Downfall

# Downfall Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a formidable Downfall experience, ranking 413th out of 1,741 tested combos—placing it in the top 24% of all configurations. The data shows a system that excels at high-refresh 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K Ultra remains the only setting that pushes the combo to its limits. This pairing leverages the 5700X3D's 96 MB shared L3 cache and the RTX 4070's 12 GB GDDR6X memory to deliver consistently high frame rates, though the scaling patterns reveal where each component takes the lead.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and telling. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 309.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 138.9 FPS at 3840x2160—a 55.1% reduction. This steep decline indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises, with the RTX 4070's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput being taxed heavily at higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The system delivers 129.3 FPS at 1080p, drops to 95.7 FPS at 1440p (-26.0%), and plunges to 56.5 FPS at 4K (-56.3% from 1080p). This pattern strongly suggests that while the CPU can feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the 4K Ultra workload overwhelms the RTX 4070's 12 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory interface. The 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes a limiting factor, as 4K requires four times the pixel throughput of 1080p.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 257.0 FPS at 1080p, 184.7 FPS at 1440p, and 116.9 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K (138.9 vs 116.9 FPS) is narrower than at 1080p (309.3 vs 257.0 FPS), indicating that shader complexity scales less punishingly than raw resolution increases. This suggests the RTX 4070's 5,888 shading units and 184 tensor cores handle the additional graphical features with relative efficiency, but the memory subsystem and ROP throughput are the ultimate constraints at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination holds the 413th position out of 1,741 tested configurations, placing it in the 76th percentile of all combos. This ranking reflects the synergistic balance between the Ryzen 7 5700X3D's 8-core, 16-thread Zen 3 architecture and the RTX 4070's Ada Lovelace design. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 81st percentile among all graphics cards indicate that neither component is significantly dragging the other down.

The RTX 4070's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (deltaPct -0.6), NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (deltaPct -1.9), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct -2.2). The RX 5300M trails by 2.5%. These close aggregate scores, however, do not translate to similar Downfall performance, as the measured FPS demonstrates the RTX 4070's architecture is well-suited to this horror title's rendering demands.

For the CPU, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D sits within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (deltaPct -0.6) and is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1360P. The data shows the 5700X3D's 3D V-Cache (96 MB shared L3) provides a measurable advantage in gaming workloads, justifying its 82nd percentile ranking despite the single-thread score of 804 in 3DMark.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective), delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth across a 192-bit bus. In Downfall, this memory configuration proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming at all settings, but the 4K Ultra preset (56.5 FPS) suggests the frame buffer is stressed by high-resolution textures and effects.

The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors, enables the 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. This computational power translates to strong performance at Medium and High presets, where the card maintains 116.9 and 93.8 FPS respectively at 4K. The PassMark G3D score of 26,927 reflects strong rasterization performance, while the DirectX 12 score of 103 indicates the Ada Lovelace architecture handles modern APIs efficiently.

The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores contribute to the GPU's versatility, though Downfall's 2016 release date means it likely doesn't leverage ray tracing or DLSS heavily. The pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1440p gaming at high refresh rates, as evidenced by the 226 FPS at Low settings and 149.5 FPS at High settings in 1440p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to High settings as the optimal balance for most users. At 1920x1080, High delivers 207.3 FPS—more than enough for any high-refresh monitor. At 2560x1440, the 149.5 FPS average at High is ideal for 144Hz displays, while 4K High's 93.8 FPS remains playable on 60Hz monitors. The jump from High to Ultra costs heavily: 37.6% performance at 1080p (207.3 to 129.3 FPS) and 36.0% at 1440p (149.5 to 95.7 FPS), with diminishing visual returns in a horror title where atmosphere matters more than pixel-perfect shadows.

For competitive play, Low settings at 1080p (309.3 FPS) or 1440p (226 FPS) offer maximum frame rates, but Medium provides a better experience at 257.0 FPS (1080p) and 184.7 FPS (1440p) with improved visual fidelity. At 4K, Ultra should be avoided (56.5 FPS), but Medium's 116.9 FPS and High's 93.8 FPS both provide smooth experiences. The data suggests that High is the "sweet spot" preset for this combo, offering consistent 90+ FPS across all three resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance hierarchy is clear: Low (309.3 FPS) leads, followed by Medium (257.0 FPS), High (207.3 FPS), and Ultra (129.3 FPS). The 80.3 FPS gap between High and Ultra demonstrates the significant cost of the highest preset at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the same ordering persists: Low (226 FPS), Medium (184.7 FPS), High (149.5 FPS), and Ultra (95.7 FPS). The scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs 26.9% for Low, 28.1% for Medium, 27.9% for High, and 26.0% for Ultra—a remarkably consistent reduction. This uniformity indicates the GPU is the limiting factor across all settings at this resolution step.

At 3840x2160, the pattern changes. Low (138.9 FPS) and Medium (116.9 FPS) remain playable, while High (93.8 FPS) is borderline and Ultra (56.5 FPS) drops below the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K to 1440p scaling shows losses of 38.5% (Low), 36.7% (Medium), 37.3% (High), and 40.9% (Ultra), with the Ultra preset suffering the most severe decline. This suggests that at 4K, the combination of high pixel count and maximum graphical features creates a workload that exceeds the RTX 4070's comfortable operating range.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The data shows 93.8 FPS at High settings and 116.9 FPS at Medium in 3840x2160, making these presets viable for 4K. Ultra settings drop to 56.5 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The measured data shows 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with 149.5 FPS at High settings and 226 FPS at Low. This resolution provides high frame rates while leveraging the RTX 4070's capabilities more fully than 1080p.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700X3D's cache affect Downfall performance?

A: The 96 MB shared L3 cache is the standout feature, ranking the CPU in the 82nd percentile. The data suggests this large cache helps maintain consistent frame rates, particularly at 1080p where the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Downfall?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth proves adequate across all tested resolutions and settings. Even at 4K Ultra, the 56.5 FPS result is more limited by compute throughput than memory capacity.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 129.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is a 37.6% reduction from High settings (207.3 FPS), indicating Ultra is not recommended for high-refresh 1080p monitors.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4080 Mobile in aggregate performance?

A: The RTX 4070 trails the RTX 4080 Mobile by 2.2% in average benchmark scores (deltaPct -2.2). However, in Downfall, the desktop RTX 4070's performance is strong, with the combo ranking 413th out of 1,741 configurations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. With a base clock of 3.00 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, the processor delivers strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 804 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,157. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all processors reflects its gaming prowess, particularly in titles like Downfall that benefit from the 96 MB shared L3 cache.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are substantial: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22,366, PassMark multi-thread score of 26,318, and Geekbench multi-core score of 10,108. The 8,850 million transistors on a 74 mm² die produce a peak thermal design power of 105 W, which the data suggests is well-managed in gaming scenarios. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6,764 and max-thread score of 6,755 indicate consistent scaling across thread counts.

In Downfall specifically, the CPU's role becomes apparent in the 1080p results. The 309.3 FPS at Low settings demonstrates that the 5700X3D can feed the RTX 4070 at extremely high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The 0.2% aggregate score advantage over the Intel Core i7-1360P and 0.3% lead over the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D suggest the 5700X3D is competitive with newer platforms. However, at 4K Ultra, the 56.5 FPS result is dominated by GPU limitations, as the CPU's 3DMark 8-thread score of 5,357 and PassMark physics score of 2,686 indicate ample headroom for this workload. The data confirms that this CPU-GPU pairing is well-balanced, with the CPU excelling at high-refresh gaming and the GPU becoming the limiting factor only at the most demanding settings.