Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a strong showing in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that remains demanding at high resolutions. With a combo rank of 406 out of 2928 tested configurations, this pairing sits comfortably in the upper tier. The CPU, a 6-core/12-thread Zen 3 part with 96 MB of shared L3 cache, reaches an 85th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU, an Ada Lovelace AD104 chip with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, sits at an 84th percentile against all GPUs. The measured data reveals how this system scales across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, and where the bottleneck shifts as settings and resolution change.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but predictable, and it clearly identifies the GPU as the primary limiter at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the system produces 327 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 262 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 163 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The pattern holds across other presets: at Medium, 300 FPS at 1080p drops to 214 FPS at 1440p and 133 FPS at 4K; at High, 246 FPS at 1080p falls to 176 FPS at 1440p and 109 FPS at 4K. The most dramatic scaling occurs at Ultra, where 154 FPS at 1080p drops to 110 FPS at 1440p and then to 68 FPS at 4K — a 56% loss from the lowest to highest resolution.

The scaling behavior tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 2941) is likely holding the system back from pushing even higher frame rates, particularly at Low settings where the GPU has headroom. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 27 FPS (327 vs 300), suggesting the GPU is not fully saturated. At 4K, however, the GPU's workload increases dramatically, and the frame rates compress across settings — the difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 30 FPS (163 vs 133), and between Medium and High it is 24 FPS. This indicates the RTX 4070 Ti's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are being fully utilized at 4K, while the CPU has ample headroom.

The 1440p results show a balanced configuration. At Medium, the system delivers 214 FPS with a minimum of 182 FPS and a maximum of 246 FPS — a spread that suggests consistent frame pacing. At High, 1440p yields 176 FPS, which is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate most gamers target. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings (176 to 109 FPS) represents a 38% reduction, which is consistent with the pixel count increase of 2.25x being partially offset by the GPU's ability to maintain efficiency at higher resolutions. The data indicates that 1440p is the sweet spot for this pairing — the CPU can feed the GPU adequately, and the GPU can push well beyond 144 FPS on most presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience. For 1080p gaming, High settings at 246 FPS is the pragmatic choice — it delivers nearly 2.5x the refresh rate of a standard 60 Hz monitor and over 1.6x the rate of a 144 Hz display. Ultra at 1080p produces 154 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 37% drop from High for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a horror title where darkness hides detail. Low at 1080p hits 327 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a frame rate that exceeds what most displays can show.

At 1440p, High settings at 176 FPS is the recommended starting point. It clears the 144 Hz threshold comfortably and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Medium at 1440p offers 214 FPS with the only measured minimum/maximum data (182-246 FPS) in the entire set, which suggests it is well-optimized for frame consistency. Ultra at 1440p drops to 110 FPS, which is playable but below the 144 Hz mark — if you have a high-refresh monitor, the visual gains from Ultra may not justify the 37% frame rate loss versus High. Low at 1440p hits 262 FPS, but the visual penalty in a horror game — where atmosphere and lighting matter — is too severe.

For 4K, the choices are more constrained. High at 109 FPS is the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, as it stays above 100 FPS and will feel responsive on most displays. Medium at 4K offers 133 FPS (with a 113-153 FPS range), which is actually smoother than High and still looks respectable. Ultra at 4K drops to 68 FPS, which is borderline for a horror title where quick reactions can matter — the data suggests avoiding Ultra at 4K unless you prioritize maximum visual fidelity over frame rate. Low at 4K delivers 163 FPS, but at that point you are essentially playing a different-looking game. The overall recommendation: High at 1080p, High or Medium at 1440p, and Medium at 4K for the best measured experience per the data.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 144 FPS at 1440p in Downfall?

A: Yes. At 1440p High settings, the average FPS is 176, which is well above 144. At Medium settings, the average is 214 FPS with a minimum of 182 FPS, so even the worst-case measured frames stay above the 144 Hz threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB VRAM hold up at 4K in this game?

A: The measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K across all settings — 163 FPS at Low, 133 FPS at Medium, 109 FPS at High, and 68 FPS at Ultra. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for Downfall's 4K textures, as no VRAM-related stutters are reflected in the FPS averages.

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

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 327 FPS, which is close to what the CPU can feed — the PassMark single-thread score of 2941 and multithread score of 20363 suggest the CPU is adequate but not overkill. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the compressed FPS differences between settings (163 to 68 FPS across Low to Ultra).

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Medium delivers 214 FPS average (182-246 FPS range), while High delivers 176 FPS average. The difference is 38 FPS, or roughly 18% — a significant drop that may not be worth the visual upgrade depending on your display's refresh rate.

Q: How does this system compare to the RTX 4070 Ti's nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44795, which is 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44075) and 0.8% behind the RTX 5090 Mobile (45152). This places it in the top tier of GPUs, consistent with its 84th percentile ranking.

Q: Is this pairing good for 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: Yes, if you target High settings or below. At 4K High, the system averages 109 FPS, which is smooth for a horror game. Ultra at 4K drops to 68 FPS, which may be acceptable but is noticeably less fluid. The data shows 4K Medium at 133 FPS is the best 4K experience for frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 327 FPS, the fastest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 300 FPS with a minimum of 255 FPS and a maximum of 345 FPS — the widest recorded range, indicating some scene-to-scene variability but still an excellent experience. High settings drop to 246 FPS, which remains far above any standard refresh rate. Ultra settings bring the average down to 154 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 53% reduction from Low. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra, with diminishing returns as you climb the quality ladder.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the GPU's workload. Low settings average 262 FPS, which is a 20% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 214 FPS (182-246 FPS range), which is a 29% drop from 1080p Medium. High settings average 176 FPS, a 28% drop from 1080p High. Ultra settings average 110 FPS, a 29% drop from 1080p Ultra. The consistency of the percentage drops across settings at 1440p suggests the GPU is scaling linearly with resolution, and the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, frame rates drop significantly but remain playable. Low settings average 163 FPS, which is a 50% drop from 1080p Low — the largest percentage reduction at any resolution. Medium settings average 133 FPS (113-153 FPS range), a 56% drop from 1080p Medium. High settings average 109 FPS, a 56% drop from 1080p High. Ultra settings average 68 FPS, a 56% drop from 1080p Ultra. The consistent 56% reduction from 1080p to 4K across Medium, High, and Ultra settings (with Low at 50%) indicates the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at 4K, as expected given the 4x pixel count increase.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the workhorse of this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. The AD104 chip, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, runs at a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz. The 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s, which explains why the card can push 327 FPS at 1080p Low — the raw compute is more than sufficient for a 2016 title.

The memory subsystem plays a critical role at higher resolutions. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 4K textures in Downfall. The measured data shows no catastrophic frame drops at 4K; even at Ultra, the system maintains a 68 FPS average, suggesting the memory bandwidth is not a hard limit. The 21 Gbps effective memory clock is high, and the 192-bit bus width is the most likely constraint at 4K Ultra, where the 68 FPS result is the lowest in the dataset.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its gaming performance. The PassMark G3D score of 31624 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024 place it in the top tier, with a percentile of 84 against all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152 on average (0.8% higher), while the RTX A6000 scores 44075 (1.6% lower). This tight grouping indicates the RTX 4070 Ti is well-positioned for 1440p and 4K gaming, and the Downfall results confirm this — the card delivers over 100 FPS at 4K High and over 170 FPS at 1440p High.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename), manufactured on a 7 nm TSMC process. It runs at a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The defining feature is the 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is unusually large for a 6-core part and helps in games that benefit from large cache pools. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for a 2016 horror title.

The CPU's benchmark results show a balanced profile. The PassMark multithread score of 20363 and single-thread score of 2941 place it at an 85th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37018. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938 (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112 (0.3% lower). This indicates the 5500X3D is a mid-range performer that does not stand out in raw compute but benefits from its cache configuration.

In Downfall, the CPU's role becomes evident at 1080p Low settings, where the system reaches 327 FPS. At this resolution and settings level, the GPU is not the bottleneck — the CPU's single-thread performance and cache are what allow such high frame rates. The 96 MB L3 cache likely helps maintain consistent frame pacing in a horror game with dynamic environments. However, at 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes; the FPS differences between settings at 4K are driven almost entirely by the GPU's workload, and the CPU has ample headroom. The data suggests the 5500X3D is a capable partner for the RTX 4070 Ti, neither holding it back at high resolutions nor being so powerful that it becomes irrelevant.