Downfall

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER in Downfall delivers a playable experience across most settings, with the data showing a clear sweet spot at Medium presets in 1080p and 1440p. This combination ranks in the 2157th position out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, primarily constrained by the GPU's age and 8 GB VRAM capacity.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the most reliable resolution, with average framerates ranging from 88 FPS at Ultra to 210 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, performance drops to between 63 FPS (Ultra) and 150 FPS (Low), while 3840x2160 is only viable at Low (94 FPS) or Medium (77 FPS) settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093), 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053), and 2.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700F (53620). These are all very close margins, indicating the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this pairing.

Q: Is the RTX 2070 SUPER a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: Yes, the GPU is the limiting factor. The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, which is 1.5% lower than the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 1.2% lower than the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534). The CPU's average score of 54762 is in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 65th percentile, confirming the imbalance.

Q: What framerate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 123 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS. This provides a smooth experience that stays well above the 60 FPS threshold even in demanding scenes.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at higher resolutions?

A: The data indicates that at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to 39 FPS, while High yields 63 FPS. This dramatic drop suggests the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are insufficient for the highest settings at 4K, making Medium (77 FPS) the practical ceiling for that resolution.

*Q: How does the combo rank overall in the database for Downfall?*

A: The combo ranks 2157 out of 3716 tested combinations. This places it in the lower 42% of all tested systems, reflecting that while the CPU is a high performer, the GPU holds the overall result back.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal choice. The data shows an average of 123 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS, ensuring consistent smoothness without the need to drop to Low. At 1920x1080, Medium also performs excellently at 172 FPS average, with the minimum of 146 FPS still providing a very comfortable margin above refresh-rate targets.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the only viable option for a playable experience, delivering 77 FPS average. The High preset at 4K (63 FPS) is borderline, while Ultra (39 FPS) falls below acceptable playability thresholds. For users prioritizing framerate over fidelity, Low at 2560x1440 (150 FPS) is a strong alternative, but the visual compromise is significant.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1920x1080, where it achieves 88 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 63 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sections of the horror genre where responsiveness matters. The data clearly shows that Medium offers the best compromise across all resolutions, with the largest gap between average and minimum framerates at the 1080p and 1440p levels.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and RTX 2070 SUPER achieves a rank of 2157 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the 58th percentile from the bottom, meaning roughly 58% of tested systems perform better. The ranking reflects a significant mismatch: the CPU alone sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs.

This disparity is quantified by the benchmark scores. The CPU's average score of 54762 is closely matched by rivals like the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093, only 0.6% higher) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053, 1.3% lower). Meanwhile, the GPU's average score of 20282 is slightly below the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, 1% higher) and the Intel Arc B570 (20556, 1.3% higher). The combo rank thus reflects the GPU's position as the weak link, dragging what would otherwise be a top-tier CPU system into the mid-range.

The measured FPS data aligns with this ranking. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo produces only 39 FPS, which is consistent with a GPU that is being overwhelmed. At 1920x1080 Low, the 210 FPS average shows the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU, but the GPU's ceiling prevents higher resolutions and settings from being fully utilized. The rank of 2157 is a direct consequence of this GPU limitation, and any improvement in the ranking would require a more powerful graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the data shows a steep performance cliff as settings increase. The Low preset delivers 94 FPS average, Medium drops to 77 FPS (with a minimum of 65 FPS and maximum of 88 FPS), High falls to 63 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 55 FPS, representing a 58% reduction in performance, which indicates the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher settings at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales more predictably. Low yields 150 FPS average, Medium provides 123 FPS (minimum 105, maximum 141), High drops to 101 FPS, and Ultra settles at 63 FPS. The transition from Low to Ultra costs 87 FPS, but each preset step is roughly consistent, suggesting the GPU handles 1440p more gracefully than 4K. The Medium preset's minimum of 105 FPS is particularly notable, as it ensures no dips below the 100 FPS mark.

At 1920x1080, the combo shows its strongest performance. Low achieves 210 FPS average, Medium delivers 172 FPS (minimum 146, maximum 198), High reaches 141 FPS, and Ultra manages 88 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra delta is 122 FPS, but all presets remain playable. The Medium preset's minimum of 146 FPS is excellent, and even Ultra's 88 FPS average provides a smooth experience for the horror genre. The data reveals that 1080p is the only resolution where all presets are fully playable without compromise.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and it contains 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its FP32 performance is rated at 9.062 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

The 8 GB VRAM is a critical factor in Downfall's performance at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers only 39 FPS, which is a 50% drop from High's 63 FPS. This drastic reduction suggests the GPU is running out of memory or bandwidth at 4K Ultra, causing severe frame pacing issues. The Medium preset at 4K (77 FPS) is the highest playable option, but even that is 18% slower than Low (94 FPS).

The GPU's benchmark scores confirm its mid-range positioning. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1651, and its Passmark G3D score is 18169. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 90637 and OpenCL score of 83358 indicate solid compute performance. With a percentile rank of 65 among all GPUs, the RTX 2070 SUPER is outclassed by newer cards like the Intel Arc B570 (avg score 20556, 1.3% higher) and the RTX 3070 Mobile (avg score 20534, 1.2% higher). The GPU's 12 nm process node and 215 W TDP also reflect its older Turing architecture, which lacks the efficiency of newer designs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 120 W TDP. The CPU's cache configuration includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and a large 128 MB L3 cache, which is a defining feature of the X3D series for gaming performance.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is largely to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The data confirms this: at 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 210 FPS, which is well beyond the GPU's typical capabilities at higher settings. The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739. The Geekbench multicore score of 22884 and single-core score of 3041 further demonstrate its strength.

However, the CPU's performance is not fully utilized in this pairing. Its average benchmark score of 54762 places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and it outperforms the Intel Core i7-14700F (53620) by 2.1%, the Intel Xeon 6505P (53701) by 2%, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053) by 1.3%. Only the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093) is slightly ahead at 0.6%. The CPU's 128 MB L3 cache and 12 cores provide ample headroom for gaming, but the RTX 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile GPU ranking means the system's overall performance is capped by the graphics card, not the processor.