at Ultra settings. This suggests the CPU is capable of driving the GPU to its limits at lower resolutions. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's role diminishes. The data shows that this processor is more than sufficient for Doom, with no evidence of CPU-induced bottlenecks at any resolution tested.