Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a mid-pack result in Downfall, ranking 2,061st out of 2,928 tested combinations. While that placement places it in the lower half of all combos, the measured frame rates reveal a system that is entirely playable at most settings and resolutions, with the data indicating a clear performance ceiling set by the graphics card rather than the processor. The combination of a six-core Zen 3 processor with a Turing-based GPU delivers a balanced, if not class-leading, experience in this horror title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2,061 out of 2,928 tested combinations places it firmly in the 70th percentile of all tested pairings, meaning roughly 70% of all hardware configurations tested are faster in Downfall. This is not a top-tier ranking, but it is far from the bottom, and the context of the individual components explains why. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, sits at the 85th percentile against all CPUs in the database, indicating it is a strong processor relative to the broader market. The GPU, however, is less distinguished; the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile against all GPUs.

This discrepancy between the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s more modest one is the defining characteristic of this combo. The processor is capable of feeding the graphics card more data than the GPU can process, particularly at higher resolutions. The benchmark results confirm this, showing that the system’s frame rate is heavily dependent on resolution and settings, which are traditionally GPU-bound variables. The rank itself is a composite measure, and the data suggests that if this CPU were paired with a more powerful GPU, the combo’s standing would improve significantly. Conversely, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting factor in this pairing, holding the system back from the upper echelons of the rankings.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of running Downfall at 4K resolution?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. The measured results show an average of 57 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings, which is playable but not ideal. At Ultra settings, the average drops to 36 FPS, which falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay. Lowering to Medium settings yields 69 FPS, while Low settings produce 85 FPS, indicating that 4K is viable only with reduced graphical fidelity.

Q: How does the CPU’s performance compare to its immediate rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D has an average benchmark score of 37,018. This places it within a very tight performance band relative to its nearest rivals. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (average score 36,945) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (average score 36,938). It is 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (average score 37,093) and 0.3% behind the Intel Core i9-12900T (average score 37,112). The differences are negligible, indicating that these CPUs are effectively equivalent in general processing power.

Q: What is the GPU’s standing relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18,093. It trails its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (average score 18,159), by 0.4%. It also trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (average score 18,189) by 0.5%, the AMD Radeon RX 460 (average score 18,373) by 1.5%, and the Intel Arc A770M (average score 18,383) by 1.6%. The performance differences are small, suggesting that these GPUs are closely matched in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a high frame rate?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the most appropriate resolution for high frame rates. At this resolution, the combo achieves 191 FPS on Low settings and 128 FPS on High settings. Even on Ultra settings, it manages an average of 80 FPS. The step up to 2560x1440 shows a significant drop, with Ultra settings yielding only 57 FPS.

Q: Does the combo perform better at lower settings?

A: Yes, the data shows a clear correlation between lower settings and higher frame rates. At every resolution tested, the Low preset yields the highest average FPS. For example, at 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 136 FPS, while the High preset achieves 92 FPS. The difference is most pronounced at 4K, where Low settings produce 85 FPS compared to 36 FPS on Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the limiting component in this pairing. The evidence is the frame rate scaling with resolution. As resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, frame rates drop substantially, which is the classic behavior of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s high percentile rank (85th) further supports this, as it is unlikely to be the constraining factor.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across the three tested resolutions. The pattern is consistent: frame rates decrease as resolution increases, which is a strong indicator that the rendering load is the primary constraint. At 1920x1080, the system has ample headroom, with even the Ultra preset achieving 80 FPS. When moving to 2560x1440, there is a notable performance hit across all settings, though the system remains playable. The most dramatic drop occurs when moving to 3840x2160, where the GPU’s limits become apparent.

At 1080p, the data suggests that the CPU is doing more of the work, as the frame rates are high enough that the GPU is not fully saturated. For instance, the Low preset at 1080p yields 191 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that would require a capable CPU to feed the GPU. However, as the resolution increases, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows an average FPS drop of roughly 28-29% across High, Medium, and Ultra settings. The drop from 1440p to 4K is even more severe, with the High preset falling from 92 FPS to 57 FPS, a reduction of about 38%.

This scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The CPU’s performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU cannot maintain the same level of output as the pixel count increases. The result is a system that is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high refresh rates, and is only viable at 4K with reduced settings. The data shows that the step from 1440p to 4K is the most punishing, suggesting that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are overwhelmed at the higher resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the system’s performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset achieves an average of 191 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset follows with 156 FPS, and it is the only configuration with a recorded minimum and maximum FPS (133 and 180, respectively), indicating some variance. The High preset achieves 128 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 80 FPS. All 1080p results are well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, performance drops but remains respectable. The Low preset achieves 136 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 112 FPS (with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 128), and the High preset produces 92 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 57 FPS, which is still playable but shows the strain of higher resolution. The data shows a consistent pattern of the Medium preset having a recorded FPS range, while other presets only have average values.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations become clear. The Low preset achieves 85 FPS, which is the only 4K result above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset delivers 69 FPS (with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 80), the High preset drops to 57 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 36 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the dataset and indicates that this configuration is not suitable for maximum quality at this resolution. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a dramatic decline, with the Ultra preset delivering less than half the frame rate of the Low preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, featuring 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. It has 2,176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, along with 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores.

In Downfall, the GPU’s role is central to the frame rates observed. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the performance scales inversely with resolution. The GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for the tested settings, as there is no indication of memory-related stuttering or crashes. The boost clock of 1650 MHz is the effective speed during gaming, and the data suggests that this is the ceiling for the GPU’s performance.

The GPU’s computational capabilities, rated at 7.181 TFLOPS for FP32, are directly reflected in the measured FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, indicating that the GPU’s pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are saturated at the higher resolution. The GPU’s performance relative to its rivals is narrow, with the RTX 2060 SUPER trailing the RTX 3060 Mobile by 0.4% and the Radeon RX 460 by 1.5% in synthetic benchmarks. This close competition suggests that the GPU is a solid mid-range performer, but not a high-end solution. The measured FPS data confirms this, showing that the GPU can handle 1080p and 1440p well but struggles at 4K with high settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, and fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. The CPU features a large 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is a defining characteristic of the X3D series. It supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and operates on the AMD Socket AM4 platform.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck, as frame rates scale strongly with resolution, which is a GPU-dependent variable. The CPU’s high percentile rank (85th) supports this conclusion, as it outpaces the GPU’s percentile (62nd) by a significant margin. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 20,363 and single-thread score of 2,941 are indicative of a strong performer, and the data suggests that this performance is sufficient for the game.

The CPU’s closest rival is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which has a nearly identical average benchmark score (36,945 vs. 37,018, a 0.2% difference). This indicates that the 5500X3D’s additional cache does not provide a significant advantage in general synthetic benchmarks, but the gaming performance may differ. In Downfall, the CPU’s performance is adequate, as the combo’s frame rates are more dependent on the GPU. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.00 GHz is the speed at which it operates under load, and the data shows that this is sufficient to avoid being a limiting factor at 1080p, where frame rates are high.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset is the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering an average of 128 FPS. This is high enough for a smooth experience on most displays and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset, at 80 FPS, is also viable, but the drop from High to Ultra is significant, and the visual difference may not justify the 48 FPS loss. The Medium preset, at 156 FPS, is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays, but the Low preset at 191 FPS is the best for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 92 FPS, which is a solid experience for most users. The Medium preset, at 112 FPS, is a better choice for those seeking higher frame rates, while the Low preset at 136 FPS is the best for performance. The Ultra preset at 57 FPS is borderline, and it is recommended only for users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate. The data shows that the Medium preset provides the best balance of quality and performance at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more limited. The Low preset at 85 FPS is the only 4K option that provides a consistently smooth experience. The Medium preset at 69 FPS is playable, but the minimum FPS of 59 suggests occasional dips. The High preset at 57 FPS is marginal, and the Ultra preset at 36 FPS is not recommended for regular play. For 4K, the Low preset is the safest choice, with the Medium preset as a viable alternative for users who can tolerate slightly lower frame rates. The data indicates that this combo is not well-suited for 4K Ultra settings, and users should temper their expectations accordingly.