Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B390 combination delivers a markedly inconsistent experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The data reveals a system where the CPU is a high-end powerhouse with an 87th percentile ranking among all processors, yet the GPU sits in the 9th percentile, creating a massive performance imbalance. This pairing produces playable frame rates only at the lowest settings and lower resolutions, while struggling significantly at higher presets and 4K. The benchmark results clearly indicate that the Intel Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck, capping performance far below what the Ryzen 7 7700 is capable of driving.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: The average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40081, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365's score of 40048, making it effectively a statistical tie.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile compared to all other GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B390 is in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, indicating that it performs worse than the vast majority of other graphics cards in the benchmark database.

Q: At which resolution and settings does this combo achieve its highest average FPS?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 106, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Downfall?*

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + Intel Arc B390 combo ranks 3303 out of 3716 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems.

Q: Does the GPU have dedicated VRAM?

A: No, the Intel Arc B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning its memory size, type, and bus width are all designated as "System Shared" and its bandwidth is "System Dependent."

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. It operates from a base clock of 3.80 GHz up to a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This is a desktop-class chip built on a 5 nm TSMC process, featuring a 32 MB shared L3 cache. In terms of raw computational power, its benchmark scores are strong: it achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18760 and a single-core score of 1930, alongside a Geekbench multicore score of 15371 and a single-core score of 2525.

The CPU's overall performance places it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40081. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40048, a delta of 0.1% faster than the 7700, while the Intel Core 5 221E scores 40144, which is -0.2% faster. This suggests the Ryzen 7 7700 is positioned at the top of its immediate performance tier. The data implies that for a game like Downfall, which is a horror title from 2016, the CPU's capabilities are far beyond what is necessary to process the game's logic, physics, and draw calls, especially at the resolutions tested.

Given the CPU's high performance, the bottleneck in this system is clearly not the processor. In a balanced system, this CPU would be paired with a GPU capable of delivering high frame rates. However, the benchmark results for this specific combo show otherwise. The CPU is effectively waiting for the GPU to catch up, meaning the Ryzen 7 7700 is likely underutilized in this configuration. The 16 threads and high single-thread performance provide ample headroom, suggesting that any frame rate limitations observed are not due to CPU processing constraints.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is a mobile/IGP-class graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip) and built on a 3 nm Intel process. Its core clocks are a 300 MHz base and a 2500 MHz boost. It has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its memory is System Shared, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM; this is a critical limitation for gaming performance, as it relies on system memory bandwidth.

The GPU's benchmark results are very poor. It scores 1482 on the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA chips: the GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, 1.3% slower), the GeForce 800M (score 1460, 1.5% slower), the GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, 2.5% slower), and the GeForce GT 710 (score 1443, 2.7% slower). This places its raw performance alongside a GeForce GT 710, which is a very low-end card from a decade ago.

In the context of Downfall, this GPU is the definitive limiting factor. The system-shared memory architecture is particularly problematic for gaming, as it competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth. This explains the massive frame rate drops when moving from Low to Ultra settings. The GPU's low pixel rate (60.00 GPixel/s) and texture rate (120.0 GTexel/s) are insufficient for higher resolutions and complex shaders. The data suggests that the Arc B390 is not designed for gaming, and its performance in Downfall confirms this, making it the primary reason for the low frame rates observed across all tested configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 106 FPS on Low, 87 FPS on Medium, 71 FPS on High, and 44 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is a substantial 62 FPS, illustrating the GPU's steep struggle with increased graphical complexity.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. The average FPS is 76 on Low, 62 on Medium, 51 on High, and 32 on Ultra. This represents a roughly 28% decrease in performance from 1080p to 1440p across all settings, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the performance becomes largely unplayable. The average FPS is 47 on Low, 39 on Medium, 32 on High, and 20 on Ultra. The 4K results show a severe degradation, with the Ultra preset delivering only 20 FPS, which is a cinematic, yet unplayable, frame rate. The data indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is not capable of providing a smooth gaming experience at 4K, regardless of the preset used. The Medium settings at 4K show a min FPS of 33 and a max of 44, indicating significant frame time inconsistency, which would be noticeable as stuttering.

How This Combo Ranks

In Downfall, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and the Intel Arc B390 ranks 3303 out of 3716 tested combos. This places it in the 89th percentile from the bottom, meaning it outperforms only about 11% of all systems tested. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's low performance.

The rank is particularly telling when considering the CPU's high percentile rank of 87. This immense disparity between the CPU's potential and the combo's final rank suggests a severely unbalanced system. The data implies that the pairing is a poor match for gaming, as the CPU is completely hamstrung by the GPU. The rank of 3303 indicates that most other tested combinations, even those with lower-performing CPUs, likely achieve better frame rates in Downfall because they are paired with more capable graphics cards. The combo's position in the bottom 11% serves as a stark warning about the GPU's limitations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only playable configuration for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which yields an average of 106 FPS. This is the sole combination that provides a frame rate comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 1080p, with 87 FPS, is also playable and offers a better visual experience, though the step up to High (71 FPS) is still technically smooth but begins to approach more demanding territory.

For a more visually rich experience at 2560x1440, the Low preset (76 FPS) is the only viable option, as the Medium preset (62 FPS) is borderline and the High preset (51 FPS) is below the ideal smoothness threshold. At 4K, no settings are recommended for a playable experience, as even the Low preset only manages 47 FPS, which is below the standard for fluid gameplay. The data suggests that users should prioritize the 1080p Low or Medium presets for the best balance of performance and visuals. The Ultra presets at any resolution should be avoided, as they all result in unplayable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, performance falls from 106 FPS at 1080p to 76 FPS at 1440p and finally to 47 FPS at 4K. This represents a 55.7% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K. For the High preset, the drop is from 71 FPS to 51 FPS to 32 FPS, a 54.9% decrease.

This scaling pattern is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound system. The performance loss is roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count (1080p to 1440p is a 1.78x increase, 1440p to 4K is a 2.25x increase), but the frame rate drops are less than proportional, suggesting the GPU is not just pixel-bound but also architecture-limited. However, the fact that the frame rate does drop significantly with resolution means the GPU is being pushed to its absolute limit. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU workload would be similar. The data clearly shows a different trend.

The Intel Arc B390's System Shared memory is likely the primary culprit for this steep scaling. As resolution increases, the amount of memory needed for framebuffers and textures grows, and the shared memory architecture becomes a severe bottleneck. The bandwidth is "System Dependent," and the demands of 4K likely saturate the available memory bandwidth, causing the dramatic FPS collapse. In contrast, the Ryzen 7 7700 is a high-end desktop chip with ample processing power, and its performance is not affected by resolution. The analysis confirms that the GPU is the sole limiting factor in this combination, and its capabilities are exhausted at 1080p with high settings.