Downfall

The data recorded for Downfall shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at every tested resolution, with the Intel Core i5-9400 pairing cleanly with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D to deliver frame rates far above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The RTX 5090 D, which ranks in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs and averages a benchmark score of 77,712, provides enough headroom that even the most demanding preset at 4K clears the target with a 50% margin. The CPU, by contrast, sits in the 47th percentile among all processors, but its six cores and six threads prove sufficient for this horror title, as the bottleneck shifts decisively to the graphics card as resolution increases.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which records an average of 90 FPS. This is the highest visual fidelity available in the database for this game, and the system clears the playable threshold by 30 FPS, leaving some room for frame-time spikes without dropping below 60. The High preset at the same resolution averages 144 FPS, while Medium averages 175 FPS, and Low averages 207 FPS, but since Ultra already exceeds the target, it is the recommended setting for maximum quality.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset remains the best choice, delivering an average of 144 FPS. This is exactly double the playable threshold, meaning the system is nowhere near a performance ceiling at this resolution. The High preset averages 210 FPS, Medium averages 225 FPS with a minimum of 191 FPS, and Low averages 242 FPS, but all of these are unnecessary sacrifices in visual quality when Ultra already provides a comfortable margin.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 196 FPS, which is more than three times the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset averages 235 FPS, Medium averages 252 FPS with a minimum of 214 FPS, and Low averages 271 FPS. Given that the lowest preset at 1080p is only 75 FPS faster than Ultra, the graphical headroom is substantial, and Ultra is the clear recommendation for any user prioritizing image quality over raw frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component across all resolutions in Downfall, with the Intel Core i5-9400 acting as a sufficient but secondary contributor. The scaling from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the Ultra preset shows a drop from 196 FPS to 144 FPS, a 26.5% reduction, while the jump to 3840x2160 further reduces the average to 90 FPS, a 37.5% drop from the 1440p result. This pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound workload, where increasing pixel count directly impacts the graphics card's output.

The CPU's role is most visible at lower resolutions where the GPU is less saturated. At 1920x1080 Low, the average reaches 271 FPS, and at 2560x1440 Low it is 242 FPS, a 10.7% decrease that is smaller than the 26.5% drop seen on Ultra between the same resolutions. This suggests that at Low settings, the i5-9400's six threads can keep the RTX 5090 D fed, and the frame rate is still limited by the graphics card rather than the processor. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 935 and multi-core score of 6,629 are modest by current standards, but Downfall does not appear to demand heavy CPU work, as evidenced by the fact that even the 4K Ultra preset, which stresses the GPU most, still maintains 90 FPS.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with an average score of 2,259 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 with an average score of 2,246 (0.4% lower), show that the i5-9400 is competitive within its class, but the performance differences are negligible for this game. The recorded frame rates are so high that any CPU limitation would require a combination of low resolution and low settings to manifest, and even then, the minimum recorded framerate at 1920x1080 Medium is 214 FPS, which is far above any playability concern.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded averages are as follows: High 144 FPS, Low 207 FPS, Medium 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS, and Ultra 90 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at this resolution with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a 53 FPS spread between the lowest and highest frames. The Ultra preset, despite having no recorded minimum, averages 90 FPS, which is 30 FPS above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: High 210 FPS, Low 242 FPS, Medium 225 FPS with a minimum of 191 FPS and a maximum of 259 FPS, and Ultra 144 FPS. The Medium preset again provides the only full range, with a 68 FPS spread. The Ultra preset at 144 FPS matches the High preset at 4K, indicating that the resolution jump from 1440p to 4K costs roughly the same performance as the settings jump from Ultra to High at the lower resolution.

At 1920x1080, the averages are: High 235 FPS, Low 271 FPS, Medium 252 FPS with a minimum of 214 FPS and a maximum of 290 FPS, and Ultra 196 FPS. The Medium preset shows the widest range of any settings in the entire dataset, with a 76 FPS difference between minimum and maximum. The Ultra preset at 196 FPS is still 136 FPS above the playable threshold, and even the lowest recorded frame at any resolution and settings combination, 149 FPS at 4K Medium, is nearly 2.5 times the 60 FPS target.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 375th out of 3,716 tested combos in the database for Downfall, placing it in the top 10.1% of all configurations. This ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU, which outperforms its nearest rivals by a narrow margin: the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904 (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (1.6% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396 (2.1% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605 (2.4% higher). The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77,712 places it slightly below these Tesla and Radeon rivals, yet its measured performance in Downfall is so high that this ranking difference is immaterial.

The CPU's ranking contribution is less significant. With an average benchmark score of 2,254, the i5-9400 sits just below the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2,259, 0.2% higher) and just above the Intel Core i7-10710U (2,248, 0.3% lower) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2,246, 0.4% lower). These deltas are within 0.4% of each other, confirming that the processor is not a distinguishing factor in this combo's overall rank. The 375th position out of 3,716 combos reflects the GPU's dominance, and the data suggests that swapping the i5-9400 for a slightly stronger or weaker CPU would change the rank by only a handful of positions, if at all.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Downfall at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 1920x1080?

A: Yes, the recorded average FPS at 1920x1080 Ultra is 196, which is 136 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best setting at 3840x2160 that maintains at least 60 FPS?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 90 FPS, making it the most demanding setting that clears the threshold. Lower presets also exceed 60 FPS: High averages 144 FPS, Medium averages 175 FPS, and Low averages 207 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2,259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2,248 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2,246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2,264 (0.4% higher).

Q: Is the system more limited by the CPU or the GPU in Downfall?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions. The frame rate drops from 196 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 144 FPS at 1440p Ultra to 90 FPS at 4K Ultra, a scaling pattern that reflects GPU load rather than CPU capacity.

Q: What is the lowest recorded frame rate across all tested settings?

A: The minimum recorded FPS is 149, which occurs at 3840x2160 Medium settings. This is still 89 FPS above the playable threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Downfall?

A: It ranks 375th out of 3,716 tested combos, placing it in the top 10.1% of all configurations in the database.

The Verdict

This PC can run Downfall at every resolution and preset combination recorded in the database, and it does so with substantial margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings at each resolution are playable: at 3840x2160, the best setting is Ultra with an average of 90 FPS; at 2560x1440, the best setting is Ultra with an average of 144 FPS; and at 1920x1080, the best setting is Ultra with an average of 196 FPS. The RTX 5090 D is the primary driver of this performance, and the i5-9400, while not a top-tier processor, does not bottleneck the system in this game. The lowest recorded average, 90 FPS at 4K Ultra, is 50% above the target, and the lowest recorded minimum, 149 FPS at 4K Medium, is nearly 2.5 times the threshold. Users can confidently enable Ultra settings at any resolution and expect a smooth experience.