Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a remarkably consistent experience across Downfall, with the data showing that this combination is firmly GPU-bound at higher resolutions while CPU limitations emerge only at 1080p. The combo ranks 533rd out of 1,741 tested configurations, placing it in the upper third of all systems tested for this horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 297.9 at 1920x1080 to 213.8 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 84.1 FPS, then falls further to 132.9 at 3840x2160, another 80.9 FPS drop. This near-linear scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor even at Low settings, where CPU overhead would typically be more noticeable.

The High settings curve tells a similar story but with a steeper decline at 4K. Starting at 200.2 FPS at 1080p, the average drops to 141.5 at 1440p (a 58.7 FPS reduction) and then to 90 at 4K (a 51.5 FPS reduction). The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K at High settings is approximately 55%, while at Low settings it is approximately 55.4%, suggesting that the GPU workload scaling is consistent regardless of quality preset.

Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic resolution sensitivity. The 1080p average of 124.4 FPS falls to 89 at 1440p (a 35.4 FPS drop) and then to 58.4 at 4K (a 30.6 FPS drop). The 4K Ultra result of 58.4 FPS represents a 53% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure, confirming that the RTX 3080's 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 320-bit bus are being stressed heavily by the combination of high resolution and maximum quality settings.

The limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 173.5 FPS, indicating headroom for the GPU to work with. At 4K, that spread narrows to 74.5 FPS, showing that the GPU is approaching its throughput ceiling. The data suggests that Downfall's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count, and the RTX 3080's 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes progressively more critical as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, built on the Alder Lake architecture. Its benchmark results show a single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 5,912 at max threads, with a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 16,518. The CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all tested processors and its average benchmark score of 19,221 place it in a competitive position, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i7-8700K at 19,210 (a 0.1% delta).

In Downfall, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the Low settings results across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 297.9 FPS, which is substantially higher than the 4K Low result of 132.9 FPS. The fact that 1080p Low produces nearly 300 FPS indicates that the i5-12400F is capable of feeding the RTX 3080 with sufficient draw calls and game logic updates to sustain very high frame rates.

However, the CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 or DDR5) may contribute to the frame rate ceiling observed at 1080p. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and the PassMark single-thread score of 3,481 suggest that individual core performance is adequate but not exceptional. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,332 reinforces this assessment.

The i5-12400F's nearest rivals in the overall CPU benchmark rankings include the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS with a delta of -0.7% and the AMD EPYC 7773X with a delta of 1.3%, indicating that the i5-12400F sits in a tightly contested performance band. For Downfall specifically, the data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the 297.9 FPS result approaches what the processor's thread scheduling and cache hierarchy can sustain for this horror title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, based on the GA102 chip with 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, delivers strong compute performance with an FP32 throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Downfall's high-resolution textures and effects. The GPU's base clock of 1440 MHz and boost clock of 1710 MHz, combined with 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, support the game's visual features.

The RTX 3080's benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 25,086 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,407, placing it at the 80th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 35,787 is closely matched by the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 35,860 (a -0.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon 880M at 35,646 (a 0.4% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE trails by -0.9% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile leads by 1%.

In Downfall, the GPU's role dominates at 4K and Ultra settings. The 4K Ultra result of 58.4 FPS demonstrates the performance ceiling imposed by the combination of the GA102's 628 mm² die and its 28,300 million transistors. The memory subsystem, with a pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s, is heavily utilized when rendering Downfall's horror environments at maximum quality.

The transition from High to Ultra at each resolution shows the GPU's scaling behavior. At 1080p, the drop from High (200.2 FPS) to Ultra (124.4 FPS) is 75.8 FPS, while at 4K, the drop from High (90 FPS) to Ultra (58.4 FPS) is 31.6 FPS. This diminishing absolute difference indicates that at 4K, the GPU is already operating near its limits, and the additional quality settings in Ultra have less headroom to exploit.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages span from 297.9 FPS at Low settings to 124.4 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset delivers 247 FPS, while High achieves 200.2 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium shows a 50.9 FPS reduction, from Medium to High a 46.8 FPS reduction, and from High to Ultra a 75.8 FPS reduction, with Ultra representing the most demanding preset.

At 2560x1440, the results are 213.8 FPS (Low), 172.4 FPS (Medium), 141.5 FPS (High), and 89 FPS (Ultra). The step from High to Ultra here is 52.5 FPS, a larger absolute drop than the 31.4 FPS difference between Low and Medium at this resolution. The Medium to High transition costs 30.9 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 132.9 FPS (Low), 106.3 FPS (Medium), 90 FPS (High), and 58.4 FPS (Ultra). The Low to Medium drop is 26.6 FPS, Medium to High is 16.3 FPS, and High to Ultra is 31.6 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 58.4 FPS is the only measured average below 60 FPS across all tested configurations.

The data shows that the 1440p High setting (141.5 FPS) provides the best balance between visual quality and performance, while 1080p Ultra (124.4 FPS) offers a higher frame rate than 4K High (90 FPS) despite using more demanding settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average is 297.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: No. The measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 58.4 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F scores 19,221 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-8700K at 19,210.

Q: What GPU is most similar in performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Duo scores 35,860, which is 0.2% higher than the RTX 3080's 35,787 average benchmark score.

Q: What is the largest frame rate drop between presets?

A: The largest single-preset drop is 75.8 FPS when moving from High to Ultra at 1920x1080.

Q: Is the system GPU-bound at 1080p Low?

A: The 297.9 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are approaching their limit, making the CPU the primary constraint at this resolution and settings combination.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the High preset at 2560x1440 provides the strongest overall experience, with an average of 141.5 FPS. This setting delivers a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual fidelity appropriate for a horror title. The High preset at 1920x1080 (200.2 FPS) is suitable for high-refresh-rate displays, though the CPU may become the limiting factor at this resolution.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the Ultra preset at 2560x1440 (89 FPS) is viable, as it stays comfortably above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 (58.4 FPS) is marginal and may result in occasional dips below playable thresholds, making it suitable only for users who prioritize image quality over smoothness.

The Medium preset offers a balanced alternative: at 1920x1080 it achieves 247 FPS, at 2560x1440 it reaches 172.4 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it maintains 106.3 FPS. The Medium setting at 4K provides a significantly better frame rate than High or Ultra at that resolution, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays where the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are less stressed.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 533rd out of 1,741 tested configurations in Downfall, placing it in the 69th percentile of all systems tested for this game. This ranking reflects the strong performance of both components, though the CPU's 77th percentile standing and the GPU's 80th percentile standing suggest that other combinations with higher-tier processors or newer graphics cards may achieve better results.

The CPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmarks—the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% higher), Intel Core i5-1335U (0.3% higher), AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (0.7% lower), and AMD EPYC 7773X (1.3% lower)—indicate that the i5-12400F is a mid-pack performer. The GPU's nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (0.2% higher), AMD Radeon 880M (0.4% lower), AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (0.9% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (1% lower)—show that the RTX 3080 remains competitive despite being end-of-life.

The combo's rank of 533 out of 1,741 means that 1,208 tested configurations placed below it, while 532 placed above. This position is consistent with the measured FPS results, which show the system performing strongly at 1440p and adequately at 4K, with the primary weakness being the 4K Ultra result of 58.4 FPS that falls just short of the 60 FPS target.