Downfall

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers a performance profile in Downfall that is heavily dictated by graphics settings rather than resolution. The benchmark data shows a clear trend: moving from 1080p to 1440p causes a modest FPS decline, but the transition from 1440p to 4K introduces a steeper drop, particularly at the highest settings. This indicates that while the CPU is sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the GTX 1080 Ti becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count and graphical fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a predictable pattern of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 142.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 103.3 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 27.5%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average falls to 66 FPS, which is a 36.1% decrease from the 1440p result. This progressive decline is characteristic of a system where the GPU's rendering workload scales almost linearly with pixel count, while the CPU maintains a consistent frame delivery rate.

The data at Low settings shows a similar pattern but with larger absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 218 FPS, dropping to 157 FPS at 1440p and then to 95.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is 39.4%, which is steeper than the High settings drop. This suggests that at Low settings, the system is closer to a CPU-limited state at lower resolutions, but once the resolution increases, the GPU load becomes dominant.

Ultra settings present the most extreme scaling behavior. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 88.2, which falls to 65.7 at 1440p and then plummets to 38.7 at 4K. The 4K result is less than half of the 1080p figure, indicating that the GTX 1080 Ti is overwhelmed by the combination of high pixel count and maximum graphical effects. The frame rate at 4K Ultra is also below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that users targeting smooth gameplay at this resolution must reduce settings.

The scaling pattern across all settings demonstrates that the i5-10400F is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The consistent FPS drops as resolution increases are a hallmark of GPU saturation. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, provide ample headroom for the game's horror genre demands, which typically rely more on single-threaded performance and memory bandwidth. The data at 1080p Low, where the system exceeds 200 FPS, confirms that the CPU can handle high frame rates without becoming a limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 38.7. This is the lowest recorded frame rate for this combo, indicating that the GTX 1080 Ti cannot maintain smooth gameplay at maximum fidelity and 4K resolution.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1080p High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 142.5. This result is well above the 60 FPS threshold and demonstrates that the combo is highly capable at this resolution and settings level.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 123.8. The data suggests a GPU-bound scenario, as the frame rate is high but not as high as at 1080p, indicating the GPU is handling the increased pixel load without CPU interference.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS at Low settings is 218, while at Ultra settings it is 88.2. This represents a significant performance gap of 129.8 FPS, showing that graphical settings have a substantial impact on performance.

Q: Does the combo achieve playable frame rates at 4K High settings?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 66. This is above the 60 FPS threshold, though it leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The 4K Ultra result of 38.7 FPS, however, is not playable for smooth gameplay.

*Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Downfall?*

A: The combo ranks 1005 out of 1741 tested combos in the game. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all configurations, indicating that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is far from the bottom of the rankings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a Pascal architecture GPU with 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1481 MHz, with a boost clock of 1582 MHz. These specifications are directly reflected in the measured FPS data. The 11 GB memory capacity is more than sufficient for Downfall at any resolution tested, as the game does not appear to exceed this allocation even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's 3584 shading units and 88 ROPs contribute to its pixel processing capabilities, with a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s. This hardware configuration explains why the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s also plays a role, as the game's horror environments likely feature detailed textures that require substantial fill rates. The FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS provides the raw compute power needed for the game's shader effects, but the scaling data shows that even this level of performance is insufficient for 4K Ultra.

The GPU's role is most evident when comparing the FPS at 4K across settings. The jump from 38.7 FPS at Ultra to 66 FPS at High shows that reducing settings by one tier nearly doubles the frame rate. This indicates that certain Ultra-specific effects are disproportionately expensive on the GTX 1080 Ti. The GPU's 250 W TDP and dual-slot design are appropriate for its performance class, and the memory clock of 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) provides the bandwidth necessary for high-resolution textures.

The GTX 1080 Ti's percentile ranking of 61 versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19402, places it in the mid-range of modern graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA TITAN Xp, is only 1.1% faster in average score, showing that this GPU is still competitive. However, the 4K Ultra result of 38.7 FPS demonstrates that the GPU's age is showing in the most demanding scenarios, as newer architectures with higher memory bandwidth would likely perform better.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides a complete matrix of average FPS across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 218 FPS at Low settings, which is the highest recorded frame rate. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 178 FPS, a 18.3% decrease. High settings yield 142.5 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 88.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a total reduction of 59.5%, which is substantial and highlights the performance cost of maximum graphical fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Low settings result is 157 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. Medium settings produce 123.8 FPS, High settings yield 103.3 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 65.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 58.2%, which is similar to the 1080p scaling. This consistency suggests that the relative cost of each settings tier remains stable across resolutions, with the absolute frame rates decreasing as pixel count increases.

The 4K results show the most significant impact of settings changes. At 3840x2160, Low settings achieve 95.1 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings drop to 80.4 FPS, and High settings yield 66 FPS. Ultra settings produce 38.7 FPS, which is the only result below the 60 FPS threshold in the entire dataset. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 59.3%, indicating that the settings cost is consistent even at high resolutions.

Comparing the same settings across resolutions provides insights into GPU scaling. At High settings, the FPS drops from 142.5 at 1080p to 103.3 at 1440p (27.5% decrease) and then to 66 at 4K (36.1% decrease from 1440p). At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.0%, and from 1440p to 4K is 39.4%. These numbers indicate that the GPU's performance scales roughly with pixel count, but the scaling efficiency decreases at higher resolutions due to memory bandwidth limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ranks 1005 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This position places it in the 57.7th percentile of all configurations, meaning it outperforms more than half of the tested systems but is not in the top tier. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, where the i5-10400F's performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GTX 1080 Ti in most scenarios.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its role in this ranking. The i5-10400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453. In 3DMark, the max threads score is 4735, while the single-thread score is 688. These numbers indicate that the CPU has solid multi-threaded performance for a 6-core, 12-thread part, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168, is competitive with rivals such as the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% faster) and the Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% faster).

The GPU's average benchmark score of 19402 places it in the 61st percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780, has a nearly identical score with a 0% delta, while the AMD Radeon Pro 560X is 0.1% slower. The NVIDIA TITAN Xp is 1.1% faster, showing that the GTX 1080 Ti is closely matched with its immediate competitors. This performance level, combined with the CPU's capabilities, results in the 1005th rank overall.

The rank of 1005 out of 1741 suggests that while this combo is not a top performer, it delivers adequate performance for most gaming scenarios. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the combo achieves playable frame rates at all tested resolutions except 4K Ultra. The 4K Ultra result of 38.7 FPS is the primary weakness, but the strong performance at 1440p and 1080p demonstrates that this combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions. The ranking reflects a balanced system that will satisfy most users, though enthusiasts seeking maximum performance at 4K would require a more powerful GPU.