Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 246 FPS, which drops to 176 FPS at 1440p High — a 28% reduction — and further to 109 FPS at 4K High, a 38% drop from 1440p. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K indicates the workload shifts decisively onto the graphics card at higher pixel counts, with the RTX 4070 Ti's rendering throughput becoming the limiting factor.

The scaling behavior is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the combo delivers 366 FPS at 1080p, 262 FPS at 1440p, and 163 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28% from 1080p to 1440p and 38% from 1440p to 4K — nearly identical to the High preset's scaling. This uniformity suggests that Downfall's resolution scaling is primarily driven by pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth demands, rather than by shader complexity or scene-specific effects. The RTX 4070 Ti's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate are the relevant specs here, and the data shows these resources get progressively saturated as resolution climbs.

At Medium settings, the measured rows include minimum and maximum FPS values, providing additional insight. At 4K Medium, the average is 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 and maximum of 153. The gap between min and max is 40 FPS, or roughly 30% of the average. At 1440p Medium, the average is 214 FPS with min/max of 182/246 — a 64 FPS spread, again about 30%. At 1080p Medium, the average is 300 FPS with min/max of 255/345 — a 90 FPS spread, exactly 30%. This proportional variance across resolutions indicates frame time consistency scales with overall performance, maintaining a similar relative stability profile.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic resolution sensitivity. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 154 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 110 FPS; at 4K Ultra, it drops to 68 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K drop of 38% mirrors the other presets, but the absolute numbers reveal that Ultra settings push the GPU into a range where 4K becomes marginal for high-refresh displays. The 68 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the lowest measured value across all configurations, confirming that this combination of resolution and settings represents the most demanding scenario in the dataset.

The overall pattern — consistent percentage drops regardless of preset — points to a GPU-limited scenario at all resolutions above 1080p. The CPU's role appears secondary, as the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's 6 cores and 12 threads with 96 MB of L3 cache are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, where frame rates exceed 360 FPS at 1080p Low. The data suggests that users targeting 4K should expect the RTX 4070 Ti to be the primary constraint, while 1080p and 1440p leave headroom for the CPU to keep up.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti plays the dominant role in determining Downfall's performance across most measured configurations. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears adequate for the game's demands at 4K, as evidenced by playable frame rates even at High settings (109 FPS average). The memory configuration supports the texture and geometry loads typical of a 2016 horror title, and the measured results show no signs of VRAM capacity limiting performance — the 12 GB buffer is never exhausted at any resolution or settings combination in this dataset.

Clock speeds for the RTX 4070 Ti are listed as a base of 2310 MHz and boost of 2610 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These frequencies, combined with the Ada Lovelace architecture's 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, produce the measured frame rates. The GPU's 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the throughput metrics that translate into the FPS numbers observed. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 366 FPS, which approaches the practical ceiling for many displays, indicating the GPU is not the limiting factor at this low-stress configuration.

The RTX 4070 Ti's pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s becomes increasingly relevant at higher resolutions. At 4K (3840x2160), the pixel count is roughly 8.3 million per frame. At 109 FPS High, the GPU fills approximately 905 million pixels per second, which is about 43% of its theoretical pixel rate. This headroom suggests the GPU has spare capacity even at 4K High, and the actual bottleneck may involve other stages of the rendering pipeline. At 4K Ultra, the 68 FPS average corresponds to roughly 565 million pixels per second — only 27% of theoretical pixel rate — indicating that effects and shading complexity, not raw pixel throughput, are the limiting factors at Ultra settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide context for its overall capability. The PassMark G3D score of 31624 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024 place the RTX 4070 Ti in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 Mobile (avg score 45152, delta -0.8%) and AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (avg score 45384, delta -1.3%), while the RTX A6000 (44075, delta 1.6%) and Intel Arc A730M (45592, delta -1.7%) sit nearby. These comparisons show the RTX 4070 Ti is competitive with high-end mobile and workstation parts, though its End-of-life production status suggests newer alternatives exist in the broader market.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 4K High, the combo delivers 109 FPS average, which is comfortably above 60 FPS for smooth horror gameplay. At 1440p High, the 176 FPS average is ideal for high-refresh monitors, and at 1080p High, 246 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most displays. The High preset provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining frame rates that are at least 66% higher than Ultra at every resolution.

The Ultra preset, while visually superior, incurs steep performance costs. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 68 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror games but leaves little headroom for frame time spikes. At 1440p Ultra, 110 FPS is playable but represents a 37% reduction from High's 176 FPS. At 1080p Ultra, 154 FPS is still high, but the data shows that the jump from High to Ultra at each resolution costs roughly 40-45% of performance. For a horror game where atmosphere and pacing matter more than competitive frame rates, Ultra might be viable at 1080p or 1440p, but 4K Ultra appears risky.

Medium settings provide a middle ground, with 300 FPS at 1080p, 214 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result is the highest 4K average in the dataset apart from Low (163 FPS), making it a strong choice for users who prioritize smoothness at 4K. However, the High preset's 109 FPS at 4K is only 18% lower than Medium while presumably offering better visuals, making High the more sensible default.

Low settings achieve extremely high frame rates — 366 FPS at 1080p, 262 FPS at 1440p, and 163 FPS at 4K — but the visual compromise is substantial. The data shows that Low settings are primarily useful for competitive play or for pushing maximum refresh rates, but for a single-player horror experience, the visual fidelity loss is likely not worth the FPS gains. The recommendation is clear: High settings across all resolutions, with 4K Ultra as an option only for users who accept sub-70 FPS averages.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a combo rank of 335 out of 2928 tested combinations in Downfall. This places the combo in the top 11.4% of all tested configurations, indicating strong overall performance for this title. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU working together, and the data suggests this pairing is well-suited for Downfall's demands.

The combo's percentile placement is consistent with the individual components' standings. The CPU sits in the 89th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is in the 84th percentile among all graphics cards. The combo rank of 335/2928 corresponds to roughly the 88.6th percentile, which is slightly below the CPU's individual percentile but above the GPU's. This suggests the pairing extracts near-optimal performance from both components, with neither significantly bottlenecking the other at the measured settings.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (avg score 44466, delta 0.2%), Intel Core i9-13950HX (avg score 44342, delta 0.5%), AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (avg score 44309, delta 0.6%), and Intel Core i5-14600 (avg score 44889, delta -0.7%). These deltas are all within 1% of the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's average benchmark score of 44573, indicating that the CPU is competitive with a range of high-end mobile and desktop parts. The GPU's nearest rivals show similar tight clustering, with the RTX 5090 Mobile (45152, delta -0.8%) and RTX A6000 (44075, delta 1.6%) bracketing its avg score of 44795.

The high combo rank of 335 out of 2928 means that only about 11% of tested configurations outperform this pairing in Downfall. Given that the game released in 2016 and the components are from 2023 (GPU) and 2025 (CPU), this result demonstrates that the combo has ample headroom for the game's engine. The rank also implies that users with this setup are unlikely to need upgrades for Downfall specifically, as the measured frame rates are high across all tested settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D's contribution to Downfall's performance is best understood through the frame rates at lower resolutions where the CPU is more likely to be a factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 366 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that demands strong single-thread performance. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score is 3494, and its boost clock is 4.50 GHz (base 4.00 GHz), providing the per-core throughput needed for such high frame rates. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for Downfall's threading model, which is typical of a 2016 title that may not scale beyond a few cores.

The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a notable feature of this X3D processor. This large cache can reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data, which is beneficial for game logic and scene management. The CPU's PassMark physics score of 2779 and multithread score of 25047 indicate solid overall compute capabilities, but the game's performance at higher resolutions shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck, meaning the CPU has headroom to spare.

The Ryzen 5 7500X3D's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration (83.2 GB/s bandwidth) ensures the GPU receives data without bandwidth constraints. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 4070 Ti, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 44573, places it slightly ahead of rivals like the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (0.2% delta) and Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.5% delta), while trailing the Intel Core i5-14600 by 0.7%.

At 1080p with higher settings, the CPU's role diminishes as the GPU takes over. The drop from 366 FPS at Low to 246 FPS at High and 154 FPS at Ultra at 1080p shows that settings increases shift the workload to the GPU, even at lower resolutions. The CPU's 12 threads and high boost clock ensure it never becomes the primary constraint in these measurements, as evidenced by the consistent scaling patterns observed across resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values across settings are: Low at 366 FPS, Medium at 300 FPS (min 255, max 345), High at 246 FPS, and Ultra at 154 FPS. The Medium preset provides the only min/max data at this resolution, showing a 90 FPS spread between minimum and maximum frame times. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the significant cost of Ultra settings even at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 262 FPS, Medium at 214 FPS (min 182, max 246), High at 176 FPS, and Ultra at 110 FPS. The Medium preset's min/max spread is 64 FPS, narrower than at 1080p but proportionally similar. The 1440p results show a 58% reduction from Low to Ultra, matching the 1080p pattern. Compared to 1080p, each settings tier sees roughly a 28-30% reduction, consistent with the resolution scaling analysis.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 163 FPS, Medium at 133 FPS (min 113, max 153), High at 109 FPS, and Ultra at 68 FPS. The Medium preset shows a 40 FPS min/max spread at 4K. The 4K results represent the most demanding configurations, with Ultra dipping below 70 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra reduction at 4K is 58%, identical to the other resolutions, confirming that settings scaling is resolution-independent.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset's min/max data reveals frame time consistency. At 1080p, the min is 85% of the average; at 1440p, it's 85%; at 4K, it's 85%. This consistency suggests stable performance regardless of resolution, with no anomalous frame spikes in the measured data. The max FPS values are 115% of average at 1080p, 115% at 1440p, and 115% at 4K, further confirming uniform frame pacing.

The complete dataset comprises 12 measured configurations (three resolutions × four settings), with the High and Ultra presets lacking min/max data. The combination of 4K Ultra at 68 FPS and 1080p Low at 366 FPS brackets the performance envelope, with a 5.4x difference between the easiest and hardest configurations. This wide range gives users flexibility to prioritize either visual fidelity or frame rate depending on their display capabilities and performance preferences.