Doom

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers an exceptional experience in Doom, with benchmark results showing this combination ranks 95th out of 1,681 tested system configurations. The data reveals a system capable of obliterating this 2016 FPS title, yet the performance scaling across resolutions and settings exposes distinct bottlenecks that are worth investigating. The measured FPS figures provide a clear narrative about where the GPU's headroom ends and where the sheer power of this CPU begins to dominate.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a compelling story about component balance. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 398.3 FPS, but this falls to 142.1 FPS at 4K Low — a reduction of 64.3%. This massive decline indicates that at lower resolutions, the system is heavily CPU-bound, allowing the RTX 4080 SUPER to run at extraordinarily high frame rates that are unlikely to be fully utilized by most displays.

The scaling pattern changes character when moving from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the 1440p result of 188.4 FPS drops to 102.4 FPS at 4K, which is a 45.6% decrease. This is a more moderate decline than the 1080p-to-1440p transition, where High settings go from 295.9 FPS down to 188.4 FPS, a 36.3% drop. The data suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes progressively more of a limiting factor, though even at 4K Ultra the system maintains 87 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds.

The most telling observation is the spread between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (398.3 FPS) and Ultra (239.3 FPS) is 159 FPS, while at 4K this gap narrows to 55.1 FPS (142.1 vs 87). This compression at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU workload becomes the primary constraint, whereas at 1080p the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are able to feed the GPU with enough data to expose its full potential.

GPU Role

The GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the star of this show for raw graphical output. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for Doom's demands at any resolution. The GPU's boost clock of 2550 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with Ada Lovelace architecture, delivers the kind of headroom that these benchmark numbers demonstrate.

The GPU's compute capabilities — 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs — explain why the card can push 398.3 FPS at 1080p Low. The texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s are more than sufficient for a game from 2016, even at maximum settings. The FP32 throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS means the card is never the bottleneck at lower resolutions, which is why the CPU becomes the determining factor in those scenarios.

However, the 4K Ultra result of 87 FPS reveals the GPU's limits when pushed hard. The transition from Medium (122.9 FPS) to High (102.4 FPS) to Ultra (87 FPS) at 4K shows a consistent, predictable degradation as more graphical features are enabled. This is classic GPU-bound behavior, where each settings tier adds enough workload to meaningfully impact frame delivery.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance depends heavily on the target display. For 4K users, High settings at 102.4 FPS is the sweet spot, as it provides a significant improvement over Medium's 122.9 FPS while remaining comfortably above the 87 FPS of Ultra. The 19.5 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K is a small price to pay for the visual fidelity gain.

At 1440p, the story changes. Medium settings deliver 227.3 FPS, while High drops to 188.4 FPS and Ultra to 153.6 FPS. The data shows that High at 1440p offers the best compromise, as the 38.9 FPS gap between High and Ultra is substantial, and most high-refresh-rate monitors cap at 240 Hz anyway. The 256.3 FPS Low result at 1440p is only useful for competitive play where every frame matters.

For 1080p, the recommendation is more nuanced. Ultra at 239.3 FPS is perfectly playable on a 240 Hz display, but the jump to Medium at 350.8 FPS offers a 46.6% improvement. Given that the difference between High (295.9 FPS) and Medium (350.8 FPS) is 54.9 FPS, the data suggests that Medium at 1080p provides the best experience for high-refresh-rate gaming, unless the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset paints a comprehensive picture. At 4K, the progression is: Low at 142.1 FPS, Medium at 122.9 FPS, High at 102.4 FPS, and Ultra at 87 FPS. This represents a 38.8% reduction from Low to Ultra, showing that even the heaviest settings load cannot push the system below 87 FPS.

At 1440p, the figures are significantly higher: Low produces 256.3 FPS, Medium 227.3 FPS, High 188.4 FPS, and Ultra 153.6 FPS. The 100+ FPS jump from 4K to 1440p at each settings tier confirms that resolution is the dominant variable in this game's performance equation.

The 1080p results are spectacular: Low hits 398.3 FPS, Medium 350.8 FPS, High 295.9 FPS, and Ultra 239.3 FPS. Even at Ultra, the system maintains nearly 240 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. The 158.9 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p, compared to just 55.1 FPS at 4K, underscores how the CPU's influence wanes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration's rank of 95 out of 1,681 tested combos places it in the top 5.6% of all systems tested for Doom. This is a remarkable position, especially considering the game's age and the fact that many newer, more powerful components are likely included in the tested pool. The RTX 4080 SUPER's percentile of 88 among all GPUs and the i7-14700K's percentile of 96 among all CPUs suggest that this pairing is well-matched for this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores nearly identically with a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X trails by 0.5% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 by 1.4%. On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is within 0.2%, the Radeon Pro W6600M within 0.4%, and the RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9%. These narrow margins suggest that the combo's high rank is due to the synergy between these two components rather than any single piece being exceptional.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Doom at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: Yes, the measured 4K Ultra average of 87 FPS is well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay, making it fully playable at the highest graphical preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play?

A: The 1080p Low setting produces 398.3 FPS, which is the highest measured result, offering the lowest latency and maximum frame rate for competitive scenarios.

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

A: The data shows a drop from 295.9 FPS at 1080p High to 102.4 FPS at 4K High, representing a 65.4% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The 1440p results, ranging from 153.6 FPS at Ultra to 256.3 FPS at Low, suggest a balanced workload where neither component is severely limiting, though the GPU becomes more influential at higher settings.

*Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM matter for Doom?*

A: Yes, the 736.3 GB/s bandwidth and 16 GB capacity ensure that even at 4K Ultra, there is no memory-related performance degradation, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates.

Q: How does this combo compare to the top-ranked systems?

A: With a rank of 95 out of 1,681, this system sits in the top 5.6% of tested configurations, meaning only a small fraction of systems deliver higher Doom performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a critical component in this system's Doom performance, particularly at lower resolutions. With 20 cores, 28 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, this CPU provides the raw single-thread and multi-thread performance that Doom can leverage. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain high data throughput, which is essential for feeding the GPU at frame rates exceeding 300 FPS.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and single-core score of 6,287 are indicative of strong performance, while the Geekbench multi-core score of 18,896 and single-core 2,932 show balanced capabilities. The PassMark multi-thread score of 52,392 and single-thread 4,472 further confirm that this CPU can handle the most demanding workloads without becoming a bottleneck.

In this game, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at 1080p, where the frame rates of 398.3 FPS at Low settings far exceed what the GPU alone could produce. The 20 cores and 28 threads ensure that even with background processes, Doom receives the necessary CPU resources. The architecture's 10 nm process and 125 W TDP, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, demonstrate that high clock speeds are more important than core count for this title, though the multi-core capability helps maintain consistent frame delivery across all tested scenarios.