Doom

The combination of an Intel Core i9-14900K and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 in Doom presents a clear case of CPU overkill meeting GPU bottleneck. Measured FPS data across three resolutions and four settings shows that the GTX 1070 is the limiting component, while the i9-14900K's substantial processing power goes largely unused. This analysis breaks down the measured results, the GPU's role, and the CPU's contribution.

Resolution Scaling

At 1080p High, the combo averages 116.6 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 75.7 FPS, and at 4K High it falls to 39.8 FPS. The same pattern holds across all settings: Low goes from 156.8 at 1080p to 100.5 at 1440p to 54.2 at 4K; Medium from 134.4 to 88.8 to 47.2; Ultra from 92.4 to 60.9 to 34.5. The steep decline with resolution indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint. The i9-14900K's high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 7040) does not compensate for the GTX 1070's limited fill rate and compute power. Even at 1080p Low, the 156.8 FPS ceiling is likely set by the GPU, not the CPU, since the CPU is far more capable than this game requires. The scaling pattern is consistent: each step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by a substantial margin, regardless of quality preset. This is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU has ample headroom and the graphics card is working at its maximum.

GPU Role

At the heart of this combo is the GTX 1070, a Pascal-generation GPU with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1506 MHz and boost clock 1683 MHz, with memory running at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU's compute capability is 6.463 TFLOPS FP32, and it has 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. These specifications place it in the 51st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12331. Its nearest rivals include the Quadro K4200 (12241, delta 0.7%), the GTX 880M (12490, delta -1.3%), the GTX 1650 SUPER (12504, delta -1.4%), and the Tesla K20Xm (12547, delta -1.7%). The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for Doom at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra the GPU's pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s are insufficient to maintain high frame rates, as evidenced by the 34.5 FPS average. The GPU is end-of-life, and its performance is average by current standards. The launch MSRP of the GTX 1070 was $379. The data shows that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute throughput are the limiting factors at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the card still delivers playable frame rates across all settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra?

A: The combo averages 92.4 FPS at 1080p Ultra.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to the GTX 1650 SUPER?

A: The GTX 1070's average benchmark score is 12331, while the GTX 1650 SUPER scores 12504, a delta of -1.4% (the 1070 is 1.4% slower).

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1429th out of 1681 combos.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile among all CPUs?

A: The i9-14900K is in the 97th percentile.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile?

A: The GTX 1070 is in the 51st percentile.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU?

A: The i9-14900K had a launch MSRP of $589.

Measured FPS Breakdown

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 39.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 54.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 47.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 34.5 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 75.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 100.5 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 88.8 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 60.9 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 116.6 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 156.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 134.4 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 92.4 |

The data shows a consistent ordering: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at each resolution, and FPS decreases as resolution increases. The gap between Low and Ultra widens at higher resolutions, from 64.4 FPS at 1080p (156.8 vs 92.4) to 19.7 FPS at 4K (54.2 vs 34.5). This indicates that the GPU's compute resources are more strained at 4K, where even lowering settings cannot recover playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 1429 out of 1681 tested combos, this pairing sits in the lower portion of the database. The i9-14900K is a top-tier CPU, but the GTX 1070's modest performance drags the overall result down. The rank reflects the GPU's age and its 51st percentile standing. Many other CPU/GPU combinations deliver higher frame rates in Doom, even with less powerful processors, because the game is not CPU-bound at these settings. The data indicates that the GPU is the sole bottleneck; upgrading the GPU would yield a far larger improvement than upgrading the CPU. The combo's position in the bottom 15% of the database is a direct consequence of the GTX 1070's limited capabilities, not the CPU's. The i9-14900K's high benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multi-core 49872, single-core 7040) are irrelevant to this game's performance, as the GPU cannot keep up.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on Raptor Lake, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 49872 and single-core is 7040. It also scores 20370 in Geekbench multi-core and 3064 in single-core. The CPU's average benchmark score is 79824, placing it in the 97th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the EPYC 7413 (80041, delta -0.3%), the i9-14900KF (79245, delta 0.7%), the Core Ultra 7 265KF (79240, delta 0.7%), and the Core Ultra 7 265K (79102, delta 0.9%). The launch MSRP of the i9-14900K is $589. In Doom, this CPU provides far more processing power than the game can utilize. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (156.8) is likely limited by the GPU, not the CPU, since the CPU's single-thread performance is among the best available. The game was released on 2016-05-12, while the CPU was released on 2023-10-16, and its engine does not scale to 24 cores. Thus, the CPU's role in this combo is to avoid any CPU-side bottlenecks, which it does easily, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations. The CPU's high memory bandwidth support (DDR4 and DDR5, dual-channel) and PCIe Gen5 interface are also irrelevant to this game's performance, as the GTX 1070 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The data confirms that the i9-14900K is not a limiting factor in any resolution or setting tested.