Downfall

The data for Downfall on this Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination reveals a system that handles the horror title with considerable authority across most configurations, though the most demanding settings at 4K present a notable challenge. The measured frames per second (FPS) figures, drawn from the FACT PACK, show a clear scaling pattern tied to both resolution and graphical presets. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 114 on Low settings down to 48 on Ultra, with High and Medium landing at 77 and 93 respectively. The Medium preset at this resolution is the only one with complete min/max data, showing a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440, the performance envelope shifts upward substantially, with Low averaging 183 FPS, Medium at 150 FPS, High at 123 FPS, and Ultra still maintaining a solid 77 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset displays a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS. At the standard 1920x1080 resolution, the system becomes exceptionally fast, with Low averaging 257 FPS, Medium at 210 FPS, High at 172 FPS, and Ultra at 108 FPS. The 1080p Medium preset shows a minimum of 179 FPS and a maximum of 242 FPS. These numbers indicate that the bottleneck shifts from the GPU at higher resolutions to the CPU at lower resolutions, a pattern that becomes clearer when examining the scaling between presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Downfall provides a comprehensive view of how this CPU-GPU pairing behaves under varying loads. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 77, which exactly matches the Ultra preset average at 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, suggesting a consistent performance ceiling for demanding configurations. The 4K Low preset averages 114 FPS, representing a 48% improvement over High settings at the same resolution. Medium at 4K produces 93 FPS on average, with a recorded minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS, indicating that frame pacing remains stable even when the average dips. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 48 FPS, which falls below the playable threshold of 60 FPS, marking it as the only unplayable configuration in the entire dataset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 183 FPS, which is 60% higher than the 4K Low result. Medium at 1440p averages 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS and maximum of 172 FPS, showing a tighter distribution compared to the 4K Medium results. High at 1440p reaches 123 FPS, while Ultra maintains 77 FPS, which is the same average as 4K High. This crossover point suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor once Ultra settings are enabled, regardless of resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset hits 257 FPS, which is the highest average recorded in the entire dataset. Medium at 1080p averages 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 FPS and maximum of 242 FPS, representing a 40% increase over the 1440p Medium average. High at 1080p reaches 172 FPS, and Ultra achieves 108 FPS, which is 40% higher than the Ultra average at both 1440p and 4K.

The pattern across all resolutions shows that the gap between Low and Ultra presets widens as resolution decreases. At 4K, the spread from Low to Ultra is 66 FPS (114 down to 48). At 1440p, the spread is 106 FPS (183 down to 77). At 1080p, the spread expands to 149 FPS (257 down to 108). This widening delta indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU has more headroom to push higher frame rates, while the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions where pixel fill rate demands increase.

Best Settings per Resolution

The verdictByResolution data identifies the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS for each resolution. At 3840x2160, the best playable settings are High, which averages 77 FPS. This is a critical finding because it means the Ultra preset at 4K, with its 48 FPS average, is the sole configuration that fails the playability threshold. The High preset at 4K offers a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS floor, and the Medium preset at 93 FPS provides even more headroom, but High represents the highest quality option that remains playable.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are Ultra, averaging 77 FPS. This is a significant achievement because it means the system can run the game at maximum graphical fidelity at this resolution while still exceeding the playability threshold by 17 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result matches the 4K High result exactly, both at 77 FPS, which suggests that the GPU workload at 4K High is roughly equivalent to 1440p Ultra for this title. At 1920x1080, the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 108 FPS. This nearly doubles the playability threshold and provides a substantial buffer for any demanding scenes that might cause frame drops.

The progression of best settings across resolutions shows a clear staircase: 4K tops out at High, while both 1440p and 1080p can run Ultra. The 1080p Ultra average of 108 FPS is 40% higher than the 1440p Ultra average of 77 FPS, and the 1440p Ultra average is 60% higher than the 4K Ultra average of 48 FPS. This scaling indicates that the performance cost of moving from one resolution tier to the next is roughly consistent, though the gap narrows at the high end.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data between resolutions and presets provides insight into which component matters more for Downfall at each resolution. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low and Ultra is 66 FPS, and the difference between Low and High is 37 FPS. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS while all other 4K presets remain playable suggests that the GPU is the dominant constraint at this resolution. The RTX 3070, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus, appears to be the limiting factor when pixel shader complexity increases at Ultra settings.

At 2560x1440, the spread between Low and Ultra is 106 FPS, which is larger than the 4K spread. This widening gap suggests that the CPU begins to play a more significant role at this resolution. The Core Ultra 5 245, with 14 cores and 14 threads, shows its capability by delivering 183 FPS on Low settings, which is 69 FPS higher than the 4K Low result. The 1440p Ultra average of 77 FPS matches the 4K High average, reinforcing the idea that the GPU is still heavily involved but the CPU has more room to express its performance.

At 1920x1080, the spread from Low to Ultra reaches 149 FPS, and the Low preset hits 257 FPS. This high frame rate is well beyond what most displays can show, indicating that the CPU is providing substantial headroom. The 1080p Ultra average of 108 FPS is identical to the 4K Low average of 114 FPS, showing that the CPU can maintain high frame rates even at maximum settings when the resolution is low. The data implies that at 1080p, the Core Ultra 5 245 is the more influential component, while at 4K, the RTX 3070's capabilities define the performance ceiling.

The transition point appears to be around 1440p, where both components contribute meaningfully. The 1440p Medium preset, with its 150 FPS average, represents a balanced workload where neither component is fully saturated. The 1440p Ultra result of 77 FPS is identical to the 4K High result, suggesting that the GPU workload at these two configurations is similar, while the CPU workload differs.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1592 out of 3716 tested combos for Downfall. This places the system in the 43rd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 57% of tested combos perform better in this game. The rank of 1592 indicates that while this system is capable of running Downfall at playable frame rates for most settings, it is not positioned near the top of the performance hierarchy.

The CPU component, the Core Ultra 5 245, ranks in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. This high CPU percentile suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The GPU, the RTX 3070, ranks in the 61st percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17208. This GPU percentile is notably lower than the CPU percentile, reinforcing the interpretation that the graphics card is the more constrained component in this pairing.

The combination rank of 1592 out of 3716 suggests that the overall system performance for Downfall is moderate. Given that the CPU ranks highly but the GPU ranks in the lower half of the distribution, the data implies that other combos with stronger GPUs would likely achieve higher ranks in this game. The system's ability to run Ultra at 1080p and 1440p, but only High at 4K, aligns with this mid-tier positioning.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context for what other processors would behave similarly in this system. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G has an average benchmark score of 49196, which is 0.4% lower than the Core Ultra 5 245's average score of 48995. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228, just 0.5% higher. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698, 0.6% lower, and the Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48618, 0.8% lower. These delta percentages are all within 1% of the Core Ultra 5 245, indicating that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Downfall when paired with the same RTX 3070.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show similar performance levels. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT has an average benchmark score of 17083, which is 0.7% higher than the RTX 3070's score of 17208. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037, 1% higher, and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019, 1.1% higher. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468, which is 1.5% lower. These small deltas mean that swapping the RTX 3070 for any of these cards would result in essentially the same performance profile for Downfall, with frame rate differences of only a few FPS at most.

The combination of a Core Ultra 5 245 with an RX 7600 XT, for example, would likely produce results within 1 FPS of the measured data for most settings. Similarly, pairing the Core Ultra 5 245 with a GTX 690 or HD 7970M would yield comparable performance. These alternatives are relevant for users who might have access to different hardware but expect similar gameplay experiences.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest graphical preset that maintains at least 60 FPS at 3840x2160?

A: The High preset at 4K averages 77 FPS, which is the most demanding playable setting at that resolution. The Ultra preset drops to 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

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

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1080p averages 108 FPS, which is well above the playable threshold. This is the best settings configuration for that resolution according to the verdict data.

Q: How does the performance at 2560x1440 Ultra compare to 3840x2160 High?

A: Both configurations produce an identical average FPS of 77. This suggests that the GPU workload is similar between 1440p Ultra and 4K High for this game.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest average is 48 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Which component appears to be the limiting factor at 1920x1080?

A: The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU has more influence, as the Core Ultra 5 245 ranks in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs. The Low preset reaches 257 FPS, indicating the CPU can push very high frame rates when the GPU is not the primary constraint.

Q: How does this system's rank compare to all tested combinations for Downfall?

A: The combination ranks 1592 out of 3716 total combos, placing it in the lower half of tested systems. This is consistent with the GPU's 61st percentile ranking, which is lower than the CPU's 90th percentile.

The Verdict

The data shows that this PC can run Downfall successfully across most configurations. At 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best settings at 77 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 4K is not playable, as it drops to 48 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, with Ultra achieving 77 FPS average as the best settings. At 1920x1080, all presets are also playable, with Ultra reaching 108 FPS average as the best settings. The system clears the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution and preset combination except for 4K Ultra, meaning users can enjoy the game at maximum visual fidelity at 1080p and 1440p, and at High settings for 4K. The only compromise required is avoiding Ultra at 3840x2160, where the RTX 3070's capabilities are exceeded by the game's demands.