Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the rate of that scaling reveals where the bottleneck sits in this Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 284 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 223 FPS, a reduction of roughly 21%, and 4K Low further reduces it to 139 FPS, another 38% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at higher resolutions is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario at the top end of the resolution spectrum.

However, the more informative comparison comes from the High settings row. At 1080p High, the average is 210 FPS. At 1440p High, it falls to 150 FPS, a 29% decrease. At 4K High, the average is 93 FPS, a 38% drop from 1440p. The fact that the percentage loss from 1440p to 4K is nearly identical across Low and High settings (38% vs 38%) suggests the RTX 4070 is the primary scaling driver at those resolutions, with the CPU providing enough headroom to keep up.

The Ultra settings row tells a different story. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is massive: 93 FPS at High versus 58 FPS at Ultra, a 37% performance hit just from that settings jump. This indicates that Ultra preset applies a particularly heavy load on the GPU's shading and memory subsystems, likely through advanced effects that the AD104 chip must process at 3840x2160. The 4K Ultra result of 58 FPS is the only measured row that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making it the first point where this combo starts to feel constrained.

Looking at the 1080p to 1440p transition at Medium settings, the drop is from 256 FPS to 182 FPS, a 29% reduction. Interestingly, the 1440p to 4K Medium transition goes from 182 FPS to 114 FPS, a 37% reduction. This consistent ~30-38% scaling factor across all settings as resolution increases points to the GPU being the dominant factor in resolution scaling, which is expected given the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput of the RTX 4070. The data does not show any resolution where the i5-10400F's 6 cores and 12 threads become the limiting factor, as even the lowest FPS figure (58 at 4K Ultra) is well above what would indicate a CPU stall.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. In Downfall, a horror title from 2016, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The benchmark results for this processor show a single-thread score of 688 in 3dmark_single_thread and a max-threads score of 4735, suggesting modest single-core strength relative to its multi-threaded capability.

The game's frame rates at 1080p Low (284 FPS) and 1080p Medium (256 FPS) are high enough that the CPU must be keeping up with the RTX 4070's output. If the i5-10400F were bottlenecking, we would expect to see a plateau where lowering resolution or settings yields diminishing returns. Instead, the data shows a consistent increase from Low to Medium to High at 1080p (284, 256, 210 FPS respectively), indicating the CPU has headroom remaining even at the lowest settings.

The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and single-core score of 1451 for this CPU place it in a range where it can handle the physics and AI workloads of a 2016 horror title without issue. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) provide sufficient data throughput for the game's assets. The fact that the combo ranks 1014 out of 3716 tested combos in this game suggests that while this CPU is not at the very top tier for Downfall, it is still delivering acceptable performance for the majority of the installed base.

At 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 58, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor — that burden falls entirely on the RTX 4070's ability to process the Ultra preset's visual effects at that pixel count. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 4748 and the 3dmark_8_threads score of 3929 indicate that the CPU's multi-threaded performance scales reasonably well, but Downfall likely does not utilize more than 8 threads efficiently given its 2016 release date, so the 6-core/12-thread configuration provides adequate parallel processing without being overkill.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings selection based on target frame rates. For users with a 1080p display, all four presets deliver playable results, with Low at 284 FPS, Medium at 256 FPS, High at 210 FPS, and Ultra at 131 FPS. Even the Ultra preset at 1080p stays well above 120 FPS, making it a viable choice for high-refresh-rate monitors without compromising visual quality.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts toward High as the sweet spot. The High preset delivers 150 FPS average, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios. Medium at 182 FPS offers a 21% improvement over High, but the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra frames for a horror game where atmospheric detail matters. Ultra at 1440p drops to 94 FPS, which is still playable but begins to show the GPU struggling with the heavier preset.

For 4K displays, the choices become more constrained. The High preset at 93 FPS is the recommended option for a balanced experience, as it maintains a frame rate above 90 FPS while retaining most of the visual fidelity. Medium at 114 FPS is the best option for those prioritizing smoothness over detail, providing a 23% improvement over High. Low at 139 FPS is the highest-performing preset at 4K but sacrifices significant visual quality. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 58 FPS average, is the only setting where the experience becomes marginal — it dips below 60 FPS, which can introduce perceptible stutter in a game that relies on tension and timing.

The Medium preset at 4K also provides the only min/max FPS data in the entire measurement set, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS. This range indicates that even the lowest frame dips in the Medium preset remain well above playability thresholds, reinforcing that Medium is a safe choice at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination holds a combo rank of 1014 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top 27.3% of all tested pairings, which is a solid result given that the RTX 4070 is a high-end GPU but the i5-10400F is a mid-range processor from the 10th generation.

Breaking down the individual components, the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (delta of 0.1%), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta of 0.4%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (delta of -1.3%). The GPU's performance in Downfall is consistent with its overall standing — it delivers strong frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset exposes its limitations.

The i5-10400F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E (delta of 0.2%), the Intel Core 7 160UL (delta of -0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 7552 (delta of 0.5%). The CPU's percentile ranking is notably lower than the GPU's, indicating that this combo is somewhat imbalanced in favor of the graphics card.

The fact that this combo ranks 1014th overall suggests that many other pairings — likely those with newer CPUs like 12th or 13th generation Intel parts, or Ryzen 5000/7000 series processors — achieve higher frame rates in Downfall. However, the measured FPS data shows that this specific combo still delivers playable performance across all tested settings and resolutions, with the only sub-60 FPS result occurring at 4K Ultra. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking does not appear to significantly drag down the gaming results, as the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are high enough to suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Downfall?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 284, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes, at 4K with Low settings it delivers 139 FPS, Medium delivers 114 FPS, and High delivers 93 FPS. Only the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS, with an average of 58 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-10400F's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The CPU scores 688 in 3dmark_single_thread and 4735 in 3dmark_max_threads, indicating that multi-threaded workloads see roughly 6.9x the performance of single-threaded tasks, consistent with its 6-core/12-thread configuration.

Q: What is the rank of this specific combo among all tested combos in Downfall?

A: This combo ranks 1014 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 27.3% of all pairings tested in this game.

Q: Which preset delivers the highest FPS at 1440p?

A: Low settings deliver the highest average FPS at 1440p with 223 FPS, followed by Medium at 182 FPS, High at 150 FPS, and Ultra at 94 FPS.

Q: What is the RTX 4070's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combo in Downfall is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 284 FPS average
• Medium: 256 FPS average, with a minimum of 217 FPS and a maximum of 294 FPS
• High: 210 FPS average
• Ultra: 131 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 223 FPS average
• Medium: 182 FPS average, with a minimum of 155 FPS and a maximum of 210 FPS
• High: 150 FPS average
• Ultra: 94 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 139 FPS average
• Medium: 114 FPS average, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS
• High: 93 FPS average
• Ultra: 58 FPS average

The min/max FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution, providing a reliable indication of frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 217 FPS and maximum of 294 FPS show a tight distribution. At 1440p Medium, the range is 155 to 210 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 97 to 131 FPS. The narrowing of the range as resolution increases is expected, as the GPU becomes more consistently saturated with work at higher pixel counts.

The largest single settings gap occurs at 4K between High (93 FPS) and Ultra (58 FPS), a difference of 35 FPS. The smallest gap is at 1080p between Low (284 FPS) and Medium (256 FPS), a difference of 28 FPS. This pattern indicates that the Ultra preset's additional effects scale more aggressively with resolution, making it the least efficient choice for 4K gaming on this hardware.