Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a strong showing in Downfall, with benchmark results indicating that this combination handles the horror title comfortably across all tested resolutions. The data shows a system that scales well from 1080p to 4K, maintaining playable frame rates even at the most demanding settings, though the gap between preset quality levels narrows significantly as resolution increases.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that stays at or above the 60 FPS playable threshold is Ultra, which delivers an average of 60.3 FPS. This is a marginal buffer above the playability line, but it is consistent with the data showing all four presets — Low at 141 FPS, Medium at 116.1 FPS, High at 94.8 FPS, and Ultra at 60.3 FPS — as playable at this resolution. The Ultra preset’s average sits just 0.3 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, meaning users should expect occasional dips below that mark during intense scenes, but the overall experience remains viable.

For 2560x1440 (1440p), the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 95.4 FPS. This provides a much more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold compared to 4K, with the data showing a clear hierarchy: Low at 223.7 FPS, Medium at 181.2 FPS, High at 152.6 FPS, and Ultra at 95.4 FPS. At this resolution, even the most demanding preset leaves roughly 35 FPS of headroom, which is beneficial for maintaining smooth gameplay during rapid camera movements common in horror titles.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the best settings remain Ultra, delivering an average of 131.1 FPS. This is the highest performance tier, with Low at 315 FPS, Medium at 254.3 FPS, and High at 209.2 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p provides more than double the frame rate of the playable threshold, indicating that this combination has substantial performance reserves for users with high-refresh-rate displays.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a shifting balance between CPU and GPU influence depending on resolution and preset. At 1080p, the system achieves 315 FPS on Low settings, which compares to 141 FPS at 4K on the same preset — a 2.23x reduction. This scaling pattern suggests that at lower resolutions, the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X’s capabilities, including its 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, are sufficient to push very high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs.

The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low shows a performance drop of 174 FPS, which is a 55.2% reduction. By contrast, the scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra shows a drop from 131.1 FPS to 60.3 FPS — a 70.8 FPS difference, or 54% reduction. This consistency across presets indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary driver of resolution scaling, while the CPU maintains its role as a stable foundation.

At 1440p, the data shows the midpoint of this scaling behavior. The Low preset delivers 223.7 FPS, which is 71% of the 1080p Low result and 158.7% of the 4K Low result. This suggests that at 1440p, neither component is severely bottlenecked; rather, the workload is distributed more evenly. The Ultra preset at 1440p (95.4 FPS) represents 72.8% of the 1080p Ultra result and 158.2% of the 4K Ultra result, reinforcing this balanced behavior.

The RTX 4070’s specifications support this interpretation. With 5,888 shading units and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, the GPU provides substantial raw compute power, while the CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support at 89.6 GB/s bandwidth ensure that data delivery keeps pace. The measured results indicate that at 1080p, the CPU’s single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1253) is adequate to feed the GPU, but the GPU’s pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s becomes increasingly relevant at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this combination ranks 825th out of 3,716 tested combos for Downfall, placing it in the top 22.2% of all configurations tested. This percentile position is consistent with the component-level benchmarks: the CPU has a percentile rank of 81 among all CPUs, and the GPU also has a percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs.

The combo’s ranking reflects its balanced performance profile. The Ryzen 5 9600X achieves an average benchmark score of 29,713, while the RTX 4070 achieves an average benchmark score of 37,648. These scores are nearly aligned in relative terms, suggesting that neither component dramatically outclasses the other, which is beneficial for consistent game performance.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 60.3 FPS, which is just above the playable threshold. This places it in a performance tier where users can expect playable frame rates at maximum settings in Downfall, though without the extensive headroom seen at lower resolutions. The 1440p and 1080p results (95.4 FPS and 131.1 FPS at Ultra, respectively) indicate that the combo provides a comfortable experience at mainstream resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE has an average score of 29,656, which is 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 5 9600X’s 29,713. This negligible difference suggests that in Downfall, swapping to this CPU would yield nearly identical frame rates. The AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (average score 29,868, delta -0.5%) and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (average score 29,879, delta -0.6%) are also within 0.6% of the 9600X’s performance, meaning users with these CPUs would experience essentially the same gameplay metrics.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA Tesla P4 has an average score of 37,628, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4070’s 37,648. This puts the Tesla P4 as a near-identical performer in synthetic benchmarks, though its lack of modern gaming features may affect real-world results. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (average score 37,507, delta 0.4%) is also very close, suggesting comparable frame rates in Downfall. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (average score 38,135, delta -1.3%) is slightly faster in raw benchmarks, which could translate to a few additional FPS in this game, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (average score 37,157, delta 1.3%) is marginally slower.

For users considering alternatives, the data indicates that any of these CPUs paired with any of these GPUs would produce results within roughly 1.3% of the tested combo, which is imperceptible in actual gameplay. The nearest rival combinations would likely deliver the same playable settings at each resolution, with the RTX 4080 Mobile offering a slight edge and the Radeon PRO W6400 trailing by a small margin.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across presets is as follows: Low settings deliver 315 FPS, Medium delivers 254.3 FPS, High delivers 209.2 FPS, and Ultra delivers 131.1 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent reduction in performance, with each preset tier reducing frame rates by roughly 20-25% relative to the previous tier. The largest single drop occurs between High and Ultra, where the average falls by 78.1 FPS, representing a 37.3% reduction.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are: Low at 223.7 FPS, Medium at 181.2 FPS, High at 152.6 FPS, and Ultra at 95.4 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 29% across all presets, which is a consistent and predictable reduction. The gap between High and Ultra at this resolution is 57.2 FPS, which is a 37.5% reduction, closely mirroring the 1080p behavior.

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are: Low at 141 FPS, Medium at 116.1 FPS, High at 94.8 FPS, and Ultra at 60.3 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K reduces performance by approximately 37% across presets, which is a more significant drop than the 1080p-to-1440p scaling. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only measured configuration that falls close to the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the 60.3 FPS average indicating that the final preset tier is barely playable at this resolution.

The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the absolute frame rates decrease, but the relative differences between presets remain similar. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 183.9 FPS; at 1440p, it is 128.3 FPS; at 4K, it is 80.7 FPS. This narrowing spread indicates that the GPU’s workload becomes more uniform at higher resolutions, with the RTX 4070’s 12 GB memory buffer and 192-bit bus width playing a larger role in determining performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 60.3 FPS, which is only 0.3 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Users should expect occasional frame rate dips during demanding scenes.

Q: What is the best setting to use at 1440p for a comfortable experience?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 95.4 FPS, providing a 35.4 FPS buffer above the playable threshold. This makes it the best choice for a smooth experience at this resolution.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset sacrifice compared to Low at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 315 FPS while Ultra delivers 131.1 FPS. This represents a 183.9 FPS reduction, or approximately 58.4% lower performance when using the most demanding preset.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for 4K performance in this game?

A: The data shows the GPU plays a larger role at 4K. The scaling from 1080p Low (315 FPS) to 4K Low (141 FPS) shows a 55.2% reduction, while the CPU’s single-thread score of 1253 remains constant. The RTX 4070’s 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate become the limiting factors at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 825th out of 3,716 tested combos for Downfall, placing it in the top 22.2% of all configurations. Both the CPU and GPU have individual percentile ranks of 81 among their respective categories.

Q: Are there similar-performing alternatives to this CPU and GPU combination?

A: Yes. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE is 0.2% faster than the Ryzen 5 9600X, while the NVIDIA Tesla P4 is 0.1% slower than the RTX 4070. These alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates in Downfall, with performance differences of less than 1.3% across all nearest rivals.