Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 5 5600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

This combination of AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA's RTX 2060 SUPER lands at rank 1269 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The pairing sits at the 72.9th percentile among all tested configurations, which is a curious position given that both components individually hold respectable benchmark standings. The CPU ranks in the 78th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 63rd percentile among all graphics cards — yet together they perform below what those individual standings might suggest. This discrepancy hints that Downfall's engine may not scale efficiently with this specific hardware pairing, or that the game's horror-focused rendering places unusual demands on one component over the other.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1269 out of 1741 tested combinations translates to roughly the 27th percentile — meaning about 27% of tested configurations deliver higher average frame rates in Downfall. This is notably weaker than what either component achieves in isolation. The Ryzen 5 5600X's average benchmark score of 20680 places it just 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT (20740) and 0.3% behind the Intel Core i7-10700 (20746). Meanwhile, the RTX 2060 SUPER's average score of 19774 sits 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2070 (19680).

What's striking is that the GPU's nearest rival — the RTX 2070 — is actually behind the 2060 SUPER in average benchmark score, despite typically being considered the stronger card. This inversion suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the 2060 SUPER punches above its weight class. However, in Downfall's measured frame rates, the combo fails to translate that benchmark strength into gameplay performance. The gap between the CPU's 78th percentile standing and the combo's 27th percentile result indicates a significant bottleneck or optimization issue within the game itself, rather than a deficiency in either component.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5600X brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the table, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache is substantial for gaming workloads, and the 7 nm process node from TSMC keeps power efficiency high with a 65 W TDP. In Downfall, a horror title from 2016, these specifications should theoretically provide ample headroom for physics calculations, AI pathfinding, and game logic — all of which are typically single-thread or lightly threaded workloads.

The CPU's single-thread performance is noteworthy: its 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622 indicate strong per-core capability. Downfall, being a 2016 release, likely relies heavily on a few main threads rather than scaling across many cores. The 5600X's 12 threads provide 6 physical cores for the game to distribute its primary workloads, while the high boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensures responsive frame pacing in scenes with sudden enemy spawns or environmental changes — common in horror games.

The data suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 191.4 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 79.8 FPS result indicates the processor can feed the GPU adequately. The CPU's multi-threaded scores — 18578 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 21858 in Passmark multithread — provide ample compute for any background tasks or streaming overhead that might accompany gameplay. However, the fact that the combo ranks poorly overall suggests that Downfall may not effectively utilize the 5600X's capabilities, potentially leaving performance on the table.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the TU106 chip with 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is generous for a card in this class. The base clock runs at 1470 MHz with a boost of 1650 MHz, and the card's 175 W TDP is modest for the performance it delivers. The inclusion of 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores means the card is DirectX 12 Ultimate capable, though Downfall's 2016 release predates ray tracing and DLSS adoption — meaning these features likely go unused in this title.

The GPU's benchmark performance shows a mixed picture. Its Passmark G3D score of 16462 places it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 reflects modern API performance. The compute score of 6721 in Passmark GPU compute indicates reasonable compute throughput. Yet in Downfall, the card's performance drops off dramatically at higher settings — from 191.4 FPS at 1080p Low to just 37.4 FPS at 4K Ultra, a reduction of over 80% — which points to the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution and settings increase.

The VRAM allocation of 8 GB is worth examining. At 4K Ultra settings, the game demands significant memory bandwidth and capacity for textures and shaders. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1440p gaming but may struggle to feed the render pipeline at 4K with Ultra details enabled. The 57.1 FPS at 4K High versus 37.4 FPS at 4K Ultra — a 53% drop — suggests that the Ultra preset pushes the card beyond its comfortable operating range, likely due to memory pressure and shader complexity rather than raw compute limits.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so low in Downfall when both components have decent individual standings?

A: The CPU ranks in the 78th percentile among all processors and the GPU in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, yet the combo sits at rank 1269 out of 1741 in this game. This suggests Downfall's engine does not scale effectively with this hardware pairing — likely due to the game's 2016 release date predating optimization for Zen 3 architecture and Turing GPU features.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rival in benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score is 19774, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070 (19680). Despite being considered a lower-tier card than the RTX 2070 in the product stack, the benchmark data shows it performs slightly better on average.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?

A: The measured data shows 1080p delivers the most consistent performance, with frame rates ranging from 79.8 FPS at Ultra to 191.4 FPS at Low. At 1440p, the range drops to 57.5 FPS at Ultra up to 134 FPS at Low, while 4K ranges from 37.4 FPS at Ultra to 85.1 FPS at Low. The 1080p resolution provides the best balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any settings?

A: The data suggests the CPU is sufficient at all tested settings. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 191.4 FPS, indicating the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. The performance drops align more closely with GPU load increases from resolution and settings changes rather than CPU limitations.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance affect Downfall?

A: Downfall, being a 2016 horror title, likely relies on fewer threads. The 5600X's 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622 indicate strong per-core capability, which should benefit games with limited thread utilization. The 4.60 GHz boost clock provides responsive performance for game logic and AI.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: At 4K High settings, the combo achieves 57.1 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 37.4 FPS — a 34.5% reduction. This suggests the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become strained at Ultra settings in 4K, likely due to texture and shader memory requirements exceeding comfortable capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 130.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 91.3 FPS — a 30.2% reduction. At 4K High, the frame rate falls to 57.1 FPS, another 37.5% reduction from 1440p. This progressive decline aligns with the traditional scaling of GPU load with pixel count: 1080p to 1440p represents 1.78x the pixels, and 1440p to 4K represents 2.25x the pixels.

The Low settings tell a similar story but with higher absolute numbers: 191.4 FPS at 1080p, 134 FPS at 1440p (30% drop), and 85.1 FPS at 4K (36.5% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions — the CPU maintains its ability to feed frames even as pixel counts rise. However, the 4K Low result of 85.1 FPS versus 1080p Low at 191.4 FPS shows a 55.5% reduction, which is steeper than the pixel ratio alone would suggest, implying additional overhead at 4K beyond simple pixel count.

The Ultra settings expose the most severe scaling: 79.8 FPS at 1080p, 57.5 FPS at 1440p (28% drop), and 37.4 FPS at 4K (35% drop from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 37.4 FPS is below the 40 FPS threshold many players consider minimally playable, indicating that this setting combination is not viable for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 130.7 FPS — well above the 60 FPS target and smooth for most displays. At 1440p High, 91.3 FPS remains comfortably playable, while even 4K High at 57.1 FPS approaches playability for those with 4K displays.

The Medium preset offers a slight performance boost over High — 153.5 FPS at 1080p (17.4% higher), 111.7 FPS at 1440p (22.3% higher), and 67.9 FPS at 4K (18.9% higher) — but the visual fidelity reduction may not be worth the gain when High already delivers acceptable frame rates. The Low preset pushes performance to 191.4 FPS at 1080p and 85.1 FPS at 4K, but this likely strips too much visual detail from a horror game where atmosphere and lighting are crucial.

The Ultra preset is problematic: only 79.8 FPS at 1080p, 57.5 FPS at 1440p, and 37.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result falls below standard playability thresholds, and even 1440p Ultra dips below 60 FPS. For players prioritizing smoothness, High at 1440p delivers 91.3 FPS — a 58.8% improvement over Ultra at the same resolution — while sacrificing only the highest detail settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce 191.4 FPS average, Medium reaches 153.5 FPS, High achieves 130.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 79.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 111.6 FPS, representing a 58.3% reduction — indicating that Ultra settings impose significant rendering costs even at the lowest resolution.

The 2560x1440 results show a predictable decline: Low hits 134 FPS, Medium reaches 111.7 FPS, High delivers 91.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 57.5 FPS. The performance spread from Low to Ultra is 76.5 FPS, a 57.1% reduction. Notably, 1440p High at 91.3 FPS outperforms 1080p Ultra at 79.8 FPS, suggesting that players desiring high visual quality might prefer 1440p High over 1080p Ultra for both resolution and frame rate benefits.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates compress significantly: Low achieves 85.1 FPS, Medium reaches 67.9 FPS, High delivers 57.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 37.4 FPS. The Ultra result is the only measured configuration below 40 FPS, making it the sole unplayable setting in the dataset. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each setting shows: Low drops 55.5%, Medium drops 55.8%, High drops 56.3%, and Ultra drops 53.1% — consistent GPU-bound scaling across all presets.