Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents an unusual combination in the database, with the processor ranking in the 91st percentile among all CPUs while the graphics solution sits in the 9th percentile among GPUs. This pairing produces a heavily GPU-bound experience in Downfall, a horror title from 2016. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can handle the game at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but struggles at 4K across all presets. The data recorded for this combination covers three resolutions and four quality presets, with average frame rates ranging from 20 FPS at 4K Ultra to 106 FPS at 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded average frame rates are consistently below the playable threshold of 60 FPS. The Low preset delivers an average of 47 FPS, which is the highest recorded average at this resolution. Medium settings produce 39 FPS on average, with minimum and maximum readings of 33 and 44 FPS respectively. High settings drop the average to 32 FPS, while Ultra settings bottom out at 20 FPS. No preset at 4K reaches the 60 FPS threshold, and the database lists no playable settings for this resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 27 FPS, indicating that the graphics solution has limited headroom even when visual quality is reduced.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves meaningfully. The Low preset achieves an average of 76 FPS, which clears the playable threshold. Medium settings record an average of 62 FPS, with minimum and maximum readings of 53 and 71 FPS, placing the average just above the 60 FPS line. High settings produce 51 FPS on average, which falls short of playable. Ultra settings drop to 32 FPS, matching the 4K High result. The database identifies Low and Medium as playable settings at 1440p, with Medium being the best preset that maintains an average at or above 60 FPS, specifically 62 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs 14 FPS on average, while stepping from Medium to High costs another 11 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the combination performs at its best. The Low preset records an average of 106 FPS, the highest average in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 87 FPS on average, with minimum and maximum readings of 74 and 100 FPS. High settings deliver 71 FPS on average, which is above the playable threshold. Ultra settings fall to 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS line. The database lists High, Low, and Medium as playable settings at 1080p, with High being the best preset that maintains an average at or above 60 FPS, specifically 71 FPS. The scaling from High to Ultra costs 27 FPS, a significant drop that mirrors the 4K Low to Ultra gap.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low and Medium presets are viable at 1080p and 1440p, High is only viable at 1080p, and Ultra is never viable. The minimum frame rate data appears only for Medium settings at each resolution, with readings of 33 FPS at 4K, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 1080p. These minimums suggest that even when the average frame rate clears 60 FPS, the lowest recorded frames can dip below that threshold, particularly at 1440p where the Medium average is 62 FPS but the minimum is 53 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded data shows a clear division of labor between the two components. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, has benchmark scores that place it in the 91st percentile among all CPUs. Its multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 47737 and Geekbench multi-core score of 22884 indicate substantial processing headroom. The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The disparity between a 91st percentile processor and a 9th percentile graphics solution means the GPU is the limiting factor in nearly every scenario.

The resolution scaling in the measured FPS data confirms this. At 1080p Low, the average is 106 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 76 FPS, a reduction of 30 FPS or roughly 28 percent. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low drops the average to 47 FPS, a reduction of 29 FPS or roughly 38 percent. These large drops with increasing resolution are characteristic of a GPU-bound system, where the rendering load scales directly with pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, since the processor's workload does not change as dramatically with resolution.

The preset scaling also points to GPU dominance. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 62 FPS, from 106 to 44 FPS. At 1440p, the same preset range spans from 76 to 32 FPS, a difference of 44 FPS. At 4K, the range spans from 47 to 20 FPS, a difference of 27 FPS. The diminishing absolute difference at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is saturated even at Low settings in 4K, leaving little room for additional visual features. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to render Low settings at high frame rates, but Ultra demands more than the hardware can provide.

The CPU's role is more prominent at lower resolutions and lower presets, where the GPU can produce higher frame rates. At 1080p Low, the 106 FPS average is high enough that the processor's single-thread performance, reflected in a PassMark single-thread score of 4646 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 1269, becomes relevant. However, even at this resolution, the GPU still governs the overall result, as the same processor paired with a stronger graphics card would likely produce much higher frame rates. The data indicates that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is never the primary constraint in this combination; the Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1536 shading units are the limiting factors.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database's nearest rival comparisons for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware would behave similarly in this combination. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762. Its closest rival is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF with an average score of 55093, which is 0.6 percent higher. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K scores 54053, which is 1.3 percent lower. The Intel Xeon 6505P scores 53701, which is 2 percent lower. The Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620, which is 2.1 percent lower. These deltas are small, all within 2.1 percent, meaning any of these processors would produce nearly identical CPU-side performance in Downfall. Since the GPU is the bottleneck, swapping the Ryzen 9 9900X3D for any of these alternatives would not meaningfully change the measured frame rates.

The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with an average score of 1463, which is 1.3 percent lower. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, which is 1.5 percent lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, which is 2.5 percent lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, which is 2.7 percent lower. These deltas are also small, all within 2.7 percent. A system with the Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with any of these rival GPUs would produce frame rates very close to those recorded for the Arc B390. The differences would be within a few frames per second at each resolution and preset, not enough to change which settings are playable.

The practical implication is that this combination sits at the bottom of the GPU performance spectrum. The Arc B390's nearest rivals are all older, low-end NVIDIA parts, and the recorded frame rates reflect that tier of graphics capability. For users considering alternative hardware, the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield far larger frame rate improvements than upgrading the CPU, since the processor already sits in the 91st percentile while the GPU sits in the 9th percentile.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Downfall at 1080p with High settings?

A: Yes. The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with High settings is 71 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The database lists High as the best playable preset at this resolution.

Q: What is the best preset at 1440p for this combination?

A: The best preset that maintains an average at or above 60 FPS at 2560x1440 is Medium, with a measured average of 62 FPS. Low also qualifies with 76 FPS, but Medium offers higher visual quality while staying above the threshold.

Q: Is 4K playable with this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest recorded average frame rate is 47 FPS at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra produce 39, 32, and 20 FPS respectively, and the database lists no playable settings at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762. Its closest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, scores 55093, which is 0.6 percent higher. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K scores 54053, which is 1.3 percent lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620, which is 2.1 percent lower.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3 percent lower. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, which is 1.5 percent lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, which is 2.7 percent lower.

Q: What frame rates does this combination achieve at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 106 FPS. This is the highest average recorded across all resolutions and presets in the dataset.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this specific combination at 3303 out of 3716 total tested combos for Downfall. This places it in the lower portion of the ranking, roughly in the 11th percentile of all tested combinations. The low rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU, since the Ryzen 9 9900X3D's 91st percentile CPU ranking is offset by the Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU ranking. The combination's overall position reflects the reality that a high-end processor cannot compensate for a low-end graphics solution in a GPU-bound game.

The rank of 3303 out of 3716 means there are 413 tested combinations that perform worse than this pairing, and 3302 that perform better. Given that the GPU's nearest rivals are all low-end parts from previous generations, the combination sits near the bottom of the performance distribution but not at the very bottom. The frame rate data supports this ranking, as the combination can achieve playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with reduced settings, but fails at 4K entirely. The database's verdict by resolution reinforces this, with no playable settings at 4K, two playable settings at 1440p, and three playable settings at 1080p.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves an average frame rate at or above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best recorded result is 47 FPS at Low settings, which falls short by 13 FPS. Medium produces 39 FPS, High produces 32 FPS, and Ultra produces 20 FPS. The database lists no playable settings for 4K, meaning users would need to lower the resolution to achieve a playable experience.

At 2560x1440, the best preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with a measured average of 62 FPS. This preset delivers minimum and maximum readings of 53 and 71 FPS, so individual frames can dip below the threshold even though the average clears it. Low settings produce a higher average of 76 FPS, but Medium is the most demanding preset that maintains a playable average. High and Ultra fall below the threshold with averages of 51 and 32 FPS respectively.

At 1920x1080, the best preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with a measured average of 71 FPS. This is the highest-quality preset that remains playable at this resolution. Low settings produce 106 FPS and Medium produces 87 FPS with minimum and maximum readings of 74 and 100 FPS, but High offers better visual quality while still clearing the threshold by 11 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 44 FPS, which is not playable.

The overall recommendation from the data is straightforward: at 1080p, use High settings for the best visual quality that maintains a playable frame rate; at 1440p, use Medium settings; and at 4K, the combination does not provide a playable experience at any preset, so lowering the resolution is necessary. The recorded data shows a system that can handle Downfall at mainstream resolutions with moderate settings, but the graphics solution's low relative performance limits the experience to the lower half of the preset spectrum.