Doom

This combo—the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER—sits at rank 1493 out of 1681 tested combinations in Doom. That places it in the lower 11% of all tested systems, a position driven almost entirely by the graphics card rather than the processor. The data suggests a stark imbalance: the CPU is a top-tier part while the GPU is a legacy entry-level component, and in a fast-paced FPS like Doom, that imbalance translates into a system that can achieve playable frame rates but cannot unlock the high-refresh potential the CPU could otherwise support.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1493 out of 1681 combos is a clear signal that this pairing is far from optimal for Doom. The CPU alone sits in the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074, placing it among the most powerful processors available. However, the GPU’s percentile against all GPUs is just 55, with an average score of 14286. This massive gap between the two components explains the low overall rank: the GPU is the bottleneck in nearly every scenario, and the CPU’s potential is largely wasted.

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the data shows it trades blows with the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0% delta), the AMD EPYC 9115 (+0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (-0.5%). This indicates the 14700K is a genuinely elite processor, yet its pairing with the GTX 1660 SUPER drags the combined score down. The GPU’s nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (-0.2%), Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (-0.2%), and AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (-0.7%)—are all integrated or low-end discrete solutions, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is at the bottom of the discrete GPU hierarchy. In practical terms, the rank means that most other tested combos—even those with far weaker CPUs—will outperform this pairing in Doom because they pair more balanced components.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER is the defining component in this analysis, and its specifications reveal why the combo ranks so low. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the base clock is 1530 MHz and the boost clock reaches 1785 MHz. The GPU has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s.

For Doom, these specs translate into a GPU that can handle the game at 1080p and 1440p with adjustments, but struggles at 4K. The measured FPS data shows the GPU’s limits clearly: at 1080p Low, it hits 150.5 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 30.6 FPS. The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for Doom’s textures at most settings, but the sheer compute load of higher resolutions overwhelms the 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The GPU’s Turing architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which are all relevant for Doom, but the raw throughput is simply not there for 4K gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of which settings offer the best experience. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 150.5 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors, while Medium drops to 127.5 FPS and High to 109.8 FPS. For most players, the Medium preset at 1080p offers the sweet spot: 127.5 FPS is still very smooth, and the visual upgrade over Low is likely worth the 23 FPS sacrifice. The Ultra preset at 1080p falls to 87.7 FPS, which is still playable but starts to strain the GPU.

At 1440p, the situation changes. Low delivers 94.7 FPS, which is good, but Medium drops to 81.1 FPS and High to 69.9 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 56.5 FPS, which is borderline for a fast-paced FPS. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the best balance, offering 81.1 FPS while maintaining reasonable visual quality. At 4K, the GPU is clearly out of its depth: even Low only achieves 53.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30.6 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, and even then, the experience will be choppy. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p or 1440p, with Medium settings as the default.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Breaking down the numbers by resolution and settings reveals a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the FPS ranges from a high of 150.5 on Low to a low of 87.7 on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 23 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 17.7 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 22.1 FPS. This indicates that each settings tier imposes a roughly similar performance penalty, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

At 1440p, the range narrows: Low achieves 94.7 FPS, Medium 81.1 FPS, High 69.9 FPS, and Ultra 56.5 FPS. The percentage drops are steeper here—from Low to Ultra, the FPS falls by 40.3%, compared to 41.7% at 1080p. This suggests the GPU is becoming more of a bottleneck as resolution increases.

At 4K, the numbers collapse: Low hits 53.5 FPS, Medium 43.4 FPS, High 40.7 FPS, and Ultra 30.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 42.8%, and even the Low preset fails to reach 60 FPS. The data shows that 4K is simply not a viable resolution for this GPU in Doom, regardless of settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 150.5 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 94.7 FPS (a 37.1% decrease); and at 4K Low, it falls to 53.5 FPS (a 64.4% decrease from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound system: the CPU has ample headroom, but the GPU cannot keep up with the increasing pixel count.

The same pattern holds across all settings. At Ultra, 1080p delivers 87.7 FPS, 1440p drops to 56.5 FPS, and 4K falls to 30.6 FPS. The consistent ~40% drop from 1080p to 1440p and the ~65% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings confirms that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, but the data shows the opposite—the GPU is saturated at every resolution, and the CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads are largely idle. This is a textbook example of a GPU-limited configuration.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the clear choice, with all settings delivering above 87 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium exceed 80 FPS, while 4K fails to reach 60 FPS even on Low.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 14286 is within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, and it slightly trails the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics by 0.2%. These are all closely matched, low-end parts.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700K wasted in this pairing?

A: Yes. The CPU sits in the 96th percentile and rivals the Ryzen 9 9950X (within 0.5%), but the GPU’s 55th percentile means the CPU’s power cannot be utilized in Doom. The measured FPS is entirely GPU-limited.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p High?

A: The measured average is 69.9 FPS. This is playable but not ideal for competitive play, and it is 40.1 FPS lower than the 1080p High result.

Q: Does the Ultra preset ever deliver 60 FPS?

A: Only at 1080p, where it hits 87.7 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 56.5 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 30.6 FPS.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so steeply from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop is due to the GPU’s limited compute power (5.027 TFLOPS) and memory bandwidth (336.0 GB/s). At 4K, the pixel count quadruples, and the GTX 1660 SUPER simply cannot process the load, leading to a 64% decrease in FPS from 1080p Low.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory and has a 125 W TDP. In benchmark tests, it scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6287 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 18896. Its average benchmark score of 70074 places it in the 96th percentile, and it trades blows with the i7-14700KF (0% delta) and Ryzen 9 9950X (-0.5%).

In Doom, however, this CPU is massively overqualified. The measured FPS data shows no sign of CPU limitation: even at 1080p Low, where the GPU produces 150.5 FPS, the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU. The game is not CPU-intensive by modern standards, and the 14700K’s 20 cores are far more than needed. The bottleneck is unambiguously the GPU, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops with increasing resolution. If the CPU were the limit, we would see FPS plateau regardless of resolution, but the data shows a clear GPU-bound trend. This pairing is a reminder that a top-tier CPU cannot compensate for a low-end GPU in a graphically demanding title—the GPU will always be the deciding factor in frame rate.