Doom

# Doom — Intel Core i9-14900K + Intel Arc B580

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a playable Doom experience across all tested resolutions, though the frame rate curve reveals a system that shifts from CPU-bound at 1080p to progressively GPU-bound as resolution climbs. The measured data shows a clear hierarchy: Low settings produce the highest frame rates at every resolution, with Ultra consistently halving the performance of Low. This combination ranks 2786th out of 3712 tested combos in this title, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all four settings presets. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 186 FPS at 1920x1080 to 120 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 65 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 65%, indicating that the Intel Arc B580’s rendering throughput becomes the dominant constraint as pixel count quadruples.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar but slightly compressed: 162 FPS at 1080p, 105 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35% and 46% respectively, nearly identical to Low. High settings show 137 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K — drops of 36% and 45%. Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute numbers: 112 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 36% and 46%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets is notable. It suggests that resolution scaling in Doom is governed primarily by the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth, not by the complexity of the settings preset. The Arc B580’s 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the hardware facts that explain this behavior. When the pixel workload quadruples from 1080p to 4K, the GPU’s pixel processing capacity becomes the limiting factor, regardless of whether the game is running at Low or Ultra.

However, the relatively small gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution — for instance, 65 FPS versus 39 FPS at 4K — suggests that Doom’s settings do not dramatically alter the GPU workload. The 26 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is proportionally smaller than the 74 FPS difference at 1080p. This indicates that at higher resolutions, the fixed cost of pixel shading dominates, while at lower resolutions, the variable cost of additional effects and draw calls becomes more apparent.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. Its base and boost clocks are identical at 2670 MHz, which is a relatively high sustained clock for a graphics card. The GPU contains 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, along with 20 ray tracing cores. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2375 MHz, achieving 19 Gbps effective speed across a 192-bit bus, yielding that 456.0 GB/s bandwidth figure.

In Doom, the data shows that the GPU’s memory subsystem plays a critical role. The 12 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for this 2016-era title, even at 4K Ultra. The measured minimum frame rate at 4K Medium is 48 FPS, which suggests the GPU is not running out of memory — otherwise the minimums would likely be far more erratic. The texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s and FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS are the compute resources that the game’s rendering pipeline draws upon.

The GPU’s percentile rank of 68 among all tested GPUs places it in the upper third of the database. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (0.2% behind), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (0.6% ahead), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (0.7% behind). These are all older or differently positioned cards, and the Arc B580’s performance in Doom aligns with this mid-to-upper tier placement.

The fact that the GPU’s boost clock equals its base clock — both 2670 MHz — indicates a stable clock profile with no thermal throttling headroom built into the specification. In a game like Doom, which is known for sustained GPU load, this means the card will run at its rated speed consistently. The 190 W TDP and single 8-pin power connector suggest the card is designed for mainstream power delivery, and the 450 W suggested PSU is adequate for this configuration.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of what each settings preset delivers in terms of average frame rate. At 1920x1080, Low produces 186 FPS, Medium 162 FPS, High 137 FPS, and Ultra 112 FPS. All four presets are well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and even the minimum frame rate recorded — 137 FPS at 1080p Medium — is exceptionally high.

At 2560x1440, the situation remains comfortable. Low hits 120 FPS, Medium 105 FPS, High 88 FPS, and Ultra 72 FPS. The minimum frame rate at Medium is 89 FPS, which still provides a smooth experience on most 1440p displays with refresh rates up to 144 Hz. Ultra at 1440p, at 72 FPS average, is playable but may not fully utilize a high-refresh monitor.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. Low delivers 65 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, High 48 FPS, and Ultra 39 FPS. The minimum frame rate at Medium is 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS ideal but still within the range of acceptable for many players. High and Ultra dip below 50 FPS, which may introduce noticeable stutter on standard 60 Hz displays.

The optimal recommendation depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, High settings offer a strong balance: 137 FPS average, which is 25 FPS higher than Ultra while still providing most of the visual fidelity. For 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot — 105 FPS average with a 89 FPS minimum ensures consistent smoothness. For 4K, Low is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS, though Medium at 57 FPS is close enough that players with adaptive sync displays may prefer the visual upgrade.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces these average frame rates: Low 186 FPS, Medium 162 FPS, High 137 FPS, Ultra 112 FPS. The Medium preset recorded a minimum of 137 FPS and maximum of 186 FPS, matching the Low average exactly — indicating that the Medium preset’s frame time variance is tight.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 120 FPS, Medium 105 FPS, High 88 FPS, Ultra 72 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 89 FPS and maximum of 120 FPS, again matching the Low average. This pattern — where the Medium maximum equals the Low average — suggests that the game’s frame rate is capped or limited by some engine mechanism at these settings.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to: Low 65 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, High 48 FPS, Ultra 39 FPS. The Medium preset records a minimum of 48 FPS and maximum of 65 FPS, following the same pattern as lower resolutions. This consistency across resolutions is a hallmark of a well-optimized engine that scales predictably with both settings and pixel count.

The delta between Low and Ultra remains consistent at each resolution: 74 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K. The absolute difference shrinks as resolution increases, but the percentage difference remains roughly 40% at each step. This indicates that the settings presets have a multiplicative effect on rendering cost rather than an additive one.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Doom?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 186 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo run Doom at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, at 4K Low the average is 65 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 57 FPS. High (48 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The Arc B580 scores 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, and 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum frame rate at 2560x1440 Medium is 89 FPS, with an average of 105 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS.

Q: How much faster is Low compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 186 FPS while Ultra averages 112 FPS, making Low approximately 66% faster.

Q: Does this combo rank in the top half of tested configurations for Doom?

A: No, it ranks 2786th out of 3712 combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, and it carries 36 MB of shared L3 cache along with 2 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU’s benchmark scores are substantial: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and single-core score of 2262.5, plus a Geekbench multi-core score of 21697.

In Doom, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The measured frame rates at 1080p — up to 186 FPS — suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the i9-14900K has ample single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4697) and multi-thread capability (PassMark multi-thread score of 58674). The game’s engine, released in 2016, was designed for the multi-core processors of that era, and the i9-14900K’s 32 threads provide significant headroom.

However, the data also shows that at 4K, the frame rates are almost entirely determined by the GPU. The fact that the 4K Low (65 FPS) and 4K Ultra (39 FPS) scores are so much lower than their 1080p counterparts indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at high resolution. The i9-14900K’s 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its position as a top-tier processor, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900KF, scores only 0.3% higher on average.

The CPU’s 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it a high-performance part, but in Doom specifically, its contribution is to ensure that the GPU never waits for instructions. The measured data supports this: at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 74 FPS, a gap that would be much smaller if the CPU were the bottleneck. The CPU’s 80 KB of L1 cache per core and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support are sufficient for the game’s demands.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2786th out of 3712 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the 25th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier performance relative to the full database of tested hardware. The CPU is a top-tier part — ranking in the 95th percentile among all CPUs — but the combo’s overall rank is dragged down by the GPU’s 68th percentile standing.

The gap between the CPU’s high percentile and the combo’s lower rank is instructive. It shows that in Doom, the GPU is the performance ceiling. The i9-14900K’s benchmark scores — such as the 20793 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 792694 in PassMark data compression — are far above what any game from 2016 can utilize. The Arc B580, with its 15748 PassMark G3D score and 3068 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, is the component that determines the frame rates measured here.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing sits in the lower-middle range. The nearest GPU rivals by aggregate score — the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080 — would likely place their combos higher or lower depending on the CPU paired with them. The Arc B580’s 12 GB VRAM and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are competitive specifications, but in Doom’s specific workload, the card’s 39-186 FPS range across resolutions and settings defines its capability.

The rank of 2786 out of 3712 means that roughly 75% of tested combos achieve higher frame rates in Doom. This is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability, but rather a statement about the GPU’s position in the market. The i9-14900K is a processor that can drive frame rates far beyond what the Arc B580 can render, and in a game like Doom with its high frame rate ceiling, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. For users considering this combo, the data indicates that the CPU will not be the bottleneck at any resolution, and the GPU’s performance at 1080p and 1440p is solid, while 4K requires settings compromises to maintain playable frame rates.