Downfall

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers a consistently strong showing in Downfall, with the measured data indicating that the combination clears the 60 FPS threshold across nearly every setting and resolution tested. The only exception is the Ultra preset at 3840x2160, where the average frame rate dips to 55 FPS. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, identifies the optimal settings per resolution, and contextualizes the results against comparable hardware.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that maintains an average at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which produces an average of 123 FPS. Since all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS line at this resolution, the Ultra setting is the recommended choice for maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, with an average of 88 FPS. The data shows that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to handle the highest settings, as even the Ultra average is well above the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Ultra preset falls short, averaging 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The most demanding preset that remains playable is High, which delivers an average of 88 FPS. This represents a significant drop from the Ultra setting, but the High preset still offers a robust frame rate for 4K gaming.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Downfall at 4K with Ultra settings?*

A: No. At 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, the combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 produces an average of 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset is the most demanding option that maintains playable performance at this resolution, averaging 88 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset is the best choice at 2560x1440, as it is the most demanding setting that still averages 88 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. Lower presets (High, Medium, Low) also clear 60 FPS, but Ultra provides the highest visual quality without sacrificing playability.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 1440p with the Ultra preset?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 123 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the average drops to 88 FPS. This represents a 28.5% decrease in average frame rate when increasing resolution from 1080p to 1440p at the Ultra preset.

Q: Which preset at 1920x1080 yields the highest average frame rate?

A: The Low preset produces the highest average at 295 FPS. Medium follows at 241 FPS, High at 198 FPS, and Ultra at 123 FPS. All presets at this resolution are well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Is the 3840x2160 Ultra preset the only unplayable configuration in the measured data?

A: Yes. Across all resolutions and settings tested, the only configuration with an average below 60 FPS is 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, which averages 55 FPS. Every other combination of resolution and settings clears the playable threshold.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with the Medium preset, the minimum FPS recorded is 146 and the maximum is 198, with an average of 172 FPS. This indicates a relatively stable frame time distribution, with the minimum still well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of how the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 perform across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are uniformly high. The Low preset averages 295 FPS, the Medium preset averages 241 FPS with a minimum of 205 and a maximum of 277, the High preset averages 198 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 123 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is substantial, with Ultra delivering roughly 58% of the Low preset's average frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but scales down predictably. The Low preset averages 210 FPS, Medium averages 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 and a maximum of 198, High averages 141 FPS, and Ultra averages 88 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows compared to 1080p, with Ultra delivering about 42% of the Low preset's average. The Medium preset data shows a minimum frame rate of 146 FPS, which is still far above the playable threshold, indicating no concerning frame drops at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the strain on the hardware becomes evident. The Low preset averages 131 FPS, Medium averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 and a maximum of 123, High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra drops to 55 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only measured configuration that falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 58% reduction in average frame rate, from 131 FPS down to 55 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 91 FPS suggests that even in demanding scenes, the system holds up well at this resolution, but the Ultra preset's 55 FPS average indicates that it cannot maintain smooth gameplay.

The Verdict

Based on the measured FPS data, this PC can run Downfall successfully at all tested resolutions, provided the correct preset is selected. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with the Ultra preset averaging 123 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same is true: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra all average above 60 FPS, with Ultra at 88 FPS. At 3840x2160, three of the four presets are playable—Low at 131 FPS, Medium at 107 FPS, and High at 88 FPS—but the Ultra preset falls short at 55 FPS.

The verdictByResolution data confirms these findings. For 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best performing preset at an average of 88 FPS. For 2560x1440, all settings are playable, and Ultra is the best at 88 FPS. For 1920x1080, all settings are playable, with Ultra averaging 123 FPS. In summary, the only configuration that fails to meet the 60 FPS playable threshold is 4K Ultra, while every other combination of resolution and preset delivers smooth performance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i3-12100F provide context for its CPU-level performance. The Intel Core 3 N355 has an average benchmark score of 13492, essentially identical to the i3-12100F's 13494, with a delta of 0%. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, a 0.3% difference, meaning it would behave nearly the same in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, which is 0.7% higher, and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351, 1.1% lower. These deltas are all within a narrow band, indicating that any of these CPUs would produce very similar frame rates in Downfall when paired with the same GPU.

For the AMD Radeon RX 9070, the nearest rivals show similar GPU-level performance. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z has an average score of 23736, a 0.6% difference from the RX 9070's 23877. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 24063, 0.8% higher, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile scores 23628, 1.1% lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24170, 1.2% higher. These small deltas suggest that swapping the RX 9070 for any of these GPUs would yield very similar measured FPS in Downfall, with differences of only a few frames per second at most.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks at position 1122 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places the pairing in the top 30% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the strong GPU performance, which drives the high frame rates observed across most settings, tempered by the CPU's modest 4-core/8-thread design that may limit performance in certain CPU-bound scenarios.

Given that the combo sits at the 69th percentile for GPU performance and the 68th percentile for CPU performance among all tested hardware, the overall rank of 1122 out of 3716 aligns with expectations. The GPU's high percentile contributes more to the game's frame rates, as Downfall appears to be GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's percentile is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data reveals how the CPU and GPU each contribute to performance in Downfall. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are extremely high, with the Low preset averaging 295 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution, as the i3-12100F's single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 893) is sufficient to feed the RX 9070. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p—from 295 FPS down to 123 FPS—indicates that the GPU workload increases with preset quality, but the CPU maintains pace.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop across all presets, with Ultra averaging 88 FPS. The scaling from Low (210 FPS) to Ultra (88 FPS) shows a 58% reduction, which is similar to the 58% reduction seen at 1080p. This consistency suggests that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases, but the CPU is still able to keep up with the demands of the game.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's role becomes dominant. The Low preset averages 131 FPS, while Ultra drops to 55 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 58% reduction, identical to the other resolutions, indicating that the GPU's rendering load scales consistently with preset quality regardless of resolution. However, the absolute frame rates at 4K are much lower than at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's role is more pronounced at lower resolutions, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS, but at 4K, the RX 9070's raw throughput (36.13 TFLOPS FP32) determines the performance ceiling.