Downfall

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture, fabricated on a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The chip supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel memory bus, and its PCIe Gen 4 interface provides 20 lanes from the CPU.

In synthetic benchmark terms, the i5-12600KF posts an average benchmark score of 27,799 across all tests, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the Intel Core i9-10900K (average score 27,872, delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (average score 27,896, delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (average score 27,887, delta -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (average score 27,712, delta +0.3%). This means the i5-12600KF is effectively within a third of a percent of each of these processors in overall CPU performance, making it statistically indistinguishable from its direct competitors in aggregate workloads.

Examining threaded workloads specifically, the i5-12600KF achieves 7,956 in 3DMark's 16-thread test, 6,128 in the 8-thread test, and 7,952 in the max-thread test. The 16-thread and max-thread scores being nearly identical (7,956 vs 7,952) indicates that the processor's performance scaling saturates around 16 threads, which aligns with its 16-thread configuration. Single-thread performance is strong as well, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,016 and 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,995, suggesting the two performance-oriented P-cores are doing the heavy lifting in lightly threaded scenarios.

In Cinebench tests, the processor scores 23,391 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3,302 in R23 single-core. The R20 results show 9,824 multicore and 1,386 single-core, while R15 shows 2,357 multicore and 332 single-core. Geekbench results indicate 12,137 multicore and 2,157 single-core scores. PassMark's multithread score is 27,575, with single-thread at 3,925.

For a horror game like Downfall, which is not typically associated with extreme multi-threaded demands, the i5-12600KF's strong single-core performance is likely to be the more relevant attribute. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz, combined with the efficient Alder Lake architecture, ensures that game logic, audio processing, and physics calculations receive responsive single-threaded throughput. The 10 physical cores provide ample headroom for background tasks, streaming, or any secondary threads the game may spawn.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this CPU-GPU combo in Downfall?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 312, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-12600KF compare to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D in overall CPU performance?

A: The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27,799, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D's average score of 27,896. This places the two processors within a negligible performance delta, effectively tied in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo in Downfall?

A: The lowest average FPS is 58, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the combo achieve playable frame rates at 4K resolution in Downfall?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 resolution, the combo achieves 93 FPS on High settings, 114 FPS on Medium settings, and 139 FPS on Low settings. Only the Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS, averaging 58 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 862nd out of 3,716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 23.2% of all tested combos.

Q: How much faster is the 2560x1440 Low setting compared to the 3840x2160 Ultra setting?

A: At 2560x1440 Low, the combo averages 223 FPS, which is 165 FPS higher than the 58 FPS seen at 3840x2160 Ultra. This represents a 284% increase in average frame rate.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the resolution scaling across all four settings presets reveals a consistent pattern of frame rate reduction as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the combo delivers 312 FPS at 1920x1080, dropping to 223 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 139 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 28.5% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 55.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 37.7% drop.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar but with slightly different magnitudes. The combo achieves 256 FPS at 1080p, 182 FPS at 1440p, and 114 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.9%, from 1080p to 4K is 55.5%, and from 1440p to 4K is 37.4%. These percentages are remarkably close to the Low settings scaling, suggesting that the rendering workload scales nearly linearly with pixel count for this game.

High settings show 210 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K. The reductions are 28.6% from 1080p to 1440p, 55.7% from 1080p to 4K, and 38.0% from 1440p to 4K. Again, the scaling percentages remain tightly clustered around 28-29% for the 1080p-to-1440p transition and 37-38% for the 1440p-to-4K transition.

Ultra settings present a different scaling profile. The combo achieves 131 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.2%, from 1080p to 4K is 55.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is 38.3%. Despite the absolute frame rates being much lower on Ultra (particularly at 4K where the average falls to 58 FPS), the proportional scaling remains consistent with the other presets.

The consistency of these scaling percentages across all four settings levels is notable. It indicates that the limiting component at higher resolutions is primarily the GPU, as the frame rate reduction tracks closely with the increase in pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck at lower resolutions, we would expect to see a smaller percentage drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p, as the GPU becomes more loaded and the CPU has more time to prepare frames. The fact that the scaling is nearly identical across all settings suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is the primary constraint, and the i5-12600KF is adequately feeding the RTX 4070.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080:

• Low: 312 FPS average
• Medium: 256 FPS average, with a minimum of 217 FPS and maximum of 294 FPS
• High: 210 FPS average
• Ultra: 131 FPS average

At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. Even the most demanding Ultra preset maintains an average above 130 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can refresh. The Medium preset shows a narrow range between its minimum of 217 FPS and maximum of 294 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial, with Ultra delivering 58% fewer frames than Low.

2560x1440:

• Low: 223 FPS average
• Medium: 182 FPS average, with a minimum of 155 FPS and maximum of 210 FPS
• High: 150 FPS average
• Ultra: 94 FPS average

At 1440p, the combo remains highly capable. Low settings still exceed 200 FPS, and even High settings maintain 150 FPS. Ultra dips below 100 FPS but stays comfortably above 60 FPS, providing a smooth experience for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The Medium preset's range from 155 to 210 FPS shows a 55 FPS spread, suggesting some frame time variance but nothing that would cause perceptible stuttering in a horror game.

3840x2160:

• Low: 139 FPS average
• Medium: 114 FPS average, with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS
• High: 93 FPS average
• Ultra: 58 FPS average

At 4K, the impact of higher resolution becomes more pronounced. Low settings still deliver 139 FPS, which is playable on high-refresh-rate 4K displays. Medium and High remain above 90 FPS, providing smooth gameplay. Ultra drops to 58 FPS average, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for fluid motion. The Medium preset's minimum of 97 FPS ensures that even the worst-case frame dips stay well above the 60 FPS mark.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU contains 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.8 million per square millimeter. It features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 64 raster output units, 46 ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is connected via a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s, texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute performance is 29.15 TFLOPS.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 achieves an average benchmark score of 37,648, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (average score 37,628, delta +0.1%), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (average score 37,507, delta +0.4%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (average score 38,135, delta -1.3%), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (average score 37,157, delta +1.3%). The RTX 4070 is essentially tied with the Tesla P4 and RX Vega 56 in aggregate performance, while being 1.3% behind the RTX 4080 Mobile and 1.3% ahead of the PRO W6400.

The RTX 4070's 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for Downfall's demands, as indicated by the measured frame rates. Even at 4K Ultra settings, where the game is most demanding, the combo still delivers 58 FPS average, suggesting that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor. The 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth provides ample throughput for texture streaming and geometry data at high resolutions.

The boost clock of 2475 MHz, combined with the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency, enables the GPU to maintain high frame rates across all tested settings. The 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power drives the heavy pixel and texture processing required at 4K resolutions. The 46 ray tracing cores also provide hardware acceleration for any ray-traced effects that Downfall might employ, though the game's release date suggests it may not heavily utilize this feature.

The GPU's performance in DirectX 11 (244 in PassMark) and DirectX 12 (103 in PassMark) benchmarks indicates strong compatibility with modern graphics APIs. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures the GPU can handle advanced rendering features.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Analyzing the four available presets across three resolutions, the optimal choice depends heavily on the target display resolution and refresh rate.

For 1920x1080 displays, the High preset at 210 FPS average provides an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset drops to 131 FPS, which is still very smooth, but the 79 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the additional visual fidelity in a horror game where atmosphere is created through lighting and shadows rather than high-resolution textures. Medium at 256 FPS offers no practical advantage over High on a standard 144Hz monitor, as both exceed the display's refresh rate. Low at 312 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 360Hz or higher refresh rate display.

For 2560x1440 displays, the High preset at 150 FPS is the clear recommendation. It provides a 56 FPS improvement over Ultra's 94 FPS while maintaining high visual quality. The Medium preset at 182 FPS offers diminishing returns over High, and Low at 223 FPS sacrifices too much visual fidelity for frame rates that exceed most 1440p displays' capabilities. Ultra at 94 FPS is still playable and would be acceptable for users prioritizing maximum visual quality, but the 37% frame rate reduction from High to Ultra suggests that High is the sweet spot.

For 3840x2160 displays, the situation becomes more nuanced. High at 93 FPS is the best overall choice, providing smooth gameplay on 60Hz and 90Hz displays while maintaining strong visual quality. Medium at 114 FPS offers a 21 FPS improvement over High but with reduced visual fidelity. Ultra at 58 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold, which may cause perceptible judder in some scenes. Low at 139 FPS is excessive for most 4K displays and sacrifices too much visual detail.

Across all resolutions, the High preset emerges as the recommended default. It delivers 210 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K, all of which are well above playable thresholds. The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users seeking higher frame rates, particularly at 4K where it provides 114 FPS compared to High's 93 FPS. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 4K displays who prioritize maximum visual quality over frame rate, accepting the 58 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 862nd out of 3,716 tested combinations in Downfall. This places the combo in the top 23.2% of all tested configurations, indicating that it performs well above the median setup.

This ranking must be interpreted in the context of the entire tested population, which includes both lower-end and higher-end hardware pairings. A rank of 862 out of 3,716 means that roughly 2,854 tested combinations perform worse than this setup, while 861 combinations outperform it. The top 23.2% placement suggests that this combo is positioned in the upper-middle tier of gaming performance for Downfall.

The CPU's 79th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs are consistent with the combo's 77th percentile ranking in-game. The slight discrepancy between the component-level percentiles and the combo-level percentile can be attributed to the specific demands of Downfall, which may favor certain hardware configurations over others.

The measured frame rates reinforce this ranking. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 58 FPS average, which is at the boundary of playable performance. This suggests that the 861 combos ranked higher likely include configurations with more powerful GPUs that can maintain higher frame rates at 4K Ultra settings. Conversely, the 2,854 combos ranked lower likely include older or less capable GPUs that struggle to maintain comparable frame rates across the tested resolution and settings matrix.

The nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks, including the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (delta +0.1%) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta +0.4%), are effectively tied with the RTX 4070 in aggregate GPU performance. However, the RTX 4070's architectural advantages, including its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, likely contribute to its in-game performance in Downfall. The GPU's 81st percentile ranking and the CPU's 79th percentile ranking combine to produce a well-balanced system that performs admirably across all tested resolutions and settings, with the only notable weakness being the sub-60 FPS result at 4K Ultra.