Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This combination delivers exceptional performance in Downfall, ranking 8th out of 1,741 tested combos and placing the system in the top 0.5% of all configurations. The pairing of AMD's 12-core Zen 5 flagship with NVIDIA's Blackwell flagship produces triple-digit frame rates at every resolution tested, with the data showing a clear pattern: this system is GPU-bound at 4K but CPU-bound at 1080p, making it an ideal match for high-refresh-rate horror gaming.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 456.9 FPS, which is the peak performance recorded across all tested configurations.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X averages a benchmark score of 54,450, sitting just 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54,681) and 0.7% above the Intel Core i7-14700F (54,097).

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks in the 94th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306 across all tests.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 200.8 on Low to 87.9 on Ultra, representing a 112.9 FPS reduction when enabling maximum quality settings.

Q: Does this system maintain playable frame rates at Ultra settings in 4K?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 Ultra, the average is 87.9 FPS, which remains comfortably above standard 60 FPS display refresh rates.

Q: How does the GPU compare to the next closest competitor in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D (84,241) and 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (83,209).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample headroom for Downfall's horror environments, which typically feature dense shadow maps and high-resolution textures. The boost clock of 2407 MHz across 21,760 shading units produces 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which translates to the high average FPS observed at every resolution.

The GPU's 94th percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards is reinforced by its synthetic benchmark results, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 and a Passmark G3D score of 39,650. The RTX 5090's 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for ray-traced effects and AI-accelerated features, though the measured FPS data shows that even at Ultra settings, the card never drops below 87.9 FPS at 4K. The 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU indicate this is a power-hungry flagship, but the performance payoff is evident in the data.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the RTX 5090 D (0.1% higher), RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% higher), and AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% lower)—show that this card sits at the apex of GPU performance. The benchmark results indicate that Downfall's rendering workload scales almost linearly with GPU compute, as evidenced by the 112.9 FPS spread between Low and Ultra settings at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a classic resolution-dependent scaling pattern that identifies the system's bottleneck. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 191.1 (Ultra) to 456.9 (Low), indicating that the CPU is the primary limiter—the GPU has enough headroom to render far more frames than the processor can feed. Moving to 2560x1440, the range shifts to 136.6 (Ultra) to 324.7 (Low), and at 3840x2160, it settles to 87.9 (Ultra) to 200.8 (Low).

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at each setting shows the GPU becoming progressively more dominant. At Low settings, the 456.9 FPS at 1080p drops to 324.7 FPS at 1440p (a 28.9% reduction) and then to 200.8 FPS at 4K (a 38.2% reduction from 1440p). This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the system is still partially CPU-bound even at 1440p, but becomes fully GPU-bound at 4K. At Ultra settings, the drop is more dramatic: 191.1 FPS at 1080p falls to 136.6 FPS at 1440p (a 28.5% reduction) and then to 87.9 FPS at 4K (a 35.7% reduction from 1440p).

The data suggests that the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are not limiting factors at any tested resolution, as the frame rate drops are consistent with pixel-count scaling rather than memory capacity constraints. The 12-core CPU with 24 threads, boosting to 5.60 GHz, provides enough single-thread performance to keep up with the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU's raw rasterization power becomes the clear constraint as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 456.9 FPS average, Medium drops to 373.1 FPS, High reaches 308.1 FPS, and Ultra settles at 191.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 265.8 FPS, showing that Downfall's quality presets have a substantial impact on GPU workload even at lower resolutions.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 324.7 FPS on Low, 270.6 FPS on Medium, 219.1 FPS on High, and 136.6 FPS on Ultra. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 28.9% (Low) to 28.5% (Ultra), indicating consistent scaling across all quality settings. The 1440p Ultra result of 136.6 FPS remains well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160, the system maintains strong performance: 200.8 FPS on Low, 169.2 FPS on Medium, 136.4 FPS on High, and 87.9 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration tested that drops below 100 FPS, but it still provides a smooth experience for a horror title where frame pacing is critical for atmosphere. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 112.9 FPS, which is less than half the spread at 1080p, confirming that the system becomes more GPU-limited at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 8th out of 1,741 tested combos, placing it in the 99.5th percentile of all systems tested in Downfall. This top-tier ranking is consistent with the hardware's synthetic performance: the CPU sits in the 94th percentile among all processors, and the GPU also ranks in the 94th percentile among all graphics cards. The combination of two top-decile components produces a system that outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations.

The combo's rank reflects not just raw component strength but also the balance between CPU and GPU. The Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, provide sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 at 1080p and 1440p. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU's average score of 54,450 is within 1.8% of its nearest rivals, and the GPU's 84,306 average leads its closest competitor by only 0.1%, indicating that both components are operating near the top of their respective performance tiers.

The data shows that the system's 8th-place ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's exceptional performance, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 87.9 FPS, which would likely be unattainable with a lower-tier graphics card paired with the same CPU. The CPU's 3DMark scores—12,552 on 16 threads and 13,929 on max threads—demonstrate strong multi-threaded capability that supports the GPU in Downfall's physics and AI workloads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X serves as the supporting pillar in this configuration, providing the processing throughput needed to feed the RTX 5090's massive rendering pipeline. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU operates at a base clock of 4.40 GHz and boosts to 5.60 GHz, delivering strong single-threaded performance for Downfall's game logic and AI systems.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks reveal its strengths: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46,438 and single-core score of 6,555, alongside a 3DMark max-threads score of 13,929. These results indicate that the CPU can handle both lightly-threaded tasks (such as per-frame game logic) and heavily-threaded workloads (such as physics simulation and streaming). The 64 MB shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth ensure that data flows efficiently to the GPU, minimizing stalls in frame delivery.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 94th among all CPUs places it in the top tier, with its average benchmark score of 54,450 sitting just 0.4% below the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 0.7% above the Intel Core i7-14700F. In Downfall, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at 1080p, where the 456.9 FPS Low result suggests the CPU is capable of driving frame rates well beyond what the GPU can render at higher quality settings. The 5.60 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for a horror game, where consistent frame delivery is essential for maintaining tension and immersion.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target display resolution and refresh rate. For 4K displays with 120 Hz refresh rates, the High preset (136.4 FPS average) provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it exceeds 120 FPS while offering significantly better image quality than Medium (169.2 FPS) or Low (200.8 FPS). The Ultra preset at 87.9 FPS is only suitable for 60 Hz displays, where it provides maximum visual fidelity without dropping below the refresh threshold.

For 1440p displays with 240 Hz refresh rates, the High preset (219.1 FPS) is the recommended choice, as it approaches the 240 Hz ceiling while maintaining strong visual quality. The Medium preset (270.6 FPS) is preferable for 240 Hz panels that require absolute maximum frame rates, but the visual quality trade-off may not be worth the 51.5 FPS gain. The Ultra preset at 136.6 FPS is best reserved for 144 Hz displays, where it provides excellent image quality without exceeding the refresh rate.

For 1080p displays with 360 Hz or 480 Hz refresh rates, the Low preset (456.9 FPS) is the only option that can take full advantage of the highest refresh rates, while the Medium preset (373.1 FPS) is ideal for 360 Hz panels. The High preset (308.1 FPS) suits 300 Hz displays, and Ultra (191.1 FPS) is best for 165 Hz or 240 Hz panels. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, so users should select settings based on their display's refresh rate rather than seeking maximum visual quality, as the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution.