Downfall

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti pairing shows a predictable scaling pattern in Downfall, but the shape of that curve reveals where the bottleneck sits. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 238.3 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low yields 165.8 FPS, a reduction of roughly 30%. Moving to 3840x2160 Low lands at 105.4 FPS, another 36% step down. The 1080p-to-4K delta on Low is steep — 238.3 down to 105.4 — which indicates the GPU is doing heavy lifting even at the lowest preset.

The High settings curve tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the combo hits 160.1 FPS. At 1440p High, that falls to 114.6 FPS. At 4K High, it drops to 71.2 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on High is a 37.9% decline, nearly identical to the Low preset's drop. This consistency across presets suggests the rendering load scales cleanly with resolution, which points to the GPU as the primary limiter once pixel count rises.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic collapse. The 1080p Ultra result is 96.5 FPS, which is already below the 4K Low figure of 105.4 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, the average falls to 73.5 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 46 FPS. That 4K Ultra figure is less than half the 1080p Ultra number, and the gap between Medium and Ultra at 4K is stark: 87.7 FPS versus 46 FPS. The data indicates that Ultra's additional effects tax the GPU heavily, and at 4K the combination of high resolution and maximum detail overwhelms the graphics card.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested combinations, the i5-12400 plus RTX 3060 Ti lands at rank 878 out of 1741 combos in Downfall. That places it slightly above the median, which is a respectable showing for a mid-range pairing. The percentile positioning is more telling than the raw rank. The CPU sits at the 77th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 69th percentile against all GPUs. This asymmetry suggests the processor is comparatively stronger than the graphics card in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores are instructive. The Intel Core i7-9700 scores 19831, which is 0.1% behind the i5-12400's 19850 average. The i7-8700 scores 19894, a 0.2% advantage over the i5. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX scores 19928, 0.4% ahead. The i5-11600K scores 19771, 0.4% behind. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the i5-12400 is effectively tied with these rivals in aggregate compute. In a game like Downfall, which is not known for extreme CPU demands, this level of parity means the processor should not be the limiting factor.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The AMD Radeon RX 6700M scores 25180, 0.2% ahead of the RTX 3060 Ti's 25120. The RX 6600 scores 25235, 0.5% ahead. The AMD Radeon 890M scores 25246, 0.5% ahead. The RX 580 2048SP scores 25287, 0.7% ahead. The RTX 3060 Ti is within a percentage point of all four, which means its aggregate performance is comparable to those parts, though the measured FPS in Downfall will depend on game-specific optimization.

GPU Role

The RTX 3060 Ti's specifications explain its behavior in Downfall. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1410 MHz with a boost of 1665 MHz. Memory runs at 1750 MHz, or 14 Gbps effective. The card has 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The pixel rate is 133.2 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 253.1 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 16.20 TFLOPS.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is worth noting given the 4K results. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 46 FPS, which is likely constrained by both memory capacity and raw compute. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1440p but may become a limiting factor at 4K with high-resolution textures. The fact that 4K Low produces 105.4 FPS while 4K Ultra produces 46 FPS — a 56.4% drop — suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that hammer the GPU's shading units and memory system simultaneously.

The RTX 3060 Ti's 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores are present but likely underutilized in Downfall, which is a 2016 horror title that predates widespread ray tracing adoption. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) means the card is capable of modern API features, but the game's rendering path probably does not leverage them heavily. The 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the raw compute that drives the measured frame rates across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low produces 238.3 FPS, Medium drops to 191.2 FPS, High falls to 160.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 96.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 141.8 FPS, which represents a 59.5% reduction from the Low figure. The scaling from Medium to High is a 16.2% drop, while High to Ultra is a 39.7% drop. The Ultra preset's cost is disproportionate at this resolution, indicating that the GPU is still the dominant factor even when the CPU has headroom.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with lower absolute numbers. Low hits 165.8 FPS, Medium reaches 136.8 FPS, High lands at 114.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 73.5 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p scaling on Low is a 30.4% decline, while on Ultra it is a 23.8% decline. This suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU is already saturated at 1080p, so moving to 1440p has a smaller relative impact compared to the lower presets where the GPU has more headroom.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress further. Low produces 105.4 FPS, Medium hits 87.7 FPS, High delivers 71.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 46 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K scaling on Low is a 36.4% decline, on Medium it is 35.9%, on High it is 37.9%, and on Ultra it is 37.4%. The consistency of these percentages across all four presets is notable. It indicates that the GPU is the consistent bottleneck at 4K regardless of settings, and the CPU is not introducing variability.

The full resolution sweep shows that the RTX 3060 Ti can handle 1080p Ultra comfortably at 96.5 FPS, but 4K Ultra is borderline at 46 FPS. For smooth 4K play, the Low preset at 105.4 FPS is the viable option, while Medium at 87.7 FPS remains playable. High at 71.2 FPS is acceptable for most displays, but Ultra at 46 FPS will test the patience of players with high-refresh-rate monitors.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 a bottleneck for the RTX 3060 Ti in Downfall?

A: The data suggests not. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 238.3 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The CPU's aggregate benchmark score of 19850 is 0.1% behind the i7-9700 and 0.2% behind the i7-8700, indicating strong compute parity with those older parts. The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K shows consistent GPU-bound behavior across all presets.

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo in Downfall?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 produces 105.4 FPS, which is the highest 4K result. Medium yields 87.7 FPS and High yields 71.2 FPS. Ultra drops to 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth. For 4K gameplay, Low or Medium are the most sensible choices based on the measured data.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in aggregate performance?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti's average benchmark score is 25120. The AMD Radeon RX 6700M scores 25180, which is 0.2% higher. The RX 6600 scores 25235, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon 890M scores 25246, 0.5% higher. The RX 580 2048SP scores 25287, 0.7% higher. All four rivals are within a percentage point, making them statistically equivalent in aggregate.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration matter for Downfall?

A: The i5-12400 has 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 15935 and single-core is 2249. These scores, combined with the fact that the combo ranks 878 out of 1741, suggest the CPU is sufficient for this game. The game's 2016 release date means it predates the heavy multi-threading seen in modern titles.

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

A: At 1920x1080 High, the combo averages 160.1 FPS. At 3840x2160 High, it averages 71.2 FPS. This is a 55.5% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K. The drop is almost exactly proportional to the pixel count increase, confirming the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Downfall at 4K?

A: The measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K Low (105.4 FPS) and Medium (87.7 FPS), which suggests 8 GB is adequate for this game. The 4K Ultra result of 46 FPS could be influenced by VRAM pressure, but the game's age and texture requirements likely keep it within the 8 GB capacity. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is the more relevant factor at higher resolutions.