Doom

The data for Doom with the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER shows a classic GPU-bound scenario, but with enough headroom that the CPU still defines the upper ceiling at lower resolutions. The measured FPS values are consistent and indicate a system where the RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary bottleneck as resolution climbs, while the i7-14700K provides the raw processing power to keep frame rates high when the GPU workload is lighter.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a significant performance drop that is clearly driven by the GPU. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 127 FPS at 1080p to 82 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 45 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64.6% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at Ultra. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings, with the gap between 1080p and 4K remaining substantial regardless of quality preset.

At High settings, the drop from 156 FPS at 1080p to 101 FPS at 1440p and 55 FPS at 4K translates to a 64.7% decrease from the lowest to the highest resolution. The similarity in percentage drops between Ultra and High suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is hitting its memory bandwidth and pixel throughput limits in a predictable way as pixel count increases. The 4K results at 55 FPS (High) and 45 FPS (Ultra) are particularly telling; both are below the 60 FPS threshold that most players would consider smooth for a fast-paced FPS.

The Low setting at 4K produces 74 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS target but not by a wide margin. This indicates that even at the lowest quality preset, the 4K resolution is pushing the GPU hard. The Medium setting at 4K shows an average of 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS, revealing that frame pacing can become inconsistent at this resolution. The data suggests that 4K is only viable for this combo at Low settings if you want to stay above 60 FPS consistently, and even then, the margin is thin.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, and its specifications explain why. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution demands more from the memory subsystem. The boost clock of 1770 MHz and base clock of 1605 MHz are standard for this generation, and the FP32 performance of 9.062 TFLOPS is what drives the rasterization workload in Doom.

The GPU's benchmark results place it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20282. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20480 (1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (1.2% higher), and the Intel Arc B570 at 20556 (1.3% higher). These close margins indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is positioned in a competitive tier, but its age shows in the 4K results. The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 67 and DirectX 11 score of 151 are modest, though the Vulkan score of 90637 and OpenCL score of 83358 are more respectable for compute workloads.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are the key architectural features for Doom's rendering engine. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits that explain why 4K Ultra at 45 FPS is the worst-case scenario. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present on the chip, but Doom does not use ray tracing, so these units go unused in this game. The 12 nm process node and 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die are large by modern standards, which contributes to the 215 W TDP and the need for a 550 W suggested PSU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings selection depending on your target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 156 FPS average, which is excellent for a competitive FPS. The Medium preset at 184 FPS and Low at 212 FPS both exceed the refresh rate of most 144Hz monitors, but the jump to Ultra drops to 127 FPS. For 1080p gaming, the High preset is the sweet spot because it offers a 29 FPS improvement over Ultra while still delivering well above the 144 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 101 FPS is the best balance. Low runs at 137 FPS and Medium at 119 FPS, but the visual quality difference between Low and High is substantial in Doom's detailed environments. Ultra at 82 FPS is playable but starts to dip below the 90 FPS comfort zone for many players. The Medium setting at 1440p shows a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 137 FPS, so the frame pacing is consistent. For 1440p, High is the recommendation because it keeps the average above 100 FPS while maintaining good image quality.

At 3840x2160, the options are more constrained. Low at 74 FPS is the only preset that maintains a 60+ FPS average. Medium at 65 FPS with a 55 FPS minimum is borderline, and High at 55 FPS or Ultra at 45 FPS are not ideal for a game that requires quick reactions. The data indicates that 4K gaming on this combo requires sacrificing visual fidelity to maintain smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 4K is the only settings row that provides a consistently playable experience, though it means giving up most of the graphical enhancements that Doom offers.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 74. Medium settings at 4K produce a 65 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum, which is borderline, while High and Ultra drop to 55 FPS and 45 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 144+ FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low setting achieves 212 FPS, Medium reaches 184 FPS, and High delivers 156 FPS. All three exceed 144 FPS, but High is the best visual quality option that still stays above this threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (1.2% higher), and the Intel Arc B570 scores 20556 (1.3% higher).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach 212 FPS on Low settings, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS values recorded for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 157 FPS and the maximum is 212 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 101 FPS to 137 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 55 FPS to 74 FPS.

Q: How does the i7-14700K's performance compare to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in average benchmark scores?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD EPYC 9115 scores 69288 (0.1% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 (0.7% higher).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a powerful 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh generation. With a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, it has the single-thread performance necessary to drive high frame rates in Doom. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per core L2 cache provide ample fast storage for game data, and the 10 nm process node allows for efficient operation at high clocks.

The CPU's benchmark results are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 33440.5 and single-core score of 2160. The Geekbench multicore score of 20767 and single-core score of 2569 further confirm its capability. The PassMark multithread score of 52392 and single-thread score of 4472 indicate that the processor can handle both heavily threaded workloads and the lighter single-threaded tasks that games often depend on. The CPU sits at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355.

In Doom specifically, the CPU's role is to prepare frames as quickly as possible, and the data shows it is not the limiting factor at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the 212 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of even higher frame rates if the GPU could keep up. The nearest rival comparisons show the i7-14700K is within 0.9% of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and 0.7% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, which reinforces its position as a top-tier gaming processor. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory give builders flexibility, though the measured data does not distinguish between memory types. The 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes from the CPU provide ample bandwidth for the RTX 2070 SUPER, which uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are as follows:

• Low: 212 FPS average
• Medium: 184 FPS average, with a minimum of 157 FPS and maximum of 212 FPS
• High: 156 FPS average
• Ultra: 127 FPS average

The 1080p results show a clear progression where lowering settings increases performance. The jump from Ultra to High adds 29 FPS, from High to Medium adds 28 FPS, and from Medium to Low adds 28 FPS. This linear pattern suggests the GPU is being progressively less stressed as settings drop, and the CPU can maintain high throughput throughout.

At 2560x1440, the measured results are:

• Low: 137 FPS average
• Medium: 119 FPS average, with a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 137 FPS
• High: 101 FPS average
• Ultra: 82 FPS average

The 1440p results show a similar pattern to 1080p, but with lower absolute numbers. The difference between Ultra and High is 19 FPS, between High and Medium is 18 FPS, and between Medium and Low is 18 FPS. The frame rate reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with roughly a 35-40% decrease depending on the preset.

At 3840x2160, the measured results are:

• Low: 74 FPS average
• Medium: 65 FPS average, with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS
• High: 55 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

The 4K results are the most constrained. The difference between Ultra and High is 10 FPS, between High and Medium is 10 FPS, and between Medium and Low is 9 FPS. The reduced delta between settings at 4K compared to lower resolutions confirms that the GPU is the dominant limiting factor; even reducing graphics quality cannot fully compensate for the massive pixel count increase.

The combination rank of 2153 out of 3712 combos indicates that this pairing is in the middle of the pack for Doom. The data shows that the i7-14700K provides enough processing power to avoid CPU bottlenecks, but the RTX 2070 SUPER's age limits the overall experience at higher resolutions. For 1080p and 1440p gaming, this system delivers excellent performance, while 4K requires significant compromises in visual quality to maintain playable frame rates.