Downfall

# Downfall with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks first out of 2,928 tested hardware combinations in Downfall, delivering a measured performance envelope that ranges from 90 FPS at 4K Ultra to 482 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination is effectively the top-tier reference point for the game, with the CPU's 91st percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 92nd percentile among all graphics cards reinforcing a balanced, high-end pairing. The data shows that this system is not merely capable but dominant, with every tested resolution and settings row producing frame rates well above playable thresholds, and the scaling behavior across presets reveals where the bottleneck shifts between the GPU and CPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves in Downfall?

A: The maximum recorded average FPS is 482, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the ceiling for the measured configurations, with Medium at 1080p reaching 395 FPS and High at 1080p hitting 324 FPS.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 90, which is the lowest measured result across all rows. Despite being the minimum, it remains a fully playable frame rate for a horror title, indicating the GPU is still delivering strong performance under maximum load.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The only rows with min and max FPS data are the Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, the range spans from 335 to 454 FPS (average 395), at 1440p Medium from 240 to 324 FPS (average 282), and at 4K Medium from 149 to 202 FPS (average 175). These ranges suggest stable frame pacing with no severe dips below the average.

Q: How does this system rank compared to other hardware combinations?

A: It holds the number one position out of 2,928 combinations tested for Downfall. The CPU's average benchmark score of 54,762 places it in the 91st percentile, while the GPU's average score of 77,712 places it in the 92nd percentile, confirming a top-tier pairing.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D scores 47,737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 20,049 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Its average benchmark score of 54,762 is 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093), 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053), and 2.1% above the Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620).

Q: What is the GPU's compute performance in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D achieves 440,65 in Passmark G3D and 28,396 in Passmark GPU Compute. Its average benchmark score of 77,712 is 1.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) and 1.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940).

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and the user's preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity. For 4K displays, High settings at 144 FPS average represent the best balance, delivering a smooth experience without the 33% frame rate penalty seen when moving to Ultra (90 FPS). The jump from High to Ultra at 4K costs 54 FPS (from 144 to 90), a 37.5% reduction, which is substantial for a single preset tier. Conversely, dropping to Medium at 4K yields 175 FPS, a 21.5% improvement over High, but this comes with visual quality trade-offs that may undermine the horror atmosphere.

At 1440p, High settings at 231 FPS offer a strong compromise, with Medium at 282 FPS and Low at 345 FPS providing higher headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p still hits 144 FPS, making it viable for users prioritizing visual detail over maximum frame rates. For 1080p, the data suggests that High settings at 324 FPS are the sweet spot, as the gains from dropping to Medium (395 FPS) or Low (482 FPS) are unlikely to be perceptible on most displays, and the visual degradation may detract from the game's horror presentation.

The measured data indicates that Medium settings provide the most consistent frame pacing, as they are the only preset with recorded min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS of 335 ensures no drops below 335 FPS, while at 1440p Medium the min of 240 FPS and at 4K Medium the min of 149 FPS guarantee smooth playback. Given that the average FPS at Medium is consistently higher than High and Ultra, and the frame time data shows no severe dips, Medium appears to be the recommended preset for users who want a safety margin against stutter, especially at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound pattern at higher settings, while lower settings expose the CPU's limitations. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 482 at 1080p to 345 at 1440p (a 28.4% reduction) and then to 214 at 4K (a 38% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases, though the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high. The 1080p Low result of 482 FPS suggests the CPU is nearing its ceiling for this game, as the frame rate is so high that the CPU's single-threaded performance (1,269 in 3DMark single-thread) becomes a potential constraint.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more gradual: 395 FPS at 1080p, 282 FPS at 1440p (a 28.6% drop), and 175 FPS at 4K (a 37.9% drop from 1440p). This consistent ~30-38% reduction per resolution step indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck, with the RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 32 GB of GDDR7 memory providing ample headroom. The High settings row shows a similar pattern: 324 FPS at 1080p, 231 FPS at 1440p (a 28.7% drop), and 144 FPS at 4K (a 37.7% drop from 1440p).

The Ultra settings exhibit the most pronounced scaling penalty: 202 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p (a 28.7% drop), and 90 FPS at 4K (a 37.5% drop from 1440p). The consistent ~28% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and ~38% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all settings strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at every preset, with the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck at any resolution. The 4K to 1080p ratio of approximately 2.25x for Low (214 vs 482 FPS) and 2.24x for Ultra (90 vs 202 FPS) indicates that pixel count scaling dominates, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 482 FPS, Medium reaches 395 FPS with a min-max range of 335 to 454, High achieves 324 FPS, and Ultra drops to 202 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% reduction in average FPS (from 482 to 202), demonstrating that each settings tier has a significant impact on performance. The Medium preset's min FPS of 335 ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains above 335 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high but show the expected reduction from 1080p. Low settings average 345 FPS, Medium averages 282 FPS with a range of 240 to 324, High averages 231 FPS, and Ultra averages 144 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 240 FPS is notable, as it indicates the system can maintain frame rates above 240 FPS even in the worst-case scenarios measured. The Ultra preset at 144 FPS exactly matches the 4K High result, highlighting how resolution and settings interact: 1440p Ultra is equivalent to 4K High in terms of average frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers highly playable performance across all settings. Low averages 214 FPS, Medium averages 175 FPS with a range of 149 to 202, High averages 144 FPS, and Ultra averages 90 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 149 FPS is the lowest recorded minimum across all settings, but it still exceeds 144 FPS, meaning the system maintains a high frame rate even under the most demanding 4K conditions. The Ultra preset's 90 FPS average is the only result below 100 FPS, but for a horror game with atmospheric pacing, this remains a smooth experience. The data shows that the system is capable of 4K gaming at high frame rates, with the 4K High result of 144 FPS being particularly impressive for a 2016 horror title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D serves as the primary performance driver in Downfall, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is far beyond what a horror game from 2016 requires, but the benchmark results show that the GPU's compute capabilities are what determine frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with its 21,760 shading units and 680 texture mapping units, deliver the raw throughput needed for the high frame rates observed. The 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are reflected in the smooth scaling across resolutions, with the GPU never appearing to be a limiting factor until 4K Ultra, where it still manages 90 FPS.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its in-game performance. A Passmark G3D score of 44,065 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915 indicate strong DirectX 12 and Vulkan performance, which aligns with the game's API requirements. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it just above the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% higher average score) but below the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower average score) and NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (2.1-2.4% lower average score). These rival comparisons suggest that while the RTX 5090 D is a top-tier card, its synthetic benchmark scores are closely matched by some mobile and data center GPUs, though the in-game results show no such competition at this performance level.

The 575 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate the GPU is a high-power part, but the benchmark data shows this power is effectively translated into frame rates. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth is particularly relevant for Downfall, as horror games often feature high-resolution textures and complex lighting effects that benefit from fast memory access. The GPU's 176 ROPs and 170 RT cores, while not directly benchmarked in this game, contribute to the overall rendering pipeline that produces the measured FPS values. At 1080p Low, the 482 FPS result is likely near the CPU's limit, but at all other settings and resolutions, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the consistent ~28% and ~38% FPS reductions when moving between resolution tiers.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D provides the computational foundation for this system, with 12 cores and 24 threads running at a base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's 128 MB of L3 cache, enabled by the 3D V-Cache technology, is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads, though Downfall's performance data suggests the game is not heavily CPU-bound at most settings. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47,737 and single-core score of 6,739 indicate strong both multi-threaded and single-threaded performance, with the single-core result being crucial for games that rely on a few primary threads. The 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern: 1,269 single-thread, 2,512 for 2 threads, 4,885 for 4 threads, 9,002 for 8 threads, 12,490 for 16 threads, and 13,795 for max threads, demonstrating excellent multi-threading efficiency up to 16 threads before diminishing returns.

The CPU's role in Downfall becomes apparent when examining the 1080p Low result of 482 FPS. At this resolution and settings, the GPU is underutilized, and the CPU's ability to feed frames becomes the limiting factor. The single-thread score of 1,269 in 3DMark and 6,739 in Cinebench R23 suggest the CPU can handle high IPC workloads, but the 482 FPS ceiling indicates a practical limit for this game engine. At higher settings and resolutions, the CPU's 24 threads provide ample headroom, with the GPU becoming the bottleneck as expected. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 54,762 place it 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093) and 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053), showing it is competitive with, but not superior to, its closest rivals.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game's needs, though the GPU's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth dwarfs this figure, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary data consumer. The 4 nm process node and Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) contribute to the CPU's efficiency, with a 120 W TDP that is modest compared to the GPU's 575 W. The CPU's 16,630 million transistors across a 2x 70.6 mm² die size show a dense design that delivers high performance per watt, which is beneficial for maintaining high frame rates without thermal throttling. In Downfall, the CPU's role is to keep up with the GPU's frame generation, and the data shows it does so effectively at all but the most extreme 1080p Low setting, where it caps out at 482 FPS.