Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a formidable experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that clearly scales aggressively with both CPU and GPU resources. Measured data places this combination at rank 32 out of 2928 tested combos, putting it in the top tier of systems for this game. With average frame rates ranging from 90 FPS at 4K Ultra to 391 FPS at 1080p Low, this pairing demonstrates that Downfall is highly sensitive to both resolution and quality presets, and the performance ceiling is exceptionally high.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 324 FPS at 1920x1080 to 231 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 144 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 29% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 38% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K. The overall drop from 1080p High to 4K High is 180 FPS, or approximately 56% of the original frame rate.

The scaling pattern at Medium settings follows a similar trajectory. At 1080p Medium, the system produces 364 FPS average, which falls to 282 FPS at 1440p and 175 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 82 FPS (23%), while the reduction from 1440p to 4K is 107 FPS (38%). This steeper decline at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count rises, though the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high throughout.

Low settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 391 FPS at 1080p, 345 FPS at 1440p, and 214 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 46 FPS (12%), while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 131 FPS (38%). The relatively modest decline at lower resolutions indicates that at 1080p and even 1440p Low, the CPU is likely constraining performance more than the GPU, given the extremely high frame rates being achieved.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest relative scaling, with 202 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and just 90 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p reduction is 58 FPS (29%), and the 1440p-to-4K reduction is 54 FPS (38%). The 4K Ultra result of 90 FPS average represents the lowest measured performance in the entire dataset, yet it remains comfortably playable. This scaling pattern across all settings indicates that Downfall places significant load on the GPU as resolution and quality increase, with the RTX 5090 D's capabilities being progressively taxed.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Raphael codename and Zen 4 architecture. It operates with a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, drawing 65 watts TDP. The processor 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 characteristic of the X3D line and beneficial for gaming workloads.

Benchmark data shows the CPU achieving a Passmark multi-thread score of 25047, a single-thread score of 3494, and a physics score of 2779. The processor's percentile ranking against all CPUs is 89, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of available processors. Its average benchmark score is 44573, placing it in close competition with several notable rivals. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H scores 44466 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 44342 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 scores 44309 (0.6% higher). Meanwhile, the Intel Core i5-14600 scores 44889, which is 0.7% higher than the 7500X3D's average. These tight margins suggest that the 7500X3D is competitively positioned in its performance class.

In Downfall, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining frame rates at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 391 FPS average, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 364 FPS. These extremely high frame rates indicate that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain exceptional performance. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration with the large 96 MB L3 cache appears well-suited to the game's threading requirements, as performance remains high even when the GPU is not heavily burdened at lower resolutions. The boost clock of 4.50 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, which is often critical for game logic and frame pacing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this hardware combination. At 4K resolution, High settings deliver 144 FPS average, while Medium delivers 175 FPS and Ultra drops to 90 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 31 FPS (18%), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 54 FPS (38%). For players prioritizing smoothness at 4K, Medium settings at 175 FPS represent an excellent choice, offering a substantial 85 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining solid visual quality.

At 1440p, High settings produce 231 FPS average, which is 87 FPS higher than Ultra's 144 FPS and 51 FPS lower than Medium's 282 FPS. The High preset delivers a comfortable margin above 200 FPS, making it the recommended choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution. The 144 FPS at Ultra matches the 4K High result exactly, suggesting that the Ultra preset at 1440p imposes a similar GPU load to High at 4K.

At 1080p, all presets exceed 200 FPS, with Low at 391 FPS, Medium at 364 FPS, High at 324 FPS, and Ultra at 202 FPS. The difference between Low and High is 67 FPS (17%), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 122 FPS (38%). Given that even Ultra at 1080p delivers 202 FPS, players with high-refresh-rate monitors can choose any preset, but High offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and the substantial 324 FPS average. The Medium preset at 364 FPS with a minimum of 309 FPS and maximum of 419 FPS provides a particularly consistent experience, as evidenced by the recorded min/max range.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this CPU-GPU combination in Downfall?*

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 391 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D perform relative to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) but 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940). It also trails the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396) by 2.1% and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605) by 2.4%.

*Q: What is the performance difference between 4K Ultra and 4K Low settings in Downfall?*

A: At 3840x2160 resolution, Ultra settings produce 90 FPS average, while Low settings produce 214 FPS average. This represents a difference of 124 FPS, with Low delivering approximately 2.4 times the frame rate of Ultra.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's multi-threaded performance compare to its closest competitors?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500X3D scores 25047 in the Passmark multi-thread test. Its average benchmark score of 44573 is within 0.7% of all four nearest rivals, with the Intel Core i5-14600 being the only one to exceed it at 44889 (0.7% higher).

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 90 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only measured configuration that falls below 100 FPS average.

*Q: Does the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM provide sufficient memory bandwidth for Downfall?*

A: The RTX 5090 D features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Given that even the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra) maintains 90 FPS average, the memory subsystem appears more than adequate for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship GPU from the GeForce 50-series, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip. It operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The GPU features 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, along with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. This hardware configuration delivers a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's memory subsystem consists of 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This substantial memory allocation and bandwidth prove critical in Downfall, particularly at higher resolutions and quality settings where the game demands significant graphical resources. The RTX 5090 D's 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC, contribute to its high performance ceiling.

Benchmark results show the RTX 5090 D achieving a Passmark G3D score of 44065 and a GPU compute score of 28396. Its percentile ranking against all GPUs is 92, placing it in the top 8% of all graphics cards. The average benchmark score of 77712 situates it among a competitive group, with the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) being 1.1% lower and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940) being 1.6% higher. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants score 79396 (2.1% higher) and 79605 (2.4% higher), respectively.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is most apparent at higher resolutions and quality settings. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each preset demonstrates the GPU's increasing burden as pixel count grows. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 202 FPS at 1080p to 144 FPS at 1440p and 90 FPS at 4K, representing a 55% reduction across the resolution range. This pattern indicates that the RTX 5090 D's raw compute and memory bandwidth are being exercised heavily at 4K Ultra, yet the GPU still maintains a playable frame rate. The 176 ROPs and 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth are particularly relevant for the fill-rate and bandwidth demands of high-resolution rendering in this horror title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Downfall with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is as follows:

At 3840x2160 resolution, High settings produce 144 FPS average. Low settings produce 214 FPS average. Medium settings produce 175 FPS average, with a minimum of 149 FPS and maximum of 202 FPS. Ultra settings produce 90 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 124 FPS, with Medium delivering 31 FPS more than High and High delivering 54 FPS more than Ultra.

At 2560x1440 resolution, High settings produce 231 FPS average. Low settings produce 345 FPS average. Medium settings produce 282 FPS average, with a minimum of 240 FPS and maximum of 324 FPS. Ultra settings produce 144 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 201 FPS, and the Medium preset's minimum of 240 FPS ensures consistent high-refresh-rate performance.

At 1920x1080 resolution, High settings produce 324 FPS average. Low settings produce 391 FPS average. Medium settings produce 364 FPS average, with a minimum of 309 FPS and maximum of 419 FPS. Ultra settings produce 202 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 189 FPS, and even the Ultra preset exceeds 200 FPS, making this resolution suitable for the most demanding visual settings.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame pacing, as it is the only preset with recorded minimum and maximum values. At 1080p Medium, the min-max range spans 110 FPS (309 to 419), while at 1440p Medium it spans 84 FPS (240 to 324), and at 4K Medium it spans 53 FPS (149 to 202). This tightening of the frame range at higher resolutions suggests that GPU load is becoming more consistent as resolution increases, reducing frame time variance.

The overall performance profile shows that this combination excels at every resolution and settings level, with the only configuration falling below 100 FPS being 4K Ultra at 90 FPS average. For a horror game like Downfall, which benefits from smooth motion and responsive controls, even the most demanding settings remain playable, while lower settings unlock refresh rates that far exceed typical display capabilities.