Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall shows a clear progression as resolution increases, with the gap between settings presets narrowing at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 192.9 FPS, which drops to 138.6 FPS at 1440p (a 28% reduction) and further to 85.8 FPS at 4K (a 56% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that at lower resolutions, the system has ample headroom, but the demands of 4K begin to strain the GPU significantly.

The Ultra preset tells a more dramatic story. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 82, falling to 54.6 at 1440p (a 33% drop) and then to 39 at 4K (a 52% drop from 1080p). The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider playable, suggesting that this preset is not viable at the highest resolution with this hardware combination.

Interestingly, the scaling from 1440p to 4K is shallower than from 1080p to 1440p for most settings. For High settings, 1440p delivers 93.6 FPS while 4K delivers 59.7 FPS—a 36% reduction. The Medium preset shows similar behavior: 109.7 FPS at 1440p versus 71 FPS at 4K, a 35% reduction. This pattern suggests that the GPU begins to hit a performance wall at 4K, where the pixel count becomes the dominant factor regardless of the quality preset chosen.

The Low preset at 4K still manages 85.8 FPS, which is respectable, but the jump from 1080p Low (192.9 FPS) to 4K Low represents the largest absolute drop in the entire dataset—over 100 FPS. This indicates that even at minimal graphical settings, the resolution load is substantial. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the frame rate differences between presets shrink considerably compared to 1080p, where CPU overhead plays a larger role.

FAQ

Q: Can this hardware run Downfall at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, marginally. The measured 4K High average is 59.7 FPS, which sits just below the 60 FPS target. Players seeking a consistent 60 FPS experience may need to drop to Medium settings, which delivers 71 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, all presets except Ultra exceed 128 FPS. Low delivers 192.9 FPS, Medium delivers 158.3 FPS, and High delivers 128.5 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (138.6 FPS) comes close to sustaining 144Hz; Medium and High fall to 109.7 and 93.6 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The drop from Ultra to High at 1080p is substantial: 82 FPS versus 128.5 FPS, a 57% improvement when stepping down one preset level. This suggests Ultra applies heavy graphical effects that significantly tax the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: The 192.9 FPS result at 1080p Low, combined with the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration and 4.40 GHz boost clock, indicates the system is not CPU-limited at this setting. The Intel Core i5-11400F's 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029 show sufficient headroom for high frame rates.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured 1440p Medium average is 109.7 FPS. This is a solid result for a horror game, providing smooth motion while maintaining reasonable visual quality.

Q: Does the game scale well with reduced settings at 4K?

A: Yes. Moving from Ultra to Low at 4K increases the average from 39 FPS to 85.8 FPS—more than double the frame rate. The scaling is consistent, with Medium at 71 FPS and High at 59.7 FPS filling the gaps.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to this pairing, built on the Rocket Lake architecture with a 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz boosts up to 4.40 GHz, and the chip carries 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In the context of Downfall, a horror game from 2016, the CPU has more than enough computational muscle for the workload. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5619 and max-thread score of 5652 show consistent multi-threaded performance, while the single-thread score of 868 indicates strong per-core capability.

The CPU's percentile rank of 75 among all processors places it comfortably in the upper quartile, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (deltaPct 0) and Intel Core i7-1260P (deltaPct -0.2). This means the i5-11400F performs essentially on par with those mobile-oriented chips despite being a desktop part. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and single-core score of 2029 further confirm that this CPU will not be the limiting factor in most gaming scenarios.

At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 192.9 FPS, which is a frame rate that approaches the practical limits of many displays. The fact that the frame rate drops to 158.3 FPS at Medium and 128.5 FPS at High suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom. The PassMark multithread score of 16908 and single-thread score of 2981 reinforce this assessment. In a game like Downfall, which is unlikely to heavily utilize all 12 threads, the strong single-thread performance becomes the more relevant metric.

The 65W TDP and end-of-life production status indicate this is a mature, stable platform. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s with dual-channel DDR4 support is sufficient for the game's demands. With the 3DMark 2-thread score of 1691 and 4-thread score of 3171, the CPU shows it can handle the lighter-threaded workloads that older games often present.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces playable results. Low settings yield 192.9 FPS average, Medium produces 158.3 FPS, High delivers 128.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 82 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 110.9 FPS, demonstrating that Downfall's graphics options have a massive impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 138.6 FPS (Low), 109.7 FPS (Medium), 93.6 FPS (High), and 54.6 FPS (Ultra). The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 84 FPS, but the Ultra preset now falls below the 60 FPS threshold. At this resolution, Medium and High both provide smooth experiences with headroom above 90 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are 85.8 FPS (Low), 71 FPS (Medium), 59.7 FPS (High), and 39 FPS (Ultra). The Low-to-Ultra spread compresses to 46.8 FPS, indicating that the GPU is now the dominant constraint. Only Low and Medium maintain frame rates above 70 FPS, while High barely misses the 60 FPS mark. The Ultra preset at 4K produces a stuttery 39 FPS, which is likely to be a poor experience in a horror game where smooth motion contributes to immersion.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step up requires roughly a one-setting-level reduction to maintain similar frame rates. For example, 1080p Ultra (82 FPS) is comparable to 1440p High (93.6 FPS) and 4K Medium (71 FPS). This suggests that players targeting a specific frame rate can trade resolution against quality settings with predictable results.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process node from TSMC. It packs 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, along with 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds are listed at 1968 MHz base, 2359 MHz game, and 2589 MHz boost, with memory at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

The GPU's percentile rank of 71 among all GPUs places it above the median, and its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti with a deltaPct of 0.1—essentially identical average benchmark scores. The RTX 3070 sits slightly above with a deltaPct of -0.9, meaning the RX 6600 XT trails it by about 0.9%. This positions the card as a solid mid-range performer that can handle most titles at high settings.

In Downfall specifically, the RX 6600 XT demonstrates its strengths at 1080p and 1440p. The 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 165.7 GPixel/s pixel rate provide ample raw power for a 2016 horror game. The 8 GB VRAM buffer is more than sufficient for the game's textures, even at 4K Ultra, where the bottleneck is clearly the GPU's compute throughput rather than memory capacity. The PassMark G3D score of 16461 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804 give further context to the GPU's capabilities.

The GPU's power draw of 160 W and suggested 450 W PSU make it a reasonable fit for most systems. The 128-bit memory bus, while narrower than some competitors, is paired with fast GDDR6 to achieve 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. In a game like Downfall, which is not known for extreme bandwidth demands, this configuration holds up well. The fact that 4K Low still achieves 85.8 FPS shows that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the resolution when graphical effects are reduced.

Settings Recommendations

For players using a 1080p display, the data supports High settings as the best balance. At 128.5 FPS, it provides a smooth experience with substantial visual improvements over Medium (158.3 FPS) and remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. The jump to Ultra costs 46.5 FPS (down to 82) for what is likely a marginal visual gain in a horror game where atmosphere matters more than fine details.

At 1440p, Medium settings deliver 109.7 FPS, which is the recommended choice for most players. High settings at 93.6 FPS are also viable for those who prioritize visuals, but the 16 FPS difference between Medium and High is less significant than the 55.1 FPS gap between High and Ultra (54.6 FPS). The Ultra preset at 1440p falls below 60 FPS, making it a poor choice for consistent gameplay.

For 4K displays, the situation is more constrained. Low settings achieve 85.8 FPS and Medium achieves 71 FPS, both of which are playable. High settings at 59.7 FPS sit on the edge of the 60 FPS target, which may be acceptable for players who prefer visual fidelity over frame rate consistency. Ultra at 39 FPS should be avoided unless the player values screenshot-quality visuals over gameplay smoothness.

The overall pattern across all resolutions suggests that Medium is the "sweet spot" preset for this hardware combination. It consistently delivers frame rates at least 32% higher than High at each resolution (71 vs 59.7 at 4K, 109.7 vs 93.6 at 1440p, 158.3 vs 128.5 at 1080p) while maintaining a significant visual upgrade over Low. For a horror game, where sudden movements and quick camera turns are common, the extra frame rate headroom provided by Medium can be more valuable than the subtle texture and lighting improvements offered by High.