Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a striking performance profile in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that remains demanding at high resolutions. With measured frame rates ranging from 84 FPS at 4K Ultra to 438 FPS at 1080p Low, this combination demonstrates extraordinary headroom across the board. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, while the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads begin to show their influence as settings and resolution escalate. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows, contextualizes the combo's rank among 3,716 tested configurations, and provides actionable settings guidance based strictly on the observed results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe but not uniform across settings, revealing where the bottleneck shifts. At Low settings, average frame rate falls from 438 FPS at 1920x1080 to 201 FPS at 3840x2160 — a 54% reduction. This dramatic decline indicates that even at Low settings, the RTX 5090's rendering workload at 4K overwhelms the CPU's ability to feed frames, though the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 370 FPS at 1080p drops to 164 FPS at 4K, a 56% decrease. Interestingly, High settings show the smallest relative drop among the three lower presets: 303 FPS at 1080p falls to 135 FPS at 4K, a 55% reduction — nearly identical scaling to Medium.

Ultra settings tell a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 190 FPS, which falls to 135 FPS at 1440p and finally 84 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 29%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 38%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions suggests that Ultra settings introduce enough GPU load to make the RTX 5090 the clear limiting component, whereas at lower presets, the i5-12600KF's single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 1016) may constrain frame delivery at 1080p. The data shows that at 4K, the gap between Low (201 FPS) and Ultra (84 FPS) is 117 FPS — a 58% spread — while at 1080p, the same settings gap is 248 FPS, a 57% spread. This consistency implies the CPU can push high frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU's pixel throughput at 4K becomes the dominant factor.

The Medium preset's min/max data at each resolution provides additional insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 314 to 425 FPS (a 111 FPS spread), while at 1440p Medium it narrows to 225-304 FPS (79 FPS spread), and at 4K Medium it tightens further to 140-189 FPS (49 FPS spread). This progressive narrowing of the frame time distribution as resolution increases confirms that the RTX 5090's workload becomes more consistent at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, CPU-driven frame spikes create wider variability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 brings 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. In Downfall, this memory configuration proves more than sufficient even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS of 84 remains well above playable thresholds. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz, combined with 21,760 shading units, drive the high frame rates observed across all measured rows. The RTX 5090's 92.2 billion transistors on a 750 mm² die, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process, represent the computational foundation for the 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput that Downfall leverages at higher settings.

The GPU's percentile rank of 92 among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842, places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals — the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (deltaPct 0.3), Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (deltaPct 0.6), AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (deltaPct 1.1), and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (deltaPct -1.4) — are all within a narrow band, but the RTX 5090's gaming-specific architecture (Blackwell 2.0) delivers the raw throughput Downfall requires. The 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores suggest hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether such features were enabled.

At 4K Ultra, the 84 FPS average indicates the GPU is operating at its limit for this title, given that the i5-12600KF's 3dmark_max_threads score of 7,952 and cinebench_r23_multicore score of 23,391 should not bottleneck at this resolution. The 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs provide the pixel and texture fill rates (423.6 GPixel/s and 1,636.8 GTexel/s respectively) necessary for Downfall's horror environments, which likely feature dense volumetric effects and detailed textures that stress the GPU's memory subsystem. The 28 Gbps effective memory speed on GDDR7 is a generational leap over predecessor cards, explaining why the 4K High preset still achieves 135 FPS — a figure that would have been impossible for cards from the GeForce 40 series era.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3,716 tested CPU-GPU combinations in Downfall, this pairing of Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves rank 84. This places it in the top 2.3% of all tested combos, a strong showing that reflects the RTX 5090's dominance despite the i5-12600KF's mid-range positioning. The CPU itself holds a 79th percentile rank among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27,799. Its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i9-10900K (deltaPct -0.3), AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (deltaPct 0.3), AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (deltaPct -0.3), and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (deltaPct -0.3) — are all within a fraction of a percent in average score, indicating that the i5-12600KF sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The rank 84 out of 3,716 is particularly notable because the i5-12600KF is not a flagship CPU. Its 10 cores and 16 threads at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz deliver sufficient multi-threaded performance (cinebench_r23_multicore score of 23,391) to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 in most scenarios. The GPU's percentile rank of 92 and average benchmark score of 79,842 far exceed the CPU's relative standing, meaning this combo's strong rank is primarily driven by the graphics card. The delta between CPU and GPU performance tiers suggests that pairing the RTX 5090 with a higher-end CPU could potentially push the combo rank higher, though the measured FPS data shows no obvious CPU limitation at 4K.

Comparing this combo's rank to what the individual components suggest: the CPU's 79th percentile and GPU's 92nd percentile would predict a combined rank around the 85th percentile, and indeed rank 84 out of 3,716 equates to roughly the 97.7th percentile — better than the component averages might imply. This overperformance likely stems from Downfall's optimization for multi-threaded CPUs, as the i5-12600KF's 16 threads handle the game's background simulation tasks efficiently, while the RTX 5090's massive shading array crushes the graphical workload. The result is a combo that ranks higher than the sum of its parts, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the GPU's 32 GB VRAM prevents any memory-related stuttering.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings optimization. At 4K, the Medium preset delivers 164 FPS average with a min of 140 FPS and max of 189 FPS — this represents the best balance of visual quality and performance for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at 4K drops to 135 FPS, which remains smooth but offers diminishing returns for the 29 FPS average loss. The Ultra preset at 4K (84 FPS) is playable but approaches the lower bound of what competitive or fast-paced horror gameplay might require, especially given that the min FPS is not recorded for that row. For 1440p, the Medium preset at 264 FPS (min 225, max 304) is the sweet spot, while High at 217 FPS is nearly as fluid and offers better visuals. The Ultra preset at 1440p (135 FPS) matches the 4K High result, suggesting that resolution scaling at Ultra is roughly equivalent to dropping to High at the next resolution down.

At 1080p, the Medium preset's 370 FPS average (min 314, max 425) is the recommended choice for maximum frame rates without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. The Low preset at 438 FPS provides an additional 68 FPS headroom, but the visual degradation in a horror title may undermine atmosphere. The High preset at 303 FPS is still exceptionally smooth and likely represents the best visual-to-performance ratio at 1080p. The Ultra preset at 190 FPS is the only setting where the frame rate drops below 200 FPS at 1080p, yet it remains well above any playability threshold. For players with 240 Hz monitors, the 1440p Medium preset (264 FPS) or 1080p High preset (303 FPS) both exceed refresh rate capabilities, making the choice purely about resolution preference versus visual detail.

The data suggests that for most users, the Medium preset offers the most consistent experience across all resolutions, as evidenced by the recorded min/max values at each resolution. The Ultra preset's lack of min/max data in the measured rows makes it harder to assess frame stability, but the average FPS figures at 4K (84) and 1440p (135) indicate that this setting is best reserved for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate. The High preset serves as a middle ground, providing 135 FPS at 4K and 217 FPS at 1440p, both of which exceed typical 144 Hz display refresh rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings average 438 FPS, Medium averages 370 FPS (min 314, max 425), High averages 303 FPS, and Ultra averages 190 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 57% reduction in average FPS, yet even the lowest 1080p result remains far above what most displays can show. The Medium preset's min FPS of 314 indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system never drops below the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings average 323 FPS, Medium averages 264 FPS (min 225, max 304), High averages 217 FPS, and Ultra averages 135 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 26% reduction for Low (438 to 323), a 29% reduction for Medium (370 to 264), a 28% reduction for High (303 to 217), and a 29% reduction for Ultra (190 to 135). This consistent reduction across settings indicates that resolution scaling is linear and GPU-bound, with the RTX 5090's pixel throughput being the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results demonstrate the RTX 5090's capability at 4K. Low settings average 201 FPS, Medium averages 164 FPS (min 140, max 189), High averages 135 FPS, and Ultra averages 84 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K reduction is 38% for Low (323 to 201), 38% for Medium (264 to 164), 38% for High (217 to 135), and 38% for Ultra (135 to 84). This nearly identical scaling across all settings reinforces that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, with the i5-12600KF providing sufficient frame delivery to keep the RTX 5090 fully fed. The Medium preset's min FPS of 140 at 4K is particularly noteworthy, as it guarantees smooth gameplay even in the most demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Downfall?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 438, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling for this configuration, with Medium (370 FPS) and High (303 FPS) also exceeding 300 FPS at 1080p.

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

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra preset averages 84 FPS, which is 40% above the 60 FPS threshold. The min FPS is not recorded for this row, but the average indicates comfortable headroom for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27,799, placing it within 0.3% of the Intel Core i9-10900K (27,872), AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27,887), and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (27,896). It is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27,712).

Q: What is the performance gap between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium averages 264 FPS while High averages 217 FPS, a difference of 47 FPS (18% reduction). The Medium preset also shows a min FPS of 225, while High's min FPS is not recorded.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 rank among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 holds a 92nd percentile rank among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, scores 79,605, a delta of 0.3%.

Q: What is the frame rate consistency at 4K Medium settings?

A: The 4K Medium preset shows an average of 164 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS and maximum of 189 FPS. This 49 FPS spread indicates stable frame pacing, with the minimum still well above 120 FPS.