Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER form a classic late-2019 pairing that still delivers a compelling experience in Downfall, a horror title from 2016. This analysis examines how the CPU and GPU split the workload across resolutions and settings, using measured data to show exactly where this combo excels and where it struggles.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 5 3600 brings six cores and twelve threads to the table, a configuration that was the sweet spot for gaming at its 2019 launch. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz can boost up to 4.20 GHz, and the 65W TDP keeps it manageable in most systems. Built on TSMC's 7 nm process with the Zen 2 architecture (codenamed Matisse), this processor fits the AMD Socket AM4 platform and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The 32 MB shared L3 cache is generous for the era and helps with game data locality.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 3600 posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124. Its PassMark multi-thread score of 17700 and single-thread score of 2562 place it in the 76th percentile among all CPUs. The 3DMark results show scaling from 696 in single-thread to 4605 in 16-thread tests, confirming that the processor can leverage its twelve threads effectively when a game asks for them.

For Downfall, the CPU's role becomes clear when examining FPS at 1080p. At Low settings, the combo hits 209.8 FPS average. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even in lighter scenes. The 3600's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11400 (deltaPct of -0.1) and AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (deltaPct of 0.2), meaning the 3600 sits right at the performance level of those chips. The data shows that the 3600 is not the bottleneck in this pairing for most scenarios; its twelve threads handle the game's background tasks while the GPU does the heavy lifting.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The RTX 2070 SUPER uses the TU104 chip on a 12 nm process with 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die. Its base clock runs at 1605 MHz with a boost up to 1770 MHz, while the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s. The card's FP32 throughput is 9.062 TFLOPS, with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores present for ray tracing and AI workloads, though Downfall from 2016 predates widespread RT adoption.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 18169 and average benchmark score of 22206 place it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals show the competitive field: the NVIDIA RTX A400 (deltaPct of -0.5) and GeForce GTX TITAN Z (deltaPct of 0.9) are essentially tied, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is 2.3% ahead and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 is 2.5% behind. This positioning means the 2070 SUPER is a solid mid-to-high tier card for its generation.

In Downfall, the GPU's VRAM capacity and bandwidth matter most at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 41.8 FPS, which suggests the 8 GB VRAM and the card's raw compute are being pushed to their limits. The 448 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor when the render target grows to 3840x2160 with Ultra textures and effects.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo averages 138.3 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 104 FPS, a 24.8% reduction. Going to 4K High further reduces performance to 65 FPS, which is 53% below the 1080p figure. This scaling curve is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at High settings.

At Low settings, the pattern shifts. The 1080p Low result of 209.8 FPS drops to 148.8 FPS at 1440p (a 29.1% decrease) and then to 91.5 FPS at 4K (a 56.4% decrease from 1080p). The fact that 1080p Low exceeds 200 FPS indicates the CPU can push very high frame rates when the GPU has light work. The larger percentage drops at 1440p and 4K under Low settings suggest the GPU becomes more dominant as resolution increases, even when visual fidelity is minimal.

Ultra settings show the steepest decline. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 85.8 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that falls to 63.9 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 41.8 FPS. The 51.3% drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is the largest across all settings, indicating that the combination of high resolution and maximum settings places an overwhelming burden on the RTX 2070 SUPER. The data points to the GPU being the primary limiting factor at 4K and at Ultra settings, while the CPU remains adequate throughout.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable to excellent performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 209.8 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth for any display. Medium settings drop to 172.3 FPS, still far above typical 144Hz refresh rates. High settings yield 138.3 FPS, which is near the threshold for high-refresh monitors. Ultra settings bring the average down to 85.8 FPS, which remains perfectly playable for a horror title where atmosphere matters more than twitch response.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decline. Low settings average 148.8 FPS, Medium hits 121.3 FPS, and High settles at 104 FPS. Ultra settings produce 63.9 FPS, which is the first figure that dips below the 60 FPS threshold for truly smooth motion, though it is still usable. The 1440p results suggest that High settings at this resolution are the sweet spot for balancing visual quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 91.5 FPS, which is respectable for 4K. Medium settings drop to 79.7 FPS, and High falls to 65 FPS. Ultra settings produce only 41.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target that most players consider the minimum for comfortable gaming. The 4K results indicate that users should stick to Medium or Low settings at this resolution, or accept sub-60 FPS at High.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1052 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. That places it in the 60th percentile of all configurations tested, meaning roughly 40% of combos outperform it while 60% fall behind. The rank is a composite measure that accounts for performance across all resolutions and settings.

For context, the CPU's 76th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs suggest that the combo's rank is dragged down by the GPU being the weaker link. The CPU is relatively stronger in its class than the GPU is in its class. This explains why the combo performs better at 1080p, where the CPU has more influence, than at 4K, where the GPU dominates the workload.

In practice, this rank means the combo is a solid mid-pack performer. It will handle Downfall at 1080p with ease and at 1440p with good settings, but it will not compete with top-tier configurations at 4K Ultra. The 1052 rank out of 1741 is a reasonable outcome for hardware from 2019 running a 2016 game, and the measured FPS data confirms that the experience is generally positive.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, but not at maximum settings. The data shows 4K High averages 65 FPS, 4K Medium averages 79.7 FPS, and 4K Low averages 91.5 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 41.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The data indicates that 1440p High at 104 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance. For higher refresh rates, 1080p High at 138.3 FPS or 1080p Medium at 172.3 FPS are excellent choices.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this pairing?

A: At 4K and Ultra settings, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 209.8 FPS, suggesting the CPU can handle high frame rates. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 76th percentile confirms the GPU holds the combo back more.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The 3600's average benchmark score of 18129 is within 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150, deltaPct of -0.1), the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18101, deltaPct of 0.2), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18158, deltaPct of -0.2). The EPYC 9274F (18189) is just 0.3% ahead.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER stack up against similar GPUs?

A: The 2070 SUPER's average score of 22206 is within 2.5% of the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307, deltaPct of -0.5), the GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006, deltaPct of 0.9), the RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, deltaPct of -2.3), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670, deltaPct of 2.5).

Q: Is this combo ranked well among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 1052 out of 1741 combos, placing it in the 60th percentile. This is a solid mid-pack result, with roughly 40% of tested systems performing better and 60% performing worse in Downfall.