Doom

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Doom, with the data indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. At 4K, the combination still produces playable frame rates, though the scaling pattern reveals a system that is clearly optimized for high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions. The measured results show a wide performance envelope across the four settings presets, from 54 FPS at 4K Ultra to 258 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrating that this hardware pairing has substantial headroom for competitive play.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K follows the expected pattern for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 190 FPS, which drops to 123 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 67 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling indicates that at 1080p, the system is not fully GPU-bound, as the frame rates remain exceptionally high across all settings.

The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling behavior. At 1080p Low, the system produces 258 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Moving to 1440p Low reduces this to 167 FPS, and at 4K Low the frame rate settles at 90 FPS. The proportional drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35%, identical to the High preset scaling, but the absolute frame rates are substantially higher, suggesting that the CPU has more headroom to feed the GPU when graphical load is reduced.

The Medium preset provides the most complete dataset with min and max frame rates recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 225 FPS with a minimum of 191 FPS and maximum of 258 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 145 FPS with a range of 124-167 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 79 FPS with a range of 67-91 FPS. The consistency of the min-to-max spread across resolutions—roughly 30% of the average value—suggests that frame pacing remains stable even as the GPU load increases.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p, the combo delivers 155 FPS, which is still highly playable but represents a 40% reduction compared to the Low preset at the same resolution. At 1440p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 100 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 54 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured value below 60 FPS, indicating that this preset pushes the RTX 3070 to its limits at the highest resolution.

The scaling analysis reveals that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates across all presets—even Ultra at 155 FPS—indicate that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU efficiently, but the GPU is not fully saturated. At 4K, the dramatic drop in frame rates when moving from Low to Ultra (90 FPS to 54 FPS) confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck in this resolution range.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary performance driver in this configuration, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory configuration is sufficient for Doom at all tested settings, with no indication in the data that VRAM capacity limits performance at any resolution. The GPU's boost clock of 1725 MHz, paired with its 5888 shading units, delivers the computational throughput necessary for the frame rates observed.

The RTX 3070's architecture, based on the GA104 chip built on Samsung's 8 nm process, includes 184 texture mapping units and 96 render output units. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s, which are directly relevant to Doom's rendering workload. The FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS provides the raw compute power for the game's effects, and the 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized by this title.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 61st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17208. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with an average score of 17083 (0.7% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 with a score of 17037 (1% slower). The RTX 3070 also edges out the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (1.1% slower) and the NVIDIA Tesla K40c (1.5% faster). These close margins indicate that the RTX 3070 sits in a tightly contested performance tier.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance scaling with settings is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces frame rates by 40% (258 to 155 FPS). At 1440p, the same settings change reduces performance by 40% (167 to 100 FPS). At 4K, the reduction is also 40% (90 to 54 FPS). This uniform scaling indicates that Doom's settings presets impose similar relative GPU loads regardless of resolution, with the Ultra preset being approximately 40% more demanding than Low at every resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K provides the computational foundation for this combination, and its role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. With 20 cores and 28 threads, this Raptor Lake-based processor offers substantial multi-threaded capability, though Doom's engine does not heavily utilize all available threads. The CPU's base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensure that single-threaded performance remains strong, which is critical for game logic and draw call processing.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache, combined with 2 MB of L2 cache per core, provides the memory hierarchy necessary for maintaining high frame rates. The DDR4 and DDR5 dual-channel memory support allows for flexible system configuration, though the measured FPS results do not differentiate between memory types. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355, places it in the upper echelon of processors, with its nearest rivals being the AMD EPYC 9115 (0.1% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.7% faster), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.9% faster).

The CPU's benchmark results highlight its strengths. In Cinebench R23, it scores 33440.5 in multi-core and 2160 in single-core tests. Geekbench results show 20767 multi-core and 2569 single-core scores. PassMark multithread testing yields 52392, with a single-thread score of 4472. These scores indicate that the i7-14700K has ample headroom for Doom's CPU demands, which is why the frame rates at 1080p remain extremely high even at Ultra settings.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution in this game. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 103 FPS (258 to 155), which is entirely attributable to GPU load changes. The CPU's ability to maintain these frame rates without becoming a bottleneck is evident from the fact that even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has minimal work, the system reaches 258 FPS without hitting an apparent CPU ceiling. This indicates that the i7-14700K's single-thread performance of 2160 in Cinebench R23 is more than sufficient for Doom's engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Doom?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 258 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combination capable of 4K gaming in Doom?

A: Yes, the combo produces playable frame rates at 4K, with the Low preset averaging 90 FPS, Medium at 79 FPS, High at 67 FPS, and Ultra at 54 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rival, the RX 7600 XT?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT's score of 17083.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 167 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 100 FPS, representing a 67 FPS difference.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data shows no CPU bottleneck, as frame rates scale consistently with GPU load across all resolutions, and the i7-14700K's strong single-thread performance supports 258 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates recorded for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset shows minimum frame rates of 191 FPS at 1080p, 124 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1596th out of 3712 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all combos in the database. This ranking reflects the RTX 3070's mid-range position rather than the CPU's high-end capabilities, as the GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs pulls the overall combo ranking down despite the CPU's 94th percentile standing.

The ranking suggests that while this combination is far from the top of the leaderboard, it sits in the upper half of all tested systems. The gap between the CPU and GPU percentile rankings (94 vs 61) indicates that the RTX 3070 is the limiting factor for this combo's overall position. Users seeking higher rankings would need to pair the i7-14700K with a more powerful GPU, while those satisfied with the current performance level have a balanced system for 1440p gaming.

In the context of Doom specifically, this ranking is influenced by the game's relatively modest hardware requirements compared to modern titles. The high frame rates achieved at 1080p and 1440p demonstrate that the combo is well-suited for this game, even though the overall ranking may not reflect this due to the inclusion of combos with much more powerful GPUs in the database.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset at 155 FPS provides the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness, as the frame rate remains well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on gaming monitors. If maximum frame rates are desired, the Low preset at 258 FPS offers the highest possible performance, though the visual compromise may not be worthwhile for most players. The Medium preset at 225 FPS represents a balanced choice, delivering high frame rates with moderate visual quality.

At 1440p, the High preset at 123 FPS is the recommended setting, as it provides a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset at 100 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize image quality, while the Medium preset at 145 FPS offers additional headroom for high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset at 167 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, though the visual downgrade is noticeable.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 79 FPS is the best option, as it maintains frame rates above 60 FPS while providing acceptable visual quality. The High preset at 67 FPS is also playable, but the Ultra preset at 54 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 90 FPS offers the smoothest 4K experience but sacrifices significant visual detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show the full range of performance. The Low preset averages 258 FPS, which is the maximum frame rate achieved by this combo in any configuration. The Medium preset averages 225 FPS with a minimum of 191 FPS and maximum of 258 FPS, matching the Low preset's maximum. The High preset averages 190 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 155 FPS. These results demonstrate that at 1080p, all settings presets produce frame rates well above the 144 Hz threshold, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong across all presets. The Low preset averages 167 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 145 FPS with a range of 124 to 167 FPS. The High preset achieves 123 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 100 FPS. All presets at 1440p maintain frame rates above 100 FPS, indicating that this resolution is well-suited for the RTX 3070's capabilities. The Medium preset's minimum of 124 FPS ensures that even demanding scenes remain smooth.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to more moderate levels. The Low preset averages 90 FPS, providing a playable experience. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS with a range of 67 to 91 FPS, with the minimum still above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset averages 67 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS mark. The Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold and representing the only configuration where the combo struggles to maintain smooth gameplay.

The complete dataset reveals that this combination is most effective at 1080p and 1440p, with the RTX 3070 providing sufficient performance for high-quality settings at these resolutions. At 4K, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and playability, while the Ultra preset should be avoided unless players are willing to accept frame rates in the mid-50s.