Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Downfall, but the data shows that the Ultra preset is the only setting tier that risks dropping below high-refresh-rate territory. At 1080p, the Ultra preset produces an average of 134.1 FPS, which is a substantial 76.1 FPS drop from the High preset’s 210.2 FPS. This suggests the Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the hardware, making High the optimal balance for consistent triple-digit performance. At 1440p, the pattern repeats: Ultra yields 92 FPS, while High maintains 151.3 FPS. Even at 4K, the High preset holds at 92.4 FPS, which is playable, but the Ultra preset falls to 60.6 FPS, indicating that High is the most reliable choice for maintaining fluid motion across all resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points clearly favor the High preset as the best experience for this hardware combination. Across every resolution, High delivers a substantial frame rate advantage over Ultra while retaining visual fidelity. At 1080p, High produces 210.2 FPS compared to Ultra’s 134.1 FPS—a 56.7% improvement. The gap widens at 1440p, where High achieves 151.3 FPS versus Ultra’s 92 FPS, and at 4K, High’s 92.4 FPS versus Ultra’s 60.6 FPS represents a 52.5% uplift.

Medium settings offer a middle ground but do not justify the visual downgrade. At 1080p, Medium hits 256.2 FPS versus High’s 210.2 FPS, which is only a marginal gain for most displays. The Low preset, while reaching 283.9 FPS at 1080p and 137.5 FPS at 4K, sacrifices too much graphical quality for a frame rate advantage that exceeds typical monitor refresh rates. For users with 144Hz or 165Hz displays, High provides ample headroom at 1080p and 1440p. Only at 4K does the choice become tighter—High maintains 92.4 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS baseline but below high-refresh thresholds, suggesting that High remains the best compromise.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070’s memory configuration is a defining factor in Downfall’s performance. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, the card delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The benchmark results indicate that this bandwidth is sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at 4K, where the High preset achieves 92.4 FPS. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz provide the computational headroom needed for the game’s horror-themed environments, which often feature dense lighting and particle effects.

The GPU’s performance percentile reinforces its capability. It ranks in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. Interestingly, its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37507—a delta of -0.6%, meaning the RTX 4070 is effectively on par with that older card in average benchmarks, despite being significantly newer. The data shows that the RTX 4070’s strength lies in sustained performance across settings, as evidenced by the minimal FPS drop from Low to High at 1080p (283.9 to 210.2 FPS). The GPU is not the limiting factor in this combo; rather, the CPU becomes relevant at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 4070 holds the 492nd position out of 1741 combos for Downfall. This places it in the top 28.3% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given the CPU’s age. The CPU itself ranks in the 76th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 18129. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11400 (delta -0.1%), the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (delta 0.2%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (delta -0.2%). These tight deltas—all within 0.3%—indicate that the Ryzen 5 3600 remains competitive with much newer mid-range parts.

The GPU’s rank in the 81st percentile, combined with the CPU’s 76th percentile, suggests a balanced pairing. The 492nd combo rank reflects that this system is capable of high performance but sits below top-tier configurations that likely feature newer CPUs. The data shows that the bottleneck shifts depending on resolution: at 1080p, the CPU’s single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 696) may limit the GPU, while at 4K, the GPU handles the load effectively.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset is optimal, delivering 151.3 FPS at 2560x1440. Ultra drops to 92 FPS, which is still playable but loses the high-refresh advantage.

Q: Can this system handle 4K at playable frame rates?

A: Yes, at High settings the 4K average is 92.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard. Ultra at 4K produces 60.6 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 scores 18129 on average, which is within 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150), the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18101), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18158). This indicates near-identical performance among these processors.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 yields an average of 256.2 FPS. This is 46 FPS higher than High (210.2 FPS), making it an option for extreme refresh monitors.

Q: Is the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth sufficient for this game?

A: The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, paired with 12 GB GDDR6X, proves adequate. The 4K High result of 92.4 FPS indicates no memory bottleneck.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide enough benefit to justify the FPS loss?

A: No. At 1080p, Ultra drops to 134.1 FPS from High’s 210.2 FPS—a 36% reduction. The visual gains are not quantified, but the performance cost is significant.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. From 1080p to 1440p, the High preset drops from 210.2 FPS to 151.3 FPS—a 28% reduction. The step from 1440p to 4K is steeper, falling to 92.4 FPS, a 39% reduction. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The Low preset shows similar scaling: 283.9 FPS at 1080p, 226 FPS at 1440p, and 137.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 20.4% and 39.2%, respectively. Notably, the gap between Low and High settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low is 73.7 FPS faster than High (283.9 vs 210.2). At 4K, the gap shrinks to 45.1 FPS (137.5 vs 92.4). This indicates that at 4K, the GPU’s raw compute limits performance more than the settings’ visual complexity, whereas at 1080p, the CPU and game logic play a larger role in dictating frame rates.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling: 134.1 FPS at 1080p, 92 FPS at 1440p, and 60.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is exactly half the 1080p result, which is a textbook example of resolution-bound scaling. This makes Ultra unsuitable for 4K unless the user accepts near-60 FPS gameplay.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 3600’s 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost of 4.20 GHz, provide adequate processing power for Downfall. The CPU’s L3 cache of 32 MB shared across cores is substantial for a 2019 part. Benchmark data shows the CPU’s single-thread score in 3dmark is 696, while its max-thread score is 4603. These numbers indicate that the CPU can handle the game’s threading requirements, but its single-thread performance is modest by modern standards.

In this combo, the CPU becomes a limiting factor at 1080p Low settings, where the frame rate reaches 283.9 FPS. At such high frame rates, the game’s draw call processing and physics calculations can bottleneck on the CPU’s 6 cores. The 3dmark 2-thread score of 1361 suggests that lightly-threaded workloads are not the CPU’s strength, but the game appears to scale well with the 12 threads available. The CPU’s 76th percentile ranking confirms it is above average, but its nearest rivals—all within 0.3% in average score—include the 6-core Intel Core i5-11400 and the 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 1600. This shows that the 3600 is competitively positioned for its generation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides exact figures for every resolution and settings combination. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 283.9 FPS, Medium 256.2 FPS, High 210.2 FPS, and Ultra 134.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 149.8 FPS, indicating that settings have a massive impact at this resolution. At 2560x1440, the values are Low 226 FPS, Medium 181.9 FPS, High 151.3 FPS, and Ultra 92 FPS. The spread narrows to 134 FPS, reflecting the GPU’s increased workload. At 3840x2160, the results are Low 137.5 FPS, Medium 115.9 FPS, High 92.4 FPS, and Ultra 60.6 FPS. The spread here is 76.9 FPS, showing that at 4K, even the Low preset cannot overcome the GPU’s pixel-fill limitations.

The Medium preset consistently sits between Low and High, typically offering 20-25% more performance than High. For example, at 1440p, Medium achieves 181.9 FPS versus High’s 151.3 FPS. However, the quality difference between Medium and High is often more noticeable than between High and Ultra, making High the recommended choice. The Ultra preset’s 60.6 FPS at 4K is the only sub-60 result in the entire dataset, confirming that Ultra is reserved for lower resolutions or users who prioritize fidelity over frame rate. The data is measured and complete, providing a full picture for this hardware pairing.