Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 is a lopsided combination for running Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The CPU is a high-end 20-core processor, while the GPU is a much older, mid-range graphics card. The recorded data shows this pairing ranks 3378th out of 3716 tested combos for this game, placing it in the bottom 9 percent of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's limitations, as the RX 580 becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and presets. The game is playable at 1080p with High settings, and at 1440p with Low settings, but 4K remains out of reach for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3378 out of 3716 tested configurations places this system in the 9th percentile for Downfall performance. This means roughly 91 percent of tested hardware combinations deliver better average frame rates in this game. The low ranking is not due to the CPU, which sits in the 94th percentile across all processors, but rather because the RX 580's graphics performance holds the entire system back. The GPU's percentile rank against all GPUs is 53, placing it just above the median, which explains why the overall combo falls so far down the list.

The CPU's average benchmark score is 70163, while the GPU's average benchmark score is 12928. This massive gap indicates that the processor has far more compute headroom than the graphics card can utilize in gaming workloads. The recorded FPS data confirms this imbalance: at 1080p Low settings the system reaches 104.6 FPS average, but at 1080p Ultra it drops to 40.8 FPS, a 61 percent reduction that is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering limits rather than CPU throughput.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Downfall at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, at 1080p with High, Medium, or Low settings, and at 1440p with Low settings. At 1080p High the average FPS is 70.6, and at 1440p Low the average FPS is 75.8. At 4K resolution, no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p?

A: High settings, which produces an average of 70.6 FPS. Medium settings produce 81.5 FPS, and Low settings produce 104.6 FPS, but High is the most demanding preset that still clears the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the GPU is the limiting factor. The FPS drops significantly as settings increase, from 104.6 FPS at 1080p Low to 40.8 FPS at 1080p Ultra, while the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads remain largely underutilized. The CPU only becomes relevant for maintaining minimum frame rates, which are not recorded in the data.

Q: Why is the combo rank so low despite a powerful CPU?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 12928 is far below the CPU's 70163. In gaming, the GPU renders the frames, and the RX 580's GCN 4.0 architecture from 2017 cannot keep pace with modern titles. The 8 GB GDDR5 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p, but the 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute limits higher resolutions and presets.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where multiple presets (High, Medium, Low) exceed 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings are playable, and at 3840x2160, even Low settings fall to 43.2 FPS average, well below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 12928 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940, 0.1 percent slower), the GTX 1660 SUPER (12986, 0.4 percent slower), the AMD Radeon 740M (12870, 0.5 percent faster), and the AMD FirePro W5100 (12847, 0.6 percent faster). This means any of these GPUs would deliver similar frame rates in Downfall.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the recorded data shows no playable settings. Ultra settings average 19.6 FPS, High settings average 27.9 FPS, Medium settings average 39.8 FPS, and Low settings average 43.2 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS threshold, and even the best case (Low) falls 16.8 FPS short. The step from Medium to Low at 4K only gains 3.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution regardless of settings.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the data shows a wider spread. Low settings average 75.8 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 59.2 FPS, just 0.8 FPS below playable. High settings average 50.7 FPS, and Ultra settings average 34.1 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 1440p costs 8.5 FPS, while the transition from High to Ultra costs 16.6 FPS, showing that the GPU struggles with the higher preset's shading and texture demands.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system performs best. Low settings average 104.6 FPS, Medium settings average 81.5 FPS, and High settings average 70.6 FPS, all above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings average 40.8 FPS, which is 19.2 FPS below playable. The gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is 29.8 FPS, a 42 percent drop that indicates the Ultra preset introduces rendering features the RX 580 cannot handle efficiently.

The Verdict

The data indicates that this PC can run Downfall at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on High, Medium, and Low settings, with the best playable preset being High at 70.6 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only Low settings are playable, averaging 75.8 FPS. The verdict data confirms that 4K resolution has no playable settings, as even the lowest preset fails to reach 60 FPS.

For a stable experience, 1080p High is the recommended target. This provides a 10.6 FPS cushion above the 60 FPS threshold, which should accommodate minor frame dips during intense scenes, though the database does not record minimum FPS values. At 1440p, Low settings are the only viable option, and the 15.8 FPS margin above 60 FPS is slightly larger, offering a bit more headroom for variance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, are the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.2 percent faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.4 percent faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.9 percent faster), and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (1 percent slower). Any of these processors would behave similarly to the i7-14700KF in Downfall, since the game is GPU-bound. The 0.2 to 1 percent score differences are negligible for gaming performance, and the RX 580 would remain the bottleneck in all cases.

The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.1 percent slower), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (0.4 percent slower), AMD Radeon 740M (0.5 percent faster), and AMD FirePro W5100 (0.6 percent faster). These GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Downfall. The GTX 1660 SUPER, for example, has a benchmark score within 58 points of the RX 580, so users swapping between these cards should see no meaningful difference in the measured FPS values at any resolution or preset.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, so there is no recommended setting. The best recorded result is Low settings at 43.2 FPS average, which is 16.8 FPS below the playable threshold. Users at this resolution would need to lower the resolution itself to achieve playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the best settings that stay at or above 60 FPS are Low, with an average of 75.8 FPS. Medium settings fall just short at 59.2 FPS, so Low is the only viable option. The 15.8 FPS margin above the threshold provides a reasonable buffer for frame variability.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are High, with an average of 70.6 FPS. Medium settings average 81.5 FPS and Low settings average 104.6 FPS, but High delivers the best visual quality while still clearing the 60 FPS threshold by 10.6 FPS. Ultra settings are not recommended, as they drop to 40.8 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor for Downfall at all three resolutions. The FPS scaling across presets at each resolution is steep, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces FPS from 104.6 to 40.8, a 61 percent drop. At 1440p, the drop from Low to Ultra is from 75.8 to 34.1, a 55 percent decline. At 4K, the drop from Low to Ultra is from 43.2 to 19.6, a 55 percent decline.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing the same preset across resolutions. At Low settings, FPS scales from 104.6 (1080p) to 75.8 (1440p) to 43.2 (4K). This scaling pattern shows that even at the lowest graphics preset, resolution increases still burden the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth, not the CPU. The i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, provide ample headroom for the game's logic and draw calls, but the recorded data does not indicate any CPU bottleneck, as FPS does not plateau at any resolution.

The CPU's benchmark scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 44167 and single-core result of 6235, are far above what Downfall requires. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 8813, by contrast, is a modest result that aligns with its 53rd percentile ranking. The verdict data reinforces this split: at 1440p, the system can only manage Low settings, while at 1080p it handles High, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory limitations cap the experience well before the CPU's capabilities are exhausted.