Downfall

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2556th out of 3716 tested combinations for Downfall. That places this setup in the lower third of the database, which is noteworthy given the processor's strong compute credentials. The ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU's mid-range standing, the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 94th percentile among all CPUs. This is an asymmetric pairing: the processor has far more headroom than the graphics card can utilize in this title.

In practical terms, the combo's global rank means that a majority of tested systems deliver higher average frame rates in Downfall. However, the rank alone does not tell the full story, because the game's settings and resolution dramatically shift where this pair lands. At 1080p, the combo clears 60 FPS on every preset including Ultra. At 1440p, it still clears 60 FPS on High, which is the best playable preset there. Only at 4K does the pairing struggle, with Ultra falling to 38.9 FPS and High sitting at 55.5 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

The CPU's benchmark average of 69355 places it within 1% of several high-end rivals, but that compute strength does not translate into a higher combo rank for this particular game. Downfall is clearly more sensitive to GPU throughput at higher resolutions, as the measured FPS drops align with the GPU's known performance class rather than the CPU's capabilities.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Downfall at 60 FPS on Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080, yes. The measured average FPS on Ultra is 81.9, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 57.7 FPS, just below the target. At 3840x2160, Ultra falls to 38.9 FPS, well short of 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p with this combo?

A: The High preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS at 2560x1440, delivering 91.1 FPS on average. The Medium preset also remains playable at 113.2 FPS, and Low runs at 136.5 FPS. Ultra is the only preset at this resolution that fails the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 18093 is within 1.6% of four nearby cards: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, 0.4% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, 0.5% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, 1.5% faster), and the Intel Arc A770M (18383, 1.6% faster). These differences are minor, so any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Downfall.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the AMD EPYC 9115, have average scores within 1% of the i7-14700K, yet the FPS varies strongly with resolution and settings in a way that tracks the GPU's load. At 4K, even Low settings produce 85.9 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck there.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 66.7 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at 4K drop to 55.5 FPS, and Low runs at 85.9 FPS. Ultra at 4K is the worst case at 38.9 FPS.

Q: Does the combo rank improve at lower resolutions?

A: The database rank of 2556 is a single global figure, but the measured FPS at 1080p shows the combo is fully playable across all four presets. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 81.9 FPS, which is 21.9 FPS above the playability threshold, indicating that the combo's weakness only appears when resolution demands more from the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data provides average FPS for each combination of resolution and settings, with no minimum or maximum frame time data available. All figures below are averages.

At 3840x2160, the performance hierarchy is steep. Low settings produce 85.9 FPS, Medium drops to 66.7 FPS, High falls to 55.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 38.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 47 FPS, which indicates that the GPU's 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are heavily taxed at 4K. The RTX 2060 SUPER's 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for Ultra settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the same settings show much healthier numbers. Low runs at 136.5 FPS, Medium at 113.2 FPS, High at 91.1 FPS, and Ultra at 57.7 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is the largest single drop, a 33.4 FPS reduction, which suggests that Ultra enables effects that disproportionately load the GPU's 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores. Even so, High remains comfortably above the 60 FPS target.

At 1920x1080, the combo is strong across the board. Low hits 191.3 FPS, Medium delivers 157.6 FPS, High reaches 128.6 FPS, and Ultra still manages 81.9 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 1080p is consistent, roughly a 40% improvement in FPS for each preset, which is expected given the pixel count reduction from 3.69 million to 2.07 million. The Ultra preset at 1080p is the only setting at this resolution that comes close to stressing the system, but it stays well above the playability threshold.

The delta between resolutions is largest for Ultra settings: 38.9 FPS at 4K, 57.7 FPS at 1440p, and 81.9 FPS at 1080p. This pattern confirms that the GPU's shading units (2176) and TMUs (136) are the primary constraint, as Ultra settings likely increase texture filtering and shadow resolution, which scale directly with pixel output.

The Verdict

This PC can run Downfall, but the playable settings depend heavily on the chosen resolution. The verdict is clear from the recorded data:

At 3840x2160, the playable settings are Low (85.9 FPS) and Medium (66.7 FPS). High at 55.5 FPS and Ultra at 38.9 FPS both fall short of the 60 FPS target. The best setting for 4K is Medium, which delivers 66.7 FPS, just 6.7 FPS above the threshold.

At 2560x1440, High (91.1 FPS), Medium (113.2 FPS), and Low (136.5 FPS) are all playable. Ultra at 57.7 FPS misses the target by a narrow margin. High is the most demanding playable preset, offering 91.1 FPS.

At 1920x1080, every preset clears 60 FPS. High runs at 128.6 FPS, Medium at 157.6 FPS, Low at 191.3 FPS, and Ultra at 81.9 FPS. The best setting is Ultra, which provides 81.9 FPS, a 36% margin above the threshold.

For users who prioritize smooth gameplay over visual fidelity, this combo is viable at 4K with Medium settings. For those who want maximum quality, 1080p Ultra is the only way to get the full experience without dropping below 60 FPS. The 1440p High preset offers a balanced middle ground, with 91.1 FPS that leaves headroom for occasional frame drops.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database are all within 1% of its average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, 0.2% faster), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875, 0.7% faster), and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996, 0.9% faster) would behave nearly identically to the i7-14700K in Downfall, since the game does not appear to be CPU-limited at any resolution. The AMD EPYC 9115 (69288, 0.1% slower) is also effectively equivalent, though its server-oriented design would not change gaming performance in a measurable way.

On the GPU side, the closest alternatives are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, 0.4% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, 0.5% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, 1.5% faster), and the Intel Arc A770M (18383, 1.6% faster). The RTX 3060 Mobile is the most relevant comparison for gaming laptops, while the RX 460 is a desktop card that would produce nearly identical frame rates in Downfall despite its older architecture. The Arc A770M's slightly higher score suggests it might edge out the RTX 2060 SUPER by a couple of FPS, but the delta is small enough to be within run-to-run variance.

A user with the i7-14700K could swap in any of these GPUs and expect the same general behavior: playable at 1080p Ultra, playable at 1440p High, and playable at 4K Medium. Conversely, pairing the RTX 2060 SUPER with a slower CPU would not change the outcome, since the GPU is the bottleneck in all measured scenarios.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS average is as follows:

At 3840x2160, the best setting is Medium, which runs at 66.7 FPS. Low is also playable at 85.9 FPS, but Medium provides a higher visual quality while still clearing the threshold. High and Ultra are not recommended at this resolution, as they fall to 55.5 FPS and 38.9 FPS respectively.

At 2560x1440, the best setting is High, delivering 91.1 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over the 4K Medium experience, and it allows for higher quality shadows and textures. Ultra remains unplayable at 57.7 FPS, so High is the ceiling for this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the best setting is Ultra, which produces 81.9 FPS. This is the only resolution where the combo can max out the game's settings while staying above 60 FPS. The margin of 21.9 FPS provides enough headroom for demanding scenes, though the database does not record minimum FPS values to verify frame consistency.

These settings represent the sweet spot for each resolution, balancing visual fidelity against the 60 FPS playability threshold. Users who prefer higher frame rates can drop to Low at 4K (85.9 FPS) or Medium at 1440p (113.2 FPS), but the recommended presets above offer the best quality without sacrificing smoothness.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU for Downfall. The Intel Core i7-14700K, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is far more powerful than this game requires. Its nearest rivals, all within 0.9% of its benchmark score, would produce identical FPS, which means the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution.

The GPU, however, is the dominant constraint. The RTX 2060 SUPER's performance scales predictably with resolution: at 1080p Ultra it produces 81.9 FPS, at 1440p Ultra it drops to 57.7 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 38.9 FPS. This pattern is consistent with a GPU that is limited by pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus provide 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but becomes a bottleneck at 4K with Ultra settings.

The scaling between presets further confirms the GPU's role. At 4K, the jump from Low to Medium costs 19.2 FPS (85.9 to 66.7), while Medium to High costs 11.2 FPS (66.7 to 55.5), and High to Ultra costs 16.6 FPS (55.5 to 38.9). This non-linear scaling suggests that Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily utilize the GPU's fixed-function hardware, particularly the RT cores and tensor cores, which are not present in the CPU.

At 1080p, the CPU's influence is still minimal. The fact that Low runs at 191.3 FPS while Ultra runs at 81.9 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the game is not CPU-bound; otherwise, Low would approach the CPU's maximum frame rate, which is likely much higher than 191 FPS given the i7-14700K's compute scores. The CPU's multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 33440.5 and single-thread score of 2160 indicate it can handle far more than this game's demands.

In summary, for Downfall, the GPU governs performance at all resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom that goes unused. Users should focus on GPU settings and resolution to control frame rates, as the CPU will not become a bottleneck even at 4K Ultra. The only scenario where the CPU might matter is if future updates add heavier physics or simulation workloads, but the current data shows no such trend.