Doom

# Doom: Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, ranking 2nd out of 1,681 tested combos. The pairing places it in the top 0.1% of all configurations, with the CPU holding a 96th percentile position among all processors and the GPU a 94th percentile among all graphics cards. The i7-14700KF's average benchmark score of 70,104 sits within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and is essentially tied with the Core i7-14700K, while the RTX 5090's average score of 84,306 trails the NVIDIA CMP 40HX by just 1.6%. At 4K Ultra, this combo still produces 99.3 FPS average, making it viable for high-refresh-rate displays even at maximum settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2 out of 1,681 tested configurations places it at the very apex of Doom performance. This near-top ranking reflects the synergy between a 20-core, 28-thread Raptor Lake Refresh processor boosting to 5.60 GHz and the Blackwell-architecture RTX 5090 with 21,760 shading units and 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,557 and single-core score of 6,290 indicate strong per-thread performance, which matters in Doom's Vulkan-era engine. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 and Passmark G3D score of 39,650 place it among the fastest graphics solutions available. Relative to the nearest CPU rivals, the i7-14700KF is within 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 9115 and within 1.3% of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270, while the RTX 5090's closest GPU rival, the RTX 5090 D, trails by only 0.1% — confirming this is a top-tier pairing by every measured metric. The combination's 4K Ultra result of 99.3 FPS average represents a 79.8% improvement over the 4K Low result at 163.8 FPS, showing the GPU has massive headroom when settings are reduced.

Settings Recommendations

For the optimal experience on this system, the data supports using High settings as the sweet spot. At 1080p, High delivers 341.7 FPS average, which is 62.7% higher than Ultra's 278.5 FPS while maintaining visually rich detail. At 1440p, High produces 216.8 FPS versus Ultra's 180.6 FPS — a 20.1% improvement — and at 4K, High achieves 121.2 FPS compared to Ultra's 99.3 FPS, a 22.1% gain. Medium settings offer diminishing returns: at 4K, Medium reaches 141.3 FPS, which is 42.4% above Ultra but only 16.6% above High, suggesting High captures most of the performance benefit without sacrificing much visual quality. Low settings push frame rates to 459.8 FPS at 1080p and 297.4 FPS at 1440p, but the jump from Low to High at 4K (163.8 to 121.2 FPS) represents a 26.0% drop that may not justify the visual downgrade. Given that even 4K Ultra remains above 90 FPS, High settings at 4K or Ultra at 1440p provide the best balance of smoothness and fidelity, with the latter delivering 180.6 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The frame-rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that remains GPU-bound across all settings, but with varying degrees of pressure. At Low settings, the drop from 459.8 FPS at 1080p to 163.8 FPS at 4K represents a 64.4% reduction, indicating the RTX 5090 is working progressively harder as pixel count rises. The High settings curve shows 341.7 FPS at 1080p falling to 121.2 FPS at 4K — a 64.5% decrease — while Medium drops from 402.4 to 141.3 FPS, a 64.9% reduction. Ultra settings exhibit the steepest scaling: 278.5 FPS at 1080p declining to 99.3 FPS at 4K, a 64.3% loss. The uniformity of these percentage drops (all between 64.3% and 64.9%) confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution — if it were, the 1080p-to-4K gap would shrink at higher settings as GPU load increases. Instead, the consistent scaling pattern indicates the i7-14700KF has ample headroom, with its 3.40 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost clocks and 33 MB of L3 cache ensuring the RTX 5090 is fed with data at all times. The 1440p results reinforce this: High settings deliver 216.8 FPS, which is 63.5% of the 1080p figure, while Ultra achieves 180.6 FPS, or 64.8% of its 1080p counterpart.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce 459.8 FPS average, Medium reaches 402.4 FPS, High hits 341.7 FPS, and Ultra still maintains 278.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 181.3 FPS, demonstrating the GPU's raw compute capacity with 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture fill rate. Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain extremely high: Low averages 297.4 FPS, Medium 258.5 FPS, High 216.8 FPS, and Ultra 180.6 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is noteworthy because it exceeds the 4K Low result of 163.8 FPS by 16.8 FPS, showing that resolution scaling has a more significant impact on frame rate than settings changes at this performance level. At 3840x2160, the system still delivers smooth gameplay: Low produces 163.8 FPS, Medium 141.3 FPS, High 121.2 FPS, and Ultra 99.3 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure remains above 60 FPS by a comfortable margin, and the 4K High result of 121.2 FPS indicates this combo can drive 120 Hz 4K displays without compromise. The delta between 1080p Low (459.8 FPS) and 4K Ultra (99.3 FPS) is 360.5 FPS, a 78.4% reduction that underscores how demanding 4K Ultra is, yet the absolute performance still qualifies as excellent for competitive and immersive play alike.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Doom?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 2nd out of 1,681 tested combos, placing it in the top 0.1% of all configurations.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: The data supports 1440p as the ideal resolution, with Ultra settings delivering 180.6 FPS and High settings reaching 216.8 FPS. At 4K, High settings still provide 121.2 FPS, which is suitable for 120 Hz displays, while Ultra drops to 99.3 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset should I use at 4K?

A: High settings at 4K provide the best balance, yielding 121.2 FPS compared to Ultra's 99.3 FPS. The 22.1% performance gain from dropping from Ultra to High likely outweighs the visual difference in most gameplay scenarios.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The consistent 64-65% frame-rate drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates the system is GPU-bound. The i7-14700KF's high single-core performance — 6,290 in Cinebench R23 — ensures it does not bottleneck the RTX 5090 at any resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its closest rival in benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84,306 is within 0.1% of the RTX 5090 D and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, while trailing the NVIDIA CMP 40HX by 1.6%.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 278.5 FPS average, while Low settings reach 459.8 FPS. Even the most demanding preset at 1080p far exceeds the refresh rate of typical high-end monitors.