Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D + AMD Radeon RX 580

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with the AMD Radeon RX 580 in Downfall produces a system that lands near the bottom of the benchmark database, ranking 2670th out of 2928 tested combos. This is a Horror title from 2016, and the measured frame rates indicate a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the CPU shows enough headroom to push high frame rates at 1080p on lower presets. The data set covers 1080p, 1440p, and 4K across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings, with average FPS values that range from 19 to 102, revealing a wide performance envelope that depends almost entirely on resolution and quality level.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The cache layout is notable: 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a large 96 MB shared L3 cache. This processor supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and ECC support, and it uses PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes. Its PassMark multithread score is 20363, single-thread 2941, and it sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37018.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU's role is best understood by looking at the frame rates at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 102 FPS. That is the highest measured value in the entire data set, and it indicates that the processor is not the limiting factor at that setting. The 5500X3D's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with an average score of 36945 (0.2% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 (-0.2%), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 at 36938 (0.2%). These extremely close scores, all within 0.3% of each other, suggest that the 5500X3D is a mid-pack performer in synthetic tests, but its large L3 cache and six Zen 3 cores are more than adequate for a horror game from 2016.

The CPU's PassMark physics score is 2282, and its floating-point math score is 34511, while integer math reaches 60033. For a game like Downfall, which is not known for heavy physics simulation or AI workloads, these numbers are likely sufficient to keep up with the GPU at most settings. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 43, which is far below the 102 FPS at Low — this is a classic sign that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher quality presets, not the CPU. Even at 1440p High, the system produces 49 FPS, and at 4K High it falls to 30 FPS, further confirming that the processor has headroom left on the table.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a Polaris 20 chip built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, with a die size of 232 mm² and 5,700 million transistors. It has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operations pipelines. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, with memory clocks at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU's base clock is 1257 MHz and boost clock is 1340 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s, and 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. Its TDP is 185 W, and it requires a 450 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin power connector.

The RX 580's benchmark scores place it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 12928. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile at 12940 (-0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER at 12986 (-0.4%), the AMD Radeon 740M at 12870 (0.5%), and the AMD FirePro W5100 at 12847 (0.6%). The PassMark G3D score is 8813, while the DirectX 12 score is a low 43, and the DirectX 11 score is 60. These DirectX scores are particularly telling for a game from 2016, which likely relies on older API paths — the RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is decisive. At 1080p Low, the RX 580 delivers 102 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it falls to 43 FPS, a drop of 58%. At 1440p, the range is from 73 FPS at Low to 31 FPS at Ultra, and at 4K it goes from 45 FPS at Low to just 19 FPS at Ultra. The 8 GB VRAM is not likely to be a limiting factor at these settings, given the game's age and genre, but the raw compute power of 6.175 TFLOPS is clearly strained by higher resolutions and quality presets. The RX 580's launch MSRP was 229 USD, and it is an end-of-life product, which explains why it sits at the 53rd percentile — it is a capable 1080p card that struggles beyond that.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of degradation as resolution increases, which points to the GPU as the primary limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 102 at 1080p to 73 at 1440p (a 28% drop) and then to 45 at 4K (a 56% drop from 1080p). At Medium settings, the values are 83, 60, and 37 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively — the 1440p number is a 28% reduction, and the 4K number is a 55% reduction from 1080p. High settings show 68 FPS at 1080p, 49 at 1440p (28% drop), and 30 at 4K (56% drop). Ultra settings are the most severe: 43 FPS at 1080p, 31 at 1440p (28% drop), and 19 at 4K (56% drop).

The consistency of these percentage drops across settings is striking. Every resolution step from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by roughly 28%, and from 1440p to 4K the reduction is about 39-40% (e.g., from 73 to 45 is a 38% drop, from 60 to 37 is 38%, from 49 to 30 is 39%, and from 31 to 19 is 39%). This uniform scaling behavior is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU is not the constraint at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rates to plateau or drop less steeply at higher resolutions, but the data shows no such plateau — the RX 580 is consistently the limiting factor.

The only row with min and max FPS data is Medium settings, where 1080p has a range of 71 to 96 FPS (average 83), 1440p ranges from 51 to 69 (average 60), and 4K ranges from 32 to 43 (average 37). These ranges show a variance of about 25-30% between minimum and maximum, which is typical for a horror game with dynamic scenes. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 32, which is still playable, but the average of 37 suggests that any scene with higher complexity could dip below 30 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 102 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 1080p provides 83 FPS, which is still excellent, and High gives 68 FPS — all three are playable. Ultra at 1080p drops to 43 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game where smoothness matters for immersion, but it is not unplayable.

At 1440p, the Low preset produces 73 FPS, which is good, and Medium gives 60 FPS, which is exactly at the standard target. High at 1440p falls to 49 FPS, which is below 60 but still acceptable for many players. Ultra at 1440p is 31 FPS, which is likely too low for a satisfying experience. At 4K, the only preset that remains above 30 FPS is Low at 45 FPS, while Medium is 37 FPS and High is 30 FPS — these are marginal at best. Ultra at 4K is 19 FPS, which is unplayable.

The data suggests that the optimal setting is Medium at 1080p or 1440p, depending on the display. At 1080p Medium, the 83 FPS average with a min of 71 FPS ensures no dips below 60 FPS in the measured data. At 1440p Medium, the 60 FPS average with a min of 51 FPS is acceptable, but the min FPS indicates occasional drops below 60. For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, High at 1080p (68 FPS) is a reasonable compromise, but Ultra should be avoided unless 43 FPS is acceptable. The data does not include a "Very High" preset, so the choice is binary between the four listed settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 2670th out of 2928 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 9% of all systems in the database. This low rank is primarily attributable to the GPU, which is an end-of-life product from 2017, while the CPU is a much newer release from 2025. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all processors contrasts sharply with the GPU's 53rd percentile, and this imbalance is reflected in the measured frame rates.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system is likely outperformed by any pairing that includes a more modern GPU, even if the CPU is weaker. The RX 580's nearest rivals — the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, GTX 1660 SUPER, Radeon 740M, and FirePro W5100 — all have similar average scores within 0.6%, so swapping the GPU for any of these would produce similar results in Downfall. The CPU's rivals (5600F, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, Core Ultra 5 225, i9-12900T) are all within 0.3% of the 5500X3D, so the CPU choice has minimal impact on the overall ranking.

The rank of 2670 out of 2928 means that 258 other tested combos performed worse than this one in Downfall. This is not a catastrophic result — the system is capable of playing the game at 1080p with high frame rates — but it is clearly a low-end configuration by modern standards. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver playable-to-smooth performance, and it should not be expected to handle 4K beyond the lowest settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 102 FPS on Low settings, 83 FPS on Medium (with a min of 71 and max of 96), 68 FPS on High, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium is a 19% reduction, from Medium to High is an 18% reduction, and from High to Ultra is a 37% reduction. The Ultra preset is a significant performance cliff, nearly halving the frame rate from High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 73 FPS on Low, 60 FPS on Medium (min 51, max 69), 49 FPS on High, and 31 FPS on Ultra. The reductions from 1080p are consistent across all settings: Low drops from 102 to 73 (28%), Medium from 83 to 60 (28%), High from 68 to 49 (28%), and Ultra from 43 to 31 (28%). The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first setting where the average FPS falls below 30, at exactly 31 FPS, which is borderline.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 45 FPS on Low, 37 FPS on Medium (min 32, max 43), 30 FPS on High, and 19 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1440p to 4K is roughly 38-39% for each setting: Low goes from 73 to 45 (38%), Medium from 60 to 37 (38%), High from 49 to 30 (39%), and Ultra from 31 to 19 (39%). At 4K, only the Low preset maintains an average above 40 FPS, and the Medium preset's minimum of 32 FPS is close to the edge of playability.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 1080p with 60 FPS?

A: Yes, at 1080p Low, Medium, and High settings, the average FPS is 102, 83, and 68 respectively, all above 60. The Ultra preset drops to 43 FPS, which is below 60.

Q: What is the highest resolution where this system maintains 60 FPS average?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 73 FPS, and Medium achieves exactly 60 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS — the highest is Low at 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score is 12928, which is 0.1% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940) and 0.4% below the GTX 1660 SUPER (12986). It is 0.5% above the AMD Radeon 740M (12870).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500X3D a bottleneck for the RX 580 in this game?

A: The data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 102 FPS, and the uniform FPS drops across resolutions (28% from 1080p to 1440p, 39% to 4K) suggest the GPU is the limiting factor at all settings.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium at 1440p provides a 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS. Low provides 73 FPS if higher frame rates are preferred, while High drops to 49 FPS and Ultra to 31 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Downfall?

A: It ranks 2670th out of 2928 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 9% of the database. This is due to the GPU's 53rd percentile ranking, while the CPU sits at the 85th percentile.