Doom

# Doom — Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers exceptional performance in Doom, with measured frame rates ranging from 68.6 FPS at 4K Ultra to 341.7 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination ranks 362nd out of 1,681 tested combos in this title, placing it in the top 22% of all systems evaluated. The data reveals a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions while maintaining sufficient CPU headroom to push frame rates well beyond display refresh rates at 1440p and 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases across all settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 248.5 FPS at 1080p to 159.3 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 89.2 FPS, then further to 88 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64.6% retention from 1080p to 1440p and a 35.4% retention from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth become increasingly strained as pixel count grows.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is more dramatic in absolute terms: 341.7 FPS at 1080p drops to 219 FPS at 1440p (a 122.7 FPS decrease) and then to 117.6 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is 101.4 FPS, which is larger than the 71.3 FPS drop seen at High settings for the same resolution step. This suggests that at Low settings, the GPU's compute throughput becomes the bottleneck, while at higher settings, memory bandwidth and VRAM capacity play a more significant role.

The frame rate deltas between adjacent resolutions reveal where the limiting component shifts. From 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings, the drop is 106.4 FPS (from 295.2 to 188.8), while from 1440p to 4K at Medium, the drop is 83.5 FPS (from 188.8 to 105.3). The diminishing absolute drops at higher resolutions indicate that the GPU is approaching its performance ceiling, with the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads providing ample headroom even at 1080p where frame rates exceed 300 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K features 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. This processor ranks in the 97th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,824. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7413, scores 80,041, a delta of -0.3%, while the Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79,245, a delta of 0.7% — indicating that the 14900K sits within 1% of its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks.

In Doom, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 341.7 FPS. This frame rate is likely near the engine's upper limit, as the game was released in 2016 and the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,040) is exceptionally high. The 6.00 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for this title, as Doom's id Tech 6 engine typically scales well with high-frequency cores rather than raw core counts.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49,872, are largely underutilized in Doom at lower resolutions. However, the 36 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain consistent frame delivery, as evidenced by the relatively small performance gap between Medium and High settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (295.2 FPS) and High (248.5 FPS) is 46.7 FPS, while at 4K, the same settings gap narrows to 17.3 FPS (105.3 vs 88 FPS), confirming that the CPU's influence diminishes as GPU load increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory operates at 28 Gbps effective across a 192-bit bus, yielding 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2512 MHz and FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS place it in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41,687.

In Doom, the GPU's memory configuration becomes a limiting factor at Ultra settings and 4K resolution. The 68.6 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset, and it represents a 65.5% drop from the 204.8 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra. The RTX 5070's nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (score 41,610, delta 0.2%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (score 41,441, delta 0.6%), yet in Doom, the RTX 5070's modern architecture and higher memory bandwidth provide a clear advantage at lower resolutions.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution shows the GPU's compute headroom. At 1080p, Ultra (204.8 FPS) is 40.1% slower than Low (341.7 FPS), while at 4K, Ultra (68.6 FPS) is 41.7% slower than Low (117.6 FPS). This consistent relative penalty across resolutions indicates that the GPU's shading units and texture units scale linearly with the increased workload, with no sudden cliff or thermal throttling evident in the data.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combination in Doom?

A: The highest measured average is 341.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest measured average is 68.6 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K scores 79,824 on average, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 7413's 80,041 and 0.7% higher than both the Intel Core i9-14900KF and Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce 188.8 FPS while High settings produce 159.3 FPS, a difference of 29.5 FPS favoring Medium.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, 1920x1080 delivers 204.8 FPS while 3840x2160 delivers 68.6 FPS, making 1080p approximately 2.99 times faster than 4K.

Q: Does the GPU's average benchmark score align with its in-game performance rank?

A: The GPU ranks in the 83rd percentile overall with a score of 41,687, while the complete system ranks 362nd out of 1,681 combos in Doom, placing it in the top 22% — indicating the combo performs slightly better in this game than its synthetic benchmarks suggest.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from Low to Ultra at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings achieve 117.6 FPS while Ultra settings achieve 68.6 FPS, a reduction of 49 FPS or approximately 41.7%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 362nd out of 1,681 tested combinations in Doom, placing it in the 78.5th percentile of all systems evaluated. This is a strong showing, though not top-tier, which is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU ranks in the 97th percentile while the GPU ranks in the 83rd percentile. The gap between these two percentiles suggests that the RTX 5070 is the limiting factor in this pairing, as the i9-14900K's performance headroom exceeds what the GPU can utilize in this title.

Relative to the 1,319 combos ranked below it, this system offers substantial performance, particularly at 1080p where it exceeds 200 FPS across all settings presets. The rank of 362 means that 361 other combinations deliver higher average frame rates in Doom, likely featuring more powerful GPUs such as the RTX 5090 or RTX 4090-class hardware. However, the combination's 4K Ultra performance of 68.6 FPS remains playable, and the 1440p results (133.4 FPS at Ultra) are well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors.

The data indicates that this combo's ranking is driven primarily by GPU performance, as the CPU's 97th percentile ranking would support higher frame rates if paired with a faster GPU. The 0.6% delta between the RTX 5070 and the RTX 3090 in synthetic benchmarks suggests that these cards perform similarly, but the RTX 5070's newer architecture provides better efficiency, as evidenced by its ability to maintain high frame rates in Doom's demanding Vulkan-based rendering.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings achieve 341.7 FPS, Medium reaches 295.2 FPS, High produces 248.5 FPS, and Ultra delivers 204.8 FPS. The span between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 136.9 FPS, indicating that settings have a significant impact on performance. The frame rate drops from Low to Medium (46.5 FPS), Medium to High (46.7 FPS), and High to Ultra (43.7 FPS) are nearly uniform, suggesting balanced scaling across the settings presets.

At 2560x1440, the measured results are 219 FPS at Low, 188.8 FPS at Medium, 159.3 FPS at High, and 133.4 FPS at Ultra. The resolution increase from 1080p reduces performance by 35.9% at Low (from 341.7 to 219 FPS), 36.1% at Medium (from 295.2 to 188.8 FPS), 35.9% at High (from 248.5 to 159.3 FPS), and 34.9% at Ultra (from 204.8 to 133.4 FPS). These consistent reductions across settings indicate that the GPU's pixel throughput scales predictably with resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance drops to 117.6 FPS at Low, 105.3 FPS at Medium, 88 FPS at High, and 68.6 FPS at Ultra. The transition from 1440p to 4K incurs reductions of 46.3% at Low (219 to 117.6 FPS), 44.2% at Medium (188.8 to 105.3 FPS), 44.8% at High (159.3 to 88 FPS), and 48.6% at Ultra (133.4 to 68.6 FPS). The larger percentage drop at Ultra settings (48.6%) compared to other presets suggests that the combination of 4K resolution and Ultra quality settings places the most strain on the RTX 5070's memory subsystem, with the 12 GB VRAM capacity and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth becoming the primary bottleneck.