Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a commanding performance profile in the horror title Downfall, demonstrating a clear hierarchy where the GPU remains the dominant force at higher resolutions while the CPU’s capabilities become increasingly relevant at 1080p. The measured frame rates show a system that is not merely fast, but exhibits a predictable scaling pattern across settings that points to a balanced yet GPU-centric bottleneck. This combination ranks in the 54th position out of 1741 tested combos, placing it firmly in the top tier of configurations analyzed for this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance this combination achieves at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the combo reaches an average of 197 FPS. This is more than double the 84.7 FPS average recorded at the Ultra preset, demonstrating the massive impact of graphics settings on GPU load.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 3397 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 24063 in multi-core. This represents a roughly 7x scaling from single to multi-threaded workloads, which is typical for an 8-core, 16-thread processor.

Q: Is there a significant performance gap between the High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, the difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 210.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 134.8 FPS. This 76.1 FPS gap suggests that Ultra settings introduce a heavy rendering load that the RTX 4090 still handles well but with a notable cost.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how might it affect high-resolution gaming?

A: The RTX 4090 features a 384-bit memory bus with a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, paired with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory. This high bandwidth is likely a key factor in maintaining strong average frame rates even at 4K, where data throughput demands are highest.

Q: How does the CPU's average benchmark score place it among its immediate competitors?

A: The processor has an average benchmark score of 26574, which puts it virtually even with the AMD EPYC 8024P, which scores 26555 and is only 0.1% slower. It also edges out the Intel Core i9-11900K by 0.1%, but trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 by 0.2%.

Q: What is the best average frame rate recorded for this combo in the entire dataset?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 358.9, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates the combination is capable of extremely high frame rates when the GPU workload is minimized.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate, with the most balanced experience appearing to be the High preset. At 2560x1440, High settings yield an average of 210.9 FPS, which is a massive 76.1 FPS improvement over Ultra while still providing a visually enhanced experience compared to Medium’s 259.7 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is disproportionately expensive, costing 76.1 FPS at 1440p and 49.6 FPS at 4K, suggesting that Ultra includes effects that are particularly taxing on the GPU.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p displays, the High preset at 300 FPS provides an excellent experience, but the data suggests that the CPU becomes a limiting factor here, as the gap between High and Low narrows to just 58.9 FPS. At 4K, the High preset’s 134.3 FPS is the most sensible choice, as it maintains a high level of detail while staying above the 100 FPS mark, whereas Ultra drops to 84.7 FPS, which may be less desirable for smooth motion. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates at 197 FPS at 4K, likely sacrifices too much visual quality for a horror game where atmosphere is key.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but with a notable inflection point that highlights the system’s bottleneck. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 300 FPS, which drops to 210.9 FPS at 1440p and further to 134.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 55.2% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, which is a significant but expected drop for a GPU-intensive title. The scaling suggests that at 1080p, the system is partially limited by the CPU, as the 5800X3D’s 8 cores and 16 threads are being pushed to their limits to feed the RTX 4090.

This is more evident when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system hits 358.9 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it only drops to 316.4 FPS, a mere 42.5 FPS difference. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K Low results in a much larger drop of 119.4 FPS down to 197 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s performance ceiling is exposed at 1080p where the graphics card is less burdened. The data implies that for maximum frame rates, the CPU is strong enough to drive very high FPS, but the GPU’s workload at 4K ultimately dictates the final performance.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Downfall, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 54th out of 1741 total combos. This places it in the top 3.1% of all tested configurations, an exceptional result that underscores the synergy between these two high-end components. The rank reflects the system’s ability to deliver high average frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

The combination’s strength lies in its consistency. While it does not achieve the absolute highest frame rates in the database, it maintains a very high level of performance across the board, from the CPU-limited 1080p scenarios to the GPU-bound 4K workloads. The 5800X3D’s 96 MB of shared L3 cache likely contributes to this by reducing memory latency, which is crucial in a game that may have complex scene traversal. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance ensures that the GPU is rarely a weak link, even at the demanding 4K Ultra preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 plays a central role in defining the system’s performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for high-resolution textures and complex scenes, which is evident in the relatively high average frame rates at 4K. The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and 16384 shading units contribute to its raw compute power, which is reflected in its Passmark G3D score of 38194.

The GPU’s influence is most pronounced when comparing the scaling from High to Ultra settings. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 134.3 to 84.7, a 36.9% reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset places a significant load on the GPU’s rendering pipeline. The data suggests that the RTX 4090 is the deciding factor in this system’s ability to handle the highest settings, as the CPU’s performance remains relatively constant. The GPU’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores also suggest it is well-prepared for any ray-traced effects, although the measured data does not isolate this workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system’s capabilities across a matrix of resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 358.9 FPS at Low, 336.2 FPS at Medium, 300 FPS at High, and 185.3 FPS at Ultra. This shows a steep drop-off from Medium to Ultra, a 150.9 FPS difference, which highlights the significant cost of the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 316.4 FPS at Low, 259.7 FPS at Medium, 210.9 FPS at High, and 134.8 FPS at Ultra. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in an average performance decrease of roughly 42.5 FPS for the Low preset, but the gap widens to 50.5 FPS for the Ultra preset. Finally, at 3840x2160, the system achieves 197 FPS at Low, 162 FPS at Medium, 134.3 FPS at High, and 84.7 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results show that even the most demanding settings remain playable, with the Low preset providing a very high frame rate suitable for competitive play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D’s role is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, the CPU’s performance is solid, but its unique feature is the 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This large cache likely helps in maintaining high frame rates by keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing the need to access slower system memory.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show a strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24063 and a single-core score of 3397. However, the data in Downfall suggests that even this powerful CPU can become a bottleneck at 1080p. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 358.9 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it only drops by 42.5 FPS to 316.4 FPS. This smaller-than-expected drop indicates that the CPU is struggling to provide frames fast enough to fully utilize the RTX 4090 at 1080p. The CPU’s 3.40 GHz base clock and 4.50 GHz boost clock provide adequate single-thread speed, but the game’s engine appears to be limited by the CPU’s instruction throughput at these extreme frame rates rather than its cache size.