Downfall

# Downfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a broadly capable experience in Downfall, with the data showing playable frame rates across most resolution and settings combinations, though Ultra settings at 4K push this combination to its limits. The measured results place this combo at rank 2157 out of 3716 total combinations tested, indicating a mid-pack standing that balances a strong 1080p performer with a GPU that begins to struggle as pixel count rises. The RTX 2070 SUPER, sitting at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, proves to be the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the i5-12400F's 73rd percentile CPU ranking ensures the processor rarely bottlenecks the system below 1440p.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with average FPS ranging from 88 at Ultra to 210 at Low. At 2560x1440, performance remains solid (63-150 FPS), while 3840x2160 drops to a 39-94 FPS range, making 4K viable only at Medium settings or below.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 20282 places it within 1.5% of the Intel Arc A750 (20582, -1.5% delta), the Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3%), the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, -1.2%), and the Quadro M4000M (20480, -1%). This means the desktop 2070 SUPER trails these competitors by a narrow margin in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the Core i5-12400F a bottleneck for the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: Benchmark data shows the i5-12400F scores 12380 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1680 in single-core, with a 73rd percentile ranking against all CPUs. In Downfall, the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K suggests the CPU is sufficient, as performance drops align with GPU load increases rather than CPU limits.

Q: What settings preset delivers the best balance of quality and performance?

A: Medium settings at 1920x1080 (172 FPS average) or 2560x1440 (123 FPS average) provide the most balanced experience. High settings at 1440p deliver 101 FPS, while Ultra at 1080p yields 88 FPS, showing that Medium-to-High settings offer the best playability without sacrificing visual fidelity.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 94 FPS, Medium produces 77 FPS, but High drops to 63 FPS and Ultra to 39 FPS. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Medium, but Ultra exceeds comfortable performance thresholds.

Q: How does the i5-12400F's thread performance affect Downfall?

A: The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clock, deliver strong multi-threaded results (5912 in 3DMark max threads, 19433 in PassMark multithread). The data shows this is more than adequate for Downfall, as even at 1080p Low (210 FPS), the GPU remains the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the decisive component in this pairing, and the measured FPS data reflects its capabilities across Downfall's resolution range. Built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip on a 12 nm process, this GPU packs 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes increasingly important as resolution climbs to 3840x2160 where texture and geometry data demands grow substantially.

The clock behavior of this card — 1605 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost — translates into a 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 compute rating, which the benchmark results show is sufficient for smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p but marginal at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores indicate ray tracing and AI acceleration capabilities, though Downfall's measured results do not isolate these features. The 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate and 283.2 GTexel/s texture rate provide the raw throughput needed for the horror title's visual effects, and the 65th percentile GPU ranking (average benchmark score of 20282) confirms this is a mid-to-upper-tier card that trails the RTX 3070 Mobile by just 1.2% and the Arc A750 by 1.5% in synthetic tests.

The FPS data reveals the GPU's performance envelope clearly. At 1920x1080, the card delivers 210 FPS on Low, 172 FPS on Medium, 141 FPS on High, and 88 FPS on Ultra — a spread that shows ample headroom at lower settings. Moving to 2560x1440, those numbers become 150, 123, 101, and 63 FPS respectively, and at 3840x2160 they collapse to 94, 77, 63, and 39 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM capacity appears adequate for Medium settings at 4K, as the 77 FPS average with a 65 FPS minimum suggests the memory subsystem is not overwhelmed, but Ultra's 39 FPS average indicates the GPU's compute resources are saturated.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides the computational foundation for this system, and its 12th Gen Alder Lake architecture with 6 cores and 12 threads is well-suited to Downfall's demands. Operating at a 2.50 GHz base clock with a 4.40 GHz boost, this processor delivers strong single-threaded performance (1680 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 909 in 3DMark single-thread) that handles game logic and physics efficiently. The 18 MB shared L3 cache, alongside 80 KB L1 and 1.25 MB L2 per core, ensures data locality for frequently accessed game assets.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are equally robust, with a 12380 Cinebench R23 multi-core score and 5912 in 3DMark max threads, placing it at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047 average score, 0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E (19056, -0.1%), and the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982, +0.3%), showing the i5-12400F is competitively positioned. The 65 W TDP and 10 nm process node contribute to efficient operation, and the LGA 1700 socket with DDR4/DDR5 memory support provides flexibility for system builders.

In the context of Downfall's measured FPS, the CPU's role becomes evident when analyzing frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 210 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. The 3DMark results — 1699 for 2 threads, 3067 for 4 threads, 4779 for 8 threads, and 5895 for 16 threads — demonstrate strong scaling up to 8 threads, which is relevant for a game that may not fully utilize 12 threads. The PassMark physics score of 1202 and integer math score of 59995 indicate solid computational throughput for game physics and AI calculations, which are common in horror genre titles.

The data shows the i5-12400F is not the limiting factor in this configuration. At 4K Ultra, the 39 FPS average is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU's performance headroom (evidenced by 1080p Low's 210 FPS) far exceeds what the RTX 2070 SUPER can deliver at higher resolutions. The 44% FPS drop from 1080p Ultra (88 FPS) to 4K Ultra (39 FPS) aligns with the GPU's compute limitations rather than any CPU constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2070 SUPER delivers its most impressive results across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 210 FPS, which drops to 172 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 146 FPS and maximum of 198 FPS. High settings produce 141 FPS average, while Ultra yields 88 FPS. This progression shows a 58% reduction from Low to Ultra, but even the lowest figure comfortably exceeds 60 FPS for smooth gameplay on standard refresh rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings maintain 150 FPS average, Medium delivers 123 FPS (105 min, 141 max), High produces 101 FPS, and Ultra drops to 63 FPS. The delta between 1080p and 1440p at each setting is consistent — approximately 29-40 FPS reduction — indicating the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily as pixel count increases by 78%.

At 3840x2160, the results show significant degradation. Low settings still manage 94 FPS average, Medium drops to 77 FPS (65 min, 88 max), High falls to 63 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 39 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling: it falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay, and the 39 FPS average suggests stutter-prone performance during intense scenes. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 65 FPS minimum, is the only settings level that maintains playability at this resolution without dipping below 60 FPS.

The combination's overall ranking of 2157 out of 3716 tested configurations places it in the upper half of all GPU-CPU pairings for Downfall. The RTX 2070 SUPER's PassMark G3D score of 18169 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 provide synthetic benchmarks that corroborate the measured FPS data, showing a GPU that performs admirably at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals critical insights about which component limits performance at each resolution. At Low settings, the system drops from 210 FPS at 1080p to 150 FPS at 1440p (a 29% reduction) and then to 94 FPS at 4K (a 55% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K while FPS drops by more than half.

At Medium settings, the same pattern emerges: 172 FPS at 1080p, 123 FPS at 1440p (28% drop), and 77 FPS at 4K (37% drop from 1440p). The slightly smaller percentage drop from 1440p to 4K (37% versus 55% at Low) suggests that Medium settings introduce additional GPU workload that was already partially saturating the card at lower resolutions, making the relative impact of higher resolution less pronounced but still substantial.

High settings show 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p (28% drop), and 63 FPS at 4K (38% drop from 1440p). The consistency of the 1080p-to-1440p drop across Low, Medium, and High (29%, 28%, and 28% respectively) indicates that the GPU scales predictably with pixel count at these settings. However, the 4K drops vary more (55% at Low, 37% at Medium, 38% at High), suggesting that at Low settings, the GPU is less saturated and resolution scaling has a more pronounced effect, while at Medium and High, other factors like memory bandwidth become relatively more important.

Ultra settings tell a different story. The 88 FPS at 1080p drops to 63 FPS at 1440p (28% reduction) and then to 39 FPS at 4K (38% reduction from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS represents a 56% reduction from 1080p Ultra, and this steep decline indicates the GPU's compute resources are fully exhausted at this configuration. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply insufficient for 4K Ultra in this title.

The scaling analysis points to the GPU as the limiting component across all resolutions. The i5-12400F's strong single-thread performance (1680 Cinebench R23) and multi-thread capability (12380 R23) ensure that CPU overhead does not constrain frame rates, even at 1080p Low where 210 FPS is achieved. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see diminishing returns as resolution decreases, but the data shows consistent GPU-bound behavior throughout.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 1920x1080, the data supports High settings as the optimal choice. The 141 FPS average provides ample headroom above 60 FPS, and the jump from Medium's 172 FPS to High's 141 FPS represents a 18% performance cost for improved visual quality. Ultra's 88 FPS is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High, making High the best balance of fidelity and performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide the most compelling experience. The 123 FPS average with a 105 FPS minimum ensures consistent frame pacing, while High's 101 FPS is also acceptable for most players. However, Medium's 22% performance advantage over High, combined with the visual improvements over Low (150 FPS), makes it the recommended preset. Players with high refresh rate 1440p monitors (144 Hz or above) should consider High, as the 101 FPS average approaches refresh rate limits, while those prioritizing smoothness above all else can use Low.

For 3840x2160, Medium is the only viable preset for consistent 60+ FPS gameplay. The 77 FPS average and 65 FPS minimum just barely maintain this threshold, while High's 63 FPS average risks dropping below 60 FPS during demanding scenes. Low settings at 94 FPS offer a more comfortable margin but sacrifice significant visual quality. Ultra at 39 FPS is not recommended for anything other than screenshot purposes, as the frame rate falls well below playability standards.

The measured data includes minimum FPS values only for Medium settings across all resolutions (146 at 1080p, 105 at 1440p, 65 at 4K), which shows that Medium maintains tighter frame pacing than other presets. This consistency suggests that Medium settings avoid the VRAM or compute spikes that might cause stuttering at High or Ultra. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB memory capacity is likely the differentiator — Medium settings keep memory usage within comfortable bounds, while Ultra at 4K may exceed efficient allocation.

In summary, the optimal configuration for this hardware pairing depends on the display. For 1080p, High settings offer the best experience. For 1440p, Medium strikes the ideal balance. For 4K, Medium is the only recommended preset, with the understanding that players seeking higher visual fidelity should consider upgrading the GPU or reducing resolution to 1440p with High settings. The i5-12400F's robust performance ensures that any settings changes will yield predictable FPS results, as the CPU is never the constraining factor in this title.