Downfall

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 places 826th out of 3,716 tested combinations in Downfall. That rank puts this pairing in the top 22.2% of all tested combos, a strong showing for a mobile-oriented processor paired with a flagship laptop GPU. The ranking reflects the overall balance between the two components, and the data confirms that neither part drags the other down significantly in this horror title.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 76,212 places it in the 95th percentile of all processors tested. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance are the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX with an average score of 76,155 (0.1% behind), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P at 76,492 (0.4% ahead), the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX at 76,513 (0.4% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D at 75,779 (0.6% behind). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the 8945HX sits squarely in a performance bracket with several other high-end chips, none of which would produce meaningfully different Downfall results on their own.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60,347 places it in the 88th percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60,326 (matching), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60,140 (0.3% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 61,896 (2.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 at 58,657 (2.9% behind). Interestingly, the RTX 4090's benchmark score is only 0.1% different from the Arc Pro A60, yet in actual gaming the 4090's architecture and memory subsystem deliver far more consistent frame pacing at high resolutions, as the measured FPS data will show.

The combo's rank of 826 out of 3,716 suggests that while there are many faster pairings, this particular configuration is well above the median. The CPU's 95th percentile standing relative to all CPUs and the GPU's 88th percentile relative to all GPUs indicate that neither component is a bottleneck in a way that would suppress the other's contribution to Downfall's frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX brings 16 cores and 32 threads to the table, built on the Zen 4 architecture with the Dragon Range codename. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz can boost up to 5.40 GHz, giving this mobile processor substantial headroom for both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The 64 MB of L3 cache, divided as 1 MB of L2 per core and 64 KB of L1 per core, provides ample fast storage for game assets. The processor's 5 nm process node from TSMC, with 13,140 million transistors across a dual-die design measuring 2x 71 mm², keeps power efficiency respectable at a 55 W TDP.

In benchmark terms, the 8945HX posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and a single-core score of 6,030. The PassMark multi-thread score of 51,405 and single-thread score of 3,907 further illustrate its capability. For Downfall, a horror game that typically relies on consistent frame delivery rather than extreme physics simulations, the CPU's strong single-core performance at 5.40 GHz boost helps maintain high minimum frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface is sufficient for feeding the GPU with geometry and texture data in this game. The integrated Radeon 610M graphics are irrelevant for this configuration since the discrete RTX 4090 handles all rendering, but the CPU's PCIe Gen 5 support with 28 lanes ensures the GPU has a high-bandwidth connection. The 8945HX's nearest rival in CPU benchmarks, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, is essentially tied at 0.1% difference, meaning either processor would yield nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Downfall.

The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 314 FPS average, which indicates the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 132 FPS average suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the GPU can still push high frame rates under heavy settings loads. The 8945HX's 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this mobile chip has enough headroom for a game like Downfall, which is not particularly CPU-intensive by modern standards.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in this configuration is the mobile variant of the flagship Ada Lovelace GPU, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores. The GPU's base clock runs at 2235 MHz with a boost of 2520 MHz, and the memory clock operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is crucial for high-resolution textures in Downfall's dark, detailed environments.

The RTX 4090's raw compute capabilities are substantial: 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and the same for FP16, with pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the GPU scores 9,223, and its Geekbench OpenCL score of 255,416 and Vulkan score of 271,631 reflect strong API-level performance. The PassMark G3D score of 38,194 and GPU compute score of 26,613 further quantify its capabilities.

For Downfall specifically, the GPU's 24 GB VRAM is far more than the game requires, eliminating any concerns about texture swapping or memory pressure. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that streaming high-resolution assets at 4K does not cause hitches. The RTX 4090's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while lower than the CPU's 95th percentile, is still strong; the nearest rival in average benchmark score, the Intel Arc Pro A60, is a workstation card that would not match the 4090's gaming performance despite similar aggregate scores.

The measured data shows the GPU's scaling behavior: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 314 FPS, which drops to 132 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This 58% reduction from Low to Ultra at the same resolution indicates that the GPU is heavily loaded by higher settings, with ray tracing and shadow quality being likely culprits. At 4K, the spread is even wider, from 140 FPS at Low to 59 FPS at Ultra, showing that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive view of this combo's performance in Downfall.

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo delivers 314 FPS at Low settings, 257 FPS at Medium, 211 FPS at High, and 132 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 218 and a maximum of 295, indicating tight frame pacing. The gap between Low and Ultra is 182 FPS, a 58% drop, which is substantial but expected given the significant visual quality differences.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high: 224 FPS at Low, 184 FPS at Medium (with min 156 and max 211), 150 FPS at High, and 94 FPS at Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings ranges from 29% at Low (314 to 224) to 29% at Ultra (132 to 94), showing consistent scaling across settings. The Medium preset at 1440p still holds a minimum of 156 FPS, which is above most high-refresh monitors' capabilities.

At 3840x2160, the resolution where the GPU's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth become most relevant, the combo achieves 140 FPS at Low, 114 FPS at Medium (with min 97 and max 131), 94 FPS at High, and 59 FPS at Ultra. The 4K Low result of 140 FPS is particularly impressive, showing that even at the highest resolution, the combo can drive very high frame rates when settings are moderated. However, 4K Ultra at 59 FPS falls just below the 60 FPS threshold, which is a notable consideration for players seeking maximum visual fidelity.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 218-295; at 1440p, it is 156-211; and at 4K, it is 97-131. These ranges represent roughly a 35% span between minimum and maximum, indicating some frame time variance but nothing that would cause visible stuttering.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals which component is the primary limiter at each resolution. At Low settings, the combo goes from 314 FPS at 1080p to 224 FPS at 1440p to 140 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28.7% from 1080p to 1440p and 37.5% from 1440p to 4K. This pattern shows that the GPU is increasingly the bottleneck as resolution rises, which is expected since the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution.

At Medium settings, the progression is 257 FPS at 1080p, 184 FPS at 1440p, and 114 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 28.4% and 38.0% respectively. High settings show 211 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K, with drops of 28.9% and 37.3%. Ultra settings follow the same pattern: 132 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 59 FPS at 4K, with drops of 28.8% and 37.2%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is striking. The resolution scaling penalty is nearly identical regardless of quality preset, which indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor across all settings at 1440p and 4K. The CPU's 5.40 GHz boost clock and 16 cores are sufficient to feed the GPU even at 1080p Low where frame rates exceed 300 FPS, so the CPU is never the bottleneck in this configuration.

The fact that 4K Low (140 FPS) is higher than 1080p Ultra (132 FPS) is particularly revealing. This means that the GPU has enough headroom to run at 4K with low settings faster than it can run at 1080p with ultra settings. The settings level has a larger impact on performance than resolution, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see 1080p Ultra and 4K Low produce similar frame rates, but the 6% difference confirms the GPU is doing the heavy lifting.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 257 FPS average with a minimum of 218 FPS, which exceeds any display's refresh rate and provides a comfortable margin above typical 144Hz monitors. At 1440p, Medium still holds 184 FPS average with a minimum of 156 FPS, again surpassing 144Hz refresh rates. At 4K, Medium produces 114 FPS average with a minimum of 97 FPS, which is above 90 FPS and suitable for high-refresh 4K displays.

The High preset is a viable alternative for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate. At 1080p, High achieves 211 FPS, at 1440p it reaches 150 FPS, and at 4K it maintains 94 FPS. These numbers are all above 90 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios. The step from Medium to High costs approximately 18% performance at each resolution (257 to 211 at 1080p, 184 to 150 at 1440p, 114 to 94 at 4K), which may be worth it for the improved shadows and textures in a horror game where atmosphere matters.

Ultra settings are only recommended for players with 1080p displays who prioritize maximum visual quality. The 132 FPS at 1080p Ultra is still very playable, but the 94 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 59 FPS at 4K Ultra show diminishing returns. The drop from High to Ultra is 37% at 1080p (211 to 132), 37% at 1440p (150 to 94), and 37% at 4K (94 to 59), which is a consistent penalty that many players may find too steep for the visual improvement.

Low settings are unnecessary for this configuration. Even at 4K Low, the combo produces 140 FPS, which is far above what most displays can show. For competitive play or maximum frame rates, Low at 1080p yields 314 FPS, but the visual quality in a horror game would suffer significantly. The data suggests that Medium at 4K is the sweet spot for this combo, offering 114 FPS with a 97 FPS minimum that ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX bottlenecking the RTX 4090 in Downfall?

A: No. The CPU's 95th percentile ranking and the consistent resolution scaling show that the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 314 FPS, proving the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical refresh rates. The resolution scaling patterns, with nearly identical percentage drops across all settings, confirm the CPU is not holding back the GPU.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a 144Hz display?

A: For a 144Hz display, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the best choice, delivering 184 FPS average with a 156 FPS minimum. This stays comfortably above 144 FPS throughout the measurement. Alternatively, High at 2560x1440 at 150 FPS also works, but the 34 FPS margin at Medium provides more headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K with high refresh rates?

A: Yes, at 4K High the combo achieves 94 FPS, which is suitable for 90Hz or 100Hz displays. At 4K Medium, it reaches 114 FPS with a 97 FPS minimum, making it viable for 100Hz or 120Hz 4K monitors. For 144Hz 4K, the Low preset at 140 FPS is the only option, but this sacrifices visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM affect Downfall performance?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that Downfall's textures and assets never cause memory pressure, even at 4K with Ultra settings. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking and the high frame rates at 4K Low (140 FPS) indicate that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: The Ultra preset costs approximately 37% performance compared to High across all resolutions. At 1080p, it still delivers 132 FPS, which is playable, but at 4K it drops to 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset offers 114 FPS at 4K, which is nearly double the Ultra frame rate, making Ultra a poor trade-off for most players.

Q: How does this combo compare to other high-end configurations in Downfall?

A: This combo ranks 826th out of 3,716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 22.2%. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, is statistically tied at 0.1% difference in average benchmark score. The GPU's nearest rival in average benchmark score, the Intel Arc Pro A60, matches at 0% delta, but the RTX 4090's gaming performance in Downfall is far superior due to its 24 GB VRAM and higher memory bandwidth.