Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a striking performance profile in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system where the GPU is clearly dominant, yet the CPU's six Zen 3 cores still manage to keep pace at high frame rates. With the combo ranking 50th out of 1,741 tested combinations, this configuration sits in the top tier for this game, delivering playable-to-excellent results even at 4K Ultra. The data suggests a system that excels at high-refresh 1440p gaming and remains fully capable at 4K, though the most demanding preset begins to strain the GPU's massive resources.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not uniform across settings, revealing how Downfall's workload scales with resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 373.4 at 1920x1080 to 314.4 at 2560x1440, then to 198.9 at 3840x2160 — a total reduction of 46.7% from 1080p to 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 347.7 FPS at 1080p drops to 259 at 1440p (a 25.5% decline) and then to 160.5 at 4K (a 53.8% decline from 1080p). High settings follow the trend with 294.8 FPS at 1080p, 214.9 at 1440p, and 132.4 at 4K — a 55.1% drop across the full range.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p, the system achieves 188.1 FPS; at 1440p, this falls to 134.9; and at 4K, it reaches 85.2 FPS. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K on Ultra is 54.7%, which is comparable to the High preset's 55.1% drop. This consistency suggests that Downfall's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count, regardless of quality level. However, the absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra (85.2 FPS) versus 4K High (132.4 FPS) indicate that the Ultra preset introduces additional GPU load beyond mere resolution scaling, likely through enhanced shading and post-processing effects.

The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the RTX 4090 is not the limiting factor — frame rates in excess of 300 FPS at Low settings point to CPU or engine-level constraints. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the larger absolute differences between settings. This is classic behavior for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU: resolution scaling is steep because the GPU's workload increases with pixel count, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo in Downfall?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 373.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the ceiling for this configuration, likely limited by the CPU's single-thread performance rather than GPU capability.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 85.2, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. The system has headroom of 25.2 FPS above this minimum playability standard.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's benchmark standing compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090 holds the 91st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4, scores 66,733, which is 0.4% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 67,097, a 0.9% advantage.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT ranks in the 78th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20,740. Its closest competitor, the Intel Core i7-10700, scores 20,746, a negligible 0% difference.

Q: Is the Ultra preset at 1440p a viable option for high-refresh monitors?

A: Yes, the 1440p Ultra average of 134.9 FPS is sufficient for 120Hz displays, though not for 144Hz panels. For 144Hz or higher, the High preset at 1440p, which delivers 214.9 FPS, would be more appropriate.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from High to Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 132.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 85.2 FPS — a drop of 47.2 FPS or 35.6% relative to High. This is a significant cost for the visual enhancements Ultra provides.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 serves as the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the card provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Downfall's textures and geometry at any resolution. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective, while the GPU core operates at a 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost clock. These clocks, combined with 16,384 shading units, allow the card to push 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Downfall, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 373.4 FPS is likely constrained by the CPU's ability to feed draw calls, not by the GPU's rendering capacity. At 4K Ultra, the 85.2 FPS result reflects the GPU's raw pixel throughput, with the 176 ROPs and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate being exercised heavily. The card's 512 TMUs and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate handle Downfall's texture-heavy horror environments without issue.

The RTX 4090's benchmark data supports its top-tier status. Its PassMark G3D score of 38,194 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 indicate strong DirectX 12 performance, which aligns with Downfall's engine demands. The GPU's OpenCL score of 317,684 and Vulkan score of 270,615 show versatility across APIs, though Downfall's 2016 release likely uses DX11 or DX12 paths. The card's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present but largely unused in this title, as Downfall predates widespread ray tracing adoption.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low averages 373.4 FPS, Medium 347.7 FPS, High 294.8 FPS, and Ultra 188.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 185.3 FPS, indicating that Ultra's additional effects cost nearly half the frame rate. This resolution is clearly CPU-limited at lower settings, as the 373.4 FPS figure exceeds what most games can achieve on any hardware.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a noticeable step down. Low settles at 314.4 FPS, Medium at 259 FPS, High at 214.9 FPS, and Ultra at 134.9 FPS. The relative ordering is consistent, but the absolute differences between settings compress slightly: Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 179.5 FPS. At this resolution, the GPU begins to assert its influence, though the CPU still provides adequate headroom.

At 3840x2160, the results demonstrate the RTX 4090's 4K capability. Low runs at 198.9 FPS, Medium at 160.5 FPS, High at 132.4 FPS, and Ultra at 85.2 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap shrinks to 113.7 FPS, reflecting the GPU's increasing workload. Notably, the 4K Low result (198.9 FPS) is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result (188.1 FPS), showing that resolution matters less than settings for this GPU. The 4K Ultra result of 85.2 FPS is the only measured scenario below 100 FPS, but it remains well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 294.8 FPS, which is more than adequate for any display. At 1440p, High's 214.9 FPS supports 144Hz monitors with room to spare. At 4K, High's 132.4 FPS exceeds the 120Hz threshold, making it the recommended choice for high-refresh 4K panels.

Ultra is viable but carries a significant cost. At 4K, the 85.2 FPS result is playable on 60Hz displays but insufficient for 120Hz monitors. At 1440p, Ultra's 134.9 FPS is borderline for 144Hz — it would work but with occasional dips below the refresh rate. Given that High at 1440p provides 214.9 FPS, a 59.3% improvement over Ultra, the extra visual fidelity of Ultra is hard to justify for competitive or fast-paced gameplay.

For maximum frame rates, Low settings at 1080p (373.4 FPS) or 1440p (314.4 FPS) are the choices, but these sacrifice visual quality for marginal gains in a horror title where atmosphere matters. Medium offers a middle ground: 347.7 FPS at 1080p, 259 FPS at 1440p, and 160.5 FPS at 4K, all of which are excellent. The data indicates that Medium at 4K (160.5 FPS) outperforms Ultra at 1440p (134.9 FPS), suggesting users should prioritize resolution over settings when both are in play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT provides six cores and twelve threads, running at a 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost clock. This Zen 3 Cezanne chip uses a 7 nm process from TSMC and draws 65 W TDP. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 16 MB L3. The CPU's benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore hits 17,272, while single-core reaches 2,438. PassMark multithread scores 20,325, and single-thread 3,348.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 373.4 FPS suggests the CPU is approaching its limit for draw call processing. This is consistent with the 3DMark scores: 5,523 for 16 threads and 913 for single-thread. The game's 2016 engine likely relies heavily on a few threads, so the 5600GT's single-core performance becomes critical. The Geekbench single-core score of 2,035 and Cinebench R20 single-core of 1,023 indicate capable per-thread performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals show it is well-matched. The Intel Core i7-10700 scores 20,746 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X scores 20,680 (+0.3% delta), and the Intel Core i5-12490F scores 20,794 (-0.3% delta). These near-identical scores confirm that the 5600GT is a mid-range performer that does not bottleneck the RTX 4090 in most scenarios. However, the 78th percentile ranking means it is not a top-tier CPU, and in CPU-bound situations (1080p Low), it may limit frame rates below what the GPU could otherwise deliver. The 16 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory at 51.2 GB/s are sufficient for Downfall's memory demands, though not exceptional by modern standards.