Downfall

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall with the Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B390 reveals a clear pattern: this combination is heavily GPU-limited at every resolution, and the performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 71 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops that to 51 FPS, a reduction of 28%. At 3840x2160 High, the average falls to 32 FPS, which is 55% below the 1080p High result. This scaling behavior indicates that the Arc B390's rendering throughput is the primary constraint, not the CPU.

The Low preset tells a similar story but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 106 FPS. At 1440p Low, it reaches 76 FPS, a 28% drop. At 4K Low, the average is 47 FPS, which is 56% below the 1080p Low figure. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings—roughly 28% from 1080p to 1440p and another 40% from 1440p to 4K—confirms that pixel count is the dominant factor. The GPU's fillrate and shading capabilities, not the CPU's six cores and twelve threads, dictate the frame rate.

Ultra settings amplify the resolution penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 44 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 32 FPS, a 27% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 20 FPS, which is 55% below the 1080p Ultra result. The fact that 4K Ultra produces a sub-30 FPS experience while 1080p Ultra is playable at 44 FPS suggests that Ultra settings are only viable at lower resolutions for this hardware. The Medium preset, which has the most complete data (min and max FPS recorded), shows 87 FPS at 1080p, 62 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K, with the same relative scaling pattern.

The data indicates that this combo is not suitable for 4K gaming in Downfall, regardless of settings. Even at Low, 4K only reaches 47 FPS, and at Medium it falls to 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS, which would produce noticeable stutter. The sweet spot for resolution appears to be 1080p, where even Ultra maintains 44 FPS. The GPU's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs, along with its 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance, are simply not enough to drive 8.3 million pixels at high quality settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Downfall at 4K smoothly?

A: No. At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 47, and with Medium settings it drops to 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS. Ultra at 4K averages only 20 FPS. None of these results meet the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Downfall?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most viable resolution. At 1080p, all settings presets produce playable averages: 106 FPS on Low, 87 FPS on Medium, 71 FPS on High, and 44 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results are borderline, with High at 51 FPS and Medium at 62 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's core count affect Downfall performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Given that FPS scales almost identically with resolution changes—28% drops from 1080p to 1440p across all settings—the CPU is not the bottleneck. The GPU's performance ceiling is reached first.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using in this game?

A: Only at 1080p, where it averages 44 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 32 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 20 FPS. The visual quality gain from Ultra over High does not justify the frame rate cost at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2589 out of 2928 tested combinations for Downfall, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU's 9th percentile performance among all GPUs, despite the CPU sitting at the 72nd percentile.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for the Medium preset: 33 FPS at 4K, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 1080p. These minimums indicate that even at Medium settings, 4K can experience significant frame drops below the average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz boosts up to 4.40 GHz, and it features 18 MB of shared L3 cache along with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257, placing it at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The evidence is in the resolution scaling: if the CPU were the limiting factor, FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions. Instead, the data shows consistent percentage drops as resolution increases—28% from 1080p to 1440p and 55% from 1080p to 4K across all settings. This is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

The CPU's 3DMark scores provide context: 3012 in the 4-thread test and 5890 in the max-thread test. These scores indicate a capable processor for gaming workloads, but the Arc B390's 1536 shading units and 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 compute are the ceiling. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, has a deltaPct of only 1.3%, meaning the B390 is only marginally faster than a very old entry-level GPU. This explains why the CPU's headroom is never fully utilized in this game.

The Core i5-12400's PassMark multithread score of 18747 and single-thread score of 3456 show it can handle game logic and physics calculations easily. However, with the GPU ranking at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, the CPU's 72nd percentile standing is irrelevant in practice. The system is unbalanced, with the CPU significantly more capable than the GPU. In Downfall, this means the CPU sits idle waiting for the GPU to finish rendering each frame.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS dataset covers four resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low averages 106 FPS, Medium averages 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 100, High averages 71 FPS, and Ultra averages 44 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression where each settings tier costs approximately 16-20 FPS, with Ultra being particularly expensive relative to High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 76 FPS, Medium at 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 and maximum of 71, High at 51 FPS, and Ultra at 32 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at this resolution is 11 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 19 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings impose a disproportionate penalty at higher resolutions, likely due to the GPU's limited ROP count of 24.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 47 FPS, Medium at 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44, High at 32 FPS, and Ultra at 20 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 20 FPS is the lowest recorded in the entire dataset. Even the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (33 FPS) is below the 1080p Ultra average, highlighting the severe impact of pixel count on this GPU.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the Low preset at 1080p (106 FPS) is the only configuration to exceed 100 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, showing frame pacing that is better at lower resolutions: the 1080p Medium range is 74-100 FPS, a 26 FPS spread, while the 1440p Medium range is 53-71 FPS, an 18 FPS spread, and the 4K Medium range is 33-44 FPS, an 11 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing variance but also reducing average performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2589 out of 2928 tested combos for Downfall, placing it in the bottom 11.6% of all systems. This low ranking is entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark performance are all older NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, deltaPct 1.3), the GeForce 800M (score 1460, deltaPct 1.5), the GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, deltaPct 2.5), and the GeForce GT 710 (score 1443, deltaPct 2.7). The Arc B390 is only 2.7% faster than the GT 710, which is a passive-cooled entry-level card. This explains why the combo ranks so poorly: the GPU simply cannot deliver competitive frame rates in a modern horror title.

In contrast, the CPU ranks at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18683. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 (score 18697, deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i7-1355U (score 18730, deltaPct -0.3), AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (score 18811, deltaPct -0.7), and Intel Core i3-14100F (score 18519, deltaPct 0.9). The CPU is essentially performance-equivalent to a server-class EPYC processor in average benchmarks, yet the combo's game ranking remains poor because Downfall is GPU-bound.

The mismatch between CPU and GPU performance tiers is stark. A CPU at the 72nd percentile paired with a GPU at the 9th percentile creates a system where the processor's capabilities are wasted. In Downfall, this manifests as frame rates that are 55-80% lower than what the CPU could theoretically support if paired with a more capable GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This configuration produces an average of 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without frame drops below 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it maintains high frame rates while providing better graphics than Low.

If higher visual fidelity is preferred, 1080p High at 71 FPS average is acceptable, but the 16 FPS loss from Medium may be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 1080p (44 FPS) is only recommended for players who prioritize visuals over smoothness and can tolerate occasional frame pacing issues. At 1440p, the Medium preset (62 FPS average, 53 minimum) is the only recommended option, as High (51 FPS) and Ultra (32 FPS) fall below comfortable thresholds.

The data does not support 4K gaming for this combo. Even at Low settings, 4K averages 47 FPS, and Medium drops to 39 FPS with a 33 FPS minimum. The 20 FPS Ultra result at 4K is unplayable by any standard. Players with 4K displays should run Downfall at 1080p or 1440p with Medium settings, accepting that the GPU cannot drive native 4K resolution.

The Low preset at 1080p (106 FPS) is the only configuration exceeding 100 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the visual quality sacrifice is significant. The Medium preset at 1080p remains the best overall choice, offering a 26 FPS range between minimum and maximum, which indicates stable frame delivery. For the most consistent experience, 1080p Medium is the clear recommendation from the measured data.