Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces a benchmark profile that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but reveals a more balanced picture at 1080p, where frame rates climb high enough to expose the CPU's contribution. This combo ranks 31st out of 2,928 tested combinations for Downfall, placing it in the top 1.1% of all measured systems, a position driven almost entirely by the RTX 5090 D's exceptional raw throughput.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, yet the pattern is not uniform across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 406 at 1080p to 345 at 1440p, a 15% reduction, and then further to 214 at 4K, representing a 38% drop from 1440p and a 47% drop from 1080p. This trajectory indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU remains the dominant bottleneck at 4K, but the relatively modest 1080p-to-1440p decline suggests the CPU is beginning to limit performance at the lowest resolution.

For High settings, the scaling is steeper: 324 FPS at 1080p falls to 231 FPS at 1440p (a 29% reduction) and then to 144 FPS at 4K (a 38% reduction from 1440p). The Medium preset shows a similar pattern, with 378 FPS at 1080p, 282 FPS at 1440p, and 175 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which demands the most from the GPU, drops from 202 FPS at 1080p to 144 FPS at 1440p and 90 FPS at 4K, a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

The resolution scaling analysis reveals that the RTX 5090 D's performance headroom is most evident at 1080p, where even Ultra settings produce 202 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra is a factor of 2.0. At 4K, that gap narrows to 2.4 between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU's workload scales significantly with both resolution and settings, while the CPU's contribution becomes relatively less impactful. The data suggests that at 4K, the limiting component is unambiguously the GPU, as even the most demanding preset yields playable frame rates above 90 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture part built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 750 mm² and 92,200 million transistors. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is a substantial resource for a horror title like Downfall, where texture streaming and high-resolution assets can stress memory capacity. The GPU's base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, deliver a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is clearly dominant at 4K, where the measured FPS across all settings (90 to 214 FPS) stays well within the GPU's capability envelope. The 32 GB VRAM is unlikely to be a limiting factor in this game, as even the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K produces an average of 90 FPS, suggesting the memory subsystem is not saturated. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution textures without causing frame time spikes, as evidenced by the min FPS values recorded at Medium settings: 149 FPS at 4K, 240 FPS at 1440p, and 322 FPS at 1080p, all of which are within 15% of the average FPS for those configurations.

The GPU's benchmark scores further contextualize its position: a Passmark G3D score of 44,065 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915 place it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (avg score 78,940, delta -1.6%) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (avg score 79,605, delta -2.4%), but the RTX 5090 D's avg benchmark score of 77,712 is notably higher than the Radeon RX 6650M XT's 76,904 (delta 1.1%). These scores indicate that the GPU has substantial headroom for demanding titles, and Downfall's measured FPS confirms this, as even 4K Ultra stays above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how each settings preset affects performance, allowing for a data-driven recommendation. At 4K, the Ultra preset yields an average of 90 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for frame drops in a horror game where sudden load spikes can occur. The High preset at 4K produces 144 FPS, a 60% improvement over Ultra, while the Medium preset delivers 175 FPS, a 94% improvement over Ultra. Given that the visual difference between High and Ultra in Downfall is often subtle, the High preset at 4K represents the best balance, offering 144 FPS with a 38% higher frame rate than Ultra.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 231 FPS, while Ultra drops to 144 FPS. The Medium preset at 282 FPS offers a 96% improvement over Ultra, but High provides a more substantial visual upgrade at 231 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. For users with 144Hz displays, the High preset at 1440p is the optimal choice, as it delivers exactly 231 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery without the need for the lower-quality Medium preset.

At 1080p, all presets exceed 200 FPS, with Low at 406 FPS, Medium at 378 FPS, High at 324 FPS, and Ultra at 202 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that dips below 300 FPS, but it still provides a smooth experience on 144Hz displays. For competitive play, the Medium preset at 378 FPS offers a 17% improvement over High while maintaining quality, but for most users, the High preset at 324 FPS is the recommended choice, as it balances visual fidelity with a frame rate that exceeds any current display's refresh rate. The data indicates that the High preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions, providing the best experience per the measured rows without sacrificing significant performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 31st out of 2,928 tested combos for Downfall, placing it in the top 1.1% of all systems. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance, as the RTX 5090 D's 92nd percentile standing among all GPUs contributes the majority of the combo's capability. The CPU, which sits in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, provides sufficient support to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at higher resolutions, but at 1080p, the CPU's influence becomes more apparent.

The combo's rank of 31 means that only 30 other CPU-GPU pairings in the database outperform it in Downfall, a remarkable achievement given the breadth of tested hardware. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, have lower average benchmark scores, and the measured FPS in Downfall reflects this hierarchy. The RTX 5090 D's dominance in the GPU benchmarks, with a Passmark G3D score of 44,065, ensures that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, even those with higher-end CPUs.

The ranking also highlights the diminishing returns of pairing a mid-range CPU with a flagship GPU. While the combo achieves top-tier performance, the CPU's 77th percentile standing suggests that a more powerful processor could potentially improve results at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 400 FPS in Low settings. However, the measured data shows that the combo still delivers exceptional performance across all resolutions, and the rank of 31 out of 2,928 confirms the RTX 5090 D's raw capability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a Raptor Lake-S architecture part with 10 cores and 16 threads, based on a 10 nm process with a die size of 215 mm². Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with 20 MB of shared L3 cache, provide solid single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The CPU's benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22,604 and a single-core score of 3,191, as well as a Geekbench multi-core score of 11,068 and single-core score of 1,996. These figures place the i5-13400F in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,292.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the average FPS reaches 406. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the RTX 5090 D with enough data to maintain over 400 FPS in less demanding scenes. However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (406 to 345 FPS, a 15% drop) indicates that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor, but the CPU is still contributing meaningfully. At 4K Low settings, the drop to 214 FPS is entirely GPU-bound, as the resolution increase places a heavier load on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (avg score 25,284, delta 0%), the Intel Core 5 120 (avg score 25,362, delta -0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (avg score 25,365, delta -0.3%). These comparisons show that the i5-13400F is competitive with other mid-range and upper-mid-range processors, but its 10-core, 16-thread configuration is not the primary driver of the combo's performance in Downfall. The game's horror genre typically relies on single-threaded performance for AI and physics, and the i5-13400F's boost clock of 4.60 GHz and single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3,191 are sufficient to avoid bottlenecks at frame rates below 400 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS across settings shows a clear hierarchy. Low settings produce an average of 406 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings deliver 378 FPS, with a minimum of 322 FPS and a maximum of 435 FPS, indicating consistent frame delivery. High settings yield 324 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 202 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 204 FPS, a factor of 2.0, which reflects the GPU's ability to handle the increased workload without significant frame time variance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced drop from 1080p. Low settings average 345 FPS, Medium settings average 282 FPS (min 240, max 324), High settings average 231 FPS, and Ultra settings average 144 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 201 FPS, nearly identical to 1080p, but the absolute values are lower, confirming the GPU's increasing load. The Medium preset's min FPS of 240 at 1440p is notable, as it indicates that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above 144 Hz.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings average 214 FPS, Medium settings average 175 FPS (min 149, max 202), High settings average 144 FPS, and Ultra settings average 90 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 100 FPS, and even then, it remains playable on high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset's min FPS of 149 at 4K is particularly strong, showing that the combo can maintain smooth performance even in demanding scenes. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings (202 to 90 FPS, a 55% reduction) is the largest in the dataset, underscoring the GPU's role as the primary performance driver at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?

A: The data shows that 1440p with High settings provides 231 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. At 4K, High settings deliver 144 FPS, which is also excellent. The choice depends on display capabilities, but 1440p High offers the best balance of quality and performance.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940). It also trails the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605) by 2.4%.

Q: Is the Core i5-13400F a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 D in Downfall?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 406 FPS, indicating the CPU can support very high frame rates. However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as frame rates drop to 90 FPS on Ultra settings. The CPU is not a significant limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 31st out of 2,928 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.1% of all systems in the database.

Q: How does the Ultra preset at 4K perform compared to High at 4K?

A: Ultra at 4K averages 90 FPS, while High at 4K averages 144 FPS, a 60% improvement. The High preset also maintains a higher minimum frame rate, making it the more reliable choice for consistent performance.

Q: What is the highest measured FPS in the dataset?

A: The highest average FPS is 406, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The maximum FPS recorded is 435, observed at 1080p with Medium settings.