Downfall

Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 deliver a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Downfall, with 4K requiring a compromise on settings. The data, drawn from measured benchmarks, shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the combo is overwhelmingly capable, while 2560x1440 remains fluid at the highest settings, and 3840x2160 demands a step down from Ultra to maintain playability. This analysis breaks down the exact frame rates, compares nearby alternatives, and determines the optimal settings for each resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Downfall reveals a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the most demanding preset (Ultra) consistently presenting the largest performance hurdle. At 1920x1080, the system shows exceptional headroom: the Low preset achieves an average of 226 FPS, Medium reaches 185 FPS (with a minimum of 157 and maximum of 213), High hits 152 FPS, and even Ultra maintains a robust 95 FPS average. This indicates that at 1080p, the Core Ultra 5 225 and RTX 4060 combination is never CPU-bound or GPU-limited in a way that threatens the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but display a more pronounced gap between presets. The Low setting produces an average of 162 FPS, Medium drops to 132 FPS (minimum 112, maximum 152), High settles at 108 FPS, and Ultra still manages a solid 68 FPS average. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by roughly 28-30% across most presets, which is typical for a 1.78x increase in pixel count, though the Ultra preset’s 95 FPS to 68 FPS drop (about 28%) suggests the GPU is handling the additional load efficiently.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. The Low preset still delivers a playable 101 FPS average, Medium drops to 82 FPS (minimum 70, maximum 95), and High falls to 68 FPS. However, Ultra plummets to 42 FPS average, which is well below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is stark: a 68 FPS to 42 FPS reduction represents a 38% performance loss, indicating that Ultra settings introduce effects or shading complexity that the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle to sustain at this resolution. Notably, the min/max data is only available for Medium settings at each resolution, providing a narrow window into frame pacing; at 1080p Medium, the 157 FPS minimum and 213 FPS maximum show a 56 FPS variance, while at 1440p Medium the variance is 40 FPS (112 to 152), and at 4K Medium it is 25 FPS (70 to 95). This tightening variance at higher resolutions suggests the GPU becomes more consistently saturated.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware might deliver similar results in Downfall. For the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, its average benchmark score of 36938 places it alongside the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (avg score 36945, deltaPct 0), meaning these two processors are effectively identical in overall compute performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D trails by 0.2%, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 by 0.4%, and the Intel Core i9-12900T by 0.5%. In a game like Downfall, which is likely GPU-bound at most settings, these CPU differences would translate to negligible FPS changes—single-digit differences at most, and often zero at 4K where the GPU dictates the frame rate.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 17639 is matched by the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (avg score 17666, deltaPct -0.2), meaning the RTX 4060 is slightly slower than that older card by 0.2%. More relevantly, the AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics is 0.3% slower, the AMD Radeon Pro 560 is 0.5% slower, and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 is 0.7% slower. These deltas are all within a rounding error, so a system with any of these GPUs paired with a comparable CPU would likely produce nearly identical FPS in Downfall. However, the RTX 4060’s modern feature set—including 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores—means it may handle any ray-traced or DLSS-enhanced scenarios better, but the measured data here doesn’t include those specific tests. For pure rasterization at these presets, the HD 7790’s similar raw score suggests it would be a close substitute, though its older architecture might struggle with driver overhead in newer titles.

Best Settings per Resolution

The verdict data identifies the most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS or above at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 95 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving substantial headroom for scene complexity or background tasks. At 2560x1440, Ultra also qualifies, with an average of 68 FPS—slightly above the playable line, but the margin is thinner. If the game has intense moments that stress the GPU, the 68 FPS average could dip lower, though the data shows no minimum FPS recorded for this preset to confirm stability.

At 3840x2160, the High preset is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 68 FPS. The Ultra preset fails here, dropping to 42 FPS, which is a 30% shortfall from the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset also works (82 FPS average), and Low is even faster (101 FPS), but High provides the best visual quality while remaining playable. The 4K High preset’s 68 FPS is identical to the 1440p Ultra average, highlighting that the GPU’s workload at 4K High is roughly equivalent to 1440p Ultra—both hit the same performance ceiling.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440. The Ultra preset averages 95 FPS at 1080p and 68 FPS at 1440p. At 3840x2160, Ultra drops to 42 FPS, so it is not playable at that setting.

Q: What is the best 4K setting for this combo?

A: The High preset, which averages 68 FPS at 3840x2160. This is the most demanding setting that clears the 60 FPS threshold; Ultra averages 42 FPS and is not playable.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Low (226 FPS) is 2.4x faster than Ultra (95 FPS). At 1440p, Low (162 FPS) is 2.4x faster than Ultra (68 FPS). At 4K, Low (101 FPS) is 2.4x faster than Ultra (42 FPS). The consistent ratio suggests the GPU scales linearly with preset complexity.

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

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The CPU’s nearest rival (Ryzen 5 5600F) has a 0% delta, meaning the Core Ultra 5 225’s compute performance is not a limiting factor. The large FPS drops from 1080p to 4K (e.g., 152 to 68 FPS on High) align with GPU-bound scaling.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings?

A: The data records min FPS only for Medium presets: 157 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K. These are all above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2009 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the 54th percentile. This is a mid-pack result, consistent with the RTX 4060’s 61st percentile among GPUs and the CPU’s 85th percentile among CPUs.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals which component dominates performance in Downfall. At 1920x1080, the CPU’s role is more prominent, as the RTX 4060 is capable of very high frame rates (up to 226 FPS on Low). The Core Ultra 5 225, with its 10 cores and 10 threads and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, can feed the GPU adequately at these rates, but the GPU is still the limiting factor in most presets—the 226 FPS Low to 95 FPS Ultra drop is largely a GPU workload change. The CPU’s benchmark scores (e.g., 25891 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 3655 in single-core) indicate strong per-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and draw calls, but Downfall’s horror genre likely doesn’t demand extreme AI or physics simulations that would shift the balance.

At 2560x1440, the GPU’s dominance becomes clearer. The FPS drops by roughly 30% across all presets compared to 1080p, which correlates with the 1.78x pixel increase—a GPU-bound signature. The CPU’s performance remains constant, so the frame rate reduction is entirely attributable to the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth (272.0 GB/s). At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck. The 4K Ultra preset’s 42 FPS average suggests the 8 GB VRAM is likely exceeded by texture data, forcing memory swaps or reduced cache efficiency. The fact that High (68 FPS) is nearly identical to 1440p Ultra (68 FPS) reinforces this: the GPU is hitting a consistent ceiling around 68 FPS when the workload is similar, regardless of resolution, indicating that the RTX 4060’s raw compute (15.11 TFLOPS FP32) and texture rate (236.2 GTexel/s) are the constraining factors.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2009 out of 3716 tested combinations places it in the 46th percentile (calculated as 1 - 2009/3716 = 0.46). This is a mid-tier result, which aligns with the RTX 4060’s 61st percentile among GPUs but is dragged down by the CPU’s relatively lower standing in the overall pool. The Core Ultra 5 225’s 85th percentile among CPUs is strong, but the GPU’s 61st percentile is more modest. In the context of Downfall, where the GPU is the primary performance driver, the combo’s rank reflects the RTX 4060’s position: it’s a competent 1080p and 1440p card, but it trails higher-tier GPUs at 4K. For comparison, the GPU’s nearest rival (Radeon HD 7790) has nearly identical raw performance, so any system with that card would likely land in a similar rank. The 3716 total combos include both weaker and stronger configurations, so being in the middle suggests this setup is a balanced, mainstream choice rather than a high-end or entry-level one.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Downfall, with playable settings at all three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is fully playable with a 95 FPS average, providing excellent visual quality and smooth performance. At 2560x1440, Ultra remains playable at 68 FPS, though the margin above 60 FPS is slim; players seeking more headroom could drop to High (108 FPS) or Medium (132 FPS). At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers 68 FPS and is the best choice, while Ultra fails at 42 FPS. The verdict data confirms this: playable settings at 4K include High, Low, and Medium, but not Ultra. For users with a 4K display, the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM is the limiting factor—the Ultra preset’s memory demands exceed what the card can efficiently handle. Overall, this combo is a strong performer for 1080p and 1440p gaming, and it can handle 4K with a moderate settings reduction, making it a versatile option for Downfall.