Downfall

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers its strongest results. The Low preset produces an average of 175.9 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure across all resolutions and settings. Moving to Medium drops the average to 143.9 FPS, while High yields 118.7 FPS. The most demanding 1080p preset, Ultra, still holds an average of 74.7 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a reduction of roughly 101 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern continues but with lower headroom. Low settings average 121.4 FPS, Medium drops to 101.2 FPS, and High produces 83.9 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 53.3 FPS, which sits below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The delta between Medium and High at this resolution is 17.3 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 30.6 FPS, showing a steep penalty for the highest quality settings.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low settings average 77.8 FPS, which remains playable, and Medium averages 64.7 FPS, just clearing the threshold. High drops to 50.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31.4 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 46.4 FPS, the largest absolute gap across all resolutions. The data indicates that 4K Ultra is not viable with this combination, and even 4K High fails to reach 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Downfall at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 74.7 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the highest preset that remains playable at this resolution.

Q: What is the best playable preset at 2560x1440?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 83.9 FPS, making it the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages 53.3 FPS and is not playable.

Q: Is 3840x2160 playable with Medium settings?

A: Yes, but only barely. Medium at 4K averages 64.7 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by 4.7 FPS. High at 4K averages 50.3 FPS and falls short.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, placing it in the 58th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, scores 15283 with a delta of 0%, while the AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 with a delta of 0.1%. The RTX 3050 OEM and AMD Radeon RX 7600 are also within 0.8% of the RTX 2060's score.

Q: What CPU benchmark scores does the i7-14700KF achieve?

A: The i7-14700KF scores 44167 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6235 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 21462 multi-core and 2578 single-core. Its average benchmark score is 70163, placing it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 77.8 on Low to 31.4 on Ultra, a 59.7% reduction. This large scaling with settings indicates the GPU is the dominant constraint at this resolution, as the CPU remains consistent across all presets.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU and GPU each have close rivals based on average benchmark scores. For the Intel Core i7-14700KF, the nearest competitor is the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which scores 69996, a delta of 0.2% behind. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, 0.4% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, 0.9% lower. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 70879, which is 1% higher than the i7-14700KF. In practical terms, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Downfall, since the game's performance at higher resolutions is dominated by the GPU.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, the nearest rivals are remarkably close in score. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 matches with a 0% delta, while the AMD Radeon 680M is 0.1% behind and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM is 0.6% behind. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 trails by 0.8%. All four GPUs would produce essentially the same FPS in Downfall. A system using any of these alternative GPUs with the same CPU would be expected to show results within a few frames per second across all resolutions and presets, though the RTX 2060's 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth provide a slight edge in texture-heavy scenes.

Given the measured data, a user with a Ryzen 7 9700F or Ryzen 9 7950X paired with an RTX 2060 should see nearly identical performance. The same applies to a GTX 580 or RX 7600 paired with the i7-14700KF. The benchmark deltas are all under 1%, so the gameplay experience would be indistinguishable for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2919 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, which is consistent with the GPU's modest 58th percentile standing. The CPU is in the 94th percentile, but the overall combo rank is dragged down by the RTX 2060's older Turing architecture and 6 GB VRAM.

The rank of 2919 means that roughly 800 tested combinations performed worse than this setup. Given that the game was released in 2016, the absolute performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but not exceptional. The combo sits well below top-tier configurations that would pair the i7-14700KF with a high-end GPU, but it also outperforms systems with older CPUs or weaker GPUs. The 20-core, 28-thread CPU provides ample headroom for background tasks, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K Ultra.

The Verdict

This PC can run Downfall, but the playable range depends heavily on resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold. The best settings are Ultra, which averages 74.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, the playable presets are High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best at 83.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 53.3 FPS and is not playable. At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium are playable, with Medium averaging 64.7 FPS as the best option. The High preset at 4K averages 50.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 31.4 FPS, both below the threshold.

The recorded data confirms that the RTX 2060 is sufficient for 1080p Ultra and 1440p High, but 4K gaming requires dropping to Medium or Low. The verdict by resolution is straightforward: 1080p Ultra, 1440p High, and 4K Medium are the maximum playable settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 74.7 FPS. This provides the full visual experience while maintaining a comfortable margin above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is High, averaging 83.9 FPS. This offers a significant visual improvement over Medium without sacrificing frame rate. The Ultra preset at this resolution is not viable.

At 3840x2160, the best playable preset is Medium, averaging 64.7 FPS. This is the only preset above 60 FPS at 4K besides Low, and it provides a better visual balance. High and Ultra are both below the threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU in Downfall. At 1920x1080, the CPU's strength allows the GPU to push high frame rates. The i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, scores 44167 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This prevents any CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 175.9 FPS result at 1080p Low.

As resolution increases to 2560x1440, the GPU becomes more influential. The average FPS at High drops from 118.7 at 1080p to 83.9 at 1440p, a 34.8 FPS reduction. This scaling is driven by the GPU's pixel throughput. The RTX 2060 has a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s, which are adequate for 1440p but not for 4K at high settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the sole limiting factor. The FPS at Medium drops from 101.2 at 1440p to 64.7 at 4K, a 36.5 FPS reduction. The CPU's workload does not increase with resolution, so the i7-14700KF remains underutilized. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus also contribute to the steep drop at Ultra, where the average falls to 31.4 FPS.

The scaling between presets reinforces this analysis. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 101.2 FPS, while at 4K the same transition costs 46.4 FPS. The smaller absolute drop at 4K indicates that the GPU is already near its limits even at Low settings, so the relative impact of each preset is compressed. The CPU's role is to supply frames fast enough at lower resolutions, which it does easily. For this game, the RTX 2060 is the decisive component at 1440p and above, while the CPU ensures no bottleneck at 1080p.