Downfall

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a playable but constrained experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. Benchmark results show that the combination ranks 3202nd out of 3716 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower 14th percentile of all configurations. The data reveals a system where the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom to maintain performance at lower settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) across three resolutions and four quality presets offer a clear picture of how this hardware scales under load.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the GTX 1660 Ti’s rendering pipeline is the dominant constraint. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 147 FPS at 1920x1080 to 105 FPS at 2560x1440, a 28.6% reduction, and then to 65 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 38.1% drop from 1440p. This pattern intensifies at higher quality presets. With High settings, the average declines from 99 FPS at 1080p to 70 FPS at 1440p (a 29.3% decrease) and then to 44 FPS at 4K (a 37.1% decrease from 1440p).

The most severe scaling appears at Ultra settings, where the average FPS plunges from 62 at 1080p to 44 at 1440p, a 29.0% drop, and finally to 27 at 4K, a 38.6% decline from 1440p. These percentages reveal a consistent pattern: moving from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 28-29% of performance, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs an additional 37-38%. This non-linear scaling—where the penalty grows as resolution increases—is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The GTX 1660 Ti’s 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory are sufficient for 1080p but become progressively more stressed at higher pixel counts.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU still has some influence, as the FPS gap between Low and Ultra is 85 FPS (147 vs 62). However, at 4K, this gap narrows to 38 FPS (65 vs 27), confirming that the GPU’s fill rate and shader performance are the limiting factors. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is the only measured average below 30 FPS, indicating that this resolution and preset combination is not viable for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium result of 53 FPS, with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS, shows that the hardware can handle 4K only at reduced quality settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257, alongside a Geekbench multi-core score of 8564 and single-core score of 1848. The CPU’s percentile rank against all CPUs is 72, meaning it outperforms 72% of tested processors, and its average benchmark score is 18683.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU. The evidence lies in the FPS scaling with resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 147 FPS, which is high enough to suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck at this setting. However, the fact that the same CPU produces only 65 FPS at 4K Low—a 55.8% reduction—proves that the GPU is saturated before the CPU’s limits are reached. The CPU’s 3DMark scores support this: 1692 in the 2-thread test and 5873 in the 16-thread test, showing adequate threading headroom for a game released in 2016.

The nearest rivals for the i5-12400 in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, delta -0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, delta -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811, delta -0.7%). These scores are all within 1% of the i5-12400, indicating that the CPU’s raw compute performance is competitive with these parts. However, for Downfall, the data shows that the GPU is the limiting component, as the FPS differences between 1080p and 4K are vast regardless of CPU headroom. The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient memory hierarchy for game logic, but the measured FPS values are consistent with a GPU-bound scenario.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 99 at 1920x1080 with High settings, with no minimum or maximum values recorded.

Q: Does the combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 65 at Low settings. At Medium, the average is 53 FPS (min 45, max 61), and at High it drops to 44 FPS. Ultra averages 27 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2257, while the multi-core score is 15989, a ratio of approximately 7.1x. The 3DMark single-thread score is 910, and the 16-thread score is 5873, a ratio of 6.5x.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile rank among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has a percentile rank of 41, meaning it performs better than 41% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 7723.

Q: Which preset gives the highest FPS at 2560x1440?

A: The Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 2560x1440, with a measured average of 105 FPS. Medium averages 86 FPS, High averages 70 FPS, and Ultra averages 44 FPS.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 147 FPS, which is near the CPU’s practical limit for this title. However, the FPS drops to 62 at Ultra, showing the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase, even at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

This Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination ranks 3202nd out of 3716 combos tested in Downfall. This places it in the bottom 13.8% of all configurations, which is a low position for a system with a CPU that ranks in the 72nd percentile. The discrepancy between the CPU’s strong relative position and the combo’s poor game rank underscores the GPU’s weakness in this title. The GTX 1660 Ti’s 41st percentile rank among GPUs is the primary driver of this low combo ranking.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Radeon 540 (7673, delta 0.7%), AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (7580, delta 1.9%), and AMD Radeon R7 250 (7557, delta 2.2%). These deltas are small, but the GTX 1660 Ti’s score of 7723 is slightly above these parts. Despite this, the combo rank of 3202 indicates that many other systems with similar or better GPUs outperform this configuration in Downfall. The rank suggests that for this specific game, the hardware is not well optimized, or the GPU’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are insufficient for the game’s demands at higher resolutions.

The measured FPS data confirms the low rank. At 1080p Ultra, the average of 62 FPS is below the 99 FPS High result, and at 4K Ultra, the 27 FPS average is borderline unplayable. The combo’s rank in the bottom 14% means that most other tested systems deliver higher frame rates. The CPU’s high percentile (72) does not compensate for the GPU’s low percentile (41), and the game’s results reflect this imbalance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a Turing-architecture GPU with a TU116 chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process by TSMC. It has 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. The GPU’s base clock is 1500 MHz, with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and the memory runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective speed. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and the GPU’s FP32 performance is 5.437 TFLOPS.

In Downfall, the GPU’s role is decisive. The FPS results show that the GPU’s pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s are the limiting factors at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU can sustain 147 FPS at Low settings, but this drops to 62 FPS at Ultra, a 57.8% reduction. This indicates that the GPU’s shading units are overloaded by the game’s effects at Ultra settings. At 4K, the GPU is overwhelmed: the 27 FPS Ultra result is a 56.0% drop from the 62 FPS 1080p Ultra result.

The GPU’s 6 GB VRAM is a potential constraint. At 4K Ultra, the game likely requires more than 6 GB of frame buffer, leading to the low 27 FPS average. The 192-bit bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are also modest for 4K rendering, as evidenced by the 65 FPS Low result at 4K versus 147 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU’s benchmark scores reflect its mid-range position: a PassMark G3D score of 12871 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1061. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 51029 and Vulkan score of 5827 show the GPU’s compute capabilities, but these do not translate into high FPS in this game at high resolutions.

The GPU’s 12 nm process and 120 W TDP suggest it is a power-efficient part, but its raw performance is limited. The data shows that for a playable experience above 60 FPS, the user must stick to 1080p or 1440p with lower settings. The 2560x1440 Medium result of 86 FPS (min 73, max 99) is the best balance of resolution and quality, while 4K requires Low settings (65 FPS) or Medium (53 FPS) to stay above 30 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance. Low settings produce an average of 147 FPS, Medium averages 120 FPS (min 102, max 138), High averages 99 FPS, and Ultra averages 62 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 85 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for higher quality settings. The Medium preset’s minimum of 102 FPS and maximum of 138 FPS indicate consistent frame delivery, while the High and Ultra results lack min/max data but show clear degradation.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop across the board. Low averages 105 FPS, Medium averages 86 FPS (min 73, max 99), High averages 70 FPS, and Ultra averages 44 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 61 FPS, indicating the GPU is becoming the bottleneck. The Medium preset’s min of 73 FPS and max of 99 FPS show that even at this resolution, frame pacing is acceptable for most displays.

At 3840x2160, the results are the weakest. Low averages 65 FPS, Medium averages 53 FPS (min 45, max 61), High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 38 FPS, the smallest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU is saturated at 4K. The Medium preset’s minimum of 45 FPS is the lowest recorded for any Medium setting, and the Ultra result of 27 FPS is the only average below 30 FPS in the entire data set.

The full data set shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is fully playable at all settings, 1440p is playable at Low through High (with Ultra borderline at 44 FPS), and 4K is only usable at Low or Medium (with Medium dipping to 45 FPS minimum). The measured FPS values are consistent with the GPU’s 41st percentile rank and the combo’s 3202nd rank, confirming that this hardware is not suited for high-resolution gaming in Downfall.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and whether the user prioritizes frame rate or visual quality. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset (120 FPS average, min 102, max 138) offers the best balance, providing a high frame rate with a minimum above 100 FPS. The High preset (99 FPS) is also smooth, but Medium offers a 21.2% higher average with a similar visual improvement over Low. The Ultra preset (62 FPS) is playable but not recommended for competitive play, as the frame rate halves compared to Medium.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset (86 FPS, min 73, max 99) is the clear recommendation. It maintains an average above 85 FPS and a minimum above 70 FPS, which is smooth for a horror title. The Low preset (105 FPS) is faster but sacrifices visual fidelity, while the High preset (70 FPS) is still playable but offers less headroom. The Ultra preset (44 FPS) is not recommended, as it falls below 60 FPS and may cause noticeable stutter in fast-moving scenes.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset (65 FPS) is the only setting that reliably exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset (53 FPS, min 45, max 61) is the best visual option, but its minimum of 45 FPS means frame drops are likely. The High preset (44 FPS) and Ultra preset (27 FPS) are not recommended for a smooth experience. For 4K, users should choose Low for consistent performance or Medium if they can tolerate occasional dips below 50 FPS.

Overall, the data suggests that the best experience is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which delivers 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS. For users with 1440p displays, Medium at 86 FPS is the recommended preset. At 4K, the hardware is not well suited, and users should stick to Low (65 FPS) or Medium (53 FPS) to avoid the sub-30 FPS Ultra result. The measured FPS data indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1080p, where the CPU and GPU balance yields the highest frame rates.