Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable but uneven experience in Downfall, a horror title that scales heavily with graphical settings. The data shows a system where the GPU is the clear performance anchor, with the CPU's substantial headroom only becoming relevant at lower resolutions and settings. This combination ranks in the 1190th position out of 1741 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, yet its frame rates are surprisingly capable at mainstream resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing the RTX 2060 SUPER as the primary limiting factor. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 130.7 at 1920x1080 to 92.2 at 2560x1440, a 29.5% reduction, and then to 57.3 at 3840x2160, a further 37.8% drop from 1440p. This pattern intensifies at Ultra settings, where the 4K average of 36.2 FPS is less than half of the 1080p result of 81.1 FPS.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent toll. At 4K, the difference between Low (84 FPS) and Ultra (36.2 FPS) is a massive 56.9% performance penalty. At 1440p, that same settings swing costs 55.4% of the frame rate, dropping from 134.5 to 60 FPS. At 1080p, the penalty is 58.2%, from 193.9 down to 81.1 FPS.

These numbers indicate that the GPU's compute and memory resources are saturated well before the CPU becomes a factor. The 9800X3D's high single-thread and multi-thread scores in synthetic benchmarks—like its 4800 Cinebench R23 single-core result and 34004 multi-core score—suggest it could push far more frames, but the RTX 2060 SUPER's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are the ceiling here. The game is clearly GPU-bound, even at 1080p, where the CPU's potential is left untapped.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the TU106 chip using a 12 nm process, with 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs. Its memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specs explain the performance cliff at 4K Ultra: the card's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for the pixel count and shader complexity of Downfall at maximum settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 19774. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, scores 19706, a delta of just 0.3%, showing the 2060 SUPER is well-positioned against older flagship cards but far behind modern ones. The data shows the card's DirectX 12 performance is notably weak, with a Passmark score of 61, while its DirectX 11 score of 130 is more respectable. This suggests the game's API choice could be influencing results, though the measured FPS at Low settings (193.9 at 1080p) shows the card can still deliver high refresh rates when the load is light.

The 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p in this title, but the 4K Ultra average of 36.2 FPS indicates the card is also likely hitting memory capacity limits or bandwidth constraints. The card's boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz are modest by today's standards, and the measured results reflect that.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU-GPU pairing sits at rank 1190 out of 1741 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the 32nd percentile of all combos. The ranking is dragged down by the GPU, as the 9800X3D is a top-tier processor. The CPU's average benchmark score of 37780 puts it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Xeon 6353P at 37811 (a -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-13600KF at 38028 (a -0.7% delta).

The disparity between the CPU's high standing and the combo's low rank is stark. The 9800X3D's 8 cores, 16 threads, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache provide immense processing power, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 40009 and a single-thread score of 4430. Yet, in Downfall, this power is largely wasted because the RTX 2060 SUPER cannot feed frames fast enough to utilize it. The combo rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's 63rd percentile standing, not the CPU's 90th percentile.

For context, the RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 is only slightly above its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores 19680 (a 0.5% delta in favor of the 2060 SUPER). This indicates the GPU is performing as expected, but it is simply not in the same class as the CPU. Builders pairing these two components should expect the GPU to be the bottleneck in virtually all gaming scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results. Low settings hit 193.9 FPS, Medium reaches 155.3 FPS, and High manages 130.7 FPS. Ultra is the only setting that drops below triple digits, averaging 81.1 FPS. This makes 1080p gaming smooth at any setting, with even Ultra maintaining a comfortable frame rate for standard 60 Hz displays.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid. Low settings produce 134.5 FPS, Medium yields 114.5 FPS, and High comes in at 92.2 FPS. Ultra dips to exactly 60 FPS, which is still playable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. This resolution is the sweet spot for the RTX 2060 SUPER, offering high refresh rates at lower settings and playable frame rates at higher ones.

At 3840x2160, the GPU shows its limits. Low settings average 84 FPS, Medium drops to 69.1 FPS, and High falls to 57.3 FPS. Ultra is the only unplayable setting, averaging 36.2 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K is only viable at Low or Medium settings, and even then, the frame rates are not ideal for high refresh rate monitors.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent 50-60% performance drop, highlighting the game's sensitivity to shader complexity and texture quality. The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the limiting factors at 4K Ultra, where the game likely exceeds both.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a Zen 5 architecture processor on the AM5 socket, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, and it has 96 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 34004 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4800 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 18413 and single-core of 3341.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is minimal due to GPU limitation. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (193.9 FPS) is likely near the game's engine limit, but the 9800X3D could theoretically push higher if paired with a faster GPU. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 4430 and its 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 indicate it has ample processing power for gaming, but the RTX 2060 SUPER cannot utilize it fully.

The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR5 support are wasted in this configuration, as the GPU's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is the effective bottleneck. The 9800X3D's 120 W TDP and 4 nm process node make it efficient, but that efficiency does not translate to higher frame rates in this pairing. The data from the measured FPS shows that the frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU settings and resolution, not CPU load.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo playable at 1080p Ultra?

A: Yes, the average FPS at 1920x1080 Ultra is 81.1, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with High settings averaging 92.2 FPS and Ultra averaging exactly 60 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, only Low settings (84 FPS) and Medium settings (69.1 FPS) are playable. High settings drop to 57.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36.2 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN's 19706 and 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070's 19680.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU's 90th percentile standing (average score 37780) far exceeds the GPU's 63rd percentile (average score 19774), and frame rates scale with GPU settings rather than CPU load.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1190 out of 1741 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database.