Downfall

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an overwhelming performance envelope in Downfall, posting triple-digit average frame rates at every resolution and preset combination tested. This pairing ranks 109th out of 3,716 tested combos for this title, placing it in the top 3% of all configurations, and it clears the 60 FPS playability threshold by a massive margin even under the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K. The data confirms this is a high-end pairing that turns a horror title into a showcase for maximum frame rates, with the RTX 4090's raw throughput doing the heavy lifting while the Core Ultra 5 225 provides sufficient single-thread headroom to avoid bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090 produces an average of 132 FPS on High settings, with no minimum or maximum recorded. Dropping to Low settings lifts the average to 196 FPS, while Medium settings yield 161 FPS average with a measured range of 136 FPS minimum and 185 FPS maximum. The most demanding Ultra preset still maintains a robust 82 FPS average, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 58% performance reduction in average frame rate, moving from 196 FPS down to 82 FPS, indicating that the game's Ultra settings impose a substantial rendering load even on the flagship GPU.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale upward significantly. High settings deliver 212 FPS average, Low settings produce 315 FPS average, and Medium settings achieve 258 FPS average with a 219 FPS minimum and 297 FPS maximum. Ultra settings at this resolution still hold a 132 FPS average, which matches the 4K High preset exactly—a revealing statistic that shows the resolution drop from 4K to 1440p at Ultra is roughly equivalent to the settings drop from Ultra to High at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 183 FPS, a 58% reduction that mirrors the 4K scaling pattern.

At 1920x1080, the combo reaches its peak performance. Low settings produce an extraordinary 442 FPS average, Medium settings achieve 361 FPS average with a 307 FPS minimum and 416 FPS maximum, and High settings deliver 296 FPS average. Ultra settings still manage 185 FPS average, which is more than triple the 60 FPS playability threshold. The minimum frame rates recorded at 1080p Medium (307 FPS) exceed the maximum frame rates recorded at 4K Medium (185 FPS), demonstrating how strongly resolution scaling impacts this game's performance profile. Across all resolutions, every single measured average exceeds 80 FPS, meaning no configuration tested ever drops below the playability threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling between resolutions reveals that the GPU is the dominant performance determinant in Downfall, but the CPU begins to matter more as resolution decreases. Moving from 4K to 1440p at Ultra settings produces a 61% increase in average frame rate (from 82 FPS to 132 FPS), while moving from 1440p to 1080p at Ultra produces a 40% increase (from 132 FPS to 185 FPS). This diminishing return pattern indicates that at 4K, the RTX 4090's rendering throughput is the limiting factor, while at 1080p, the GPU becomes increasingly underutilized and the Core Ultra 5 225's single-thread performance starts to constrain the maximum achievable frame rate.

The Core Ultra 5 225's benchmark results support this interpretation. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,655 and Passmark single-thread score of 4,412 place it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs, indicating strong but not elite single-thread capability. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 30,459 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25,891 show a balanced 10-core, 10-thread design that provides adequate throughput for game logic and physics. In Downfall, a horror title that likely relies on scripted sequences and lighting effects rather than complex simulation, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at all resolutions tested.

The scaling between presets at each resolution further clarifies the GPU's dominance. At 4K, the difference between Low and High settings is 64 FPS (from 196 to 132), while at 1080p, the same settings gap is 146 FPS (from 442 to 296). This larger absolute difference at lower resolutions indicates that the GPU has more headroom to respond to settings changes when it is not already saturated by pixel count. Conversely, the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p Low, where the 442 FPS average likely approaches the game engine's frame rate ceiling or the CPU's ability to feed draw calls, given that the RTX 4090 could theoretically render far more frames if not limited by the processing pipeline.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, the nearest rivals in benchmark performance are all AMD processors with near-identical average scores. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F matches the Core Ultra 5 225 with zero percentage difference in average benchmark score (36,945 versus 36,938), indicating that swapping between these two CPUs would produce virtually identical performance in Downfall. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D trails by 0.2% with a score of 37,018, while the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 is 0.4% behind at 37,093. The Intel Core i9-12900T completes the rival group with a 0.5% deficit at a score of 37,112. All four alternatives fall within a tight 0.5% performance band, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver indistinguishable frame rates when paired with the RTX 4090 in this game.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, the nearest rivals present a more varied picture. The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches the RTX 4090's average benchmark score almost exactly (60,326 versus 60,347, a 0% difference), which is notable given the massive architectural differences between a consumer flagship and a professional workstation card. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is 0.3% behind at 60,140, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% behind at 58,657. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M actually scores higher at 61,896, putting the RTX 4090 2.5% behind this rival. These rival GPUs represent workstation and professional segments rather than gaming-focused alternatives, so the RTX 4090's gaming-specific features like its 16384 shading units and 128 RT cores likely provide advantages in Downfall that benchmark averages do not fully capture.

The practical implication is that users with any of these rival CPUs would see identical performance in Downfall when paired with the RTX 4090, since the GPU dominates the performance profile. Conversely, users with rival GPUs would see slightly different frame rates depending on the specific title's optimization, but the benchmark scores suggest the differences would be small in absolute terms.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains at least 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 delivers an average of 82 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra) are playable at 4K, with Ultra being the most demanding option that still clears the threshold.

Q: How does the combo rank against other tested configurations in Downfall?

A: This Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and RTX 4090 combination ranks 109th out of 3,716 tested combos, placing it in the top 3% of all configurations tested for this game. This high rank reflects the RTX 4090's position in the 88th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: At which resolution does the CPU become a limiting factor?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 442 FPS, which is likely constrained by the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,655) rather than the GPU's capability. The diminishing returns from 1440p to 1080p at Ultra (40% increase versus 61% from 4K to 1440p) indicate increasing CPU influence at lower resolutions.

Q: What minimum frame rates were recorded in the testing?

A: The only minimum frame rates recorded were at Medium settings: 136 FPS at 4K, 219 FPS at 1440p, and 307 FPS at 1080p. No minimums were recorded for Low, High, or Ultra presets, but all averages stay above 82 FPS even at the most demanding settings.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's performance matched by any other GPU in the benchmark database?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches the RTX 4090's average benchmark score with a 0% difference (60,326 versus 60,347), while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M slightly exceeds it by 2.5% at 61,896. However, these are professional workstation GPUs rather than gaming-focused alternatives.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution?

A: At 4K, the difference is 114 FPS (196 FPS Low versus 82 FPS Ultra). At 1440p, the difference is 183 FPS (315 FPS Low versus 132 FPS Ultra). At 1080p, the difference is 257 FPS (442 FPS Low versus 185 FPS Ultra). The increasing gap at lower resolutions highlights the GPU's greater responsiveness to settings changes when not pixel-bound.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that maintains playable performance, delivering 82 FPS average. This is the only resolution where Ultra falls below 100 FPS, but it still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by 37%. Players seeking maximum visual fidelity at 4K can enable Ultra settings with confidence, as the average frame rate leaves no risk of dropping below playability.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings produce 132 FPS average, providing both maximum visual quality and high refresh rate compatibility. This represents a 61% improvement over the 4K Ultra result, making 1440p the sweet spot for players who want Ultra settings with frame rates well above 120 FPS. The 132 FPS average also means the combo can drive 144Hz monitors at this resolution with headroom to spare.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings achieve 185 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded at the most demanding preset across all resolutions. This comfortably supports 144Hz and even 165Hz displays, with the 185 FPS average providing a 25% buffer above a 144Hz refresh rate. The gap between Ultra at 1080p (185 FPS) and Ultra at 1440p (132 FPS) shows that players prioritizing maximum frame rates should choose 1080p, while those wanting higher pixel density can still enjoy Ultra settings at 1440p with excellent performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 109th out of 3,716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 97th percentile of all configurations. This rank is driven almost entirely by the RTX 4090's exceptional performance, as the GPU sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs while the CPU is in the 85th percentile among all CPUs. The combination's ranking indicates that it outperforms approximately 97% of all tested hardware pairings for this game, with only 108 combinations delivering higher frame rates.

The rank relative to the combo's component percentiles is notable. The CPU's 85th percentile and GPU's 88th percentile would suggest a combined performance position around that range, but the actual 97th percentile rank (109th of 3,716) exceeds what either component's individual percentile would predict. This suggests that Downfall responds particularly well to the RTX 4090's architecture, with its 16384 shading units and 128 RT cores providing outsized benefits for this horror title's rendering requirements. The rank also benefits from the fact that fewer tested combos pair high-end GPUs with mid-range CPUs, giving this configuration a favorable position in the overall distribution.

The practical implication of the 109th rank is that this combo delivers top-tier performance in Downfall without requiring the absolute fastest CPU on the market. The Core Ultra 5 225's 10 cores and 10 threads, with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, provide sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4090 at standard gaming resolutions, as evidenced by the 442 FPS average at 1080p Low settings. For players seeking maximum frame rates in this title, the data shows that the GPU is the primary investment that matters, and this combo extracts nearly all of the RTX 4090's potential.