Doom

# Doom — Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a compelling Doom experience, with measured frame rates spanning from 71 FPS at 4K Ultra to 335 FPS at 1080p Low. This combo ranks in the 79.7th percentile of all tested system configurations for this title, sitting at position 754 out of 3,712 combinations. The data indicates a system that is primarily GPU-limited at higher resolutions while maintaining sufficient CPU headroom to push very high frame rates at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

Examining the measured FPS across the three tested resolutions reveals how performance scales with pixel count. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 247 FPS at 1920x1080 to 160 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 87 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 46% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

The Low settings row tells a similar story. At 1080p Low, the system produces 335 FPS, which falls to 217 FPS at 1440p and 118 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35% and 46% respectively, mirroring the High settings behavior almost exactly. This consistency across different quality presets strongly indicates that the RTX 5070's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor as resolution increases, rather than any CPU-side constraint.

Medium settings show intermediate values: 292 FPS at 1080p, 189 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 35% reduction, while 1440p to 4K sees a 46% reduction. Ultra settings follow the same pattern with 202 FPS at 1080p, 131 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. The uniformity of these percentage drops across all four quality presets suggests that resolution scaling is purely a function of GPU throughput, with no unexpected bottlenecks emerging at any setting level.

The fact that 1080p Low reaches 335 FPS while 4K Low only manages 118 FPS — a 64% reduction — indicates that the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are the dominant constraints. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is clearly capable of feeding the GPU even at the highest frame rates measured, since the 1080p results do not show any plateauing that would suggest CPU limitation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 754 out of 3,712 tested configurations places this system in the top 20% of all combinations for Doom. This percentile ranking reflects the strong overall performance of the i7-14700K and RTX 5070 pairing, though it is not among the absolute elite configurations for this title.

The CPU itself ranks in the 94th percentile against all processors in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 69,355. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9115 (0.1% lower average score), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.2% higher), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.7% higher), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.9% higher). These extremely tight margins — all within 1% of each other — indicate that the i7-14700K is performance-equivalent to the top tier of competing CPUs in general compute workloads.

The GPU ranks in the 82nd percentile against all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 40,377. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% higher), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (0.8% higher), AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (1.2% lower), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (2.0% lower). These rivals are professional workstation-class GPUs, which is notable for a consumer-oriented card like the RTX 5070.

The gap between the CPU's 94th percentile and the GPU's 82nd percentile suggests that in Doom specifically, the graphics card is more likely to be the performance limiter. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which showed consistent GPU-bound behavior across all settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with a chip containing 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2325 MHz and boosts to 2512 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

For Doom, a 2016 title, these specifications are more than sufficient. The measured frame rates confirm that the GPU never becomes a serious bottleneck at 1080p, where even Ultra settings produce 202 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is ample for this game, which was designed for an era when 4 GB was considered high-end. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and geometry processing never stall the rendering pipeline.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s provide substantial fill rate headroom. The FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS indicates strong raw compute throughput, though Doom's engine does not heavily leverage such general-purpose compute features.

The 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present but largely irrelevant for this title, which predates widespread RT adoption. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures compatibility with all rendering paths Doom can utilize, and the Vulkan 1.4 API support is particularly relevant given the game's well-known Vulkan renderer.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Doom?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 335, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling for this configuration in the tested scenarios.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 754th out of 3,712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20.3% of all configurations tested for Doom. This is a strong result, though not in the top tier.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 71, occurring at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is still playable but represents the most demanding tested scenario.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile while the GPU ranks in the 82nd, and resolution scaling shows consistent GPU-bound behavior across all settings.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 217 FPS while Ultra produces 131 FPS, a difference of 86 FPS. This represents a 40% performance penalty for the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes, all tested 4K settings produce average FPS above 71, with High settings at 87 FPS and Low at 118 FPS. Even the most demanding configuration remains above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver highly playable frame rates, with even Ultra hitting 202 FPS. The difference between High (247 FPS) and Ultra (202 FPS) is 45 FPS, which may be worth sacrificing for visual fidelity given the high baseline. Players seeking maximum refresh rate compatibility should consider Low settings at 335 FPS, though this is likely unnecessary for most displays.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 160 FPS offers an excellent balance between visual quality and performance. Medium at 189 FPS provides additional headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors, while Ultra at 131 FPS remains smooth for most gaming scenarios. The Low preset at 217 FPS would be recommended only for competitive play where every frame counts.

At 3840x2160, the High preset at 87 FPS is the recommended choice for the best visual experience while maintaining smooth gameplay. Medium at 102 FPS offers a slight performance boost if needed, while Ultra at 71 FPS is playable but approaches the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable. Low at 118 FPS is available for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, but the visual sacrifice at 4K resolution is significant.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides a substantial FPS boost over High (15-17% improvement) while likely maintaining acceptable visual quality. The Ultra preset exacts a significant performance cost — 18-19% lower FPS than High across all resolutions — which may not justify the marginal visual improvements in a fast-paced FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 33 MB shared L3 cache.

For Doom, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The game is not particularly CPU-intensive by modern standards, and the i7-14700K's single-thread performance — evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,160 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,569 — is more than sufficient. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz provides excellent per-core throughput for the game's main thread.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, while impressive in synthetic benchmarks (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33,440.5), are largely underutilized in Doom. The game's engine does not scale well beyond a handful of threads, so the 28 threads available are unlikely to all be active during gameplay. However, this headroom ensures that background tasks and system overhead will not interfere with game performance.

The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile against all processors, with nearest rivals all within 1% of its average benchmark score. This indicates that the i7-14700K is at the very top of consumer CPU performance, making it an excellent match for a high-end GPU like the RTX 5070. The PassMark multi-thread score of 52,392 and single-thread score of 4,472 confirm strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 335 FPS average
• Medium: 292 FPS average, with minimum 248 FPS and maximum 336 FPS
• High: 247 FPS average
• Ultra: 202 FPS average

At 1080p, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The spread from Low to Ultra is 133 FPS, representing a 40% performance range. The Medium setting shows a tight frame time distribution with minimum 248 FPS and maximum 336 FPS, indicating consistent performance.

2560x1440:

• Low: 217 FPS average
• Medium: 189 FPS average, with minimum 161 FPS and maximum 217 FPS
• High: 160 FPS average
• Ultra: 131 FPS average

At 1440p, the system maintains high frame rates across all presets. The Low to Ultra spread is 86 FPS, a 40% range. The Medium setting's minimum of 161 FPS suggests occasional dips, but these remain well above playable thresholds.

3840x2160:

• Low: 118 FPS average
• Medium: 102 FPS average, with minimum 87 FPS and maximum 118 FPS
• High: 87 FPS average
• Ultra: 71 FPS average

At 4K, the system begins to show the GPU's limits. The Low to Ultra spread is 47 FPS, again a 40% range. The Medium setting's minimum of 87 FPS and maximum of 118 FPS exactly matches the High and Low averages respectively, indicating consistent scaling. Even at the most demanding configuration, the system remains above 60 FPS, ensuring playable performance throughout.