Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a playable but uneven experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The combo ranks 2091st out of 2928 tested configurations, placing it in the lower third of the database. Measured frame rates range from a smooth 191 FPS at 1080p Low to a struggling 36 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and quality settings, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps lower-resolution frame rates high.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 156 FPS, with a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500X3D compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500X3D's average benchmark score is 44573, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466) and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342). It trails the Intel Core i5-14600 (44889) by 0.7%.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth?

A: The Radeon RX 6600 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Is the frame rate at 4K Ultra playable?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 36 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock speed?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500X3D has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630?

A: The RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score is 24442, which is 0.7% higher than the GTX 1630's 24277.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It contains 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines, along with 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. Memory runs at 2000 MHz, with 16 Gbps effective speed, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth across its 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer.

The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 10.60 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the card scores 16461 in Passmark G3D, 1804 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, and 7520 in Passmark GPU compute. Its average benchmark score of 24442 places it at the 70th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher score), Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.8% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (1.1% higher).

In Downfall, the measured frame rates show a clear pattern: at 1080p Low, the GPU pushes 191 FPS, but this drops to 80 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 111 FPS, indicating that the GPU's shading and memory resources are heavily taxed by higher-quality settings. At 4K, the gap widens further: 85 FPS at Low versus 36 FPS at Ultra, a 49 FPS difference. This suggests that the 8 GB VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lower settings but become saturated at higher resolutions and quality presets, particularly with Ultra settings that likely increase texture detail and post-processing effects.

The GPU's 160 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are consistent with its mid-range positioning. The card's end-of-life production status and 2021 release date mean it is an older design, but its performance in this 2016 title remains viable for 1080p and 1440p gaming at medium-to-high settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 2091st out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 71st percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a system that is capable of running the game but is far from the top tier, where higher-end GPUs would deliver more consistent high-refresh-rate performance at max settings.

The CPU's percentile ranking is notably higher than the GPU's: the Ryzen 5 7500X3D sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 6600 XT sits at the 70th percentile among all GPUs. This disparity suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions where the CPU's strong single-thread performance (3494 in Passmark single-thread) cannot compensate for the GPU's rendering constraints.

In terms of CPU benchmark rivals, the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's average score of 44573 is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466, +0.2%) and Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342, +0.5%), while slightly trailing the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309, +0.6%) and Intel Core i5-14600 (44889, -0.7%). These margins are within a single percentage point, indicating that the CPU is competitive with modern high-end mobile and desktop parts.

For the GPU, the RX 6600 XT's average score of 24442 places it just above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24277, +0.7%) and GTX 780 Ti (24236, +0.8%), but slightly below the Intel Arc A350M (24647, -0.8%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24170, +1.1%). The tight clustering of these scores means that real-world game performance will vary more with driver optimization and game-specific settings than with raw synthetic benchmark differences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 191 FPS, Medium yields 156 FPS (minimum 133, maximum 180), High drops to 128 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 80 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 111 FPS decrease, or roughly 58% of the Low setting's performance. Even at Ultra, the frame rate remains well above 60 FPS, making 1080p the most comfortable resolution for this pairing.

Moving to 2560x1440, frame rates remain playable but with a noticeable reduction. Low averages 136 FPS, Medium averages 111 FPS (minimum 95, maximum 128), High averages 91 FPS, and Ultra drops to 57 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 79 FPS, with Ultra just barely missing the 60 FPS threshold. Medium and High settings both provide smooth experiences, while Ultra is borderline.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 69 FPS (minimum 59, maximum 80), High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is 49 FPS. High settings dip below 60 FPS, and Ultra is clearly not playable for smooth gameplay. Only Low and Medium maintain averages above 60 FPS, with Medium's minimum of 59 FPS indicating occasional dips.

The data shows that the combo is most consistent at 1080p, where all settings exceed 60 FPS. At 1440p, medium-to-high presets are viable, while at 4K, only low-to-medium settings provide acceptable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant across all settings, but the magnitude varies. At Low settings, the average drops from 191 FPS at 1080p to 136 FPS at 1440p (a 55 FPS decrease) and then to 85 FPS at 4K (a 51 FPS decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 106 FPS, or 55%.

At Medium settings, the averages are 156 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. This represents a 45 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 42 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling 87 FPS (56% reduction). High settings show 128 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K — a 71 FPS total drop (55%). Ultra settings produce 80 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K, a 44 FPS total drop (55%).

The consistent 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates that the scaling is roughly linear with the pixel count increase. The pixel density quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rate does not drop by 75%; instead, it drops by about 55%. This suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the frame rate scales more gradually than pixel count alone would dictate. However, the absolute frame rates at 4K (85 FPS Low, 36 FPS Ultra) point to the GPU being the limiting component, as the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high performance at 4K with demanding settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture on a 5 nm TSMC process. It runs at a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads that rely on large data sets.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance: a Passmark single-thread score of 3494 and a Passmark physics score of 2779. Its multithread score is 25047, with integer math at 70774 and floating point math at 43594. The CPU sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44573.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the 191 FPS average is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution and quality level. The high single-thread performance (3494) helps maintain high frame rates, while the 96 MB L3 cache reduces memory latency for game logic and physics calculations. At 1080p Medium and High, the frame rates (156 and 128 FPS) still indicate CPU capability, but the GPU begins to play a larger role as settings increase.

At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K (roughly 55% reduction) is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, meaning the Ryzen 5 7500X3D is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's 12 threads and 4.50 GHz boost clock are sufficient for this 2016 title, which is unlikely to leverage more than a few cores effectively.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired smoothness.

At 1920x1080, all settings are playable, but Ultra at 80 FPS is the best choice for maximum visual quality while maintaining a high refresh rate. Medium at 156 FPS is ideal for competitive play or high refresh rate displays (144 Hz), while Low at 191 FPS is the maximum performance option. High at 128 FPS offers a balanced compromise between visuals and speed.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings (111 FPS average, 95 FPS minimum) provide the best experience, delivering smooth gameplay with good visual fidelity. High at 91 FPS is also acceptable for 60 Hz displays, but Ultra at 57 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold and is not recommended for consistent smoothness. Low at 136 FPS is the performance-oriented choice for high refresh rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, only Low (85 FPS) and Medium (69 FPS average, 59 FPS minimum) settings provide playable frame rates. High at 57 FPS and Ultra at 36 FPS are below the 60 FPS target and should be avoided for comfortable gameplay. Medium is the recommended preset for 4K, as it offers the best visual quality while maintaining an average above 60 FPS, though occasional dips to 59 FPS may be noticeable.

For the best overall experience, the data suggests running the game at 1440p Medium or 1080p Ultra, depending on the display's native resolution and refresh rate. The combo's strengths lie in lower resolutions and settings, where the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's capable mid-range architecture combine to deliver high frame rates.