Downfall

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a highly playable experience in Downfall across most resolution and settings combinations, with the data indicating a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. At 1080p, the configuration pushes well beyond refresh-rate thresholds, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the definitive limiting factor, with frame rates compressing into a narrower, more demanding band. The measured FPS rows reveal a system that is exceptionally well-balanced for high-refresh 1080p gaming but which requires careful settings management to maintain smooth performance at higher pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and follows the expected trajectory for a mid-range GPU. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 128 at 1920x1080 to 92 at 2560x1440, a 28% reduction, and then further to 57 at 3840x2160, representing a 55% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's raw rendering throughput—7.181 TFLOPS FP32—is the primary constraint as pixel count rises, with the 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth also playing a role in feeding the increased fill rate demand.

The Low settings preset shows the most aggressive scaling curve. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 191 FPS, dropping to 136 FPS at 1440p (a 29% reduction) and then to 85 FPS at 4K (a 55% reduction from 1080p). The fact that the 4K Low result (85 FPS) is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result (80 FPS) underscores that the GPU's compute capacity, rather than CPU overhead, is dictating performance in these lower-detail scenarios. The 1080p Low frame rate of 191 FPS suggests the Intel Core i5-12400F, with its boost clock of 4.40 GHz, is capable of feeding the GPU efficiently at lower resolutions, but the GPU saturates before the CPU becomes a bottleneck.

Ultra settings present the steepest cliff. The transition from 1440p Ultra (57 FPS) to 4K Ultra (36 FPS) is a 37% drop, which is proportionally similar to the High preset's 38% drop between the same resolutions. However, the absolute values are low enough that the 4K Ultra result falls below the generally accepted 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. This data suggests that the game's Ultra preset introduces shading and texture workloads that disproportionately tax the 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs of the RTX 2060 SUPER, making 4K Ultra an untenable target for this combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER's specifications directly correlate with the measured results. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is adequate for the 8 GB allocation that Downfall likely requires at 4K with Medium settings, where the average FPS holds at 69 with a minimum of 59 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows the only recorded min/max range in the entire dataset (59-80 FPS), suggesting that this settings level is where the memory subsystem and GPU compute are most balanced, avoiding the frame-time spikes seen at other configurations.

The GPU's clock behavior—1470 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost—is consistent with the scaling observed. At 1080p Low, the 191 FPS average implies the GPU is operating near its boost ceiling for extended periods, as the workload is not memory-bound. Conversely, at 4K Ultra, the 36 FPS average indicates the GPU is likely hitting power or thermal limits (175 W TDP), causing the boost clock to settle lower, which further exacerbates the performance deficit. The 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores present on this Turing architecture do not appear to provide any measurable advantage in this title, as Downfall is a horror game that likely relies on traditional rasterization rather than ray tracing effects.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 62 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093, places it in the upper-middle tier. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, scores 18159, a delta of -0.4%, indicating that the 2060 SUPER is essentially performance-equivalent to that mobile part in synthetic workloads. However, in Downfall specifically, the desktop 2060 SUPER's sustained power delivery allows it to maintain higher clocks than a mobile counterpart, which likely contributes to the playable frame rates observed at 1440p High (92 FPS) and 4K Medium (69 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience for this combination is the Medium preset at 1440p. This configuration yields an average of 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS, providing a wide margin above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual fidelity above the Low preset. The min FPS of 95 is particularly reassuring, indicating that even during intense scenes, the frame rate does not dip into stutter territory.

For users targeting 4K, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 is the only viable option, delivering 69 FPS average with a minimum of 59 FPS. This is a marginal result—the minimum FPS is just one frame below 60—but the average remains playable. Pushing to High settings at 4K drops the average to 57 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth motion, and Ultra at 4K falls to 36 FPS, which is effectively unplayable for a horror title that benefits from fluid camera movement.

At 1080p, the High preset at 128 FPS average is the recommended choice for users with high-refresh displays, as it offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium (156 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate that exceeds 120 Hz. The Ultra preset at 1080p (80 FPS) is acceptable for users prioritizing image quality over frame rate, but the 48 FPS drop from High to Ultra suggests diminishing returns in visual fidelity for a substantial performance cost. The Low preset at any resolution is only recommended for competitive play, which is not the target audience for a horror game.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 2560x1440 with Medium settings is the sweet spot, yielding 112 FPS average with a 95 FPS minimum. This resolution provides a balance between visual clarity and performance, as 1080p is unnecessarily fast (191 FPS at Low) and 4K requires dropping to Medium (69 FPS) to remain above 60 FPS.

*Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Downfall?*

A: Yes, but only with the Medium preset, which averages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS. The High preset at 4K falls to 57 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 36 FPS, so Medium is the ceiling for 4K60 gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER's performance compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, while its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, scores 18159, a delta of -0.4%. The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 scores 18189 (-0.5% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 460 scores 18373 (-1.5% delta).

*Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F a bottleneck at any resolution in Downfall?*

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at any tested resolution. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 191 FPS, which is near the practical limit for the i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads, but the GPU scales linearly as resolution increases, indicating the GPU is the limiting component above 1080p.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: The 1440p Medium preset shows the tightest frame time distribution of any configuration, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. This 33 FPS range is proportionally narrower than the 4K Medium range (59-80 FPS), indicating better consistency at the lower resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 2630 out of 3716 total combos tested in Downfall, placing it in the 71st percentile. This is consistent with the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking and the GPU's 62nd percentile ranking, suggesting the pair performs slightly better than the average of its individual components.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 2630 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the strong raw performance of the components, but it reflects the fact that Downfall is a 2016 title that may not fully stress modern hardware, allowing older or lower-tier combinations to achieve comparable frame rates. The CPU's percentile ranking of 73 against all CPUs and the GPU's percentile of 62 against all GPUs suggest that this combo should perform above average, and the game-specific rank confirms this expectation.

The 3716 total combos in the database include many high-end configurations featuring newer GPUs and CPUs, which naturally occupy the higher ranks. The 2630 position indicates that this combo outperforms roughly 29% of tested systems, which is a respectable showing for a mid-range desktop setup. The gap between the CPU's strong 73rd percentile and the GPU's weaker 62nd percentile suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing, which aligns with the resolution scaling data showing the GPU becoming the bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides a solid foundation for this gaming configuration, with its 6 cores and 12 threads operating at base and boost clocks of 2.50 GHz and 4.40 GHz respectively. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core are sufficient for Downfall's single-threaded game logic, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low (191 FPS). The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at 1680 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3481 in PassMark single-thread, appears to be more than adequate for this title.

The 3DMark results show a scaling pattern from 1699 (2 threads) to 3067 (4 threads) to 4779 (8 threads) and finally to 5912 (max threads), indicating that the CPU's performance scales well with thread count up to 8 threads, after which gains diminish. This suggests that Downfall is unlikely to benefit from the full 12 threads available, but the 6 physical cores provide enough parallelism for background tasks and game engine threads. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are typical for a mainstream desktop build, and the 10 nm Alder Lake architecture delivers the efficiency needed to sustain high clock speeds during extended gaming sessions.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with an average score of 19047 (0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E at 19056 (-0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-1335U at 18982 (0.3% delta). These comparisons show that the i5-12400F is essentially performance-equivalent to these parts in aggregate benchmarks, but its desktop-class power delivery and cooling allow it to maintain boost clocks more consistently in gaming workloads, which is reflected in the playable frame rates observed in Downfall.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS dataset for this combination is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 191 FPS, followed by Medium at 156 FPS (minimum 133, maximum 180), High at 128 FPS, and Ultra at 80 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 111 FPS, representing a 58% performance drop when maxing out settings. The Medium preset's 47 FPS improvement over High suggests that the High preset introduces rendering features that disproportionately impact the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the scaling pattern repeats but with lower absolute values. Low settings produce 136 FPS, Medium averages 112 FPS (minimum 95, maximum 128), High drops to 92 FPS, and Ultra falls to 57 FPS. The High-to-Ultra transition at 1440p is a 35 FPS drop, which is the largest single-preset delta in the dataset, indicating that Ultra settings at this resolution are particularly demanding.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope compresses significantly. Low settings yield 85 FPS, Medium averages 69 FPS (minimum 59, maximum 80), High drops to 57 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS. The 4K Medium result is the only configuration where the minimum FPS (59) is within one frame of the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays. The 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS is the lowest recorded value in the entire dataset, confirming that this preset is unsuitable for this resolution.