Downfall

The Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing in Downfall presents a study in balanced, mid-range execution. The data shows a combination that delivers playable frame rates across most configurations, with clear scaling trends that reveal the GPU as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. This analysis walks through the CPU and GPU contributions, the combo’s standing among tested hardware, and the exact measured performance at every setting.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, and it features a shared 12 MB L3 cache. The processor operates with a 65 W TDP and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip demonstrates solid multi-threaded capability: it scores 10,297 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,324 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Single-thread performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,453 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1,454.

Relative to other CPUs in the database, the i5-10400F sits at the 73rd percentile, with an average benchmark score of 14,168. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (avg score 14,115, 0.4% lower) and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (avg score 14,277, 0.8% higher). The Intel Core i5-8500 is 1.1% ahead, and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 is 1.2% ahead. These margins are tight, indicating the i5-10400F is positioned squarely at a performance plateau shared by several other processors.

For Downfall, a horror title released in 2016, the CPU’s role is to maintain frame pacing and handle game logic without becoming a bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 148.7 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in this dataset. This suggests the CPU is not limiting at lower resolutions, as the frame rate is high enough to indicate headroom. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 24.8 FPS, a figure that points to the GPU being overwhelmed rather than the CPU. The i5-10400F’s 12 threads are sufficient for the game’s demands, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from Low to Medium settings at 1080p, where the drop is from 148.7 to 121.6 FPS — a 18.2% reduction that aligns with increased GPU load rather than CPU saturation.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a Turing-architecture card with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU has 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units, delivering a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s. Compute performance is rated at 5.027 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In the benchmark database, the GTX 1660 SUPER holds the 55th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14,286. Its nearest rivals are notably close: the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (avg score 14,314, 0.2% higher), the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (avg score 14,315, 0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (avg score 14,352, 0.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (avg score 14,389, 0.7% higher). The GTX 1660 SUPER trails all four by less than 1%, placing it at the edge of a competitive cluster.

For Downfall, the GPU’s 6 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the data indicates strain at 4K Ultra. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 24.8, which is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playable performance. At 4K High, the average rises to 45.6 FPS, and at 4K Medium it reaches 55.8 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K is from 67.3 to 55.8 FPS, a 17.1% drop, while the jump from Medium to High is a 18.3% drop (55.8 to 45.6). The most severe drop is from High to Ultra, where performance falls by 45.6% (45.6 to 24.8). This pattern shows the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors at higher settings, with the 6 GB VRAM likely causing texture thrashing at Ultra presets.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1,512th out of 1,741 tested combos in Downfall. This places the pairing in the lower 13th percentile of all combinations, meaning approximately 87% of tested hardware configurations outperform it in this specific game. This ranking is not a reflection of poor individual components — the CPU and GPU are both mid-range parts — but rather indicates that Downfall favors higher-end GPUs more heavily, as the game’s horror atmosphere often involves dense lighting and shadow effects that stress the graphics card.

The rank of 1,512 out of 1,741 suggests the combo is closer to the bottom than the middle of the field. However, the measured FPS data tells a more nuanced story. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 148.7 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds. The ranking is likely pulled down by the fact that many tested combos include significantly more powerful GPUs, such as high-end Turing or Ampere cards, which dominate the top ranks. The i5-10400F’s CPU percentile of 73 and the GTX 1660 SUPER’s GPU percentile of 55 indicate that both components are above average in isolation, but their combined performance in Downfall is limited by the GPU’s mid-range positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The data provides measured average FPS for three resolutions and four settings levels, with no min or max FPS recorded. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 148.7 FPS on Low, 121.6 FPS on Medium, 101.4 FPS on High, and 64.8 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline: Low to Medium is a 18.2% drop, Medium to High is a 16.6% drop, and High to Ultra is a 36.1% drop. The steepest fall occurs between High and Ultra, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the measured FPS are 102.7 on Low, 85.3 on Medium, 72.4 on High, and 43.0 on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 16.9%, from Medium to High is 15.1%, and from High to Ultra is 40.6%. The Ultra setting again causes the largest decline, reinforcing the pattern seen at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the FPS are 67.3 on Low, 55.8 on Medium, 45.6 on High, and 24.8 on Ultra. The declines are 17.1% from Low to Medium, 18.3% from Medium to High, and 45.6% from High to Ultra. Across all resolutions, the High-to-Ultra transition is the most punishing, with the percentage drop increasing as resolution rises.

The data also shows that the combo can maintain over 60 FPS at 1080p on High (101.4 FPS) and at 1440p on Medium (85.3 FPS), but falls below 60 FPS at 1440p Ultra (43.0 FPS) and at 4K High (45.6 FPS). At 4K Ultra, the 24.8 FPS result is the only sub-25 FPS figure in the dataset, making that configuration the only one that is effectively unplayable for smooth action.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU’s dominance as the limiting factor. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 148.7 at 1080p to 102.7 at 1440p (a 30.9% reduction) and then to 67.3 at 4K (a 34.5% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 54.7%. At Medium settings, the FPS falls from 121.6 at 1080p to 85.3 at 1440p (29.9% drop) and then to 55.8 at 4K (34.6% drop), for a total reduction of 54.1%. At High settings, the drop is from 101.4 to 72.4 (28.6%) and then to 45.6 (37.0%), totaling 55.0%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 64.8 to 43.0 (33.6%) and then to 24.8 (42.3%), totaling 61.7%.

These percentages show that the frame rate penalty from increasing resolution is consistent across settings, hovering around 30-35% for each step up in resolution, with the Ultra preset experiencing a slightly larger penalty. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario: as resolution increases, the number of pixels to shade grows, and the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth become the bottleneck. The CPU’s performance, by contrast, remains stable, as the i5-10400F’s 12 threads are not taxed by higher resolutions — the game logic and draw calls are the same regardless of pixel count.

The fact that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly proportional across all settings (around 54-62%) confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller percentage drop at higher resolutions, as the GPU would have more headroom to work with. Instead, the data shows a linear scaling pattern, with the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shader throughput being the primary constraints. For users targeting 4K, the data indicates that only Low settings (67.3 FPS) or Medium settings (55.8 FPS) are viable, and Ultra is not a realistic option.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this CPU-GPU pairing in Downfall?*

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 on High settings yields 101.4 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide 85.3 FPS, which is also playable. For 4K, only Low settings (67.3 FPS) reach a playable frame rate.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14,286, while the RX 5500 XT scores 14,389, which is 0.7% higher. This places the two cards nearly on par, with the RX 5500 XT holding a marginal edge in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 148.7 FPS, which is high enough to indicate the CPU has headroom. The i5-10400F’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10,297 and its 73rd percentile ranking among CPUs support that it is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: What is the largest FPS drop observed in the dataset?

A: The largest drop occurs from High to Ultra at 4K, where the average FPS falls from 45.6 to 24.8, a reduction of 45.6%. This is the steepest single-setting transition across all resolutions.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Downfall?*

A: The combo ranks 1,512th out of 1,741 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 13% of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning rather than a CPU limitation.

*Q: Can the combo handle 4K gaming in Downfall?*

A: The data shows it can handle 4K at Low settings (67.3 FPS) and Medium settings (55.8 FPS), but High settings (45.6 FPS) are borderline, and Ultra (24.8 FPS) is not playable. For a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, only Low settings are recommended.