Doom

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Doom with the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER reveals a consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 141 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 91 FPS, a reduction of approximately 35% from the 1080p figure. At 4K High, the average falls to 50 FPS, representing a further 45% decrease from 1440p and a total reduction of roughly 65% from 1080p.

The scaling behavior points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 2060 SUPER, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus, becomes increasingly constrained as pixel count rises. The 4K Medium preset yields 59 FPS average, while 4K Low reaches 67 FPS. These figures indicate that even at the lowest settings, the card cannot maintain the triple-digit frame rates achievable at 1080p. The step from 1080p Low at 192 FPS to 4K Low at 67 FPS represents a 65% drop, illustrating how severely resolution impacts the rendering workload.

Interestingly, the delta between settings narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the spread from Low (192 FPS) to Ultra (115 FPS) is 77 FPS, a 40% variation. At 4K, the same settings range from 67 FPS to 40 FPS, a 27 FPS difference or 40% as well. This proportional consistency suggests that while the GPU is the limiting factor, the settings scaling remains uniform across resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS is the lowest recorded value, dipping below the 50 FPS minimum typically considered acceptable for smooth gameplay.

The data indicates that the CPU has headroom to spare. The i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads are not the constraint here; the sharp FPS declines with resolution are characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p, the 192 FPS Low result approaches the practical ceiling for many displays, while the 115 FPS Ultra figure remains highly playable. The transition to 1440p shows a balanced compromise, with High at 91 FPS and Medium at 108 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS thresholds.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture, featuring 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz drive a peak FP32 throughput of 7.181 TFLOPS. The card's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 14 Gbps effective, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth over a 256-bit bus. In Doom's benchmark results, these specifications translate to a measurable performance envelope that the resolution scaling analysis confirms.

The GPU's percentile ranking against all GPUs is 62, placing it in the upper-middle tier. Its nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 0.4% lower, the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 0.5% lower, the AMD Radeon RX 460 at 1.5% lower, and the Intel Arc A770M at 1.6% lower. This clustering indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in a competitive performance band, though its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 and Passmark G3D score of 16462 provide context for its gaming capabilities.

In Doom specifically, the GPU's behavior across settings aligns with its 8 GB memory capacity. The 4K Ultra preset at 40 FPS suggests the card is fully saturated, with the 4K High at 50 FPS and 4K Medium at 59 FPS showing incremental gains as texture and shading demands decrease. The 4K Low result of 67 FPS indicates that even minimal settings cannot overcome the pixel throughput requirements at 2160p. At 1440p, the GPU has more headroom, with Low at 124 FPS and Ultra at 75 FPS, demonstrating that the card can handle this resolution effectively across the settings spectrum.

The GPU's ray tracing capabilities, enabled by 34 RT cores, and tensor processing via 272 tensor cores, do not appear to be the limiting factor in this classic Doom title. Instead, the raw rasterization performance, reflected in the pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s, determines the frame rates. The card's end-of-life production status and 175 W TDP indicate it is a previous-generation solution, yet the measured data shows it remains viable for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high frame rates.

# FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average is 192 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at the same resolution reaches 167 FPS, while High achieves 141 FPS and Ultra 115 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 40 on Ultra to 67 on Low. Medium scores 59 FPS and High scores 50 FPS, indicating that 4K gaming is possible but not at consistently high frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Doom?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The i7-14700KF's strong multi-core performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167, is not the constraint. FPS drops sharply with resolution increases, a classic GPU-bound signature.

Q: What is the best resolution for smooth gameplay?

A: 1920x1080 provides the most headroom, with all settings above 115 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 108 FPS and High at 91 FPS offer good balance, while Ultra at 75 FPS remains playable.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: Its average benchmark score of 18093 is 0.4% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile, 0.5% lower than the Radeon Pro 5700, 1.5% lower than the RX 460, and 1.6% lower than the Arc A770M, showing it is closely matched with these alternatives.

Q: What frame rates can be expected with the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset yields 167 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p, and 59 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium is 142 at 1080p, 92 at 1440p, and 50 at 4K, with maximums of 192, 125, and 67 respectively.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2617 out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 29.5th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-tier position, as the CPU is a high-end desktop processor. The i7-14700KF's percentile versus all CPUs is 94, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of processors, while the RTX 2060 SUPER's percentile versus all GPUs is 62. The disparity between these two percentiles explains the overall combo ranking—the GPU holds the combo back from higher positions.

In the context of the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70163, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.9% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and 1% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. These differences are marginal, suggesting that any of these processors paired with the RTX 2060 SUPER would yield similar Doom performance, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary differentiator in this game.

The combo's rank of 2617 out of 3712 means that approximately 1095 configurations perform worse and 2616 perform better. This places it in the lower half of tested combos, which is expected given the GPU's age and tier. However, the measured FPS data shows that the combo delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, with only 4K Ultra falling below 45 FPS. The ranking should be interpreted with the understanding that Doom is a well-optimized title, and the i7-14700KF's computational strength provides ample headroom for the GPU to operate without CPU-induced stutters.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 192 FPS, which is the highest recorded value across all configurations. The Medium preset at the same resolution averages 167 FPS, with a minimum of 142 FPS and maximum of 192 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. High settings produce 141 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 115 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p gaming is not a challenge for this combo, with even the most demanding preset maintaining triple-digit frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 124 FPS, Medium averages 108 FPS with a range of 92 to 125 FPS, High averages 91 FPS, and Ultra averages 75 FPS. The 1440p results show that Medium and High presets are ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, as they remain above 90 FPS. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is still smooth for most users, but the step down from High to Ultra represents a 17.6% performance hit, which may not justify the visual gains for some players.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings achieve 67 FPS average, Medium averages 59 FPS with a range of 50 to 67 FPS, High averages 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. These figures show that 4K gaming is possible but requires compromise on settings. The Low preset at 67 FPS is playable, but the Medium preset at 59 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 40 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and may exhibit noticeable stutter in fast-paced action. The minimum FPS values for Medium at 4K (50 FPS) and 1440p (92 FPS) provide insight into frame time consistency, with the 4K value being the lowest recorded minimum across all settings.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 115 FPS is the recommended choice for users with 120 Hz or 144 Hz displays, as it provides the best visual quality while maintaining high frame rates. For those with 60 Hz monitors, the High preset at 141 FPS offers additional headroom and smoother frame pacing, though the difference in visual fidelity between High and Ultra may be noticeable in Doom's detailed environments.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 108 FPS is the strongest recommendation. It provides a 17% performance increase over High (91 FPS) while still delivering solid visual quality. The minimum FPS of 92 ensures that even demanding scenes remain above 90 FPS, which is crucial for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is acceptable for players who prioritize image quality over frame rate, but the drop from Medium to Ultra represents a 30.6% performance penalty. For 1440p displays with 144 Hz refresh rates, High at 91 FPS may be preferred to stay closer to the refresh limit.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 67 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 59 FPS is playable but may experience occasional dips to 50 FPS, which could be noticeable in fast-paced combat. High at 50 FPS and Ultra at 40 FPS are not recommended for 4K gaming, as they fall below the threshold for smooth gameplay. For 4K users, the Low preset offers the best balance, though the visual compromise is significant compared to Medium. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, providing high frame rates with minimal visual sacrifices.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz enable strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235 and Geekbench single-core score of 2578. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data storage for game engines, though Doom's performance is primarily GPU-bound.

In Doom, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The i7-14700KF's multi-core capabilities, reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and Passmark multithread score of 52425, ensure that even the most complex scenes do not create CPU bottlenecks. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 192 FPS, which approaches the limit of what the GPU can render. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect FPS to plateau regardless of resolution, but the data shows a clear downward trend with increasing resolution, confirming the GPU's role as the limiting factor.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within 1% of its average score of 70163, indicating that the i7-14700KF is at the top of its performance class. Its 94th percentile ranking versus all CPUs means it outperforms 94% of processors, providing a solid foundation for gaming. The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for overclocking, though the measured data reflects stock performance. The CPU's high single-thread performance is particularly relevant for Doom, as the game's engine scales well with per-core speed, ensuring that the 141 FPS at 1080p High is not hampered by CPU limitations.