Doom

The Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination delivers a versatile 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with the data showing a clear shift in performance bottlenecks as resolution increases. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the three resolutions and four settings presets reveal a system that is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming at standard resolutions but will require settings adjustments to maintain fluidity at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured performance data to determine the optimal use case for this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 145 at 1920x1080 to 94 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 51 FPS, and then further down to 51 at 3840x2160. This scaling pattern is typical for a game like Doom, where the graphical load at 4K is immense. The 62 FPS average at 4K High settings, while playable, shows that the RX 7700 is nearing its limits, whereas the 178 FPS at 1080p High settings demonstrates a massive headroom that is more likely constrained by the CPU's capability to feed frames quickly.

The data suggests that moving from 1080p to 1440p offers a more moderate performance hit, with average FPS dropping by roughly 35-40% across all settings. For instance, at Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 210 at 1080p to 136 at 1440p. This is a significant but acceptable trade-off for the increase in visual clarity. The gap between 1440p and 4K is where the performance penalty becomes steepest, with the average FPS at Ultra settings nearly halving from 94 to 51. This indicates that the RX 7700's 16 GB of memory and 256-bit bus are sufficient for 1440p, but the raw compute power required for 4K is a significant hurdle.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at 4K. At 1080p, the difference between Low (241 FPS) and Ultra (145 FPS) is 96 FPS, showing a large dependency on GPU settings. At 4K, the difference between Low (85 FPS) and Ultra (51 FPS) is only 34 FPS, a smaller absolute gap, which suggests that the GPU is so heavily loaded at 4K that even lowering settings cannot produce a massive frame rate increase, as the sheer pixel count is the limiting factor. For users targeting 4K, the data indicates that even Low settings will not push the average FPS much beyond 85, making 1440p the sweet spot for this hardware combination.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Ultra preset is the most demanding and provides the lowest performance. At 2560x1440, Ultra yields an average of 94 FPS, which is excellent for a smooth experience on a 144Hz monitor. However, at 3840x2160, Ultra drops to 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many consider the minimum for a fluid action game. The High preset offers a better balance at 4K, achieving a 62 FPS average, which is a 21.5% improvement over Ultra while likely providing a visually similar experience in a fast-paced title.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the standout choice. The 115 FPS average is a significant jump from the 94 FPS of Ultra, and the visual difference between High and Ultra in Doom is often subtle. This combination provides a high frame rate that leverages the CPU's strong single-core performance and keeps the GPU from being overburdened. At 1920x1080, the High preset's 178 FPS average is also excellent for competitive play, but the Medium preset's 210 FPS offers an even higher refresh rate for those with 240Hz displays, making Medium a better choice for esports-style play.

The data shows that Low settings are only necessary for achieving maximum frame rates at 1080p, where the 241 FPS average is the highest recorded for this combo. However, this comes at a significant visual cost. For most users, the Medium preset at 1080p (210 FPS) is a better compromise than Low, as it provides a much better visual experience while still maintaining a frame rate well above the refresh rate of most monitors. At 4K, none of the presets achieve a truly high refresh rate, but High is the only setting that consistently stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommended preset for that resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1314 out of 2930 combos for Doom. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning it outperforms more than half of the other CPU-GPU pairings in the database for this specific game. This is a solid mid-pack ranking, indicating that while the hardware is capable, it is not at the top tier for Doom, which is expected given that the GPU is a newer but not flagship model.

The ranking suggests that this combo is a strong 1440p performer. Its position in the middle of the database is likely due to the RX 7700's performance relative to other high-end GPUs that can achieve much higher frame rates at 4K. The data indicates that the combo is not limited by the CPU, which has a 94th percentile ranking against all CPUs, but rather by the GPU's position in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. This imbalance is a key takeaway; the CPU has significant headroom, but the GPU is the limiting factor in pushing the combo's rank higher.

The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals show it is closely matched with cards like the RTX 3060 Ti, which has an average benchmark score 1.7% higher. This suggests that the RX 7700's performance in Doom is in line with that class of GPU. The combo's rank of 1314, therefore, reflects a pairing of a top-tier CPU with a mid-to-high-tier GPU. For a user upgrading from a slower CPU, this combo would show a massive improvement; for a user with a top-end GPU, the CPU would not be the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 241 on Low to 145 on Ultra. The Medium preset records an average of 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 and a maximum of 242, showing a tight frame time variance. The High preset achieves 178 FPS, a significant drop from Medium but still very playable. This resolution is clearly where the combo excels, with even Ultra settings providing a high frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS decreases across the board. Low settings yield 156 FPS, High produces 115 FPS, Medium averages 136 FPS (with min/max of 116/156), and Ultra drops to 94 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo is perfectly suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution, with all presets except Ultra capable of exceeding 115 FPS. The 94 FPS average on Ultra is still smooth for most players, but the 115 FPS on High is a more attractive target.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. The Ultra preset averages just 51 FPS, making it a poor choice for a smooth experience. High settings improve this to 62 FPS, which is a playable but not ideal frame rate. Medium settings achieve 74 FPS (with min/max of 63/85), and Low settings reach 85 FPS. The data shows that even at Low settings, the combo cannot reach 100 FPS at 4K, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor. The 85 FPS at Low settings is the highest achievable at this resolution, meaning users must sacrifice significant visual quality to get a moderately high frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the primary driver of the differences between settings. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a substantial memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for Doom at all resolutions, as evidenced by the game not stuttering due to memory limitations in the data. The GPU's boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz are the key factors in its compute performance. The data shows that the GPU's raw power is the bottleneck at 4K, as the FPS scales directly with the settings' demands on the GPU.

The GPU's architecture, RDNA 3.0, and its 2560 shading units are responsible for the frame rates seen in the benchmark. The card's performance in the database, ranking in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, aligns with its measured FPS in this game. It is not a top-tier card like some of its predecessors or competitors, but it is capable of delivering excellent 1080p and good 1440p performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 and the Passmark G3D score of 20974 provide context for its overall compute ability, which translates directly to the gaming performance seen in Doom.

The RX 7700's role is clear: it is the component that determines the maximum frame rate at a given resolution and setting. The CPU is fast enough to keep up, but the GPU's limits are reached at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 51. The data suggests that the GPU is best utilized at 1440p, where it can maintain a high frame rate without being overworked. Its 200W TDP and dual-slot design are standard for its class, and its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface does not appear to be a bottleneck in this testing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K plays a supporting role, providing the computational headroom for the GPU to operate at its full potential. With 20 cores and 28 threads, this CPU is massively over-provisioned for a game like Doom, which is not known for heavy multi-threading. Its performance in the database is exceptional, ranking in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and a single-core score of 2160. This high single-core performance is crucial for game physics and frame pacing.

The data supports the conclusion that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 241, which is a high number that could be limited by the game engine or the CPU's ability to process draw calls, but it is not a deficiency of the i7-14700K. The CPU's boost clock of 5.60 GHz provides the high single-threaded speed needed to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, ensuring that the RX 7700 is not starved of data. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with game data access.

Given the GPU's ranking in the 58th percentile, it is clear that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo's overall rank of 1314. The i7-14700K's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which has an average benchmark score only 0.2% higher, showing that the Intel chip is at the top of its class. In this combo, the CPU's role is to ensure that the GPU can achieve its maximum potential, and the measured FPS at 1080p and 1440p confirm that it does exactly that. The CPU is a future-proofing asset, capable of handling more powerful GPUs without becoming a bottleneck.