Downfall

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 produces a measured performance profile in Downfall that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound. The CPU sits at the 82nd percentile among all tested processors, while the GPU sits at the 43rd percentile, and the frame rate data reflects this imbalance: the system can deliver smooth 1080p gameplay on lower presets, but it falls apart as resolution and quality settings climb.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows point to a clear sweet spot at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. At that resolution, Low averages 92 FPS, Medium 75 FPS, High 61.7 FPS, and Ultra 36.6 FPS. Medium delivers 75 FPS average, which is 13 FPS below Low but still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, and it offers a meaningful visual upgrade over Low. High at 61.7 FPS is technically playable but leaves almost no headroom for demanding scenes, while Ultra at 36.6 FPS is not a viable experience for a horror game that benefits from smooth motion.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. Low averages 67.8 FPS, Medium 52.9 FPS, High 43.8 FPS, and Ultra 26.4 FPS. Only Low clears 60 FPS. Medium at 52.9 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced horror, but the 14.9 FPS drop from Low to Medium shows the GPU is already under significant strain. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 40 FPS: Low 38.4, Medium 33.1, High 24.4, Ultra 17.9. The data indicates that 4K is not a target worth pursuing with this combination.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium. It provides 75 FPS average, which is smooth, and the visual uplift over Low is substantial. For players who prioritize frame rate above all else, 1080p Low at 92 FPS is the maximum measured performance. High at 61.7 FPS is the highest quality preset that stays above 60, but it is a marginal result. The recommendation is clear: 1080p Medium for the best balance, with 1080p Low as the fallback for maximum smoothness.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 92 FPS at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Is 4K playable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: No. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only averages 38.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 17.9 FPS. None of the 4K presets reach a playable 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1650's average benchmark score is 8713, which is 0.4% below the RTX 3050 A Mobile and 0.4% below the Radeon 550X, 0.5% above the Quadro P2200, and 0.5% below the Radeon Pro WX 5100.

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

A: The combo ranks 1693 out of 1741 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 2.8% of systems for this game.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i5-13400F has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004, placing it at the 82nd percentile. The GPU is the limiting factor, as shown by the large FPS gains when lowering settings.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, only the Low preset averages above 60 FPS at 67.8. Medium at 52.9 is the highest quality that remains reasonably smooth, but Low is the only preset that clears 60.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep decline as resolution increases. At the High preset, the average FPS goes from 61.7 at 1080p to 43.8 at 1440p, a drop of 17.9 FPS (29%). From 1440p to 4K, it falls to 24.4, another 19.4 FPS drop (44%). At the Low preset, the scaling is similar: 92 at 1080p, 67.8 at 1440p, and 38.4 at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 24.2 FPS (26%), and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 29.4 FPS (43%).

This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The GTX 1650 has a 128-bit memory bus and 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth, and its 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM is likely saturated at higher resolutions. The CPU, with 10 cores and a 4.60 GHz boost clock, is not the constraint — if it were, the FPS would not scale so dramatically with resolution and settings. The fact that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 1080p more than doubles the frame rate (36.6 to 92) further confirms that the GPU's shading and memory throughput are the limiting factors.

The scaling also shows that the gap between presets narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 55.4 FPS. At 1440p, it is 41.4 FPS. At 4K, it is 20.5 FPS. This narrowing suggests that at 4K, even the Low preset is pushing the GPU to its limits, and the additional load from higher settings has diminishing returns because the GPU is already saturated.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are: Low 92 FPS, Medium 75 FPS, High 61.7 FPS, Ultra 36.6 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 17 FPS, from Medium to High costs 13.3 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 25.1 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that falls below 60, and it does so by a wide margin.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 67.8 FPS, Medium 52.9 FPS, High 43.8 FPS, Ultra 26.4 FPS. Only Low clears 60. Medium is 14.9 FPS below Low, High is 9.1 FPS below Medium, and Ultra is 17.4 FPS below High. The Ultra preset at 26.4 FPS is barely interactive.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 38.4 FPS, Medium 33.1 FPS, High 24.4 FPS, Ultra 17.9 FPS. The entire resolution is below 40 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 5.3 FPS, Medium to High is 8.7 FPS, and High to Ultra is 6.5 FPS. The data shows that at 4K, even the lowest settings cannot provide a smooth experience.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: the GTX 1650's performance ceiling is around 92 FPS at 1080p Low, and every increase in resolution or settings reduces the frame rate in a predictable, GPU-bound manner.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1693 out of 1741 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 2.8% of all systems tested. This low rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU. The GTX 1650 sits at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 8713. Its nearest rivals are the RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746, 0.4% higher), the Radeon 550X (8749, 0.4% higher), the Quadro P2200 (8671, 0.5% lower), and the Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761, 0.5% higher). The GPU is essentially at parity with these mid-range and older workstation cards.

The CPU, by contrast, is a strong performer. The i5-13400F ranks at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its nearest rivals are the i7-13620H (25201, 0.1% lower), the Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, 0.5% higher), the EPYC 9474F (25103, 0.5% lower), and the Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25099, 0.5% lower). The CPU is not the reason for the low combo rank.

The data implies that this combination is heavily imbalanced for Downfall. The CPU has ample headroom, while the GPU is the clear bottleneck. In a game that is not particularly CPU-intensive, the 1693rd rank reflects the GPU's inability to maintain high frame rates at higher settings and resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has 20 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP. Its launch MSRP is $196. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 21279 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3004 in single-core, 10971 in Geekbench multi-core and 2301 in single-core, and 7314 in 3DMark 16-thread and 960 in 3DMark single-thread.

For Downfall, a horror game released in 2016, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are largely irrelevant. The game's engine is unlikely to scale across 16 threads, and the single-thread performance — a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3004 — is more than sufficient. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, and the measured FPS data shows no sign of CPU limitation: frame rates scale directly with resolution and settings, which is the signature of a GPU-bound system.

The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide headroom for background tasks and streaming, but in this specific game, the data shows that the processor is not the constraint. The 4.60 GHz boost clock and 20 MB L3 cache are more than enough for a 2016 horror title. The CPU's role here is to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck, and the benchmark results indicate it does so easily.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its launch MSRP is 149 USD. The GPU's average benchmark score is 8713, placing it at the 43rd percentile. In specific tests, it scores 7880 in Passmark G3D, 305 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 39112 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 35966 in Geekbench Vulkan.

The GTX 1650 is the dominant factor in this combo's performance. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high settings at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 36.6, and at 4K Ultra it is 17.9. The GPU's 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply not enough to drive a modern horror game at high resolutions.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within 0.5% of its average score, indicating that the GTX 1650 sits in a tightly packed performance tier. The RTX 3050 A Mobile, Radeon 550X, Quadro P2200, and Radeon Pro WX 5100 all perform within a fraction of a percent. This means that swapping the GPU for any of these would yield nearly identical frame rates in Downfall.

The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component in every measured scenario. The 4 GB VRAM is likely a constraint at 4K, where even Low settings average only 38.4 FPS. The 128-bit memory bus and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the bandwidth demands of higher resolutions. The GPU's 43rd percentile ranking, combined with the CPU's 82nd percentile, explains why this combo ranks 1693 out of 1741 — the processor is far more capable than the graphics card, and the overall system performance is capped by the GPU.