Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers a highly capable 1080p and 1440p experience in Downfall, but 4K Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits. The data shows a combination that ranks in the 56th percentile (2091st out of 3716 tested combos), indicating a solid mid-pack performer that excels at high refresh rates on lower resolutions but struggles to maintain playable frames at maximum 4K fidelity.

FAQ

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

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings provides the best balance, delivering 103 FPS average. This is 60% faster than the 4K High result (64 FPS) while still offering a significant visual upgrade over 1080p.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 2060?

A: Benchmark scores show the GTX 1080 Ti averages 15548, which is 1.7% higher than the RTX 2060's 15290. This places the two cards in a virtual tie, with the 1080 Ti holding a slight edge in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F a bottleneck for the GTX 1080 Ti?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 suggest it has ample headroom. The 4K to 1080p scaling pattern (64 FPS to 145 FPS at High settings) indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU keeps up well.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 176 FPS, with a minimum of 150 FPS and maximum of 203 FPS. This provides a very smooth experience for a horror title, well above typical 60 FPS display refresh rates.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to the Ryzen 5 7500F?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25005 on average, which is just 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 5 7500F's 24964. This effectively makes them performance equals in CPU-bound scenarios.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra setting playable with this hardware?

A: At 40 FPS average, 4K Ultra is borderline playable but not ideal for a horror game where smooth motion matters. Dropping to 4K High (64 FPS) or 1440p Ultra (65 FPS) provides a much more consistent experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the dominant factor in Downfall's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus provides 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for texture-heavy horror environments. The GPU's 3584 shading units and 88 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 1582 MHz, deliver 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s.

These specifications translate directly to the measured results. At 1080p, the GPU can push frame rates from 90 FPS (Ultra) to 216 FPS (Low), demonstrating that it has substantial headroom when resolution is low. The 4K results show this headroom evaporates: Ultra drops to 40 FPS, a 56% reduction from the 1080p Ultra score. This pattern confirms the GPU is the primary performance limiter once pixel count increases.

The GTX 1080 Ti's position in the market is interesting given its age. Its average benchmark score of 15548 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, and it essentially matches the RTX 2060 (1.7% faster) while slightly trailing the Radeon Pro W5500 by 0.8%. For a card from the Pascal generation, it remains remarkably competitive in Downfall, likely due to the game's 2016 release date aligning well with the card's architecture.

The GPU's 250W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface do not appear to hinder performance in this title. The memory clock of 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) combined with the wide bus provides enough bandwidth to feed the shading units efficiently, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from Low to High settings at each resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 145 FPS at 1080p to 103 FPS at 1440p (a 29% reduction) and then to 64 FPS at 4K (a 38% further reduction). This progressive decline closely tracks the pixel count increase, confirming the GTX 1080 Ti is the limiting component.

The Low settings row shows the most extreme scaling: 216 FPS at 1080p drops to 154 FPS at 1440p and 96 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result (96 FPS) is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result (90 FPS), which demonstrates that Downfall's Ultra preset imposes a significant GPU workload beyond just resolution scaling. This suggests the Ultra settings include effects like advanced shadows or post-processing that tax the GPU heavily.

Medium settings provide the only complete dataset with min/max FPS values. At 1080p, the range is 150-203 FPS with an average of 176. At 1440p, this drops to 107-145 FPS with an average of 126. At 4K, the range tightens to 67-90 FPS with an average of 78. The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is becoming consistently saturated, reducing frame time variance.

The 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS is the standout outlier, representing a 38% drop from 4K High (64 FPS). This is a much larger penalty than the 1440p Ultra to High difference (65 vs 103, a 37% drop) or the 1080p Ultra to High difference (90 vs 145, a 38% drop). The consistent ~38% penalty for Ultra across all resolutions suggests the preset adds a uniform workload that scales with pixel count.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, High settings at 1440p is the recommended configuration. This delivers 103 FPS average, which is smooth for a horror title while maintaining visual fidelity. The 1440p High result is only 8% slower than the 1080p Ultra result (103 vs 90 FPS), making it the superior choice for image quality per frame.

At 1080p, Medium settings offer the best value with 176 FPS average and a tight 150-203 FPS range. This provides more than enough headroom for high refresh rate displays while keeping the GPU from being fully maxed out. The 1080p Low setting at 216 FPS is only necessary for competitive play, which is unlikely in a horror game.

For 4K users, Medium settings are the only viable option, providing 78 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS. This stays above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K High setting at 64 FPS is borderline, while 4K Ultra at 40 FPS should be avoided due to inconsistent frame pacing in a genre that relies on atmosphere and tension.

The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer across all resolutions, with the penalty being roughly equal (~38%) regardless of resolution. This indicates the preset's additional effects are not resolution-dependent, making them a poor trade-off at any setting. Players should prioritize Medium or High to maintain frame rate stability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Ryzen 5 8400F and GTX 1080 Ti ranks 2091st out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all configurations. This ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is severely bottlenecking the other in most scenarios.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals reinforces this balance. The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25005 on average, sitting just 0.2% above the Ryzen 5 7500F and 0.3% above the Intel Core i7-11850H. This tight cluster of scores means CPU choice matters little in this game; the GPU is the differentiator.

The GPU's ranking is more telling. With an average score of 15548, the GTX 1080 Ti sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Radeon R9 M380 (0.2% slower) and the RTX 2060 (1.7% slower), which are all within a 2% performance band. This suggests the 1080 Ti is performing exactly as expected for its class, with no unusual game-specific optimizations or penalties.

The combo ranking of 2091/3716 translates to roughly the 56th percentile, which is slightly below the GPU's individual 58th percentile. This small discrepancy suggests the Ryzen 5 8400F may be holding the system back by a marginal amount, but the effect is negligible given the CPU's strong single-thread score of 2943 in Cinebench R23.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 216 FPS average
• Medium: 176 FPS average (min 150, max 203)
• High: 145 FPS average
• Ultra: 90 FPS average

The 1080p results show excellent scaling across presets secretes. Moving from Low to Medium costs 19% performance, Medium to High costs 18%, and High to Ultra costs 38%. The Ultra preset's disproportionate penalty is consistent with other resolutions, confirming it's the weakest choice.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 154 FPS average
• Medium: 126 FPS average (min 107, max 145)
• High: 103 FPS average
• Ultra: 65 FPS average

At 1440p, the scaling pattern shifts. Low to Medium costs 18%, Medium to High costs 18%, but High to Ultra jumps to 37%. The 1440p High result of 103 FPS is the sweet spot, providing 60% more performance than 4K High while maintaining high visual quality.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 96 FPS average
• Medium: 78 FPS average (min 67, max 90)
• High: 64 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

The 4K results reveal the GPU's limits. Low to Medium costs 19%, Medium to High costs 18%, and High to Ultra costs 38%. The 40 FPS Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold and should be considered unplayable for a smooth horror experience. Even the 64 FPS High result is marginal, making Medium the recommended 4K preset.