Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The measured frame rates for this combination reveal a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the RTX 4070's 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth proving sufficient for Downfall's demands even at 4K. The Intel Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads boosting to 4.30 GHz, keeps pace at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom, though the data suggests the processor becomes a limiting factor at 1080p with reduced settings. This pairing ranks 408th out of 1741 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the upper quartile of all measured configs.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K follows a steep curve that indicates where the bottleneck shifts. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 129.9 at 1080p to 91.1 at 1440p, then to 57.4 at 4K — a 55.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This dramatic scaling suggests the RTX 4070's 5888 shading units and 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are being fully exercised at higher resolutions, with the GPU's 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate becoming the binding constraint.

At Low settings, the scaling tells a different story. The 1080p average of 315.1 FPS drops to 221.9 at 1440p (a 29.6% decrease) and then to 140.1 at 4K (a 55.5% decrease from 1080p). The massive headroom at 1080p Low — over 300 FPS — indicates that the i3-12100F's single-thread performance, evidenced by its 893 score in 3dmark_single_thread and 1681 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is sufficient to feed the GPU without becoming a major constraint even at these high frame rates.

Medium settings show a middle ground: 253.3 FPS at 1080p, 184.8 at 1440p, and 115.6 at 4K. The 4K Medium result of 115.6 FPS is notable because it exceeds the 1080p Ultra result of 129.9 FPS by only 12.4 FPS, suggesting that at 4K the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are the primary determinants of performance, with settings having less relative impact than at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the data clearly favors Medium settings as the optimal balance. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 19.6 FPS (from 115.6 to 96.0), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 38.6 FPS (from 96.0 to 57.4). The Ultra setting at 4K produces an average of 57.4 FPS, which falls below the commonly cited 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making it a marginal choice despite the visual fidelity gains.

At 1440p, High settings deliver 152.7 FPS, which drops to 91.1 at Ultra. The 61.6 FPS gap between these presets suggests that High is the sensible ceiling for this resolution, as the Ultra preset's additional 38.6% performance penalty (relative to High) yields diminishing returns. Medium at 1440p offers 184.8 FPS, providing substantial headroom for those who prioritize frame rate consistency over visual quality.

For 1080p users, the situation is more forgiving. Even Ultra maintains 129.9 FPS, comfortably above any refresh-rate concerns for standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz panels. High at 208.7 FPS and Medium at 253.3 FPS both provide ample performance, with Low reaching 315.1 FPS — a figure that would benefit only those with 300 Hz+ displays. The data suggests that 1080p Ultra is the recommended preset for this resolution, as the visual quality upgrade comes without sacrificing playable frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 115.6, and at High it drops to 96.0. Ultra at 4K produces 57.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, so Medium or High is recommended for 4K.

Q: How does the i3-12100F perform in this game at 1080p?

A: The processor's 4 cores and 8 threads, boosting to 4.30 GHz, handle 1080p Low at 315.1 FPS and 1080p Ultra at 129.9 FPS. The single-thread score of 1681 in Cinebench R23 suggests adequate per-core performance for this horror title.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: High settings at 1440p yield 152.7 FPS, which is the recommended choice. Medium provides 184.8 FPS if you prefer extra headroom, while Ultra drops to 91.1 FPS and offers diminishing visual returns.

Q: Is the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Downfall?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient across all tested resolutions and settings, as no memory-related bottlenecks are evident in the measured frame rates.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 408th out of 1741 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the top 23.4% of all configs tested for this game.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 315.1 FPS average suggests the CPU is nearing its limit, as this score exceeds what most games can sustain with a 4-core processor. However, at higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range was measured. Low settings produce 315.1 FPS, Medium 253.3 FPS, High 208.7 FPS, and Ultra 129.9 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 44.6 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 78.8 FPS — the largest single-preset drop in the entire dataset. This suggests Ultra at 1080p introduces effects that disproportionately impact the GPU's 64 ROPs.

At 2560x1440, the measured values are 221.9 FPS for Low, 184.8 FPS for Medium, 152.7 FPS for High, and 91.1 FPS for Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium is 37.1 FPS, between Medium and High is 32.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 61.6 FPS. The High-to-Ultra penalty at 1440p is proportionally similar to 1080p, indicating consistent scaling behavior.

At 3840x2160, the results are 140.1 FPS for Low, 115.6 FPS for Medium, 96.0 FPS for High, and 57.4 FPS for Ultra. The Low-to-Medium drop is 24.5 FPS, Medium-to-High is 19.6 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 38.6 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset's 57.4 FPS represents a 40.0% decrease from High, making it the only preset in the entire dataset that falls below 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the AD104 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture and a 5 nm process from TSMC, brings 35,800 million transistors and a die size of 294 mm². Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory operates across a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth — a figure that proves adequate for Downfall's 4K Ultra demands, where the 57.4 FPS result still indicates functional performance rather than a memory capacity failure.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 184 texture mapping units and 64 ROPs, combined with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, produce a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute of 29.15 TFLOPS is the same as FP16 (1:1), indicating unified shader throughput.

In the benchmark suite, the RTX 4070 scores 26927 in Passmark G3D and 14720 in GPU compute, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854. Its percentile ranking of 81 among all GPUs places it above the median, and its average benchmark score of 37283 is within 0.6% of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507) and 1.9% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38008). This competitive positioning explains why the GPU delivers strong 4K results in Downfall, as its raw compute and memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game's horror-themed rendering.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F, part of the Core 12th Gen series on Alder Lake-S architecture, provides 4 cores and 8 threads with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) contribute to a processor that scores 11912 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1681 in single-core. The 3DMark results show 4051 for 16 threads, 4026 for 8 threads, and 2859 for 4 threads, indicating that the 4-core design saturates quickly beyond 8 threads.

In Passmark, the single-thread score of 3444 and multithread score of 14015 place this CPU at the 72nd percentile among all processors. Its average benchmark score of 13516 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, deltaPct -0.1%) and 0.4% above the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). The closest rival in terms of raw score is the Intel Core i3-10105 at 13430 (0.6% higher) and the Intel Core i7-7700K at 13280 (1.8% lower).

For Downfall, the CPU's role becomes evident when comparing 1080p Low (315.1 FPS) to 4K Low (140.1 FPS). The 175 FPS difference at Low settings across these resolutions indicates that the CPU can sustain frame rates well above 300 FPS, but the GPU's workload at 4K reduces throughput. The processor's 58 W TDP and 163 mm² die size on Intel's 10 nm process node suggest efficient operation, and its PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes (CPU only) provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 4070's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the i3-12100F's 4 cores are the limiting factor, as the 315.1 FPS ceiling likely represents the processor's maximum achievable frame rate in this game rather than the GPU's capability.