Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Downfall with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile show a clear, predictable progression as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 220 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High preset drops the average to 157 FPS, a reduction of roughly 29%. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 98 FPS, which is about 38% lower than the 1440p result and 55% below the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

The Low preset tells a similar story but with a steeper absolute drop. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 328 FPS average. At 1440p Low, it still manages 234 FPS, and at 4K Low it settles at 146 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is about 55%, matching the High preset's relative decline. This consistency indicates that the rendering load scales almost linearly with pixel count, which points to the GPU as the primary limiter at 4K.

Medium settings provide the most granular data because they include min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 269 FPS with a min of 228 and a max of 309. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 192 FPS, with min 163 and max 221. At 4K Medium, the average is 119 FPS, with min 101 and max 137. The spread between min and max FPS widens slightly as resolution increases, from about 81 frames at 1080p to 58 frames at 1440p and 36 frames at 4K. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame times become more consistent when the GPU is more heavily loaded, reducing the impact of CPU-side hitches.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 138 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 98 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 61 FPS. The decline from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is about 56%, which is very close to the Low and High presets. This uniform percentage drop across all settings strongly indicates that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU. The CPU, with 16 cores and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, is not the bottleneck at any resolution, as evidenced by the fact that 4K Ultra still manages 61 FPS while 1080p Ultra exceeds 130 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the full database of tested combinations for Downfall, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile ranks 803rd out of 3716 tested combos. That places it in the top 21.6% of all tested configurations. While that is a strong showing, it is importantly the rank is not higher given the individual components' benchmarks.

The CPU alone sits at the 95th percentile among all tested processors. Its average benchmark score is 76212, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX's 76155, a delta of just 0.1%. It also edges out the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D by 0.6%. The GPU, however, is at the 84th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 45152. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, scores 45384, which is 0.5% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti trails by 0.8%, and the Intel Arc A730M is 1% behind.

The discrepancy between the CPU's 95th percentile and the GPU's 84th percentile helps explain the combo's 803rd rank. In Downfall, the data suggests that the GPU is the more significant factor at higher resolutions, and this particular GPU, while capable, does not dominate its peers as much as the CPU does. The 4K Ultra result of 61 FPS average, while playable, is not exceptional for a flagship mobile GPU. The 1080p Low result of 328 FPS, on the other hand, shows the system's raw potential when the GPU is less burdened. The rank of 803 out of 3716 reflects a configuration that is strong across the board but not top-tier in this specific title, largely because the GPU's relative standing is lower than the CPU's.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 4K?

A: The highest 4K average is 146 FPS, achieved at Low settings. At High settings, it drops to 98 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 61 FPS.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX scores 76212 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX's 76155. It also outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D by 0.6%.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 192, with a minimum of 163 and a maximum of 221. This gives a spread of 58 frames between min and max.

Q: Does the GPU outperform the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti?

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 45152, which is 0.8% higher than the RTX 4070 Ti's 44795.

Q: What is the most demanding setting tested?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields the lowest average FPS of 61. This is the most demanding configuration in the measured data.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in Downfall?

A: It ranks 803rd out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 22% of all tested combos.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 328 FPS. Medium follows at 269 FPS, with a minimum of 228 and a maximum of 309. High drops to 220 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 138 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 58% reduction in average FPS, from 328 to 138.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 234 FPS. Medium averages 192 FPS, with a min of 163 and a max of 221. High averages 157 FPS, and Ultra averages 98 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is also 58%, from 234 to 98, matching the 1080p relative decline.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 146 FPS. Medium averages 119 FPS, with a min of 101 and a max of 137. High averages 98 FPS, and Ultra averages 61 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K is 58% as well, from 146 to 61. This consistent 58% reduction across all three resolutions indicates that the relative performance gap between Low and Ultra is stable regardless of pixel count.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min and max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the min is 228 and the max is 309, producing a range of 81 FPS. At 1440p, the min is 163 and the max is 221, a range of 58 FPS. At 4K, the min is 101 and the max is 137, a range of 36 FPS. As resolution increases, the min-max spread narrows, suggesting that frame pacing becomes more uniform under heavier GPU load. The average FPS at Medium drops from 269 at 1080p to 192 at 1440p and 119 at 4K, a 56% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

The data shows that this combo is capable of exceeding 300 FPS at 1080p Low, which is far beyond the refresh rate of most displays. At 4K High, the 98 FPS average is solid for a horror title, and even 4K Ultra at 61 FPS remains playable. The system appears well-balanced for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, where it can push 157 FPS at High settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The CPU's TDP is 55 W, which is modest for a 16-core part, but the boost clock of 5.40 GHz is among the highest in the mobile segment. The processor is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 13,140 million transistors across a 2x 71 mm² die configuration. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 42713 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6030 in single-core. It also posts 17939 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 2532 in single-core. The Passmark multithread score is 51405, and the single-thread score is 3907. The data compression score is 677755, and floating point math is 117453. The CPU's percentile ranking is 95, meaning it outperforms 95% of all tested CPUs.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is evident in the high FPS at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 328 FPS, which indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to reach very high frame rates. However, the game is not CPU-bound at any resolution in this data, as the FPS scales consistently with resolution. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads are more than sufficient for this 2016 horror title, which likely does not utilize more than a handful of threads. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is more relevant for gaming than the core count.

The nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, which scores 76155, a 0.1% delta. The AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P scores 76492, a -0.4% delta, and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX scores 76513, also -0.4%. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores 75779, a 0.6% delta. These scores are all within 1% of each other, indicating that the 8945HX is essentially tied with the fastest desktop and mobile chips in aggregate synthetic performance. In Downfall, this level of CPU performance is more than adequate, as the measured FPS is consistently GPU-limited at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 220 FPS average is a strong choice, offering a balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 138 FPS is also viable if the display supports high refresh rates and the user prioritizes visual fidelity. The Low preset at 328 FPS is excessive for most displays but useful for competitive play or if the user has a 360 Hz monitor.

For 1440p, the High preset at 157 FPS is the best all-around option. It provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors while maintaining decent visual quality. The Medium preset at 192 FPS could be preferred for esports-style play, but the visual trade-off may not be worth it in a horror game where atmosphere matters. The Ultra preset at 98 FPS is also playable and offers the best visuals, making it a reasonable choice for users with 100 Hz or 120 Hz displays.

For 4K, the High preset at 98 FPS is the sweet spot. It delivers a near-100 FPS experience with good visual quality. The Medium preset at 119 FPS is slightly faster but may show noticeable visual downgrades. The Ultra preset at 61 FPS is only recommended for users with 60 Hz displays who want the absolute best image quality, as the frame rate is just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset at 146 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for a frame rate that exceeds most 4K displays' refresh rates.

The Medium preset data, which includes min and max FPS, shows that it is the most consistent in terms of frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the min of 228 FPS ensures no drops below 200 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min of 163 FPS is still high. At 4K Medium, the min of 101 FPS keeps the experience above 100 FPS. For users who prioritize frame time consistency, Medium is the safest choice. However, the High preset does not have min/max data, but its average FPS is only 16-19% lower than Medium across resolutions, suggesting it is likely still smooth.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, using the GB203 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, with a transistor density of 120.6M per mm². The GPU has a base clock of 990 MHz and a boost clock of 1515 MHz. Memory is 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, providing 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, with an effective data rate of 28 Gbps.

The GPU features 10496 shading units, 328 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 82 RT cores, and 328 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 169.7 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 496.9 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 31.80 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 31.80 TFLOPS (1:1). The TDP is 95 W, which is low for a GPU of this capability, but it is an IGP form factor with no power connectors. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16, and the display outputs are portable device dependent. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 5871 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 201834 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 198405 in Geekbench Vulkan. The Passmark G3D score is 30034, and the GPU compute score is 13401. The GPU's percentile ranking is 84, which is lower than the CPU's 95. Its average benchmark score is 45152, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT at 45384 (-0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti at 44795 (+0.8%), the Intel Arc A730M at 45592 (-1%), and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation at 45972 (-1.8%).

In Downfall, the GPU's role is dominant at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 61 FPS average shows that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic. The 24 GB of VRAM is far more than this game needs, but it ensures no memory-related stutters. The 896.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is ample for 4K textures. The boost clock of 1515 MHz is moderate for a flagship GPU, but the high shader count compensates. The data shows that the GPU scales well with resolution, maintaining a consistent 58% performance drop from Low to Ultra across all resolutions, which is a sign of a well-balanced rendering pipeline.