Doom

# Doom (2016) — Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

This combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 places 1766th out of 2930 tested system combinations in Doom, situating it in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution. The measured frame rates reveal a system capable of smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, but one that begins to struggle at 4K, particularly at higher quality presets. The data indicates a balanced pairing where the CPU provides ample headroom while the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1766 out of 2930 places this system in the 40th percentile of all tested configurations for Doom. This position reflects a GPU that, while modern, sits in the mid-range tier of the overall benchmark database — the RTX 5050 holds a percentile ranking of 66 among all GPUs, but its absolute performance in Doom places the full system well below the top quartile of tested combos.

Benchmark results indicate the RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 places it within a tight competitive cluster. The nearest rivals show minimal separation: the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 21153 (0.6% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237 (1% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379 (1.6% higher). The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT trails slightly at 20713, which is 1.6% lower. This grouping suggests the GPU delivers performance comparable to older mid-range and mobile workstation parts, which directly influences the combo's overall ranking.

The CPU, by contrast, is a high-end part. The Core i7-14700KF holds a 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70163. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996, 0.2% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875, 0.4% lower), and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, 0.9% lower), while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K leads it by 1% at 70879. This CPU strength does not translate into a top-tier gaming rank because Doom's frame rates at higher resolutions are dominated by GPU throughput.

The gap between the CPU's elite standing and the combo's mid-pack rank underscores that this pairing is GPU-limited in most scenarios. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 176 FPS average, which is strong, but the ceiling is set by the graphics card's 8 GB VRAM and 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth rather than the processor's 20 cores and 33 MB of shared L3 cache.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF brings substantial processing resources to this pairing. With 20 cores and 28 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, this Raptor Lake-R architecture part provides far more compute capability than Doom requires. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 mounting are standard for this class, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking, though the benchmark data reflects stock operation.

In Doom, a game from 2016 built on the id Tech 6 engine, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, where CPU overhead is typically highest relative to GPU load, the system reaches 202 FPS average. This high frame rate at the lowest quality preset indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck — the processor's single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235 and Geekbench single-core score of 2578, is more than adequate for the game's engine.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, while impressive in productivity benchmarks (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167, Passmark multithread score of 52425), are largely underutilized in Doom. The game's engine scales to a limited number of threads, and the 28-thread count of this processor far exceeds what the title can exploit. The benchmark results show that as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, frame rates drop consistently across all settings, which would not occur if the CPU were the limiting factor — GPU load scales with resolution while CPU load remains relatively constant.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database — the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X — all sit within 1% of its average benchmark score, indicating that any of these processors would deliver nearly identical Doom performance when paired with the same GPU. This reinforces the conclusion that the i7-14700KF provides a performance ceiling far above what the RTX 5050 can reach in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the performance determinant in this system. Built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, this GPU features 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation pipelines. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base of 2317 MHz and a boost of 2572 MHz, with memory running at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with the 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, place the RTX 5050 in a performance tier that the measured FPS data confirms. The GPU's 130 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector indicate a power-efficient part, though the suggested 300 W PSU requirement must be respected.

In Doom, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor. At 1080p, the game fits comfortably within this memory pool, allowing the GPU to focus on rendering. The measured results show 202 FPS at 1080p Low, 176 FPS at 1080p Medium, and 149 FPS at 1080p High. These numbers demonstrate strong performance at the most common gaming resolution. At 1440p, the frame rates drop to 131 FPS Low, 114 FPS Medium, and 96 FPS High, still very playable.

The 4K results reveal the GPU's limitations. At 3840x2160, the system delivers 71 FPS on Low, 62 FPS on Medium, 52 FPS on High, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The progression from 62 to 52 to 43 FPS as settings increase from Medium to High to Ultra shows a linear degradation that suggests the GPU is running out of both compute throughput and memory bandwidth. The 128-bit memory bus, while adequate for 1080p, becomes a bottleneck at 4K where pixel throughput demands are quadrupled.

The GPU's benchmark scores support this analysis. The Passmark G3D score of 17326 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 place it in the mid-range tier, with the nearest rival comparisons showing it trades blows with much older parts like the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (which scores 1% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% higher). These rivals are not modern parts, indicating the RTX 5050's performance class is closer to previous-generation mid-range hardware than to current high-end offerings.

FAQ

Q: Is the Core i7-14700KF overkill for Doom when paired with the RTX 5050?

A: The benchmark data indicates yes. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and 20 cores far exceed the game's requirements, as evidenced by the system reaching 202 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU, which ranks at the 66th percentile, becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings.

Q: How does this system handle 1440p gaming in Doom?

A: Very well. The measured results show 96 FPS average on High settings and 114 FPS on Medium at 2560x1440. Even at Ultra, the system maintains 79 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 1440p High preset offers a strong balance of visual quality and performance.

Q: What is the primary bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU. The frame rate drops from 71 FPS at Low to 43 FPS at Ultra at 3840x2160, while the CPU has ample headroom. The RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the increased pixel load, causing the 4K Ultra preset to fall below 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The data shows the RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 is within 1.6% of all its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M leads by 1%, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile leads by 1.6%, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL leads by 0.6%. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT trails by 1.6%.

Q: Can this system achieve 120+ FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the system averages 202 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it averages 176 FPS. However, at 1080p High the average drops to 149 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 122 FPS. All presets at 1080p exceed 120 FPS average.

Q: What does the combo rank of 1766 out of 2930 indicate about this system?

A: It places the system in the lower-middle portion of all tested combos for Doom. Despite having a top-tier CPU, the mid-range GPU holds the system back from higher rankings. The 40th percentile position reflects the GPU's performance class rather than the CPU's capabilities.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that identifies the GPU as the limiting component. From 1080p to 1440p, the average frame rate drops by approximately 35-38% across all settings. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe, ranging from 45-50% depending on the preset.

At 1080p High, the system delivers 149 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 96 FPS, a 35.6% reduction. Moving from 1440p High to 4K High (52 FPS) represents a further 45.8% reduction. This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a GPU that approaches its memory bandwidth and compute limits as pixel count increases.

The Low preset shows similar scaling: 202 FPS at 1080p, 131 FPS at 1440p (35.1% drop), and 71 FPS at 4K (45.8% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentages across settings — approximately 35% for the first resolution step and 46% for the second — indicates that the GPU's architectural limits, rather than any specific setting, are the primary constraint.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data, with min and max FPS recorded at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 176 FPS with a range of 150-203 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 114 FPS with a range of 97-131 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 62 FPS with a range of 52-71 FPS. The minimum FPS values at each resolution (150, 97, and 52 respectively) show that even the lowest dips remain above 50 FPS up to 1440p, but at 4K the minimum approaches the edge of playability.

This scaling behavior confirms that the i7-14700KF maintains consistent CPU-side performance regardless of resolution, while the RTX 5050's workload increases linearly with pixel count. For users targeting 4K, the data suggests that only the Low preset (71 FPS) provides a consistently smooth experience, while Medium (62 FPS) is borderline and High/Ultra fall below 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this system depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable performance, with even the Ultra preset maintaining 122 FPS average. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, the Medium preset at 176 FPS offers the best balance, providing a 24.5% improvement over High (149 FPS) with only a modest visual quality reduction. The Low preset at 202 FPS maximizes frame rate but sacrifices visual fidelity that the game's art style benefits from.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 114 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a 18.8% improvement over High (96 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 79 FPS is also viable for users prioritizing visual quality, though the 35 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra represents a significant performance cost. The Low preset at 131 FPS is available for those seeking maximum smoothness, but the visual downgrade is substantial at this resolution.

At 4K, the data presents a more constrained picture. The Low preset at 71 FPS is the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium at 62 FPS is marginal. High (52 FPS) and Ultra (43 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold and would require adaptive sync or frame rate capping to feel smooth. For 4K gaming, the Low preset is recommended, as the 14.5% improvement from Low to Medium (71 to 62 FPS) does not justify the frame rate reduction, and the visual differences at 4K pixel density are less noticeable than at lower resolutions.

The data shows that the system's best experience is at 1440p Medium, where the 114 FPS average provides a smooth, responsive experience with good visual quality. This represents the sweet spot where the RTX 5050's capabilities are fully utilized without exceeding its limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this system in Doom is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 202 FPS average
• Medium: 176 FPS average (min 150, max 203 FPS)
• High: 149 FPS average
• Ultra: 122 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 131 FPS average
• Medium: 114 FPS average (min 97, max 131 FPS)
• High: 96 FPS average
• Ultra: 79 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 71 FPS average
• Medium: 62 FPS average (min 52, max 71 FPS)
• High: 52 FPS average
• Ultra: 43 FPS average

The Medium preset at each resolution includes the only recorded minimum and maximum frame rate values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range from 150 to 203 FPS shows a 26% variance, indicating some frame pacing irregularity but remaining within playable bounds. At 1440p Medium, the range from 97 to 131 FPS shows a 30% variance. At 4K Medium, the range from 52 to 71 FPS shows a 27% variance, with the minimum approaching the threshold where stutter becomes noticeable.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution follows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the progression is 202 → 176 → 149 → 122 FPS, with each step representing a 13-18% reduction. At 1440p, the progression is 131 → 114 → 96 → 79 FPS, with similar percentage reductions. At 4K, the progression is 71 → 62 → 52 → 43 FPS, where the percentage drops are slightly larger (12.7%, 16.1%, 17.3%), reflecting the GPU's increasing strain at higher resolutions.

These measurements confirm that the system delivers its best performance at 1080p and 1440p, with the RTX 5050 providing adequate power for most gaming scenarios. The 4K results, while not ideal, remain usable at lower presets. The data-driven recommendation is to prioritize resolution over settings, as the frame rate differences between presets at a given resolution are smaller than the differences between resolutions at a given preset.