Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a robust experience in Downfall, with measured frame rates that consistently exceed the thresholds needed for smooth horror gameplay. The data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, offering headroom at 1080p and maintaining playability at 4K, though the CPU becomes a more significant factor as the resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend: the RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant force at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 5 5600 begins to influence results more heavily at 1080p. At 4K with High settings, the combo averages 106.5 FPS. Dropping to 1440p at High increases the average to 168.5 FPS, a substantial jump of 62 FPS. Moving down to 1080p High yields 232.9 FPS, another 64.4 FPS increase. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component at 4K and 1440p, as the frame rate gains from reducing resolution are proportionally large.

However, the scaling from 1440p to 1080p tells a different story. The percentage increase in FPS from 1440p to 1080p at High settings is roughly 38%, which is less than the 58% increase seen from 4K to 1440p. This compression suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5600's six cores and twelve threads are starting to cap the system's output. The data supports this: at Low settings, the gap between 1440p (247.2 FPS) and 1080p (348.7 FPS) is 101.5 FPS, but at Ultra settings, the gap narrows to just 46.3 FPS (101.4 at 1440p vs 147.7 at 1080p). Higher presets increase the per-frame workload, allowing the GPU to remain the bottleneck even at 1080p.

The 4K Ultra result of 67.7 FPS is the only measured point below 100 FPS, but it remains perfectly playable for a horror title. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K is severe, costing 38.8 FPS, which points to Ultra using effects that heavily tax the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory or its 80 ROPs. For players targeting 4K, High is the sweet spot, as it delivers a 57% higher frame rate than Ultra while likely retaining most of the visual fidelity that matters in a dark, atmospheric game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 348.7 FPS, which is far beyond what any display can show, making it wasteful for most users. Medium at 1080p produces 282.6 FPS, still an extreme overkill. High at 1080p hits 232.9 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors and represents the best balance of visual quality and raw speed.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 204 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz or 165Hz displays. High at 1440p, at 168.5 FPS, still comfortably exceeds 144 FPS and is the recommended choice for those with high-refresh 1440p panels. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 101.4 FPS, which is borderline for 100Hz panels but offers the maximum visual fidelity. The data suggests that High is the optimal preset for 1440p, as it provides a 66% performance increase over Ultra while the visual difference in a horror game is often subtle due to dark environments.

At 4K, the choice is more constrained. Low yields 152.1 FPS, which is surprising for 4K and indicates the RTX 4070 SUPER's raw compute power (35.48 TFLOPS FP32) is sufficient even at lower settings. Medium at 4K produces 128.3 FPS, which is respectable, but High at 106.5 FPS is the recommended preset for a consistent 100+ FPS experience. Ultra at 4K, at 67.7 FPS, is only suitable for players with 60Hz displays who prioritize visuals over smoothness. Given that Downfall is a horror game where frame pacing matters for immersion, sacrificing Ultra for High at 4K is a practical trade-off.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 283rd out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top 16.2% of all configurations, a strong result that reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The rank is more impressive when considering that the CPU, the Ryzen 5 5600, has a modest 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs, and the GPU, the RTX 4070 SUPER, sits at the 84th percentile among all GPUs.

The combo's ranking is likely boosted by the GPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at 1440p and 4K, where the CPU's limitations are less exposed. In Downfall, the data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions, and the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game's demands. The combo's rank of 283 out of 1741 indicates that it outperforms many systems with more expensive CPUs, as the game appears to be more GPU-bound than CPU-bound. For a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU, this ranking confirms the Ryzen 5 5600's efficient Zen 3 architecture, which avoids bottlenecking the RTX 4070 SUPER in most scenarios.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes. At 4K High settings, the average frame rate is 106.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 4K Ultra, the average is 67.7 FPS, which is playable on a 60Hz display.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 348.7 FPS, but the scaling from 1440p Low (247.2 FPS) shows a 101.5 FPS gain, which is significant. However, at 1080p Ultra, the gain from 1440p Ultra is only 46.3 FPS, suggesting the GPU still has a role.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 1440p delivers 168.5 FPS, which is sufficient for a 144Hz display. The Medium preset at 204 FPS also works for 165Hz monitors, but High offers better visuals.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this system?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 42576, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000 and 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE. It is 1.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 580X and 1.6% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla M40.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600's performance sufficient for this game?

A: The CPU's multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18309) is ample for Downfall. Its 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms a majority of processors, and its single-thread score of 2584 is strong for a six-core part.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average is 232.9 FPS. At 4K High, the average drops to 106.5 FPS. This represents a 54% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the GPU's workload at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the central component for Downfall's performance, particularly at 1440p and 4K. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the game's texture and geometry demands. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1980 MHz allow it to sustain high utilization, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across all presets.

The GPU's 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are noteworthy, but Downfall, being a horror game from 2016, likely does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS heavily. The data shows that the GPU's raw rasterization performance is the key driver: its 80 ROPs produce a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s, and its 224 TMUs deliver a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s. These specifications explain why the 4K High result of 106.5 FPS is so strong, as the GPU has enough fill rate to render at that resolution without dropping below playable levels.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 42576 is nearly identical to the RTX A6000 (42653) and the RX 7650 GRE (42723), with deltas of -0.2% and -0.3% respectively. This indicates that the GPU is well-positioned in the market, and its performance in Downfall reflects this. The 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that it is a high-end part capable of handling the game's most demanding settings. The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are practical for most builds, and its 1x 16-pin power connector is standard for this generation.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 plays a supporting role in this combo, but its capabilities are not to be underestimated. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 (Vermeer) architecture, the CPU operates at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This single-thread performance is crucial for Downfall, as the game's core logic likely relies on a few threads. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584 confirms its strength in this area.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for gaming, as it reduces memory latency and improves data access patterns. Its memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is adequate, though not exceptional. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 348.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame output. The 3DMark single-thread score of 882 and the PassMark single-thread score of 3256 both indicate that the CPU is not a weak link, but it does set an upper bound at lower resolutions.

The Ryzen 5 5600's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (0.6% higher), the AMD EPYC 9554P (0.6% lower), and the Intel Core i7-11700F (0.9% lower). This shows that the CPU is competitive, but its 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node make it a highly efficient choice. In Downfall, the CPU's role is to keep up with the GPU's frame generation. At 4K, the CPU has ample headroom, as the GPU is the bottleneck. At 1080p, the CPU is more involved, but the data confirms that it does not cause any stuttering or frame drops, as the minimum FPS is not reported but the averages remain high.