Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers an exceptional experience in Downfall, a horror title that clearly favors high frame rates over raw graphical fidelity. Measured data across all three primary resolutions shows this combination never drops below 84 FPS on average, even at the most demanding settings. The pairing is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 processor provides ample headroom to push frame rates into the hundreds at 1440p and 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results for this combination are uniformly strong, with no resolution or preset dipping below the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 3840x2160, the RTX 5090 flexes its capabilities. On Low settings, the average frame rate hits 201 FPS. Moving to Medium reduces the average to 164 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 140 FPS and maximum of 189 FPS. High settings still deliver a robust 135 FPS average. The most demanding preset, Ultra, drops the average to 84 FPS — still comfortably above the playability threshold, though the lack of min/max data for this preset suggests some variance may exist in heavy scenes.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale dramatically. Low settings produce an average of 323 FPS, making the game feel exceptionally fluid. Medium settings average 264 FPS, with a minimum of 225 FPS and maximum of 304 FPS. High settings sustain a 217 FPS average. Ultra at 1440p delivers an average of 135 FPS, matching the 4K High result — a clear indication that resolution scaling is nearly linear for this GPU. The jump from 4K Ultra to 1440p Ultra represents a 60.7% increase in average frame rate.

The 1920x1080 results are staggering. Low settings yield an average of 452 FPS, which is likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays. Medium settings average 370 FPS, with a minimum of 314 FPS and maximum of 425 FPS. High settings produce a 303 FPS average. Ultra at 1080p still maintains an average of 190 FPS — nearly three times the playability threshold. The min/max data for Medium settings across all three resolutions shows consistent frame pacing, with the 1080p Medium spread from 314 to 425 FPS indicating tight frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall database of tested combinations, this pairing ranks 63rd out of 3,716 combos — placing it in the top 1.7% of all tested systems. This rank is impressive but not surprising given the hardware involved. The CPU alone sits in the 94th percentile among all processors, while the GPU achieves the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards. The combination of two top-decile components naturally produces a top-tier gaming result.

The rank reflects the measured performance in Downfall specifically, which appears to be a moderately demanding title that scales well with GPU resources. A rank of 63 out of nearly four thousand means the vast majority of systems tested — over 3,650 of them — deliver lower frame rates in this game. This positions the combo as a high-end solution that will not struggle with any current horror title. The data suggests that only a handful of exotic multi-GPU or workstation-class configurations outperform this pairing in Downfall.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling between resolutions reveals a clear division of labor. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor. The RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are fully utilized, and the frame rate drops of 18.4% from Low to Medium and another 17.7% from Medium to High show rasterization limits. The CPU, with its 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 32 MB of shared L3 cache, has more than enough throughput to feed the GPU at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts slightly. The 20.2% improvement from 4K High to 1440p High (135 to 217 FPS) indicates the GPU is still the primary constraint, but the CPU begins to show its strength. The Ryzen 7 9700F's boost clock of 5.50 GHz and single-thread score of 4,691 in Passmark ensure that frame pacing remains consistent even at higher frame rates. The 1440p Ultra result of 135 FPS being identical to 4K High suggests the game's Ultra preset at 1440p is roughly equivalent in GPU load to High at 4K.

At 1920x1080, the CPU's role becomes more prominent. The jump from 1440p High to 1080p High (217 to 303 FPS) is a 39.6% improvement, while the Low preset jumps from 323 to 452 FPS — a 39.9% increase. These near-identical percentage gains indicate that at 1080p, the GPU is still the bottleneck but the CPU's 8 cores are being taxed more heavily. The 452 FPS Low result is particularly telling: the CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 36,470 and physics score of 2,122 suggest it can process game logic and draw calls quickly enough to feed the GPU at extreme frame rates. The fact that 1080p Ultra still produces 190 FPS — more than the 4K High result — confirms that the GPU remains the limiting factor, but the CPU is not holding it back at any resolution.

The Verdict

This system can run Downfall flawlessly at every tested resolution and preset. The data confirms playability at 3840x2160 on all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — with the lowest average being 84 FPS at Ultra. At 2560x1440, all presets clear 60 FPS by a wide margin, with Ultra averaging 135 FPS. At 1920x1080, even the most demanding Ultra preset delivers 190 FPS on average.

The verdict is unambiguous: every resolution and settings combination tested exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold. The worst-case scenario — 4K Ultra — still maintains an average of 84 FPS, which is 40% above the threshold. For a horror game where smooth motion is critical for immersion, this combo provides a silky experience. Players targeting 4K with maximum settings will enjoy frame rates well above console standards, while competitive or high-refresh-rate players can push 1440p or 1080p to achieve triple-digit frame rates. There is no scenario in this game where this hardware combination fails to deliver a playable experience.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Ryzen 7 9700F's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all extremely close. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875, just 0.2% lower than the 9700F's 69,996 average — effectively identical performance. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163, a 0.2% advantage over the 9700F. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515, 0.7% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69,355, 0.9% lower. Any of these processors would deliver nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Downfall, as the game is unlikely to be CPU-limited with any of them. Systems using these chips would see similar performance in CPU-bound scenarios, though the 9700F's Zen 5 architecture may have slight advantages in newer titles.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are more surprising. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605, just 0.3% higher than the RTX 5090's 79,842 average. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396, 0.6% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940, 1.1% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959, 1.4% higher. These are workstation and mobile parts that benchmark similarly in synthetic tests, but in actual gaming workloads, the RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and Blackwell architecture would likely outperform them. The benchmark similarity comes from the synthetic nature of Passmark's GPU tests, which do not fully capture gaming-specific features like ray tracing or DLSS.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the best setting that maintains 60+ FPS is Ultra, which averages 84 FPS. This is the most demanding preset, so players can confidently enable every visual option at 4K. The 84 FPS average provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, though players who prefer a locked 60 FPS experience might opt for High at 135 FPS for additional headroom.

At 2560x1440, the best setting is Ultra with an average of 135 FPS. This more than doubles the playability threshold and offers a smooth high-refresh-rate experience. Players with 144Hz displays can enable every setting and still stay above their refresh rate, making this the sweet spot for the combo.

At 1920x1080, the best setting is Ultra with an average of 190 FPS. This is ideal for 165Hz or 240Hz displays, as the frame rate stays well above even the most demanding refresh rates. The 190 FPS average means the game will remain fluid even during intense horror sequences with multiple light sources and particle effects. Players on 360Hz esports displays could even consider dropping to High for 303 FPS, though Ultra's 190 FPS is already sufficient for any non-competitive title.