Doom

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 pairing produces exceptionally high frame rates in Doom, with the data showing a clear shift in bottleneck behavior across resolutions and settings. This analysis interprets the measured FPS rows to explain where each component dominates and how the combination ranks among all tested systems.

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

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, running on a 10 nm process node. Its base clock of 3.20 GHz boosts up to 6.00 GHz, and it carries a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus and uses PCIe Gen 5 with 16 CPU lanes.

Benchmark results place the i9-14900K in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 49872, while the single-core score reaches 7040. In Geekbench, the multi-core score is 20370 and single-core is 3064. Passmark multi-thread performance is 58674, with single-thread at 4697.

The nearest rivals show the i9-14900K is tightly clustered with other high-end chips. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, which is 0.3% higher than this chip's 79824 average. The Intel Core i9-14900KF is nearly identical at 79245, just 0.7% lower. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF and 265K score 79240 and 79102 respectively, both 0.7% and 0.9% behind.

For Doom, the CPU's role becomes apparent only at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 458.3 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all tests. This suggests the i9-14900K's high boost clock and strong single-core performance are sufficient to feed the GPU even at extreme frame rates. The 32 threads and 36 MB L3 cache provide ample headroom for the game's engine, which was designed to scale across many cores.

The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 276.1 FPS. This is a 39.8% reduction from Low settings, indicating that the CPU is not the limiting factor even when settings increase. Instead, the GPU workload rises with Ultra settings, pulling the frame rate down. The i9-14900K's 6.00 GHz boost clock ensures that no single-threaded bottleneck emerges in this title.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process. It packs 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². The GPU has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Memory clocks run at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed.

Core clocks are 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost. The GPU contains 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. There are 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance reaches 104.8 TFLOPS. The card uses a 575 W TDP with a 950 W suggested PSU.

The RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 14411, and Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 380114 and 379571 respectively. Passmark G3D shows 39650, with GPU compute at 26756.

Nearest rivals present an interesting picture. The RTX 5090 D scores 84241, just 0.1% lower than this card's 84306 average. The RTX 5050 Mobile matches at 84171, also 0.2% behind. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 is 1.3% lower at 83209, while the NVIDIA CMP 40HX is 1.6% higher at 85637.

The GPU's role in Doom is clearly dominant. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 95.6 FPS, which is the lowest measured result. This is a 43.9% drop from 4K Low at 162.7 FPS. The 32 GB VRAM is far more than this 2016 game needs, but the raw compute power determines performance at higher resolutions. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures texture streaming and memory access never become a constraint.

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

Resolution scaling reveals a consistent pattern. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the frame rate drops from 341.4 to 222.2 FPS, a 34.9% reduction. Going from 1440p to 4K at High settings, it falls from 222.2 to 121.3 FPS, another 45.4% reduction. Across the full range from 1080p High to 4K High, the drop is 64.5%.

Low settings show a similar trend. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 458.3 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 301 FPS, a 34.3% reduction. At 4K Low, it falls to 162.7 FPS, another 46.0% reduction. The total loss from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 64.5%.

Medium settings follow the same pattern. From 1080p Medium at 399.5 FPS to 1440p Medium at 257.9 FPS is a 35.4% drop. From 1440p Medium to 4K Medium at 139.7 FPS is a 45.8% drop. Total loss is 65.0%.

Ultra settings show the steepest relative decline. At 1080p Ultra, the combo reaches 276.1 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 180.8 FPS, a 34.5% reduction. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 95.6 FPS, another 47.1% reduction. Total loss is 65.4%.

This scaling behavior indicates the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions. The consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~46% drop from 1440p to 4K aligns with the pixel count increase of 2.25x and 2.25x respectively. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would stay relatively flat at lower resolutions, but instead it scales nearly linearly with pixel count. The i9-14900K's performance headroom means it only becomes relevant at the highest frame rates, where the 1080p Low result of 458.3 FPS may approach CPU limits.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 4th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom. This places it in the top 0.2% of all systems measured. The rank reflects the absolute frame rates achieved across all resolution and settings combinations.

Being 4th out of 1681 means only three other CPU-GPU pairings produce higher average frame rates in this game. Given the i9-14900K's 97th percentile CPU score and the RTX 5090's 94th percentile GPU score, this ranking aligns with the component's individual strengths. The combo outperforms the vast majority of systems by a substantial margin, with the 1080p Low result of 458.3 FPS being nearly unobtainable for most hardware.

The deltaPct data from nearest rivals provides context. The i9-14900K's average benchmark score of 79824 is within 0.9% of its closest competitors, meaning the CPU choice contributes minimally to the overall ranking. Similarly, the RTX 5090's 84306 average is within 1.6% of its nearest rivals. The combination's 4th place ranking therefore comes from the exceptional performance of both components working together, rather than any single part being far ahead of the field.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured rows provide clear guidance on settings selection. At 1080p, all presets exceed 276 FPS, so the choice depends on whether visual fidelity or maximum frame rate is prioritized. High settings at 341.4 FPS offer a strong balance, while Ultra at 276.1 FPS still provides an excellent experience for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 1440p, High settings deliver 222.2 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors. Ultra at 180.8 FPS remains playable, but the 41.4 FPS difference between High and Ultra may be noticeable. Medium at 257.9 FPS offers headroom for competitive play, but High appears to be the sweet spot for image quality vs. speed.

At 4K, the situation changes. High settings produce 121.3 FPS, which is suitable for 120 Hz displays. Ultra drops to 95.6 FPS, which is still smooth but may not take full advantage of higher refresh rates. Medium at 139.7 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 120 FPS, while Low at 162.7 FPS offers maximum speed.

The data suggests that High settings at 1440p or 4K provide the best overall experience. At 1440p High, the 222.2 FPS result exceeds most display capabilities, while at 4K High, the 121.3 FPS result aligns well with common 4K monitor refresh rates. Ultra settings are viable but offer diminishing returns relative to the frame rate cost.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured result is 458.3 FPS at 1080p with Low settings.

Q: How does the i9-14900K compare to its closest CPU rival?

A: The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, which is 0.3% higher than the i9-14900K's 79824 average benchmark score.

Q: What is the performance difference between 4K Ultra and 4K High?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 95.6 FPS, while at 4K High it reaches 121.3 FPS, a 21.2% improvement from dropping one preset level.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 outperform its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 84306 on average, which is 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 at 83209, but 1.6% lower than the NVIDIA CMP 40HX at 85637.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 4th out of 1681 tested combos in Doom, placing it in the top 0.2% of all systems.

Q: What resolution and settings provide the best balance?

A: At 1440p High, the combo delivers 222.2 FPS, while at 4K High it delivers 121.3 FPS, both offering strong frame rates with high visual quality.