Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT

This combination of the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and the RDNA 1.0-based AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers playable performance in Downfall, a horror title from 2016. The measured data shows a system that ranks 2760th out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The pairing sits at a point where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom for this older game. Benchmark results indicate that the right settings choices can make the difference between a smooth horror experience and one that stutters at critical moments.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear pattern: Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and frame rate across all three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 153 average FPS with a minimum of 130 FPS and a maximum of 176 FPS. This is a substantial 28 FPS improvement over High settings at the same resolution, while still maintaining a frame rate well above the refresh rate of most monitors. The 130 FPS minimum is particularly important for a horror game, where sudden frame drops can break immersion.

At 2560x1440, Medium again proves to be the sweet spot with 109 average FPS, a 93 FPS minimum, and a 126 FPS maximum. This represents a 20 FPS advantage over High settings (89 FPS) at this resolution. The minimum of 93 FPS ensures the game remains fluid even during intense scenes. For users with 144Hz monitors, this is the only preset that consistently stays above 90 FPS at 1440p.

The situation changes at 3840x2160, where Medium drops to 68 average FPS with a 58 FPS minimum and 78 FPS maximum. While this is still playable, the 58 FPS minimum means occasional dips below 60 FPS. High at 4K manages 56 average FPS, which is close to Medium but lacks the same minimum frame rate data. Low settings at 4K produce 83 average FPS, but the visual sacrifice in a horror game—where atmosphere and lighting matter—is likely too steep for most players.

Ultra settings are not recommended for this combination. At 1080p, Ultra produces 78 average FPS, which is half of what Medium achieves. At 1440p, Ultra falls to 56 average FPS, and at 4K it bottoms out at 35 average FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs roughly 47 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. These are massive penalties for what is typically a marginal visual upgrade in a 2016 horror title.

For the best experience, Medium at 1440p or 1080p is the clear recommendation. The measured data shows that Medium provides the most consistent frame times, as evidenced by the narrow gap between minimum and maximum FPS at all resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs are driven by a 1605 MHz base clock and a 1905 MHz boost clock, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. The card operates at a 225 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested power supply, connected via a 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power configuration.

In Downfall, the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity appears sufficient for all tested presets, as the game is from 2016 and likely does not exceed this allocation at any resolution. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s provides adequate throughput for the texture-heavy environments typical of horror games. The GPU's pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s indicate that the card can handle moderate resolution scaling without becoming severely bottlenecked.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2134 places the card in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16361. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (0.1% faster), NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (0.3% slower), AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (0.3% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 (0.9% slower). This clustering around the 16361 score suggests the RX 5700 XT is well-matched to its peers in raw compute, but Downfall's specific rendering demands may differ from synthetic benchmarks.

The frame rate scaling from Medium to High at each resolution shows the GPU's limits. At 1080p, the drop from Medium (153 FPS) to High (125 FPS) is 28 FPS, while at 1440p it is 20 FPS, and at 4K it is 12 FPS. This diminishing penalty at higher resolutions suggests that at 4K, the GPU is already saturated and the additional settings workload has less relative impact.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and predictable FPS decline as resolution increases. At Medium settings, the progression is 153 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 37.6% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the number of pixels rendered directly impacts performance.

At High settings, the same progression shows 125 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28.8% and 37.1%, respectively, nearly identical to Medium. This uniformity indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck across all settings, and the CPU is not constraining performance at any resolution.

Low settings exhibit a steeper relative drop: 187 FPS at 1080p, 133 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.9%, but from 1440p to 4K it is 37.6%, matching the other presets. The absolute numbers are higher because Low reduces the GPU workload, but the percentage scaling remains constant.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic resolution impact: 78 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is barely playable, highlighting that Ultra is not viable at higher resolutions with this GPU. The scaling pattern here—28.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p and 37.5% from 1440p to 4K—matches the other presets, confirming that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor.

The consistent percentage drops across all settings strongly indicate a GPU-bound scenario. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its high single-thread performance (1286 in 3DMark single-thread, 353 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core), is not the constraint. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p, as the GPU would have more headroom at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 2760th out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 74th percentile of all tested systems. This means roughly a quarter of tested combinations perform worse, while three-quarters perform better. The rank reflects the GPU's age and capability relative to modern hardware, as the Ryzen 9 9900X is a high-end 2024 processor paired with a 2019 mid-range graphics card.

The CPU's individual ranking provides context: the Ryzen 9 9900X sits in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57498. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 (0.1% slower), AMD EPYC 7313 (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-14900 (1.1% faster), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (1.4% faster). This clustering shows the 9900X is competitive with top-tier server and desktop chips, confirming that the CPU is not the weak link in this pairing.

The GPU's ranking tells a different story. The RX 5700 XT sits in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16361. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.9% of its score, indicating a tightly grouped mid-range tier. However, this places the GPU well below the top performers, which is why the combo rank is in the lower-middle range.

In Downfall, the combo rank of 2760 out of 3716 suggests that while the game runs acceptably at Medium settings, many other hardware combinations will deliver higher frame rates. The gap between the CPU's high percentile (92nd) and the GPU's lower percentile (59th) highlights the imbalance: the Ryzen 9 9900X has significant headroom that the RX 5700 XT cannot utilize in this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process with 16,630 million transistors across a 2x 70.6 mm² die. It features a 4.40 GHz base clock and a 5.60 GHz boost clock, with a 120 W TDP. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, and provides PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes.

In Downfall, a 2016 horror game, the CPU's role is minimal. The game is not thread-heavy, and the 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads are far more than required. The single-thread performance is exceptionally strong: 1286 in 3DMark single-thread, 353 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 3010 in Geekbench single-core. These scores rank the CPU in the 92nd percentile, meaning it outperforms 92% of all CPUs in single-threaded tasks.

Multi-threaded benchmarks show the CPU's raw capability: 12552 in 3DMark 16-threads, 13929 in 3DMark max-threads, 5008 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 32172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, and 22174 in Geekbench multi-core. These scores are far above what Downfall requires, confirming that the CPU is never the bottleneck in this pairing.

The measured FPS data supports this conclusion. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 187 average FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit or the GPU's maximum output. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at a lower value regardless of resolution or settings. Instead, the FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload.

The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core provide ample cache for game data, though Downfall's 2016 engine likely does not heavily utilize these resources. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is more than sufficient for this game's data transfer needs. In practical terms, the Ryzen 9 9900X could easily handle much more demanding games, and its pairing with the RX 5700 XT in Downfall leaves most of its capability unused.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combination in Downfall?

A: Medium settings provide the best experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 153 average FPS with a 130 FPS minimum; at 1440p, it achieves 109 average FPS with a 93 FPS minimum; and at 4K, it maintains 68 average FPS with a 58 FPS minimum.

Q: Why does Ultra settings perform so poorly?

A: Ultra settings cut frame rates dramatically. At 1080p, Ultra produces 78 average FPS compared to 125 FPS on High—a 37.6% reduction. At 4K, Ultra drops to 35 average FPS, which is below playable thresholds. The RX 5700 XT's 8 GB memory and 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are insufficient for Ultra presets.

Q: Is this system CPU-bound or GPU-bound in Downfall?

A: The system is GPU-bound. The Ryzen 9 9900X ranks in the 92nd percentile among CPUs, while the RX 5700 XT ranks in the 59th percentile among GPUs. The consistent FPS scaling across resolutions and settings confirms the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 2760th out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900 (1.1% faster) and AMD EPYC 7313 (0.2% faster), while the GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (0.1% faster) and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (0.3% slower).

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: At 4K, Medium settings produce 68 average FPS with a 58 FPS minimum, which is playable. High settings drop to 56 average FPS. Low settings reach 83 average FPS, but the visual compromise may not be worth it for a horror game.

Q: What is the role of the CPU in this game's performance?

A: The CPU's role is minimal. The 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads with a 5.60 GHz boost clock provide far more performance than Downfall requires. The CPU's single-thread score of 2253 in Cinebench R23 and 3010 in Geekbench single-core are more than sufficient, leaving all performance limitations to the GPU.