Downfall

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combo in Downfall?

A: This combo ranks 1375 out of 1741 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the benchmark database. The measured data shows it is neither a top-tier nor a bottom-tier pairing for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940, +0.2% delta). It trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165) by 0.4% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (36328) by 0.8%, while leading the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) by 0.6%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 2060 sits at the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996, +0.5% delta for the RTX 2060), followed by the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 (both 16351, -1.7%) and the Radeon Pro W5500 (15786, +1.8%).

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1080p according to the measured data?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 146.2 average FPS, while High drops to 115.0 FPS and Ultra falls to 76.2 FPS. Low reaches 171.9 FPS. The data indicates Medium offers the best balance for smooth gameplay without the performance cost of Ultra.

Q: How does the GPU's memory configuration affect Downfall performance?

A: The RTX 2060 has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is sufficient for the game's demands at lower settings but becomes a limiting factor at Ultra, where 4K performance drops to 32.3 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this combo for Downfall?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 171.9 FPS, but dropping resolution from 1080p to 4K at High settings reduces FPS from 115.0 to 52.7 — a performance pattern typical of GPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process and carries 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its base clock of 1365 MHz boosts to 1680 MHz, while the GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus. The 6 GB frame buffer delivers 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for Downfall at 1080p but becomes strained at higher resolutions and quality settings.

The GPU's FP32 throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s place it firmly in the mid-range segment. With 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, the card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), though Downfall's 2016 release date means it does not heavily leverage ray tracing or DLSS features. The pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and the 160 W TDP indicate a card designed for 1080p gaming, which aligns with the measured results.

Benchmark data shows the GPU at the 58th percentile overall, with a PassMark G3D score of 14111 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242. Its average benchmark score of 16074 puts it within 1.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 and 5600M. In Downfall specifically, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM proves sufficient for High settings at 1440p (85.6 FPS) but limits Ultra performance, where 4K drops to 32.3 FPS — a clear indication that memory capacity and bandwidth constrain the highest quality presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on a 4 nm TSMC process. It runs at a base clock of 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and features a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth.

This CPU is a strong performer in synthetic tests, achieving a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459. Its PassMark multithread score of 37161 and Geekbench multi-core score of 17002 confirm its capability. The 89th percentile placement among all CPUs indicates it is far more powerful than needed for Downfall, which is a 2016 title not known for heavy multi-threading.

In Downfall, the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom. The game's measured FPS at 1080p Low (171.9 FPS) suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower settings. However, the CPU's benchmarks show it is nearly tied with rival processors — within 0.8% of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H and 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 — meaning any performance differences in this game are more likely attributable to the GPU than the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 2060 ranks 1375 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 21st percentile of all pairings tested. This rank reflects a significant mismatch: the CPU is in the 89th percentile, while the GPU sits at the 58th percentile. The data clearly shows the GPU drags the overall combo ranking down.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, this pairing would likely perform similarly with any of the four close competitors (Intel Core i5-14500HX, Core Ultra 9 185H, Core Ultra 5 225H, or AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845), as their average benchmark scores differ by less than 1%. The GPU's nearest rivals — the Radeon RX 7600S, Radeon Pro 5600M, Radeon Pro 5700, and Radeon Pro W5500 — also fall within 1.8% of the RTX 2060's score, indicating this combo's rank is representative of a broad mid-range tier rather than an outlier.

The 1375th rank out of 1741 combos means there are 366 tested pairings that perform worse. This positioning is consistent with a GPU that is end-of-life (production status) paired with a current-generation CPU. The combo's measured FPS in Downfall at 1080p High (115.0 FPS) is respectable, but the rank reflects the GPU's limitations at 4K Ultra, where it achieves only 32.3 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 171.9 FPS, Medium 146.2 FPS, High 115.0 FPS, and Ultra 76.2 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 95.7 FPS, showing that quality settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers scale downward predictably. Low yields 124.9 FPS, Medium 104.3 FPS, High 85.6 FPS, and Ultra 54.0 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings ranges from 27.3% (Low) to 29.1% (Ultra), indicating consistent resolution scaling.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal for smooth gameplay. Low produces 74.6 FPS, Medium 66.1 FPS, High 52.7 FPS, and Ultra 32.3 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration below 30 FPS, but the 52.7 FPS at High is borderline for a horror game where frame pacing matters for atmosphere.

Across all resolutions, the step from Medium to High costs roughly 15-22% performance, while High to Ultra costs 34-39%. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the Ultra preset introduces rendering features that disproportionately tax the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 1920 shading units.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the optimal preset for most users. At 1080p, Medium delivers 146.2 FPS, which is 27.1% higher than High (115.0 FPS) and 91.8% higher than Ultra (76.2 FPS). At 1440p, Medium produces 104.3 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, while High drops to 85.6 FPS and Ultra falls to 54.0 FPS.

For 4K, no preset achieves a solid 60 FPS. Low (74.6 FPS) is the only option above 60, while Medium (66.1 FPS) is borderline and High (52.7 FPS) requires compromise. Given the horror genre's reliance on smooth motion for immersion, Low at 4K is the recommended choice, sacrificing visual fidelity for playability.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is not worth the performance cost on this GPU. At every resolution, Ultra reduces FPS by at least 34% compared to High, with the largest absolute drop at 1080p (from 115.0 to 76.2 FPS). For users with 60 Hz displays, Medium at 1440p (104.3 FPS) or High at 1080p (115.0 FPS) provides the best visual-to-performance balance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound system. At High settings, performance drops from 115.0 FPS at 1080p to 85.6 FPS at 1440p (a 25.6% reduction) and further to 52.7 FPS at 4K (a 54.2% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated by pixel throughput rather than a CPU-limited scenario.

At Low settings, the drop from 1080p (171.9 FPS) to 1440p (124.9 FPS) is 27.3%, and to 4K (74.6 FPS) is 56.6%. The consistency of these percentages across settings — roughly 25-28% for 1080p to 1440p and 54-57% for 1080p to 4K — indicates that resolution is the dominant factor, not the quality preset.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. With a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588 and 8 cores capable of boosting to 5.50 GHz, the Ryzen 7 9700X can easily feed the GPU at all resolutions. The fact that FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count confirms that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K would be smaller, as higher resolutions would give the CPU more time to prepare frames. Instead, the data shows the GPU saturating at 4K Ultra with just 32.3 FPS, a clear sign that the 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot sustain the highest memory demands of Downfall at 4K.