Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a strong performance profile in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that is clearly not taxing modern hardware. Benchmark data shows this combination easily clears the 60 FPS playable threshold across nearly every resolution and preset tested, with the only exception being the most demanding configuration at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces exceptional frame rates that will satisfy high-refresh-rate display owners. The Low preset averages 257 FPS, while Medium reaches 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 FPS and a maximum of 242 FPS. High settings yield 172 FPS, and Ultra still manages a robust 108 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial — roughly 149 FPS — but even the heaviest settings remain far above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales predictably downward but stays comfortably playable. Low averages 183 FPS, Medium hits 150 FPS with a 127 FPS minimum and 172 FPS maximum, and High delivers 123 FPS. Ultra at this resolution produces 77 FPS, which is still above the playable mark. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30-40% of the average frame rate depending on the preset, but the margin to 60 FPS remains large in every case.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3070 begins to show its limits. Low averages 114 FPS, Medium drops to 93 FPS with a 79 FPS minimum and 107 FPS maximum, and High settles at 77 FPS. Ultra, however, falls to 48 FPS — the only configuration in the entire dataset that misses the 60 FPS playable threshold. This represents a 29 FPS drop from High to Ultra at 4K, a steeper penalty than the 46 FPS drop seen from High to Ultra at 1440p, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a disproportionate load at higher pixel counts.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals that this game is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions, but the CPU becomes more relevant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the RTX 3070 is clearly the limiting factor — the Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 5 architecture, has ample headroom to feed the GPU. The fact that frame rates exceed 250 FPS on Low settings suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution.

At 1440p, the GPU workload scales up, but the CPU still has reserve capacity. The 77 FPS result on Ultra at 1440p mirrors the 77 FPS result at 4K High, which is a telling coincidence — it suggests that the GPU is hitting a similar performance ceiling in both scenarios, while the CPU is not the constraining factor in either case.

The 4K results tell a different story. The 48 FPS at Ultra indicates the GPU is saturated, and the CPU's role diminishes further. The Ryzen 7 9700X's strong single-thread performance — evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2211 — ensures that even in CPU-light horror scenes, the processor never becomes the bottleneck. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent GPU-bound pattern: the RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title, but the Ampere architecture's compute resources limit Ultra settings at 4K.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Ryzen 7 9700X sits within 0.4% of several rival CPUs in average benchmark score. The Intel Core i9-14901E is the closest match at 0.1% higher average score (37911 vs 37943), meaning users swapping between these two processors would see no meaningful difference in Downfall frame rates. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 also scores within 0.1%, while the Intel Core 5 211E trails by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 by 0.4%. Any of these CPUs paired with the RTX 3070 would produce nearly identical results in this game, as the GPU dominates performance at all tested resolutions.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3070's nearest rivals are similarly close. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 0.7% lower on average (17083 vs 17208), which would translate to roughly 1-2 FPS difference in Downfall — imperceptible in practice. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 and AMD Radeon HD 7970M are 1% and 1.1% lower respectively, while the NVIDIA Tesla K40c is 1.5% higher. None of these alternatives would change the playability verdict at any resolution, as the performance deltas are within the margin of measurement error. The RTX 3070's 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with the CPU's 86th percentile ranking, places this combo in a strong position for this title.

The Verdict

This PC can run Downfall with high confidence across almost the entire settings spectrum. At 1920x1080, all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 108 FPS. The 2560x1440 resolution is also fully playable at every preset, including Ultra at 77 FPS. At 3840x2160, the combo handles Low (114 FPS), Medium (93 FPS), and High (77 FPS) without issue, but Ultra drops to 48 FPS, which falls short of the playable standard.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p and 1440p are fully green-lit for any settings combination, while 4K users must avoid the Ultra preset. The 77 FPS at 4K High is a strong result for a horror game where smoothness matters for atmosphere, and the 93 FPS at 4K Medium offers even more headroom. The 48 FPS at 4K Ultra is the single failure point in an otherwise excellent showing.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is High, which averages 77 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the playable threshold while delivering the best visual quality available at this resolution. Medium at 93 FPS is the safer choice for those who prioritize frame rate stability, but High is the optimal balance.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is the best choice, averaging 77 FPS. This matches the 4K High result, meaning users get the highest visual fidelity at 1440p while still enjoying the same frame rate as the best 4K option. The 127 FPS minimum on Medium at this resolution shows that even the most demanding preset maintains playable lows.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is the clear winner at 108 FPS. This is the highest preset available and still delivers more than 100 FPS, making it the obvious recommendation for any display capable of showing it. The 179 FPS minimum on Medium at 1080p indicates that even frame-time spikes stay far above the playable threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3,716 CPU-GPU combinations tested in Downfall, this pairing ranks 1,592nd. That places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos, which is a respectable position given the RTX 3070's age and the fact that it was released in 2020. The ranking reflects that while this is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it outperforms a majority of systems in this specific game.

The rank is more impressive when considering the game's release date of 2016. The Ryzen 7 9700X, released in 2024, brings modern Zen 5 architecture to a title that predates it by eight years, while the RTX 3070 from 2020 provides ample graphics power for this era of game. The combination's 57th percentile ranking among all tested combos suggests that many newer and more expensive systems fail to beat it in Downfall, primarily because the game's requirements are modest enough that the GPU's 8 GB memory and the CPU's strong single-thread performance are more than sufficient. The 1,592nd rank out of 3,716 means roughly 2,124 other combos perform better, but the vast majority of those are likely higher-tier GPUs that cost significantly more, making this pairing a sensible middle-ground option for playing this horror title at high settings.