Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Downfall reveal a pronounced GPU-bound scaling curve as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers 224.9 FPS, which drops to 159.5 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 99 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 29% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 38% reduction from 1440p to 4K, indicating the GPU is the primary limiter as pixel count increases.

The scaling behavior becomes even more telling when examining the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 93 FPS. Moving to 1440p Ultra drops this to 67.4 FPS (a 27.5% decline), while 4K Ultra falls to 40.5 FPS (a 39.9% decline from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets—roughly 27-29% for the first step and 38-40% for the second—suggests the RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width are being saturated at higher resolutions, particularly at 4K where the gap between Low and Ultra narrows dramatically.

The most striking data point is the 4K Ultra result of 40.5 FPS. This is less than half of the 4K Medium score of 84.3 FPS, and the jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 43.8 FPS. At 1080p, the same settings step costs 91.9 FPS (from 184.9 to 93). The proportional penalty for Ultra settings grows with resolution, confirming that the limiting component shifts from compute throughput to memory bandwidth and capacity as resolution climbs. The RTX 4060's 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes the bottleneck at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 992 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This places the pairing in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is notable given the individual component standings. The CPU alone sits in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 66th percentile against all GPUs. The combo's rank suggests the RTX 4060 is the constraining factor in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks illustrate its position. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X posts an average benchmark score of 36029, sitting 0.2% above the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940) and 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802). It trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4% (36165) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H by 0.8% (36328). These are extremely tight margins, meaning the CPU's contribution to the combo's rank is consistent with a high-performing mid-range processor.

For the GPU, the RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 puts it 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321) and 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338). It edges out the Intel Arc B580 by 0.7% (23021) and the AMD Radeon 760M by 0.8% (22999). The GPU's position relative to these rivals—all within 1% of each other—explains why the combo ranks where it does: the RTX 4060 is competitive but not dominant, and Downfall's demands push it toward the lower end of the tested combinations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. It contains 18,900 million transistors across a 159 mm² die, with 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output pipelines. The card operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and boosts to 2460 MHz, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). This configuration produces 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s.

The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is the critical specification for Downfall, a horror title from 2016 that appears to scale aggressively with memory demands at higher settings. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p, the card is rarely bandwidth-limited, with even Ultra settings achieving 93 FPS. At 4K, however, the combination of 8 GB capacity and 128-bit bus width becomes the dominant constraint, with Ultra settings collapsing to 40.5 FPS.

The RTX 4060's ray tracing capabilities—24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores—are present but not heavily utilized in Downfall given its release date. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures modern API compatibility, but the game's 2016 vintage means traditional rasterization performance is the primary driver. The GPU's 66th percentile ranking against all GPUs and its near-tie with the Intel Arc B580 (0.7% difference) and AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% difference) confirm it is a solid mid-range performer that meets but does not exceed expectations in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 224.9 FPS, Medium 184.9 FPS, High 149.9 FPS, and Ultra 93 FPS. The step from High to Ultra costs 56.9 FPS, which is the largest single-preset penalty at this resolution. Even at Ultra, the frame rate exceeds 90 FPS, making 1080p fully playable with no compromises.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain robust. Low settings yield 159.5 FPS, Medium 132.7 FPS, High 111.1 FPS, and Ultra 67.4 FPS. The High to Ultra drop is 43.7 FPS, and the Ultra score dips below 70 FPS, which may be noticeable in a horror title where smooth motion is important for atmosphere. The 1440p results show a 29% reduction from 1080p across all settings, consistent with the expected pixel-count increase.

At 3840x2160, the limitations become apparent. Low settings produce 99 FPS, Medium 84.3 FPS, High 68.4 FPS, and Ultra 40.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, and it is substantially below the 4K High score of 68.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 15.9 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 27.9 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings impose a disproportionate penalty at this resolution. The 4K Low score of 99 FPS demonstrates that the hardware is capable of smooth 4K performance when settings are moderated, but Ultra is not viable.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p offers the best balance, with High settings achieving 111.1 FPS and Ultra reaching 67.4 FPS. At 1080p, all presets exceed 90 FPS, but 1440p provides higher visual fidelity while maintaining playable frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform at 4K Ultra in Downfall?

A: The 4K Ultra setting produces an average of 40.5 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the dataset. This is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth, and it is 27.9 FPS lower than 4K High (68.4 FPS).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X a bottleneck for the RTX 4060 in this game?

A: No. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and benchmark scores show it is not the limiting factor. The GPU's 66th percentile and the FPS scaling patterns indicate the RTX 4060 is the primary constraint, particularly at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X scores 31588 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 13266 in Cinebench R20. It sits within 1% of all four nearest rivals, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H leading by 0.8% and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 trailing by 0.6%.

Q: Does the GPU's memory bandwidth affect 4K performance?

A: Yes. The RTX 4060's 272.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 128-bit bus becomes the limiting factor at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 40.5 FPS versus 1080p Ultra's 93 FPS shows a 56.5% reduction, consistent with memory saturation.

Q: What settings does the RTX 4060 handle best at 1440p?

A: High settings at 1440p produce 111.1 FPS, while Medium produces 132.7 FPS. Ultra drops to 67.4 FPS, which is playable but shows a significant penalty. High is the recommended preset for 1440p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1080p, Ultra is viable at 93 FPS, but High (149.9 FPS) offers a 61% performance headroom for a likely minimal visual difference. Medium (184.9 FPS) is excessive for most displays, so High is the balanced choice.

At 1440p, High settings deliver 111.1 FPS, which is smooth and visually rich. Ultra at 67.4 FPS remains above 60 FPS but carries a 39.3% penalty over High. For a horror game where frame pacing matters, High is the superior choice. Medium (132.7 FPS) is an option for users prioritizing maximum smoothness, but the visual compromise is unnecessary given High's strong performance.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. Low settings achieve 99 FPS, Medium 84.3 FPS, and High 68.4 FPS, all of which are playable. Ultra's 40.5 FPS is not recommended. High at 4K provides the best visual quality at a playable frame rate, though users with high-refresh displays may prefer Medium (84.3 FPS) or Low (99 FPS) for additional smoothness. The 4K Ultra result of 40.5 FPS should be avoided entirely, as the 27.9 FPS jump from High is not justified by the settings increase.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using TSMC's 4 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boosts to 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU contains 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel interface with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, but its performance ensures it never becomes a limiting factor. The 3DMark multi-threaded scores demonstrate strong scaling: 9824 with 16 threads, 8184 with 8 threads, 4869 with 4 threads, and 2525 with 2 threads. Single-thread performance is 1280 in 3DMark and 4459 in Cinebench R23, which is sufficient for game logic and physics processing in a 2016 title.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking against all CPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 36029, places it among the top tier of processors. Its nearest rivals are all within 1% in average score, meaning the 9700X is effectively tied with the Intel Core i5-14500HX, Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, and Intel Core Ultra 5 225H. In Downfall, this CPU headroom means the RTX 4060 dictates frame rates entirely, and the combo's 992nd rank out of 1741 is attributable to GPU limitations rather than CPU performance. The 9700X's 65 W TDP also indicates efficient operation, but the FPS data shows the processor is never stressed to its limits in this title.