Downfall

The benchmark data for Downfall with the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER reveals a configuration that is consistently capable, though the balance between processor and graphics card shifts dramatically depending on the resolution and quality settings selected. The measured results show a system that can deliver smooth frame rates at mainstream resolutions, but one that is ultimately bound by the GPU’s capabilities when pushed to higher demands. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics across the four tested presets and three resolutions, interprets the scaling behavior, and contextualizes the results against the hardware’s standing in the broader benchmark database.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 146.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same preset drops that figure to 103 FPS, a reduction of roughly 30%. The jump to 4K Low yields 67.4 FPS, which is another substantial 35% decline from the 1440p result. This steep, consistent drop-off as pixel count increases is a classic indicator of a GPU-limited scenario, where the graphics card’s render output units and memory bandwidth are being saturated by the sheer volume of pixels.

The pattern holds across the other presets. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 119.5 FPS at 1080p to 88.1 FPS at 1440p, and then to 55.6 FPS at 4K. The High preset follows suit: 98.2 FPS at 1080p, 72.8 FPS at 1440p, and 45.7 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with a 64.6 FPS average at 1080p, 45.2 FPS at 1440p, and just 27.8 FPS at 4K. The fact that the frame rate nearly halves when moving from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset suggests that the GPU’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and its 192-bit bus are being overwhelmed by the combination of high-resolution textures and heavy effects.

The data suggests that the Core i5-13400F is not the limiting factor in this game at any resolution tested. The consistent scaling pattern aligns with the GPU’s performance profile, which sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 82nd percentile, indicating it has substantial headroom. The frame rate deltas between resolutions are much larger than what would typically result from a CPU bottleneck, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary component determining performance ceilings in Downfall. Even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate peaks at 146.4 FPS, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are evidently keeping pace without introducing a cap.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows, the optimal experience balances visual fidelity with consistent frame rates. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option for playable performance, delivering an average of 55.6 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 45.7 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game where smoothness matters, while Ultra at 27.8 FPS is effectively unplayable. The Low preset at 4K produces 67.4 FPS, but the visual hit is likely severe given the game’s atmospheric nature.

For 1440p users, the High preset emerges as the sweet spot. It yields an average of 72.8 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and represents a significant visual upgrade over the Medium preset’s 88.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 45.2 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror sequences but will feel stuttery during action. The Low preset’s 103 FPS is excessive for the genre and sacrifices too much visual detail.

At 1080p, the High preset is the clear recommendation. The 98.2 FPS average is well above what is needed for smooth gameplay, and it offers a substantial improvement over the Medium preset’s 119.5 FPS in terms of shadow quality, texture filtering, and draw distance. The Ultra preset at 64.6 FPS is playable, but the 34% performance penalty compared to High makes it a poor trade-off for what are likely incremental visual gains. The Low preset’s 146.4 FPS is unnecessary and undermines the horror atmosphere that Downfall relies on. The data indicates that High settings at 1080p or 1440p provide the best balance of performance and fidelity for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the central figure in this performance analysis. The card’s TU116 chip, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, contains 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at an effective speed of 14 Gbps. The memory subsystem, with a 192-bit bus, provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, which is a critical resource for a game like Downfall that demands high-resolution textures.

The benchmark results for the GPU show a mixed profile. Its Passmark G3D score is 12699, and its overall average benchmark score is 14286. These numbers place it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms just over half of the tested graphics cards. The nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (with an average score of 14314, a delta of -0.2%), the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315, -0.2%), and the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352, -0.5%). Interestingly, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is also close, with a score of 14389 and a delta of -0.7%. These tight deltas, all within 1%, indicate that the GTX 1660 SUPER is clustered with a group of GPUs that deliver nearly identical raw compute performance.

In Downfall, the GPU’s role is decisive. The frame rate scaling with resolution is directly tied to the card’s ability to fill pixels and manage memory. The 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate and the 157.1 GTexel/s texture rate are the hardware limits that define how many pixels can be shaded and how many textures can be applied per second. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset bottoms out at 27.8 FPS, while 1080p Low reaches 146.4 FPS, shows that the card has a wide performance envelope, but it is quickly exhausted by the demands of 4K rendering. The card’s 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is adequate for the game’s effects, but the memory bandwidth becomes the choke point at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Core i5-13400F and GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1505th out of 1741 total combos for Downfall. This places it in the bottom 14th percentile of all tested systems, which might seem surprising given the playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. However, this rank is relative to a field that includes far more powerful modern GPUs and CPUs, many of which are designed for high-refresh-rate 1440p or 4K gaming. The rank reflects the combo’s overall capability ceiling rather than its suitability for a specific resolution.

The rank is heavily influenced by the GPU’s modest standing. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs means that the majority of graphics cards in the database are more capable, which drags the combo’s rank down. The CPU, on the other hand, is a strong performer. The Core i5-13400F’s average benchmark score of 25236 places it in the 82nd percentile, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of its score. The Intel Core i7-13620H (avg score 25201, delta 0.1%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, -0.5%), AMD EPYC 9474F (25103, 0.5%), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25099, 0.5%) are all statistically tied with it. This indicates that the CPU is not the reason for the low combo rank.

The data suggests that if this combo were paired with a higher-tier GPU, its rank would improve substantially. The CPU has the headroom to support faster graphics cards, as evidenced by its high percentile and strong multi-threaded scores. The combo’s rank of 1505 out of 1741 is a direct consequence of the GPU’s performance ceiling in Downfall, and it serves as a reminder that the graphics card is the dominant factor in determining a system’s gaming rank.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F plays a supporting but important role in this configuration. It is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark results are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 25032, and its 3DMark max-threads score is 7307.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured frame rates show that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 146.4 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s practical limit for this game, but the fact that it does not go higher is more a function of the GPU’s output than a CPU constraint. The CPU’s single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Geekbench single-core score of 2301, is more than sufficient for the game’s main thread.

The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are overkill for a horror game like Downfall, which is unlikely to scale well beyond a few threads. However, the high multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R20 multi-core of 8937 and Geekbench multi-core of 10971) ensure that any background tasks or game engine auxiliary threads will not cause frame hitches. The CPU’s 82nd percentile ranking, with an average score of 25236, places it significantly above the GPU in relative performance. This imbalance is the defining characteristic of the combo: a processor that is ready for a more powerful graphics card, paired with a GPU that limits the overall experience. The data confirms that upgrading the GPU would yield significant frame rate gains in Downfall, while the CPU would remain a stable foundation.