Downfall

Downfall pairs the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with the Intel Arc B570, a combination that sits at rank 2343 out of 2928 tested combos in this horror title. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four settings presets reveal a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded and cache-heavy design keeps 1080p performance respectable. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, the combo’s standing relative to other tested configurations, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and the exact frame rate data.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep and consistent across all settings, which points directly at the Intel Arc B570 as the primary limiter. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 163 at 1080p to 116 at 1440p, then to 72 at 4K. That is a 55.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K, and the step from 1440p to 4K alone costs 44 FPS, a 37.9% drop. The pattern repeats at Medium settings: 133 FPS at 1080p, 95 at 1440p, and 59 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 74 FPS, or 55.6%. High settings show a similar trajectory, with 109 FPS at 1080p, 78 at 1440p, and 49 at 4K, a decline of 60 FPS overall. Ultra settings are the most punishing, dropping from 68 FPS at 1080p to 49 at 1440p and then to 30 at 4K, a 55.9% loss from the lowest to highest resolution.

What this scaling indicates is that the Arc B570’s rendering throughput is the bottleneck once pixel count rises. The 4K results, even at Low settings, only reach 72 FPS, while the 1080p Low result exceeds 160 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would not degrade so sharply with resolution, because the CPU workload for a given frame is largely independent of resolution. Instead, the data shows a GPU-bound scenario where each resolution increase proportionally raises the pixel shading load, and the B570’s 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D, with its 8 cores and 96 MB of shared L3 cache, is clearly not the constraint here. At 1080p Low, the system produces 163 FPS, which is a solid result for a 2016 horror game, but the CPU is capable of far more in this title if the GPU were stronger. The 3DMark single-thread score of 884 and 16-thread score of 7299 suggest the processor has ample headroom. The resolution scaling curve, with its pronounced drop at 4K, is the signature of a GPU-limited system, not a CPU-limited one. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is particularly telling—it is exactly half of the 1080p Ultra result of 68 FPS, which is a classic sign of pixel-count doubling overwhelming the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2343 out of 2928 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the lower half of all tested systems. This rank reflects the Arc B570’s modest standing among GPUs, rather than the CPU’s capability. The B570’s percentile vs all GPUs is 65, meaning it outperforms 65% of GPUs in the database, but its average benchmark score of 20556 is closely matched by rivals. The nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (0.1% delta), the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (-0.1% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20480 (0.4% delta), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at 20662 (-0.5% delta). These deltas are all within one percent, so the B570 is statistically indistinguishable from these cards in aggregate benchmarks.

The CPU, in contrast, ranks in the 80th percentile vs all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27896. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U at 27887 (0% delta), the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27872 (0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 at 27932 (-0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-12600KF at 27799 (0.3% delta). The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is clearly a high-performing processor, but in this pairing, its strength is masked by the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions. The combo rank of 2343/2928 suggests that many other systems with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs would outperform this configuration in Downfall, especially at 1440p and 4K where the B570 becomes the bottleneck.

The discrepancy between the CPU’s high percentile (80) and the GPU’s lower percentile (65) explains the overall combo rank. In a game like Downfall, which is a horror title from 2016, the graphics workload is significant, and the B570’s performance tier determines the ceiling. The data indicates that this combo is balanced toward CPU capability, but that balance does not translate into top-tier game performance. The rank of 2343 out of 2928 is below the median, and the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (30 FPS) is barely playable, while 1440p High (78 FPS) is the highest playable setting combination.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a desktop processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The processor’s defining feature is its large 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a Zen 3 chip. The L1 cache is 64 KB per core, and the L2 cache is 512 KB per core, but it is the L3 that sets it apart. This cache configuration is designed to reduce memory latency, which can benefit gaming workloads that repeatedly access the same data.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7299 and max-thread score of 7285 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, which is useful for a game that may spawn multiple background threads for audio, physics, or AI. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14317 reinforces this, showing that the processor can handle sustained all-core loads. The single-thread performance is also respectable, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 884 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2017. For a 2016 horror game, single-thread performance is often more critical than multi-thread, and the 5800X3D’s boost clock of 4.50 GHz should provide adequate responsiveness.

The 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are standard for this class of processor. The CPU’s L3 cache, at 96 MB, is unusually large and likely helps in Downfall if the game has repetitive memory access patterns, such as loading the same textures or geometry for enemy models. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing, because the frame rates scale inversely with resolution, which is a GPU behavior. At 1080p Low, the system hits 163 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU is likely not the limiting factor; if the CPU were weak, the 1080p results would be lower than they are, and the gap between 1080p and 1440p would be smaller.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D’s nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-10900K, have similar average benchmark scores, but the 5800X3D’s cache advantage could provide a slight edge in games that benefit from it. The data does not show a CPU bottleneck in Downfall, so the processor is performing its role adequately. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for a game from 2016, and the boost clock of 4.50 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks are handled quickly. The CPU’s percentile of 80 vs all CPUs confirms that it is a strong processor, but in this combo, its contribution to the final FPS is secondary to the GPU.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates, with Low settings hitting 163 FPS and High settings reaching 109 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings drop to 78 FPS, and at 3840x2160, High settings fall to 49 FPS. The 1080p resolution is the most playable, while 4K is only viable at Low settings (72 FPS) or Medium settings (59 FPS).

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 5800X3D bottleneck the Intel Arc B570 in this game?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate drops significantly from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which is a sign of GPU-bound performance. For example, at High settings, FPS falls from 109 at 1080p to 49 at 4K, a 55% reduction. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions.

Q: Which settings preset is the most balanced for 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset provides 95 FPS on average with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. High settings offer 78 FPS, while Low settings reach 116 FPS. Medium is the highest preset that stays above 90 FPS, making it a good balance of visual quality and performance for that resolution.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, with its closest rival being the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (-0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (0.1% delta). These differences are negligible, meaning the B570 performs on par with these cards in aggregate benchmarks, though game-specific results may vary.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra preset playable with this combo?

A: No, the 4K Ultra preset averages 30 FPS, which is below the typical playability threshold of 60 FPS. Even 4K High settings only reach 49 FPS. For a smooth experience at 4K, the Low preset at 72 FPS or Medium preset at 59 FPS are the only viable options, and even Medium is borderline.

Q: What does the CPU’s 96 MB L3 cache contribute to Downfall performance?

A: The 96 MB shared L3 cache is designed to reduce memory latency by storing frequently accessed data closer to the cores. In a horror game like Downfall, this can help with consistent frame pacing if the game reuses assets or has repetitive data access patterns. The CPU’s high benchmark scores, such as the 14317 in Cinebench R23 multicore, suggest it has ample headroom, but the specific impact of the cache is not directly measurable from the FPS data.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the clear performance limiter in this combo. It is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, using a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its base and boost clocks are both 2500 MHz, which is a relatively high clock speed, but the raw compute throughput is 11.52 TFLOPS FP32. The memory configuration is 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a mid-range specification, and the benchmark data reflects that, with the GPU ranking in the 65th percentile vs all GPUs.

In Downfall, the GPU’s role is to handle the rendering of the horror environments, including lighting, shadows, and particle effects. The measured FPS shows that the B570 struggles at 4K, with the Ultra preset averaging only 30 FPS. This is consistent with the GPU’s 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate, which are moderate figures. The 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for a 2016 game, even at 4K, so memory capacity is not the issue; rather, it is the raw processing power that limits performance. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Arc A750 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, so the B570 is not an outlier in its class.

The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility mean it can handle modern rendering techniques, but for a 2016 title, the older DirectX 11 path is often more relevant. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 118 is higher than the DirectX 12 score of 72, which suggests the B570 performs better in older APIs. This is important because Downfall, released in 2016, likely uses DirectX 11, and the GPU’s strength in that API is a positive factor. However, the 4K results remain low, indicating that the B570’s overall throughput is the constraint.

The GPU’s 150 W TDP and 8-pin power connector are standard for its class, and the PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the 10 GB of VRAM. The 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is adequate, but the 160-bit bus width is narrower than higher-tier cards, which can limit performance in memory-heavy scenes. In Downfall, the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows that the GPU is saturated at higher resolutions, and the 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is a direct consequence of the B570’s compute limits. For users targeting 1440p, the GPU can deliver playable frame rates, but 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset to use at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 109 FPS on average, which is smooth and visually acceptable. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is still playable, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 41 FPS, a 37.6% reduction, for likely marginal visual gains. The Medium preset at 133 FPS is the highest frame rate that maintains high quality, but High at 109 FPS is the sweet spot for a balance of visuals and speed. Low at 163 FPS is unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rate for competitive play, which is unlikely in a horror game.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS, which is the recommended setting because it stays above 60 FPS consistently. High settings at 78 FPS are also playable, but the lower minimum FPS (not recorded for High) may introduce occasional stutters. Low at 116 FPS is the smoothest, but it sacrifices visual quality. Ultra at 49 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided. For 1440p, Medium is the best choice because it offers the highest visual quality that still maintains a comfortable frame rate margin.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low settings average 72 FPS, which is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. Medium settings at 59 FPS are borderline, with a minimum of 50 FPS, which may cause noticeable dips. High at 49 FPS and Ultra at 30 FPS are not recommended for a smooth experience. For 4K, Low settings are the only practical choice, and even then, the 72 FPS average is the ceiling for this combo. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the overall best experience, as it balances visual fidelity with a 95 FPS average, while 4K should be reserved for users who prioritize resolution over smoothness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 163 FPS. Medium settings average 133 FPS, with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS. High settings average 109 FPS, and Ultra settings average 68 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with Ultra being 58.3% slower than Low.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 116 FPS. Medium settings average 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. High settings average 78 FPS, and Ultra settings average 49 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 57.8%, similar to the 1080p scaling.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 72 FPS. Medium settings average 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. High settings average 49 FPS, and Ultra settings average 30 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is the lowest recorded figure in the entire dataset, and it represents a 55.9% reduction from 4K Low.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data, showing a 30-40 FPS range between minimum and maximum. This variability suggests that Medium settings can cause frame time spikes, likely due to GPU load fluctuations. The Low and High presets do not have min/max data recorded, so their consistency is unknown, but the average FPS values are sufficient for analysis. The data confirms that the combo is most effective at 1080p, where even Ultra settings exceed 60 FPS, and least effective at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 30 FPS. The 1440p Medium result of 95 FPS is the most balanced measurement in the dataset, offering high frame rates with moderate visual quality.