Downfall

The Intel Core i5-14600KF combined with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers overwhelming performance in Downfall, clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold at every resolution and preset tested. The data shows this combo is not merely playable but excessively fast, with even the most demanding 4K Ultra settings producing 74 FPS average, while lower resolutions reach frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates. This pairing ranks in the top 6.2% of all tested combinations for this game, confirming its status as a high-end solution that leaves no headroom concerns.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 74 FPS. This is a remarkable result for a horror title, as Ultra settings typically impose the heaviest load on the GPU. The benchmark data shows a clear progression at 4K: Low settings average 178 FPS, Medium averages 145 FPS (with minimum 123 FPS and maximum 167 FPS), High averages 119 FPS, and Ultra drops to 74 FPS. All four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, but Ultra represents the ceiling for maximum visual fidelity while maintaining comfortable playability. Notably, the gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 45 FPS (119 to 74), indicating that Ultra demands significantly more from the graphics hardware, yet the RTX 4080 still manages to deliver a fluid experience.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), Ultra settings again claim the top spot with an average of 120 FPS. This is a substantial jump from the 4K Ultra result, showing a 46 FPS improvement (74 to 120) when dropping from 4K to 1440p. The 1440p preset hierarchy shows: Low averages 285 FPS, Medium averages 233 FPS (minimum 198, maximum 268), High averages 191 FPS, and Ultra averages 120 FPS. Every preset at 1440p is well above the 60 FPS threshold, with even the slowest option (Ultra) delivering double the minimum playable performance. The minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium is 198 FPS, which is still over three times the playability threshold, suggesting that frame pacing remains consistent even during intense gameplay moments typical of horror titles.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the RTX 4080 is heavily overqualified, with Ultra settings producing an extraordinary 168 FPS average. The full 1080p dataset shows Low at 400 FPS, Medium at 327 FPS (minimum 278, maximum 376), High at 268 FPS, and Ultra at 168 FPS. Even the most demanding preset at 1080p offers frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium is 278 FPS, which is greater than the average FPS at 4K Ultra, highlighting the massive scaling efficiency of this resolution. For players with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors, the Ultra preset at 1080p provides sufficient headroom to maintain v-synced frame pacing.

The data demonstrates that Ultra is the best playable setting at all three resolutions because the combo never falls below 74 FPS, which is 14 FPS above the playable threshold of 60 FPS. The verdictByResolution field confirms all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable across 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080, with Ultra being the recommended best setting in each case. This is an unusual outcome—most hardware reviews identify one or more presets that fail to reach 60 FPS at higher resolutions—but the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, combined with the i5-14600KF's fast single-core performance, allow Downfall to run at maximum settings without compromise.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary performance limiter at 4K, while the CPU becomes more relevant at lower resolutions—though in this case, the GPU is so powerful that the CPU never becomes a bottleneck. The FPS scaling from 4K Ultra (74 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (120 FPS) shows a 1.62x increase, and from 1440p Ultra to 1080p Ultra (168 FPS) shows a 1.40x increase. This non-linear scaling pattern suggests that as resolution decreases, the CPU begins to play a more significant role, but even at 1080p, the i5-14600KF's 20 threads and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide sufficient processing power to keep frame rates flowing.

The GPU's architecture—Ada Lovelace with 9,728 shading units and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance—is clearly built for high-resolution workloads. The RTX 4080's pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s directly translate to the ability to fill 4K pixels with detailed textures. At 4K High, the GPU produces 119 FPS, which is 60% higher than the 4K Ultra score of 74 FPS. This large drop suggests that Ultra settings in Downfall likely enable heavy ray tracing or pixel-saturated effects that tax the RT cores (76 total) and tensor cores (304 total), making the GPU the decisive factor at 4K.

At 1440p, the scaling from Low (285 FPS) to Ultra (120 FPS) shows a 2.38x reduction, meaning that the graphics load dominates. However, the fact that 1080p Low reaches 400 FPS—a value that exceeds the refresh rates of most monitors—indicates the CPU is also working hard to feed the GPU. The i5-14600KF scores 32,544 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,594 in single-core, which places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. This single-core strength is crucial for Downfall, a game likely to rely on one main thread for game logic, and the 4,594 single-core score ensures that frame times remain stable.

Cross-referencing the measured FPS with the component benchmarks provides insight: at 4K Low (178 FPS), the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the CPU could handle much higher frame rates. At 1080p Low (400 FPS), the frame rate is approaching the CPU's practical limit for this game, since the GPU is capable of even more but the CPU's per-core performance caps the output. The data shows that the RTX 4080's passmark_g3d score of 34,457 (86th percentile) and the i5-14600KF's passmark_single_thread score of 4,273 create a balanced pair, with the GPU dominating at 4K and the CPU playing a more important secondary role at 1080p.

Interestingly, the frame time data at Medium settings shows a minimum FPS that is 86% of the average at 4K (123 vs 145) and 85% of average at 1440p (198 vs 233), suggesting that the GPU can experience transient spikes in load during heavy scenes. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS of 278 is 85% of the 327 average, indicating a consistent pattern of ~15% frame time variance across all resolutions. This consistency implies that the GPU is the main source of frame-time jitter, while the CPU maintains a steady stream of draw calls.

FAQ

*Q: Is this PC capable of running Downfall at Ultra settings in 4K?*

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 74, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The verdictByResolution field lists Ultra as the best setting for 4K, confirming that this preset is fully playable.

Q: What is the highest resolution that can achieve playable performance at any preset?

A: All three resolutions tested—3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080—are listed as playable with every settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). The lowest recorded average FPS across all tests is 74 FPS (4K Ultra), which is still above 60.

Q: How much faster is 1440p Ultra compared to 4K Ultra?

A: At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average FPS is 120, while at 3840x2160 Ultra, it is 74. This represents a 62% higher frame rate at 1440p, or roughly 1.62 times the performance.

Q: Does the RTX 4080's benchmark performance align with its in-game frame rates?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247 and ranks in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has a delta of 0.1% higher score (54,209 vs 54,247), yet the differences are small enough that in-game performance is nearly identical—the deltaPct values are negligible.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600KF a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 400 FPS, which far exceeds display refresh rates. The i5-14600KF's single-thread benchmark score of 4,594 and its 90th percentile rank among all CPUs indicate that it has enough processing power to keep the RTX 4080 fed at even the lowest resolution, where CPU overhead is highest.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest minimum FPS in the dataset is 123 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 Medium settings. The minimum FPS for 1440p Medium is 198, and for 1080p Medium it is 278. All minimums are well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core i5-14600KF's average benchmark score is 49,394, placing it in the 90th percentile. The nearest rivals show very small performance deltas: the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49,228 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49,196 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995 (0.8% lower). On the other side, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49,796, which is 0.8% higher. These deltas are within 0.8% of the i5-14600KF, meaning any of these other CPUs would produce essentially identical frame rates in Downfall—the differences are far smaller than the 60 FPS threshold that separates playable from unplayable. For players considering a CPU swap without changing the GPU, any of these four alternatives would deliver the same experience, as the game at 4K is heavily GPU-bound, and at 1440p/1080p, the CPU still has enough performance to keep up.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080's average score of 54,247 is extremely close to its nearest rivals. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, a delta of only 0.1%—this means the SUPER version is virtually identical in performance, differing by just 38 points out of 54,000. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (2.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55,757 (2.7% higher). These deltas are so small that in real gameplay, the frame rates would be within rounding error. For instance, the 4K Ultra score of 74 FPS would be approximately 74.7 FPS with the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which is still 25% above the 60 FPS threshold. Players with a combination of these CPUs and GPUs can expect the same playable settings and frame rates as the i5-14600KF + RTX 4080 combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks #230 out of 3,716 tested combinations in Downfall. This places it in the top 6.2% of all systems, meaning that 3,486 other hardware combinations in the database perform worse than or equal to this pairing. The rank of 230 is particularly strong considering that many of the tested combos include more expensive parts like the RTX 4090 or i9-14900K, yet this mid-high-range CPU and GPU still achieve a top-tier position. The 90th percentile CPU rank and 86th percentile GPU rank combine to form a system that is well-balanced for this horror title, which tends to favor strong multi-threaded CPU performance for AI and physics, alongside the GPU's ability to render dark environments with high detail.

The high rank is supported by the fact that the data shows all four presets at all three resolutions are playable, a rarity in the benchmark database. For example, at 4K Ultra, this combo produces 74 FPS, which is greater than the 60 FPS threshold by 23%. At 1440p Ultra, the lead over the threshold is 100% (120 vs 60), and at 1080p Ultra, the lead is 180%. This combination of consistent performance across the board is why it ranks so high, as other combos might be strong at one resolution but fail to maintain playability at others.

The combo's rank in the top 6% confirms the RTX 4080's raw performance (48.74 TFLOPS) and the i5-14600KF's solid multi-core capacity (20 threads). While the CPU is not the absolute fastest in the database, it is fast enough to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any resolution. The 3,716 tested combos include both older and newer hardware, so this rank reflects the current generation’s strength.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Downfall. The verdictByResolution data is unambiguous: every resolution (3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080) has all four settings—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—listed as playable, with the 60 FPS threshold defined as the playability standard. The best settings recommendation is Ultra at each resolution, with average frame rates of 74 FPS at 4K, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 168 FPS at 1080p. These scores are not marginal successes; they are decisive victories over the 60 FPS threshold, with margins that range from 23% (4K Ultra) to 180% (1080p Ultra).

For a horror game like Downfall, which relies on atmospheric lighting, shadow quality, and texture detail to create tension, Ultra settings are the only way to experience the intended visual design. The frame rates ensure that even during fast-paced chase sequences or when the game spawns many volumetric effects, the frame time remains smooth. The minimum FPS recorded at any preset is 123 FPS (4K Medium), which is the worst-case scenario in the dataset, and that is still more than double the 60 FPS requirement. For players with a 4K 120Hz display, the Ultra preset will hover around 74 FPS, which is below the display's maximum rate but still a fluid, immersive experience. For 1440p 144Hz monitors, the Ultra preset at exactly 120 FPS is perfect, and for 1080p 240Hz monitors, the Ultra preset's 168 FPS is well within reach. This is a high-end hardware combination that leaves no performance stones unturned—it is the kind of system where the player can enable every option without checking a frame counter. The data confirms: this PC does not just run Downfall, it dominates it.