Doom

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a high-end combination that delivers exceptional frame rates in Doom, a 2016 FPS. The benchmark data shows this pairing is capable of pushing well beyond the refresh-rate limits of most displays, even at 4K Ultra settings. The following analysis breaks down the optimal settings, the roles of the GPU and CPU, and how this specific combo ranks against other tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets indicate that this hardware combination provides a massive performance buffer in Doom. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate never drops below 258.2 FPS, even on the most demanding Ultra preset. This means that at 1080p, users can select the Ultra preset without any concern for playability, as the data shows a 258.2 FPS average, which is significantly higher than the refresh rate of standard monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset still delivers an average of 163 FPS, making it the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming. The High preset at this resolution offers a 201.9 FPS average, which is also excellent. The data suggests that the Ultra preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for maximizing visual fidelity while maintaining a frame rate that exceeds the capabilities of most 144Hz and 165Hz displays. The Medium preset yields 240.9 FPS, but the visual trade-off from Ultra is unnecessary given the headroom.

At 4K (3840x2160), the situation becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset provides a 92.8 FPS average, which is playable but may not fully saturate a 120Hz or 144Hz display. The High preset increases the average to 108.8 FPS, offering a smoother experience. The Medium preset further raises this to 131.3 FPS. Given the 4K Ultra average of 92.8 FPS, the High preset is the recommended choice for 4K, as it provides a substantial 16 FPS improvement over Ultra (108.8 vs 92.8) while still maintaining high visual quality. The Low preset at 4K yields 146.4 FPS, but this will likely introduce noticeable visual degradation that is not worth the performance gain when High is already above the 100 FPS threshold.

The most balanced experience across all resolutions is the High preset. It offers 313.3 FPS at 1080p, 201.9 FPS at 1440p, and 108.8 FPS at 4K. This preset provides a consistent, high-quality experience that scales well with resolution, making it the best overall recommendation. For users with 4K 120Hz displays, High is the clear choice; for 1440p users, Ultra is the best option; and for 1080p users, any preset will work, but Ultra is recommended to fully utilize the hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed in Doom. The GPU's architecture is Blackwell 2.0, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, and it features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus. This memory configuration provides a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for the texture loads in Doom at all tested resolutions. The GPU's 10752 shading units and 112 ROPs contribute to its impressive pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s, directly impacting the rasterization performance that Doom relies on.

The clock speeds are also a factor. The base clock is 2295 MHz, with a boost clock of 2617 MHz. These high clocks, combined with the 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power, allow the card to process the game's geometry and effects efficiently. The RTX 5080's benchmark scores further contextualize its performance. It achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8637 and a Passmark G3D score of 36565, placing it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs. This high percentile is reflected in the game's measured results, where the GPU consistently pushes frame rates into the triple digits at 4K and far beyond at lower resolutions.

The data shows a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At 1440p High, the average is 201.9 FPS, but this drops to 108.8 FPS at 4K High. This indicates that while the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, the GPU's workload increases substantially at 4K. The RTX 5080's nearest rivals in the benchmark database, such as the Intel Arc A570M (with a deltaPct of 1.6) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (with a deltaPct of 2.6), are not in the same performance class for gaming, as the RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59188 dwarfs the gaming-specific demands of Doom.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 428.1 FPS, which was measured at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

*Q: Can this hardware run Doom at 4K with a 120Hz monitor?*

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the High preset yields an average of 108.8 FPS, and the Medium preset yields 131.3 FPS. Both are above 100 FPS, and the Medium preset is sufficient to exceed 120 FPS.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 108.8 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 92.8 FPS. This represents a performance drop of 16 FPS when moving to the Ultra preset.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, with the Ultra preset averaging 258.2 FPS and the Low preset averaging 428.1 FPS. This indicates the GPU is not limiting performance at this resolution.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 277.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 163 FPS. The difference is 114.1 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is in the 89th percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database, based on its average benchmark score.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 53rd out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the top 3.2% of all configurations tested, which is an exceptional result. The high ranking is unsurprising given the individual strengths of the components. The GPU's 89th percentile ranking and the CPU's 96th percentile ranking contribute to a system that is well-balanced for this game, with neither component acting as a severe bottleneck in the tested resolutions.

The rank of 53 out of 1681 indicates that there are 52 other combinations that perform better. These likely include configurations with higher-end GPUs, such as the RTX 5090, or potentially faster CPUs, though the i7-14700KF is already a top-tier processor. The data shows that this combo is within striking distance of the top 50, and the performance gap to those ahead is likely small, given the high frame rates already achieved. The combo's rank confirms the RTX 5080's ability to handle Doom's engine efficiently, pushing frame rates that are competitive with much more expensive setups. For a mainstream high-end build, this ranking confirms that the i7-14700KF and RTX 5080 pairing is one of the best-performing combinations for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF plays a supporting role in Doom, ensuring the GPU is fed with enough data to maintain the high frame rates. This CPU is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The high boost clock is critical for gaming, as Doom's engine benefits from strong single-thread performance. The CPU's benchmark scores support this, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2972.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game logic and draw calls. While Doom is not a heavily multi-threaded title, the i7-14700KF's 28 threads ensure there is ample headroom for background tasks and the game's engine threads. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 52425 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44557 demonstrate its massive parallel processing capability, but these are not the primary drivers of gaming performance.

The data from the measured FPS shows that at lower resolutions, the frame rates are exceptionally high, which suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor. For instance, at 1080p Low, the average is 428.1 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU can process the game's simulation and render commands faster than the GPU can draw them at this resolution. The CPU's percentile ranking of 96th vs all CPUs is consistent with its high performance. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-14700K (deltaPct of 0) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (deltaPct of -0.4), show that the 14700KF is essentially on par with the fastest consumer CPUs available, meaning that the GPU is the primary determiner of frame rates in Doom, especially at higher resolutions like 4K where the FPS drops to 108.8 on High settings.