Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers overwhelming performance in Downfall, a horror title that clearly favors GPU throughput at higher resolutions. Measured data confirms that this combination reaches or exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold at every preset tested across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, with the only limiting factor being the game's own engine frame cap in certain scenarios. The RTX 5090 D, with a 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, and the i7-14700KF, in the 94th percentile for CPUs, create a pairing that saturates even 4K Ultra settings, leaving the CPU largely idle as a bottleneck. Below is a detailed breakdown of the measured performance, followed by analysis of alternatives, optimal settings, and component roles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the data shows a clear scaling curve across presets. On Low settings, the combo produces an average of 214 FPS. Moving to Medium yields an average of 175 FPS, with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. High settings drop the average to 144 FPS. The most demanding preset, Ultra, still maintains an average of 90 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra is 124 FPS, indicating a significant but manageable performance hit from the most demanding visual features.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), frame rates scale upward substantially. Low settings reach an average of 345 FPS. Medium averages 282 FPS, with a minimum of 240 FPS and a maximum of 324 FPS. High averages 231 FPS. Ultra remains highly playable at an average of 144 FPS — exactly double the 4K Ultra average, which highlights the resolution scaling efficiency. The spread from Low to Ultra is 201 FPS, showing that even at 1440p, the GPU has ample headroom to push high refresh rates on any preset.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the combo becomes almost absurdly fast. Low settings produce an average of 482 FPS. Medium averages 395 FPS, with a minimum of 335 FPS and a maximum of 454 FPS. High averages 324 FPS. Ultra still delivers an average of 202 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 280 FPS, which is the largest absolute gap across all resolutions, but every preset remains far above the 60 FPS threshold. Notably, the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium (335 FPS) is higher than the maximum FPS at 4K Ultra (202 FPS), illustrating the massive impact of resolution on this GPU-bound title.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rival scores for the CPU and GPU, several combinations would behave similarly to the Core i7-14700KF + RTX 5090 D in Downfall. The CPU's average benchmark score is 70,163, placing it in a tight cluster with four alternatives. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996 (a 0.2% delta), making it effectively indistinguishable in compute-heavy tasks. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875 (0.4% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515 (0.9% slower). On the other side, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 70,879, which is 1% faster than the i7-14700KF. For a game like Downfall, where the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 4K, these single-digit percentage differences would not produce noticeable FPS changes; the frame rates would remain within a few points of each other.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score is 77,712, with a 92nd percentile ranking. Its nearest rivals are surprisingly lower-tier mobile and datacenter parts. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904 (1.1% slower), which is a laptop GPU — suggesting that in this specific benchmark suite, the RTX 5090 D's raw compute doesn't separate it from this particular rival by much, though real-world gaming performance would diverge significantly due to memory bandwidth and driver optimizations. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (1.6% faster), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396 (2.1% faster) — both are specialized or mobile parts that lack the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB GDDR7 memory and gaming-focused feature set. In Downfall, the RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are the key drivers of the high frame rates, so these rival GPUs would likely produce lower average FPS in actual gameplay, despite similar synthetic scores.

Best Settings per Resolution

The benchmark data indicates that the most demanding preset — Ultra — is playable at all three tested resolutions, so it is the recommended setting for each.

• 1920x1080: Ultra preset runs at an average of 202 FPS. This is far above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving massive headroom for high refresh rate monitors (144Hz or 240Hz). There is no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution.
• 2560x1440: Ultra preset runs at an average of 144 FPS. This exactly matches a 144Hz monitor's refresh rate, making it the ideal choice for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS is not recorded, but the average is double the 60 FPS threshold.
• 3840x2160: Ultra preset runs at an average of 90 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS, though it is the lowest average across all presets. For a locked 60 FPS experience, High (average 144 FPS) or Medium (average 175 FPS) would provide even more stability, but Ultra remains the best visual quality that stays above the playable threshold.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K Ultra without dropping below 60 FPS?*

A: Yes. The measured average at 4K Ultra is 90 FPS, which is 30 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The minimum FPS is not recorded for this preset, but the average indicates sufficient headroom.

Q: What is the difference in performance between 1080p and 4K on Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 202. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 90. This represents a 112 FPS reduction, or a 55% decrease in frame rate, when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1440p?

A: The GPU is the dominant factor. The CPU's nearest rival (AMD Ryzen 7 9700F) is only 0.2% slower in synthetic benchmarks, yet the RTX 5090 D's performance scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows a clear GPU-bound trend. The CPU would only become a limiting factor at extremely low resolutions and settings, which is not relevant here.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2nd out of 3,716 tested combinations in Downfall. This places it in the top 0.05% of all tested systems, indicating near-peak performance for this title.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 482, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. Even at 4K Low, the average is 214 FPS, which is more than triple the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Are there any settings where this combo fails to reach 60 FPS?

A: No. Every tested preset — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — at every resolution (1080p, 1440p, 4K) exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. The lowest recorded average is 90 FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data strongly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the performance driver in Downfall, with the Intel Core i7-14700KF acting as a capable but secondary component. Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 202 (Ultra) to 482 (Low). At 1440p, the range is 144 (Ultra) to 345 (Low). At 4K, the range is 90 (Ultra) to 214 (Low). The consistent pattern — where frame rates roughly halve when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same preset — is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload.

For example, at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 395 at 1080p to 282 at 1440p to 175 at 4K. This is a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which aligns with the pixel count increase (about 4.5x more pixels from 1080p to 4K, but with diminishing returns due to other bottlenecks). The CPU's role is minimal because the i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, are far more than Downfall requires. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, is only 0.2% slower in synthetic benchmarks, and yet the FPS numbers would not change meaningfully if swapped — the GPU would still be the limiting factor at 4K.

At 1080p, the CPU could become more relevant if the frame rate were capped or if the game had heavy physics simulation, but the measured 482 FPS average at Low settings shows the GPU still has headroom. The RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 512-bit bus provide 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the 21760 shading units at high resolutions. The CPU's 33 MB of L3 cache and 125 W TDP are sufficient to keep up with the GPU's frame generation, but they are not the constraining factor. In short, for Downfall, the GPU is responsible for the vast majority of the performance scaling across resolutions, while the CPU ensures the system doesn't bottleneck at any point.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination holds a rank of 2nd out of 3,716 tested combos in Downfall. This is an exceptionally high standing, placing it just one position below the top system. The rank reflects the GPU's dominance in this title — the RTX 5090 D's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with the CPU's 94th percentile, creates a pairing that is nearly unmatched. The single combo ranked above this one would require an even stronger GPU or a CPU with a higher synthetic score, but the delta is likely marginal given the game's GPU-bound nature.

For context, the CPU's average benchmark score of 70,163 is slightly below the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (score 70,879, 1% faster), but this difference does not translate into a measurable FPS gap in Downfall because the game does not stress the CPU heavily. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, scores 1.6% higher in synthetic benchmarks, but that is a mobile part with lower memory bandwidth and no equivalent driver support for high refresh rate gaming. The 2nd place ranking confirms that this combo is at the very top of the performance hierarchy for Downfall, offering playable frame rates at the highest settings on 4K, with enormous headroom for future titles or higher refresh rate displays.