Doom

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates for Doom with the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT show a classic scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 339.4 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops this to 221.2 FPS, a reduction of roughly 35%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 116.1 FPS, which is about 48% below the 1440p result and 66% below the 1080p figure. The steepness of this decline points to the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count rises.

The gap between resolutions narrows when settings are raised. At Ultra, the 1080p average is 205.5 FPS, the 1440p average is 131.9 FPS, and the 4K average is 71.9 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is about 65%, which is nearly identical to the Low-setting drop of 66%. This consistency suggests that even at lower settings, the RX 7900 XT is not leaving massive headroom at 4K; the workload is scaling with resolution in a predictable manner.

Looking at the High preset, the 1080p result is 250.1 FPS, 1440p is 161.5 FPS, and 4K is 90.1 FPS. The step from 1440p to 4K at High represents a 44% reduction, while the step from 1080p to 1440p is a 35% reduction. This accelerating drop-off indicates that 4K is where the GPU starts to feel the pressure, even though the absolute numbers remain playable. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU, but at 4K, the rendering load shifts decisively onto the graphics card.

The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 339.4 FPS is far beyond what most displays can show, and it implies the CPU is still capable of pushing even higher numbers if the GPU could keep up. But at 4K Ultra, the 71.9 FPS average shows a workload that is heavily dependent on the Radeon's compute and memory resources. The data does not include minimum or maximum frame times, so stutter behavior cannot be assessed, but the average FPS progression is smooth and monotonic across all settings and resolutions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. The GPU has a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2025 MHz. These clocks are relevant because Doom is a fast-paced FPS that rewards high sustained throughput. The benchmark results show that the GPU can deliver 90.1 FPS at 4K High, which is a solid result for a demanding resolution.

Memory configuration plays a significant role in these outcomes. The card carries 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Doom at 4K Ultra will consume substantial VRAM for textures and geometry, and the 20 GB capacity ensures no capacity-related stutter is likely. The bandwidth figure of 800.0 GB/s is sufficient to feed the 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs at high resolutions. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s are theoretical peaks that align with the measured 4K performance.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, which scores 38349 with a deltaPct of 0, meaning they are statistically identical. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX is 0.3% ahead, and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 is 0.4% behind. These comparisons show that the RX 7900 XT sits in a competitive band, though the MX570 result is an outlier in the listing.

The FP32 compute of 51.48 TFLOPS is the raw number for shader work, and Doom's Vulkan renderer can leverage such throughput. The 84 ray accelerators are present, but Doom does not use ray tracing in its standard rendering path, so they have minimal impact here. The GPU's end-of-life production status does not diminish its measured performance in this title. The boost clock of 2394 MHz is the key figure for sustained FPS; the data shows that at 4K High, the card holds 90.1 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i9-14900K provides 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. This processor is based on the Raptor Lake architecture and is fabricated on Intel's 10 nm process. The high boost clock is critical for Doom, which is not heavily multithreaded but does benefit from strong single-core performance. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 7040 and Geekbench single-core score of 3064 reflect this capability.

The CPU's benchmark results show a 97th percentile rank among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79824. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7413, scores 80041 and is 0.3% behind the i9-14900K. The Intel Core i9-14900KF is 0.7% ahead, and the Core Ultra 7 265K is 0.9% behind. These marginal deltas indicate that the i9-14900K is at the top of the desktop CPU hierarchy, which matters for Doom because the game's engine can push high frame rates when the CPU keeps up.

The multi-core scores are also strong: Cinebench R23 multicore is 49872, and Passmark multithread is 58674. For Doom, the 32 threads are not all used, but the 24 cores provide ample headroom for background tasks and the game's render threads. The L3 cache of 36 MB shared is large enough to hold frequently accessed game data, reducing memory latency. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, and while the memory bandwidth is not listed, the dual-channel architecture is standard for this socket.

The measured FPS at 1080p Low of 339.4 FPS is the highest in the dataset, and it is likely that the CPU is the limiting factor beyond this point. The boost clock of 6.00 GHz is the highest single-core frequency in the pack, and it directly contributes to the ability to maintain high average FPS at lower resolutions. The CPU's percentile rank of 97 confirms that it is in the top tier, and the nearest rival deltas are all under 1%, showing a tight competitive cluster.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Doom?

A: The highest average is 339.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to the 4K Low performance?

A: At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 71.9 FPS, while Low averages 116.1 FPS. The Ultra preset is roughly 38% slower than Low at the same resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p Low, as the frame rate reaches 339.4 FPS, which is far beyond typical display refresh rates and implies GPU headroom is exhausted.

Q: What is the average FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 190.3 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT compare to its nearest rival in overall benchmark score?

A: The RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 38358, which is exactly equal (0% delta) to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile at 38349.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p High to 4K High?

A: At High settings, the average drops from 250.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 90.1 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 64%.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for each resolution. At 1920x1080, all settings produce playable frame rates, but the Ultra preset at 205.5 FPS is the best choice for visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The Low preset at 339.4 FPS is overkill for most displays, and the Medium preset at 298 FPS is a middle ground that offers minimal visual improvement over Low. For 1080p, the recommendation is Ultra, as the 205.5 FPS average still exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 161.5 FPS provides an excellent balance. The Ultra preset at 131.9 FPS is also viable, but the drop from High to Ultra is about 18%, which may not justify the visual gains. Medium at 190.3 FPS is smoother but sacrifices detail. The data supports High as the optimal setting for 1440p, as it maintains high frame rates while retaining most visual features.

At 3840x2160, the choice is more constrained. Ultra at 71.9 FPS is below the 90 FPS threshold that many players prefer for fast action. High at 90.1 FPS is the better option, providing a 25% improvement over Ultra while still looking good. Medium at 100.3 FPS is even smoother, but the visual difference from High is noticeable. Low at 116.1 FPS is the fastest but strips away too much detail. For 4K, the recommended preset is High, as it offers the best combination of frame rate and fidelity in the measured data.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete set of measured averages is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields 339.4 FPS, Medium yields 298 FPS, High yields 250.1 FPS, and Ultra yields 205.5 FPS. The progression shows a consistent decline from Low to Ultra, with each step removing about 30-50 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 41.4 FPS, between Medium and High is 47.9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 44.6 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are 221.2 FPS for Low, 190.3 FPS for Medium, 161.5 FPS for High, and 131.9 FPS for Ultra. The step sizes are 30.9 FPS from Low to Medium, 28.8 FPS from Medium to High, and 29.6 FPS from High to Ultra. These differences are more uniform than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is starting to become the binding constraint.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 116.1 FPS for Low, 100.3 FPS for Medium, 90.1 FPS for High, and 71.9 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 15.8 FPS, from Medium to High is 10.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 18.2 FPS. The larger drop from High to Ultra indicates that the Ultra preset adds significant shading and texture work that heavily taxes the GPU at 4K. The total spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 44.2 FPS, which is the narrowest range across the three resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the dominant factor at this resolution.