Downfall

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a starkly GPU-bound experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that clearly favors raw graphics throughput over CPU muscle. Across all tested resolutions, the data shows the RTX 5080 delivering frame rates well beyond the demands of a typical 60 Hz display, with the most extreme gap emerging between 1080p and 4K performance. The measured results indicate that while the 6-core Comet Lake processor is not a bottleneck at higher settings, the scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K reveals exactly where the system’s limits reside.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a predictable and dramatic drop in average frame rates, but the shape of that drop changes depending on the graphics preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 284 at 1080p to 184 at 4K, a reduction of roughly 35%. At High settings, the averages go from 246 at 1080p down to 123 at 4K, which is exactly a 50% loss. The Medium preset shows a similar proportional decline, moving from 264 at 1080p to 151 at 4K, a drop of about 43%. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, with 174 at 1080p collapsing to 77 at 4K, a 56% reduction.

These scaling figures point to a system that remains GPU-limited across the entire resolution ladder. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the 1080p numbers would cluster closer together regardless of settings, since the processor would cap the frame rate before the GPU could stretch its legs. Instead, the data shows a clear separation between presets at every resolution, with Low always far ahead of High and Ultra. At 1080p Low, the average of 284 FPS is nearly double the 4K Ultra result of 77 FPS, confirming that the RTX 5080 is doing most of the heavy lifting. The Core i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, has more than enough headroom here, as evidenced by the fact that even the heaviest 4K preset still clears the 60 FPS mark comfortably.

The 1440p results sit squarely between the two extremes, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. At Medium settings, 2560x1440 delivers 236 FPS average, while 4K Medium drops to 151 FPS, a 36% reduction that closely mirrors the Low preset’s scaling. The narrowest gap between resolutions appears at Low settings, where 1080p and 1440p averages are 284 and 254 respectively, a difference of just 30 FPS. This compression suggests that at lower fidelity levels, the GPU is approaching its raw throughput ceiling, and the additional pixel count from 1440p to 4K becomes the dominant factor.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing smoothness above all else, the Low preset offers the highest headroom, with averages ranging from 284 at 1080p to 184 at 4K. These numbers are far above any refresh rate currently on the market, meaning even a 240 Hz display would be saturated at 1080p. However, the data also shows that sacrificing visual fidelity is largely unnecessary with this hardware combination. The Medium preset at 4K still produces an average of 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 and maximum of 173, which represents the best balance of image quality and performance in the measured results.

The High preset at 1440p is another strong candidate, delivering 198 FPS average, while the same preset at 4K yields 123 FPS. For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, High is the sensible choice, as it clears 144 Hz with room to spare. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 77 FPS average, which is still playable but leaves little margin for dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes. The measured data does not include minimum FPS figures for Ultra, so the worst-case behavior remains unknown, but the average itself suggests that Ultra at 4K is only viable on 60 Hz displays.

The Medium preset is the standout recommendation across the board. At 1080p it averages 264 FPS, at 1440p it hits 236 FPS, and at 4K it maintains 151 FPS, all with a minimum of at least 128 FPS at 4K. No other preset combination in the dataset offers such consistent margins above typical refresh-rate targets. The Low preset’s advantages are marginal beyond 1080p, and the Ultra preset’s visual gains come at a steep cost, with 4K Ultra delivering less than a third of the frame rate of 4K Low. The data clearly favors Medium as the sweet spot for this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Core i5-10400F and RTX 5080 ranks 453rd out of 3,716 tested combos in Downfall. That places it in the top 12% of all configurations, a strong showing for a CPU that was released in 2020 paired with a GPU from 2025. The ranking reflects the game’s GPU-centric nature; the RTX 5080’s 87th percentile standing among all GPUs dominates the overall result, while the processor’s 68th percentile among CPUs is less influential.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this hierarchy. The RTX 5080 posts an average benchmark score of 56,083, with standout results in Geekbench Vulkan at 255,450 and OpenCL at 235,901. In contrast, the CPU’s average benchmark score is 14,185, and its best multithreaded result is 10,283 in Cinebench R23. The delta between the two components’ synthetic scores mirrors the in-game behavior: the GPU is doing roughly four times the work of the CPU in terms of raw benchmark output. This explains why the combo ranks as well as it does despite the processor being a mid-range part from several generations ago.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database include the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core 7 160UL (0.3% behind), the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% behind). None of these deltas exceed 1%, confirming that the i5-10400F sits in a tightly packed performance band. The GPU’s nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon 8060S (0.6% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.7% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (2.3% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (2.2% behind) — show a wider spread, but the RTX 5080 still outpaces all but one of them.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 284 FPS, Medium averages 264 FPS with a minimum of 225 and maximum of 304, High averages 246 FPS, and Ultra averages 174 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 110 FPS, indicating that even at the lowest resolution, graphics settings have a substantial impact on output.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 254 FPS, Medium averages 236 FPS with a minimum of 201 and maximum of 272, High averages 198 FPS, and Ultra averages 124 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is modest at Low settings (30 FPS) but more pronounced at Ultra (50 FPS), again pointing to the GPU as the primary constraint.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 184 FPS, Medium averages 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 and maximum of 173, High averages 123 FPS, and Ultra averages 77 FPS. The 4K results show the largest relative differences between presets, with Ultra delivering less than half the frame rate of Low. The minimum FPS figures are only provided for the Medium preset across all resolutions, with the 4K minimum of 128 FPS being the most informative for assessing worst-case performance.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck for the RTX 5080 in Downfall?*

A: No. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound workload. At 1080p Low, the average of 284 FPS far exceeds what the CPU would allow if it were the limiting factor, and the 4K Ultra average of 77 FPS still clears 60 FPS, indicating the GPU is doing the heavy lifting.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset, which averages 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 FPS at 3840x2160. High drops to 123 FPS, and Ultra falls to 77 FPS. Medium provides the best combination of visual quality and performance headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5080’s average benchmark score of 56,083 places it 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, while sitting 2.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE and 2.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X.

Q: What are the CPU’s core and thread specifications?

A: The Core i5-10400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It features 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 256 KB of L2 cache per core, with a 65 W TDP.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average drops from 246 FPS at 1920x1080 to 198 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 123 FPS at 3840x2160. The 1080p to 4K difference is 123 FPS, exactly a 50% reduction.

Q: Does the combo rank well among all tested configurations?

A: Yes. It ranks 453rd out of 3,716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 12% of all configurations in the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on Intel’s 14 nm Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It supports DDR4 memory over a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, and it provides PCIe Gen 3 with 16 CPU lanes. The processor’s cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3. Its TDP is 65 W, and it uses the Intel Socket 1200.

Synthetic benchmarks show a processor that is competent but not exceptional. In Cinebench R23, it scores 10,283 multicore and 1,451 single-core. Geekbench results are 6,257 multicore and 1,420 single-core. PassMark’s multithread score is 12,115, and its single-thread score is 2,541. The 3DMark tests show a clear scaling pattern: 1,350 at 2 threads, 2,560 at 4 threads, 3,929 at 8 threads, and 4,748 at 16 threads. The near-parity between the 16-thread score of 4,748 and the max-thread score of 4,735 indicates that the 12-thread configuration is fully utilized without significant overhead.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU’s role is secondary. The game’s measured frame rates at 1080p Low (284 FPS) and 4K Low (184 FPS) are far above what a 6-core Comet Lake part would typically enable in a CPU-heavy title, confirming that Downfall does not stress the processor. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 68 among all CPUs is respectable, and its nearest rivals — the Intel Xeon 6756E, Intel Core 7 160UL, AMD EPYC 7552, and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C — all fall within 0.6% of its average score of 14,185. This places the i5-10400F in a dense performance cluster where no single rival holds a meaningful advantage.

The practical takeaway for this pairing is that the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 5080 in Downfall without becoming the limiting factor. The 4.30 GHz boost clock provides adequate single-thread performance for the game’s logic, while the 12 MB L3 cache handles the working set without issue. The data shows no scenario in the measured results where the CPU’s capabilities cap the frame rate below the GPU’s output. For a title released in 2016, the 2020-era processor is more than adequate, and the 2025-era GPU is the clear performance driver.