Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a broadly playable experience in Downfall across most resolution and settings configurations, with the data clearly indicating that 1080p and 1440p offer the most headroom. At 4K, the system becomes more constrained, with only the Low preset clearing the 60 FPS threshold. The benchmark results reveal a system where the CPU’s substantial multi-core performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122, ranking in the 91st percentile) is more than sufficient for the game, while the GPU’s mid-range standing (65th percentile, average benchmark score of 20556) becomes the primary limiter at higher resolutions and demanding presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming on this combo?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 achieves an average of 68 FPS, making it the most demanding setting that stays above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data shows High (109 FPS), Medium (133 FPS), and Low (163 FPS) all also remain comfortably playable, but Ultra provides the highest visual quality while still clearing the threshold.

Q: Can this system handle 1440p with maximum settings?

A: No. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to an average of 49 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset at this resolution averages 78 FPS, making it the best playable option for 1440p.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: Only at the Low preset. At 3840x2160, the Low settings produce an average of 72 FPS, while Medium drops to 59 FPS (with minimums of 50 FPS), High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages only 30 FPS. The verdict data lists Low as the only playable 4K setting.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is within 0.1% of the Arc A750's score of 20582. This places them as near-identical in overall GPU compute performance, with the A750 holding a negligible edge of -0.1% delta.

Q: What is the CPU’s standing relative to other tested processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F ranks in the 91st percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 53620. Its closest rival, the Intel Xeon 6505P, scores 53701, a difference of only -0.2%, indicating essentially equivalent multi-threaded performance.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or GPU more at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p, the CPU’s high multi-core and single-core scores (Geekbench single-core 2429, Cinebench R23 single-core 4958) are far beyond what the game requires, while the GPU’s performance (65th percentile) directly scales with FPS drops as settings increase from Low (163 FPS) to Ultra (68 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of 3716 tested CPU-GPU combinations for Downfall, this pairing of Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B570 ranks at position 2988. This places it in the lower third of all tested combos, which is a notable finding given the individual component rankings — the CPU sits in the 91st percentile among all processors, while the GPU is in the 65th percentile among all graphics cards. The significant gap between the CPU’s high percentile and the combo’s overall rank (roughly the 20th percentile, given 2988/3716) suggests that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck for this game.

The rank indicates that while the CPU is a top-tier performer, the Arc B570's mid-range standing drags the overall combination down when competing against systems with more powerful GPUs. The combo’s position is not reflective of a balanced pairing; rather, it highlights a system where the processor is overqualified relative to the graphics card for this specific title. In practical terms, this means the observed frame rates at higher presets and resolutions are constrained by the GPU, not the CPU. The data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 30, which is a 58% reduction from 1080p Ultra’s 68 FPS, a scaling pattern consistent with GPU-bound performance.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results across resolutions and presets show a clear division of labor. At 1920x1080, the system is likely GPU-bound at higher settings but still delivers impressive frame rates: Low averages 163 FPS, Medium 133 FPS, and High 109 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra (163 to 68 FPS, a 58% decrease) is entirely attributable to the GPU’s workload increasing with visual complexity. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads and a Passmark multi-thread score of 41317, has ample headroom to feed the GPU at these frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU’s role becomes even more pronounced. The average FPS at Medium is 95, at High 78, and at Ultra 49. The scaling from 1080p Medium (133 FPS) to 1440p Medium (95 FPS) represents a 29% performance drop, which is consistent with the pixel count increase of 78% (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels) — the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s performance at these resolutions is not a concern; its Geekbench multi-core score of 19620 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 are far in excess of what a horror title like Downfall requires.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck. The average FPS at Medium is 59, at High 49, and at Ultra 30. Even at Low, where the GPU load is minimized, the average is only 72 FPS, which is 44% lower than 1080p Low’s 163 FPS. The 4K pixel count (8.29 million) is four times that of 1080p, and the frame rate scaling reflects this GPU-bound reality. The CPU’s role throughout all resolutions is to maintain a stable frame delivery, and given its benchmark scores — including a Passmark single-thread score of 4257 — it does so without becoming a constraint. The data shows that for this game, the Arc B570 is the performance limiter at every resolution above 1080p Low.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals based on average benchmark scores are all within 1% of the i7-14700F’s 53620 average. The Intel Xeon 6505P scores 53701 (-0.2%), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469 (+0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53288 (+0.6%), and the AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53206 (+0.8%). In practical terms, any of these processors paired with the Arc B570 would yield nearly identical frame rates in Downfall, as the CPU is not the bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 7900X is the most comparable consumer alternative, with a delta of only 0.6%, meaning a system with that CPU and the same GPU would behave within a rounding error of this combo.

For the GPU, the Arc B570’s nearest rivals are extremely close in performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (+0.1% delta), the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (-0.1%), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (+0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662 (-0.5%). These deltas are all sub-1%, indicating that swapping the Arc B570 for any of these GPUs would produce essentially identical frame rates at every resolution and preset. The Arc A750 is the most direct alternative, being a desktop Intel card with similar architecture generation, and its 0.1% lower score means users would see no meaningful difference in Downfall’s performance. The RTX 3070 Mobile is interesting as a laptop part that matches this desktop GPU’s performance, suggesting that the Arc B570’s 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are well-utilized in this title.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 68 FPS. This is the recommended setting for full visual fidelity, as the next step down, High, offers 109 FPS but with reduced effects. Medium (133 FPS) and Low (163 FPS) are also playable but unnecessary given the headroom.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the best playable option, averaging 78 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 49 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold, so High represents the optimal balance of visual quality and performance. Medium (95 FPS) and Low (116 FPS) are also playable but offer diminishing returns on visual quality for the frame rate uplift.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, with an average of 72 FPS. The Medium preset averages 59 FPS (with minimums of 50 FPS), which is below the threshold, and High (49 FPS) and Ultra (30 FPS) are not viable. The Low preset at 4K is the only configuration that clears 60 FPS, and it does so with a margin of 12 FPS.

The Verdict

The data shows that this PC can run Downfall, but the playable envelope is clearly defined by resolution. At 1920x1080, the system is fully capable, with all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) achieving average frame rates above 60 FPS — the Ultra preset’s 68 FPS average confirms that even maximum settings are playable. At 2560x1440, the system remains capable, with three presets (Low at 116 FPS, Medium at 95 FPS, High at 78 FPS) clearing the threshold, but Ultra drops to 49 FPS and is not playable. At 3840x2160, the system is only marginally playable, with the Low preset averaging 72 FPS; Medium (59 FPS), High (49 FPS), and Ultra (30 FPS) all fall short.

The verdict data lists the playable settings per resolution: 4K only supports Low; 1440p supports High, Low, and Medium; 1080p supports all four presets. The best settings for each resolution, defined as the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, are 1080p Ultra (68 FPS), 1440p High (78 FPS), and 4K Low (72 FPS). The system is therefore best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where it delivers smooth performance with high visual quality, while 4K is a compromise scenario that requires the lowest settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The full range of presets was measured. Low settings produce an average of 163 FPS. Medium settings average 133 FPS, with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS. High settings average 109 FPS. Ultra settings average 68 FPS. All presets remain well above the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the minimum observed frame rate (113 FPS at Medium) still far exceeding it.

2560x1440: Low settings average 116 FPS. Medium settings average 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. High settings average 78 FPS. Ultra settings drop to an average of 49 FPS. The minimum frame rate at Medium (81 FPS) remains above the threshold, but the Ultra preset’s average falls below it, indicating a significant performance cliff between High and Ultra.

3840x2160: Low settings average 72 FPS, clearing the threshold by 12 FPS. Medium settings average 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS — the average is just below the threshold, and the minimum is 10 FPS below. High settings average 49 FPS. Ultra settings average 30 FPS, which is exactly half of the 60 FPS target and represents the worst-case scenario for this combo. The data shows a consistent degradation from Low to Ultra at every resolution, with the gradient steepening as resolution increases, confirming the GPU’s role as the primary performance limiter.