Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER produces a profoundly GPU-limited experience in Downfall, with the CPU's substantial headroom going largely unused at every resolution tested. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: this combo ranks 1531st out of 1741 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, and the bottleneck shifts decisively toward the graphics card as resolution increases. The GTX 1660 SUPER, a GeForce 10-series part built on the Turing architecture at 12 nm, delivers playable frame rates at 1080p but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K, particularly at higher quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component throughout. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 147 at 1920x1080 to 102.8 at 2560x1440, a 30% reduction, and then to 63.8 at 3840x2160, a 56.6% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates the GPU's pixel throughput, not the CPU's processing power, determines performance — the Ryzen 7 7800X3D with its 8 cores and 16 threads is more than capable of feeding frames at these rates.

At Medium settings, the same trend emerges: 121.7 FPS at 1080p, 88.5 FPS at 1440p, and 53.6 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows 100.7 FPS at 1080p, 69.9 FPS at 1440p, and 45.3 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling: 60.5 FPS at 1080p, 45.2 FPS at 1440p, and just 28.3 FPS at 4K. The fact that even the lowest settings cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K — the 63.8 FPS at Low is barely above the threshold — confirms that the GPU's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are the binding constraints. The CPU's 96 MB of shared L3 cache and 5.00 GHz boost clock never become a factor, as frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and pixel count.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER's specifications tell the story of a card designed for 1080p gaming in 2019, not for 4K in a modern horror title. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves inadequate for Ultra settings at higher resolutions. The benchmark data shows the Ultra preset at 4K yields only 28.3 FPS, which is below playable thresholds, while the same preset at 1080p manages 60.5 FPS. The card's 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 1785 MHz, deliver 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and an 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate — figures that explain why the card can handle 1080p but collapses under 4K pixel loads.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 55th among all graphics cards places it in the middle of the pack, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (avg score 14314, 0.2% lower) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (avg score 14315, 0.2% lower). The GTX 1660 SUPER's average benchmark score of 14286 puts it just slightly ahead of these integrated and low-end discrete solutions, which is consistent with its measured behavior in Downfall. The 12 nm process node and 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die represent older technology compared to the CPU's 5 nm node, and the card's 125 W TDP with a suggested 300 W PSU reflects its mid-range positioning. The GPU's DirectX 12 (12_1) support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are sufficient for Downfall, but the hardware itself lacks the raw throughput for high-resolution, high-preset play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a high-end desktop processor that vastly outperforms what this game requires, yet its influence on the measured results is nearly invisible. With 8 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache, this CPU ranks in the 87th percentile among all processors. Its average benchmark score of 31580 places it within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G (score 31407) and 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-12700F (score 31543) — all effectively tied in synthetic testing. In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 29149 multicore and 4115 singlecore, demonstrating enormous compute headroom that Downfall simply does not utilize.

The 7800X3D's 3DMark results reinforce this: 7980 in 16-thread, 7967 in max-thread, and 959 in single-thread tests. These scores indicate a processor capable of driving far more demanding scenarios than those presented by this GPU-limited pairing. At 1080p Low settings, the combo hits 147 FPS, but this is likely near the GPU's ceiling rather than the CPU's — the processor could theoretically push much higher frame rates if paired with a stronger graphics card. The CPU's DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth and PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes provide a modern foundation, but none of this matters when the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The 120 W TDP and 5 nm process node (11,270 million transistors on a 71 mm² die) make this an efficient and powerful processor, yet in this configuration, its role is reduced to feeding frames to a GPU that cannot keep up at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1531 out of 1741 tested combinations places this pairing in the bottom 12% of all configurations tested in Downfall. This low ranking is attributable almost entirely to the GTX 1660 SUPER, as the CPU's percentile ranking of 87th among all processors indicates it is a top-tier component. The GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all graphics cards is the weak link, and the measured frame rates reflect this mismatch. The data shows that the GPU's average benchmark score of 14286, which is only 0.2% below the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (score 14314) and 0.7% below the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (score 14389), places it in a competitive tier with low-end and integrated solutions.

This ranking means that in Downfall, this combo will be outperformed by the vast majority of tested configurations. The 1741 total combos include many with more balanced CPU-GPU pairings, and the 1531st rank indicates that only 210 combinations perform worse. The gap between the CPU's capability and the GPU's delivery is stark: the processor's Geekbench multicore score of 15101 and singlecore score of 2725 demonstrate far more compute power than the GPU can leverage in this game. For users considering this pairing, the data suggests that the CPU is wasted potential in Downfall specifically, though it would shine in CPU-intensive titles or with a more powerful GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 100.7 FPS, which is smooth and visually rich, while the Medium preset offers 121.7 FPS — a 21% improvement with a minor visual trade-off. The Low preset at 147 FPS is only necessary for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, and the Ultra preset at 60.5 FPS is playable but offers diminishing returns over High. For 1080p, the High preset represents the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it stays well above 60 FPS while providing the game's intended look.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 88.5 FPS is the recommended choice, as it remains smooth while the High preset at 69.9 FPS is also acceptable. The Low preset at 102.8 FPS is viable for those prioritizing frame rate, but Ultra at 45.2 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset at 63.8 FPS achieves playable frame rates, and even that is marginal. The Medium preset at 53.6 FPS and High at 45.3 FPS are sub-60 FPS experiences, and Ultra at 28.3 FPS is effectively unplayable. For 4K, users must accept Low settings or reduce resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 147, Medium 121.7, High 100.7, and Ultra 60.5. These figures show a linear degradation from Low to Medium (17.2% drop) and Medium to High (17.3% drop), with a more severe 39.9% drop from High to Ultra. At 2560x1440, the values are: Low 102.8, Medium 88.5, High 69.9, and Ultra 45.2. The scaling here shows a 13.9% drop from Low to Medium, 21% from Medium to High, and 35.3% from High to Ultra — the gap widens as settings increase, indicating the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading resources are being exhausted. At 3840x2160, the values are: Low 63.8, Medium 53.6, High 45.3, and Ultra 28.3. The drop from Low to Medium is 16%, Medium to High is 15.5%, and High to Ultra is 37.5%, with the Ultra preset collapsing to below 30 FPS.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset at 1080p (147 FPS) is 130.1% faster than the Low preset at 4K (63.8 FPS), while the Ultra preset at 1080p (60.5 FPS) is 113.8% faster than Ultra at 4K (28.3 FPS). The most striking observation is that the Ultra preset at 1080p (60.5 FPS) performs nearly identically to the High preset at 4K (45.3 FPS) in terms of the GPU's workload, showing that the card's limits are consistently reached regardless of the specific settings combination.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Only at Low settings, where the measured average FPS is 63.8. Medium yields 53.6 FPS, High 45.3 FPS, and Ultra 28.3 FPS, all below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming?

A: The High preset at 100.7 FPS provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. Ultra is playable at 60.5 FPS, but the 39.9% performance drop from High makes it a poor trade-off.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER scores 14286 on average, which is 0.2% below the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314) and 0.7% below the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389). It performs essentially identically to these competitors.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7800X3D the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 87th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 31580, while the GPU ranks in the 55th percentile. The frame rate scaling with resolution indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 88.5, which is smooth and playable. This represents a 27.3% drop from the 1080p Medium result of 121.7 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Downfall?

A: It ranks 1531st out of 1741 total combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of tested systems. This low rank is due to the GPU's mid-range performance rather than the CPU's capabilities.