Downfall

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti handles Downfall comfortably at 1080p and 1440p, and remains playable at 4K with settings tuned down. The recorded data shows every preset at 1920x1080 clearing the 60 FPS threshold, three of four presets doing so at 2560x1440, and two of four at 3840x2160. Downfall, a 2016 horror title, simply does not push this hardware to its limits outside of Ultra at 4K. Among the 3,716 CPU/GPU combinations tracked in the database for this game, this pairing ranks 2,566, which reflects the age of the components rather than any real-world struggle at mainstream resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the pairing is untouchable for a game of this vintage. Low averages 191.3 FPS, Medium averages 155.9 FPS, High averages 126.4 FPS, and even Ultra holds an 82.1 FPS average. That Ultra figure matters most: it sits comfortably above the 60 FPS playable threshold, meaning the full visual package is on the table with no compromises needed at Full HD.

At 2560x1440, the numbers step down but stay strong. Low delivers 138.8 FPS, Medium 112.8 FPS, and High 94.6 FPS, all with generous headroom. Ultra is the one casualty, averaging 54.4 FPS, which lands below the 60 FPS bar. That is a shortfall of roughly six frames rather than a collapse, but the database verdict is binary, and Ultra at 1440p does not clear it.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3060 Ti starts to feel the pixel count. Low averages 83.9 FPS and Medium averages 71.1 FPS, both playable. High drops to 57.2 FPS, falling just short of the threshold, and Ultra averages 35.5 FPS, well below it. The 4K story is therefore one of controlled retreat: step down one preset from where you want to be and the game becomes playable again.

Minimum and maximum frame rates were not captured in this dataset, so the analysis rests on averages. Given the margins involved, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, the averages alone support confident conclusions.

Best Settings per Resolution

The best playable preset at each resolution, defined as the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS average:

• 1920x1080: Ultra, 82.1 FPS average. The maximum preset with over twenty frames of headroom to spare.
• 2560x1440: High, 94.6 FPS average. High is the ceiling here; Ultra's 54.4 FPS misses the threshold.
• 3840x2160: Medium, 71.1 FPS average. Medium is the sweet spot, with Low's 83.9 FPS available for anyone wanting extra margin.

The pattern is clean and predictable: each jump in resolution costs roughly one preset tier. What runs at Ultra at 1080p runs at High at 1440p, and what runs at High at 1440p runs at Medium at 4K. This symmetry makes settings selection easy to plan.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU side, the Core i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile against all processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 2,254. Its nearest rivals are remarkably tight: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2,259, within 0.2 percent; the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2,248, within 0.3 percent; the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2,246, within 0.4 percent; and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2,264, within 0.4 percent. Any of these processors would deliver effectively identical Downfall performance alongside the same GPU. In standalone throughput, the i5-9400 records 668 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 94 in R15 single-core, 2,784 in R20 multi-core, 392 in R20 single-core, 6,629 in R23 multi-core, 935 in R23 single-core, 5,141 in Geekbench multi-core, and 1,389 in Geekbench single-core.

For the GPU side, the RTX 3060 Ti ranks in the 59th percentile against all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 16,129. Its closest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 16,014, within 0.7 percent; the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M at 16,351, within 1.4 percent; the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT at 16,361, also within 1.4 percent; and the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 15,862, within 1.7 percent. Swapping the 3060 Ti for the RX 5700 XT or RX 9060 would produce frame rates within a rounding error of the numbers above. Key GPU benchmark results for reference include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,626, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 78,927, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 47,784, and a PassMark G3D score of 20,349.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC runs Downfall, and it does so at every resolution with the right preset. The verdict by resolution:

• 1920x1080: fully playable. Low, Medium, High, and Ultra all clear 60 FPS, with Ultra at 82.1 FPS representing the best available settings.
• 2560x1440: playable. Low, Medium, and High clear the bar, topping out at High with 94.6 FPS. Only Ultra falls short at 54.4 FPS.
• 3840x2160: playable with settings discipline. Low and Medium clear the threshold, best at Medium with 71.1 FPS. High at 57.2 FPS and Ultra at 35.5 FPS do not.

For a horror game, where consistent frame pacing matters for immersion and responsiveness during tense sequences, the 1080p and 1440p results are the strongest argument for this pairing: at 1440p High the system averages nearly 95 FPS, leaving substantial headroom even if scenes get heavier than the benchmark average suggests. The 4K results are playable but leave little margin at Medium, and 71.1 FPS is the number to trust there.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data points clearly to a GPU-bound profile at higher resolutions. Going from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra drops the average from 82.1 to 54.4 FPS, and from 1440p High to 4K High drops it from 94.6 to 57.2 FPS. When frame rates fall this sharply as pixels increase, the graphics card is the limiting factor, and the CPU is simply keeping up. The Core i5-9400, a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part running at a 2.90 base and 4.10 boost clock with 9 MB of shared L3 cache, has no difficulty feeding a game engine from 2016.

At 1080p, the frame rates flatten out across presets in a way that suggests the CPU and engine begin to set the ceiling: 191.3 FPS at Low is a very high number for this pairing, and it indicates the processor is not a bottleneck at playable settings. The single-digit percentile gap between the i5-9400 and rivals like the i3-10305 and i7-10710U confirms the CPU choice barely moves the needle for this title. Anyone considering an upgrade to improve Downfall performance should look at the GPU first, since the resolution-driven frame rate losses are far larger than anything processor-side.

Within fixed resolutions, preset scaling is also meaningful. At 4K, moving from Ultra to Low nearly doubles the frame rate from 35.5 to 83.9 FPS. At 1080p the same span runs from 82.1 to 191.3 FPS. This spread shows the visual settings carry real weight, particularly at 4K where every preset tier matters for staying above the threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can the RTX 3060 Ti run Downfall at 4K?

A: Yes, with settings reduced. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 71.1 FPS and Low averages 83.9 FPS, both above the 60 FPS threshold. High at 57.2 FPS and Ultra at 35.5 FPS fall short.

Q: What is the best-looking playable configuration for this PC?

A: 1920x1080 at Ultra, averaging 82.1 FPS. This is the maximum preset the pairing can run above 60 FPS anywhere.

Q: Does Downfall run well at 1440p on this setup?

A: Very well. High averages 94.6 FPS, Medium 112.8 FPS, and Low 138.8 FPS. Only Ultra, at 54.4 FPS, misses the playable mark at 2560x1440.

Q: Is the Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for this game?

A: No. Frame rates scale sharply with resolution and preset rather than plateauing, indicating a GPU-bound profile. The i5-9400 also sits within half a percent of rivals like the i7-1068NG7 and Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 in overall benchmark score.

Q: Would swapping the GPU for an AMD alternative change the results?

A: Not meaningfully. The Radeon RX 9060, Radeon Pro 5600M, and RX 5700 XT all score within 1.4 percent of the RTX 3060 Ti's average benchmark result, so Downfall frame rates would be nearly identical.

Q: How does this pairing rank against other combinations in the database?

A: It ranks 2,566 out of 3,716 tracked combinations for this game, a mid-pack placement consistent with the end-of-life status of both components, even though the measured frame rates are strong at 1080p and 1440p.