Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER pairing in Downfall delivers a strong result, but the data reveals a clear bottleneck: the CPU holds back the GPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU dominates at 4K. This combination ranks 133rd out of 1741 tested combos, placing it in the top 7.6% of all pairings. The measured frame rates are consistently high, yet the scaling pattern tells a story of imbalance that matters for how you configure the game.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?*

A: 2560x1440 offers the best balance. At High settings it hits 188 FPS, which is 60% higher than the 116.9 FPS at 4K High, while still staying well above the 116.5 FPS seen at 1440p Ultra. The jump from 1080p to 1440p costs only 29.9% performance at High settings (from 267.9 to 188 FPS), making it the sweet spot.

Q: How much performance does Ultra settings cost compared to High?

A: The penalty is steep across all resolutions. At 4K, Ultra drops to 77.2 FPS from 116.9 FPS at High, a 34% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 188 to 116.5 FPS (38% loss), and at 1080p, from 267.9 to 169.4 FPS (36.8% loss). Ultra is playable but not optimal.

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

A: The data indicates the CPU limits at 1080p and the GPU limits at 4K. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 340.4 FPS, but the gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is only 21% (340.4 vs 281.2 FPS). At 4K, the difference between Low and Medium is 15.4% (173.7 vs 147 FPS), showing typical GPU-bound scaling.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 20875, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897, delta -0.1%). It sits just 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900) and 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20845). The Intel Core i5-12600T leads by 0.2% with a score of 20917.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 53610 on average, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9% with a score of 52086.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Downfall?*

A: Yes, but only at select settings. 4K High runs at 116.9 FPS, which is smooth. 4K Medium achieves 147 FPS, while 4K Low reaches 173.7 FPS. However, 4K Ultra falls to 77.2 FPS, which is below the 100 FPS threshold that many players prefer for a horror title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename) using a 7 nm process from TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip features 64 KB L1 cache per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth and uses PCIe Gen 3.

In Downfall, the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (340.4) and 1080p Medium (315.7) are remarkably close, suggesting the CPU is the primary constraint. The gap between 1080p High (267.9) and 1440p High (188) is 29.9%, which is larger than the 15.4% gap between 4K Medium (147) and 4K Low (173.7). This indicates the Ryzen 5 5500 can push very high frame rates but is not the limiting factor at 4K, where the GPU takes over.

The processor's benchmark scores reinforce this. Its single-thread score in 3DMark is 836, and its 3DMark 16-thread score is 5386. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 16429, with a single-core score of 2319. These numbers show a capable mid-range part that can feed the RTX 4080 SUPER at 1080p, but the 1440p results (281.2 FPS at Low) suggest the CPU has headroom left. The 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with a score nearly matching the Intel Core i5-12500, confirms it is a solid match for this GPU, though not an ideal one.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on your target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p, Medium settings at 315.7 FPS is the best choice because the gap to Low (340.4 FPS) is only 7.3%, but the visual upgrade is significant. High at 267.9 FPS is also viable for those who prefer quality, but Ultra at 169.4 FPS is a poor trade-off since it costs 36.8% performance versus High.

At 1440p, High settings at 188 FPS is the clear winner. It delivers 61.5% more performance than Ultra (116.5 FPS) while still looking substantially better than Medium (230.5 FPS). The 18.4% gain from High to Medium (188 to 230.5 FPS) is not worth the visual downgrade for most users. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, High is the only setting that comfortably exceeds that refresh rate.

For 4K, Medium settings at 147 FPS is the recommended preset. It offers 25.8% more performance than High (116.9 FPS) and 90.4% more than Ultra (77.2 FPS). Low at 173.7 FPS is playable but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a horror game where atmosphere matters. Ultra should be avoided entirely, as 77.2 FPS is below the 100 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 5 5500 + RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 133rd out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 7.6% of all pairings. This is a strong result, but the rank masks an inefficiency: the CPU is too weak to fully utilize the GPU at lower resolutions. The 1080p results show the combo producing 340.4 FPS at Low, which is CPU-bound, while the GPU's 88th percentile ranking suggests it could do more if paired with a stronger processor.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 20875 places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.2% of its score. The GPU's average score of 53610 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival (RX 6900 XT) being 0.2% slower. This imbalance is typical of a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU: the combo rank is high because the GPU dominates in GPU-bound scenarios, but the 1080p data shows the CPU is the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is based on the AD103 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, along with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, with memory running at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card has a 320 W TDP and requires a 700 W power supply.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K. The scaling from 4K Low (173.7 FPS) to 4K Medium (147 FPS) to 4K High (116.9 FPS) shows a consistent 15-20% reduction per step, which is characteristic of GPU-bound rendering. The 4K Ultra result (77.2 FPS) is 34% lower than High, indicating the GPU is fully utilized at this resolution. The card's pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s support these high frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark performance reinforces its strength. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6600, and it achieves 34245 in Passmark G3D. The OpenCL score of 246994 and Vulkan score of 226163 show strong compute capabilities. With a 88th percentile ranking and a score 0.2% ahead of the RX 6900 XT, the RTX 4080 SUPER is a top-tier card that pairs well with the Ryzen 5 5500 at 4K, but the CPU holds it back at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 340.4 FPS at Low, 315.7 FPS at Medium, 267.9 FPS at High, and 169.4 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Medium to High is 15.1%, while the drop from High to Ultra is 36.8%. The 1080p results are clearly CPU-bound, as the difference between Low and Medium is only 7.3%.

At 2560x1440, the measured FPS are 281.2 at Low, 230.5 at Medium, 188 at High, and 116.5 at Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 18%, between Medium and High is 18.4%, and between High and Ultra is 38%. The 1440p results show a more balanced workload, with the GPU starting to become the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the FPS are 173.7 at Low, 147 at Medium, 116.9 at High, and 77.2 at Ultra. The scaling is consistent: 15.4% from Low to Medium, 20.5% from Medium to High, and 34% from High to Ultra. The 4K results are GPU-bound, as evidenced by the smooth progression and the fact that the CPU can keep up with these frame rates.

The overall pattern shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of 4K gaming at High settings, but the Ryzen 5 5500 becomes a bottleneck at 1080p, where the CPU limits the maximum frame rate. The 1440p resolution offers the best balance, with High settings providing 188 FPS, which is 60% higher than 4K High and 29.9% lower than 1080p High. For users who want the smoothest experience, 1080p Medium at 315.7 FPS is the peak, while 1440p High is the best visual-to-performance compromise.