Doom

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 336.5 FPS, which drops to 218.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 117.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 65% reduction from 1080p Low to 4K Low, indicating that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as pixel count rises.

The scaling behavior differs notably across settings presets. With Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 206 FPS down to 73.1 FPS — a 64.5% reduction, nearly identical in relative terms to the Low preset's scaling. However, the absolute FPS values at 4K Ultra (73.1) versus 4K Low (117.1) show a gap of 44 FPS, suggesting that while resolution is the dominant factor, settings still impose a meaningful cost at high pixel densities.

The data implies that at 1080p, the system may be partially CPU-bound in certain settings, given the enormous frame rates exceeding 300 FPS. At 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, as evidenced by the more compressed spread between settings — the difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44 FPS, while at 1080p that same spread is 130.5 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the Radeon RX 7900 XT's rendering throughput becomes the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT brings substantial resources to Doom. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the textures and geometry in this 2016 title. The GPU's 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs work together to produce the measured frame rates. Clock speeds range from a base of 1387 MHz to a boost of 2394 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2025 MHz.

The GPU's memory bandwidth becomes increasingly relevant as resolution rises. At 4K, the 800.0 GB/s figure supports the 117.1 FPS Low result, suggesting that bandwidth is not a limiting factor even at the highest pixel counts. The 20 GB capacity far exceeds what Doom requires, meaning capacity is unlikely to constrain performance in any tested configuration.

The RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process with 57,700 million transistors, delivers 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw throughput explains why the GPU can sustain high frame rates at 1440p — 163.8 FPS on High — while still maintaining playable performance at 4K. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s provide additional context for the GPU's fill-rate capabilities in this fast-paced FPS.

FAQ

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

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 249.7 at 1080p to 163.8 at 1440p, then further to 86.5 at 4K. This represents a 65.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU's workload scales significantly with pixel count.

Q: Does the Ultra preset remain playable at 4K with this combo?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 73.1 FPS. While this is the lowest measured result, it remains above the 60 FPS threshold generally considered acceptable for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the largest FPS gap between settings at any single resolution?

A: At 1080p, the gap between Low (336.5 FPS) and Ultra (206 FPS) is 130.5 FPS. At 4K, the same comparison yields a smaller 44 FPS difference (117.1 vs 73.1), showing that resolution narrows the performance spread between presets.

Q: How does the GPU's 20 GB memory capacity factor into Doom's performance?

A: The 20 GB GDDR6 allocation is far more than Doom requires, even at 4K Ultra. The measured results show no evidence of memory capacity limiting performance, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings rather than showing sudden drops.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700K holding back the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests possible CPU limitation at 1080p Low, where 336.5 FPS is achieved. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the compressed FPS spread between settings at 4K.

Q: What is the difference between the game clock and boost clock on this GPU?

A: The Radeon RX 7900 XT has a game clock of 2025 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The game clock represents sustained performance during typical gaming workloads, while the boost clock indicates the maximum achievable frequency under optimal conditions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data offers clear guidance for optimizing the experience on this hardware. For players targeting 4K, the High preset at 86.5 FPS provides the best balance, as it delivers over 13 FPS more than Ultra (73.1) while maintaining visual quality above Medium (102.2). The Medium preset at 102.2 FPS is also viable for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, offering a 18.2% improvement over High.

At 1440p, the situation shifts. High settings produce 163.8 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The Ultra preset at 135.1 FPS remains smooth and offers the best visual experience, with the data showing that even Ultra keeps frame rates well above 120 FPS. For competitive play, Low at 218.2 FPS or Medium at 190.8 FPS would maximize responsiveness.

For 1080p, the choice depends heavily on display refresh rate. High settings at 249.7 FPS will saturate any 240Hz monitor, while Ultra at 206 FPS still exceeds 200 FPS. The Low preset's 336.5 FPS is only relevant for extreme high-refresh displays or competitive scenarios where every frame matters. The data indicates that Medium at 296.4 FPS offers a strong middle ground for 1080p users with high-refresh panels.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 337 out of 1681 tested combos for Doom, placing it in the top 20% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing — the CPU's strong single-thread performance complements the GPU's high throughput in this well-optimized title.

The CPU itself ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 70074. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF at 70104 (0% delta), AMD EPYC 9115 at 69887 (0.3% delta), and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 (-0.5% delta). These close margins indicate the i7-14700K sits at the top tier of CPU performance, providing a solid foundation for the GPU.

The GPU ranks in the 82nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 38358. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile at 38349 (0% delta), NVIDIA CMP 70HX at 38225 (0.3% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (0.6% delta). The combination rank of 337 suggests that while both components are strong individually, Doom-specific optimization favors this pairing favorably compared to the broader benchmark landscape.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields 73.1 FPS, High produces 86.5 FPS, Medium achieves 102.2 FPS, and Low delivers 117.1 FPS. The progression from Ultra to Low shows a 60.2% performance uplift, with each step down in quality providing substantial gains.

At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 135.1 FPS, High reaches 163.8 FPS, Medium hits 190.8 FPS, and Low tops out at 218.2 FPS. The spread between Ultra and Low here is 83.1 FPS, demonstrating that settings have a larger absolute impact at this resolution compared to 4K.

At 1920x1080, the results are: Ultra at 206 FPS, High at 249.7 FPS, Medium at 296.4 FPS, and Low at 336.5 FPS. This represents the widest spread of any resolution, with a 130.5 FPS difference between the lowest and highest settings presets.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low settings provide roughly 1.6x the frame rate of Ultra at the same resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at any given setting reduces performance by approximately 65%, confirming that resolution is the dominant factor in this game's performance profile.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K contributes significantly to these results through its 20 cores and 28 threads, capable of boosting to 5.60 GHz. Its Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process, provides strong single-thread performance — evidenced by Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6287 and Geekbench single-core score of 2932. These figures support the high frame rates measured at 1080p, where CPU overhead becomes more apparent.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain consistent performance during gameplay. Its PassMark single-thread score of 4472 and multithread score of 52392 indicate robust processing capability across both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. The 125W TDP, while not directly related to gaming performance, places this processor in a power envelope that allows sustained boost clocks during extended sessions.

The benchmark data suggests that at 1080p Low, where the GPU produces 336.5 FPS, the CPU may be approaching its limit for this game's engine. The fact that 4K results compress the FPS spread between settings indicates the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions, but the massive frame rates at 1080p likely approach the game's engine-level CPU ceiling. The i7-14700K's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs supports its role as a capable partner for the Radeon RX 7900 XT in Doom.