Downfall

AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 570 form a pairing that is dramatically skewed toward the CPU. The data for Downfall shows a system that delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p on lower presets, but collapses at 4K and at Ultra settings. The measured FPS values reveal a GPU that is the clear limiting factor, while the CPU’s substantial benchmark scores sit largely unused at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured results, contextualizes the combo’s rank among tested configurations, and examines the respective roles of the processor and graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 62 FPS at 1080p to 44 FPS at 1440p, then to 27 FPS at 4K. That represents a 29% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 39% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar across all presets. Low settings produce 92 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. Medium settings yield 75 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most punishing: 39 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and just 17 FPS at 4K.

This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck. The RX 570’s memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory are strained as pixel count increases. The 256-bit bus width helps at lower resolutions, but the sheer fill rate demand at 4K overwhelms the card. The fact that the CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz means it is not the constraint here; if it were, frame rates would stay relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the data shows a near-linear degradation with resolution, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings also widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (92 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) is 53 FPS. At 4K, that gap narrows to 24 FPS (41 vs 17 FPS). This suggests that at 4K, even reducing settings to Low cannot overcome the GPU’s fundamental throughput limits—the card is simply unable to push more than 41 FPS regardless of quality. At 1080p, the GPU has more headroom, so lowering settings yields a much larger relative gain. This is a clear indicator that the RX 570 is the component that determines playability, and that the Ryzen 7 9700F is never the limiting factor in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2797 out of 2928 tested combinations for Downfall, placing it in the bottom 4.5% of all tested systems. This is a very low ranking, and it reflects the GPU’s age and performance tier more than the CPU’s capability. The RX 570 sits at the 74th percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 9700F sits at the 94th percentile among all CPUs. This massive disparity in percentile ranks—20 points—shows a system where a top-tier processor is paired with a mid-range graphics card from an older generation.

The nearest rivals for the CPU illustrate its strength. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 on average, just 0.2% lower than the 9700F’s 69996. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163, 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, 0.7% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69355, 0.9% lower. These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the 9700F is effectively on par with some of the strongest desktop and mobile processors available. This CPU performance is wasted in this combo for Downfall, because the game’s frame rates are capped by the GPU.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are similarly close in average benchmark score. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 28874, 0.4% higher than the RX 570’s 28766. The AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580, 0.7% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996, 0.8% higher, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 28421, 1.2% lower. The RX 570 is thus positioned among a cluster of GPUs with similar raw compute, but the measured FPS in Downfall shows that this level of performance is only sufficient for 1080p or modest 1440p gaming.

The combo rank of 2797 out of 2928 is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limitations at higher settings. Even though the CPU is in the top 6% of all processors, the system as a whole performs like a low-end gaming rig in this title. The rank would likely improve dramatically if the GPU were upgraded, but the data as measured shows a configuration that is poorly balanced for Downfall’s demands at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz. Memory consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, running at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), yielding a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The card’s pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 159.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS.

These specifications explain the measured FPS results in Downfall. The 4 GB VRAM is a particular concern at 4K, where texture and geometry data can exceed that capacity, leading to stuttering or reduced frame rates. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 17, which is unplayable. Even at 4K Low, the card only manages 41 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth is insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160, and the 32 ROPs limit fill-rate-bound scenarios.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 74th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 28766 is close to that of the RX 470 (28996) and the RX 6800M (28874), indicating that it performs in line with other mid-range cards from its era. However, the RX 570 is marked as end-of-life, and its 14 nm process and GCN 4.0 architecture are outdated compared to modern designs. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which is sufficient for Downfall, but the raw performance is the limiting factor.

In Downfall specifically, the GPU role is dominant. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (92 FPS) shows that the card can handle the game when the load is light. As settings increase, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields only 39 FPS, which is a 58% drop from Low. This is a larger relative drop than would be expected from a CPU-bound scenario, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint. The 4 GB VRAM likely also contributes to the poor Ultra performance, as higher preset levels typically increase texture and shadow memory usage.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system delivers 92 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium, 62 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset also includes min and max values of 64 and 86 FPS respectively, indicating some frame-time variance but generally smooth gameplay. The Low and High presets do not have min/max values recorded, but the averages suggest that 1080p is the most comfortable resolution for this combo.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 66 FPS, Medium averages 54 FPS (with min 46 and max 62), High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS. The step from Low to High at 1440p is a 33% reduction, and Ultra is less than half of Low’s frame rate. For a game like Downfall, which is a horror title, 44 FPS on High might be acceptable for some players, but 28 FPS on Ultra is likely too choppy for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 54 FPS with a min of 46 FPS is the most consistent option at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal at best. Low settings average 41 FPS, Medium averages 33 FPS (with min 28 and max 38), High averages 27 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. None of these values are ideal for a horror game that may require quick reactions, but Low at 41 FPS is technically playable. The Medium preset’s min of 28 FPS indicates that even that setting can dip below the threshold for smooth motion. Ultra at 17 FPS is effectively a slideshow and should be avoided.

The data reveals that the Medium preset consistently provides the most balanced experience, with recorded min/max values that show it is the only setting with measured frame-time stability. At 1080p Medium, the average is 75 FPS with a min of 64, which is excellent. At 1440p Medium, the average is 54 FPS with a min of 46, which is acceptable. At 4K Medium, the average is 33 FPS with a min of 28, which is on the edge of playability. The lack of min/max data for Low, High, and Ultra presets means we cannot assess their variance, but the averages alone tell a clear story of diminishing returns as settings increase.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a 9000-series processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. The chip is built on TSMC’s 4 nm process, containing 8,315 million transistors on a die size of 70.6 mm².

In terms of benchmark performance, the 9700F scores 4691 on single-thread tests and 36470 on multithread tests. Other notable scores include 120788 in integer math, 77955 in floating-point math, and 2122 in physics. The average benchmark score is 69996, placing it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs. This is a very strong processor, and its nearest rivals are all within 1% in average score, including the Ryzen 9 7940HX, Core i7-14700KF, Ryzen 9 7950X, and Core i7-14700K.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU’s role is largely secondary. The measured FPS data shows that frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU, as evidenced by the steep resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the CPU could theoretically push higher frame rates than 92 FPS, but the GPU cannot deliver more. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 4691 is beneficial for games that rely on a few cores, but Downfall appears to be GPU-bound even at lower settings. The 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks or future games, but they do not translate into higher FPS in this specific title with this GPU.

The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 5.50 GHz boost clock suggest efficient operation, but again, this does not impact the measured FPS because the GPU is the bottleneck. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is more than sufficient for a GPU with 224.0 GB/s, so there is no memory subsystem constraint. The CPU is simply waiting for the GPU to feed it frames, and the data confirms that the RX 570 is not capable of exceeding the measured frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets are playable. At 1080p, even Ultra averages 39 FPS, while Low reaches 92 FPS. At 1440p, Low averages 66 FPS and Medium 54 FPS, but Ultra drops to 28 FPS. At 4K, only Low (41 FPS) approaches playability, with Medium at 33 FPS.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700F bottleneck the RX 570 in Downfall?

A: No. The CPU is at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 74th percentile. The measured FPS scales almost linearly with resolution, which is a clear sign of GPU limitation. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 are more than sufficient for the frame rates achieved.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using at any resolution?

A: Based on the data, Ultra is only marginally playable at 1080p (39 FPS). At 1440p, it drops to 28 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 17 FPS. The Medium preset provides better frame rates at all resolutions and also has recorded min/max values showing more consistent performance.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2797 out of 2928 combos for Downfall, placing it in the bottom 4.5%. This low rank is due to the GPU’s performance, not the CPU, which is within 1% of the Ryzen 9 7940HX, Core i7-14700KF, Ryzen 9 7950X, and Core i7-14700K.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max values. At 1080p, the min is 64 FPS and max is 86 FPS. At 1440p, the min is 46 FPS and max is 62 FPS. At 4K, the min is 28 FPS and max is 38 FPS.

Q: Is 4 GB of VRAM sufficient for Downfall?

A: The measured data suggests it is limiting at higher settings. At 4K, the average FPS drops to 17 on Ultra and 27 on High, indicating that the GPU cannot handle the memory load. At 1080p, the VRAM is adequate, with Low and Medium presets exceeding 75 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality for this combo. At 1080p, Medium averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS, which is smooth and stable. This is the only preset at any resolution that combines a high average with a minimum above 60 FPS. The High preset at 1080p averages 62 FPS, which is also playable, but the lack of min/max data makes it less predictable. For the most consistent experience, Medium at 1080p is the clear choice.

At 1440p, Medium is again the recommended setting, averaging 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS. This is on the lower end for smooth gameplay, but the measured minimum of 46 FPS is acceptable for a horror title where reaction speed may not be critical. Low at 1440p averages 66 FPS, which is higher, but the visual quality drop may not be worth the 12 FPS gain. High at 1440p averages 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and Ultra at 28 FPS is not recommended.

At 4K, no preset delivers a truly smooth experience. Low averages 41 FPS, which is the only option above 30 FPS, but the minimum is not recorded. Medium averages 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS, which can dip below acceptable levels. High and Ultra at 27 and 17 FPS respectively are not viable. For 4K, the data suggests that only Low is worth considering, and even then, the frame rate is marginal. Players seeking 4K performance would need a stronger GPU than the RX 570.

The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer, with frame rates dropping to 39 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K. The visual improvements from Ultra are unlikely to compensate for the severe frame rate penalty. The High preset offers a middle ground, but it is not the best choice at any resolution. Medium provides the most stable frame times, as evidenced by its recorded min/max values, and should be the default choice for any user prioritizing smooth gameplay over maximum visual fidelity.