Downfall

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 is a combination that targets 1080p gaming, and the measured data confirms this is where it belongs. In Downfall, this setup produces playable frame rates at 1080p with High settings, but pushing to higher resolutions or the Ultra preset quickly exposes the GPU's limitations. The sweet spot for this combo is 1080p with High settings, where the average of 60.5 FPS aligns with standard monitor refresh rates. Dropping to Low settings yields a much higher 95 FPS average, which is beneficial for competitive play or if you prefer maximum headroom, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial. Medium settings at 76.2 FPS offers a balanced compromise, though the data suggests the GPU handles the High preset well enough that it should be the default choice for most users.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show a clear hierarchy across settings presets. At 1080p, the gap between Low and High is 34.5 FPS, but the jump from High to Ultra is a massive 22.4 FPS drop, taking the average from 60.5 down to 38.1 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset includes effects that heavily tax the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and GCN 4.0 architecture. For a smooth experience, the High preset is the recommended starting point, as it maintains a 60.5 FPS average while providing the visual fidelity that the game's horror atmosphere benefits from. If you need more responsiveness, Medium at 76.2 FPS is a solid fallback, but the data shows that the jump from Medium to High only costs 15.7 FPS, making High the better visual investment. Avoid Ultra at 1080p unless you are willing to accept sub-40 FPS averages, and the same logic applies to 1440p, where even High only manages 42.4 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the primary bottleneck in this pairing. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at higher resolutions and the Ultra preset. The GPU's base clock of 1168 MHz and boost clock of 1244 MHz are modest by modern standards, but the architecture's 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs handle the game's DirectX 12 (12_0) workload without issue at lower settings. The measured performance data shows the GPU scaling predictably: at 1080p Low, it achieves 95 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it collapses to 18 FPS. This stark drop indicates that the RX 570's pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s are simply not enough to feed the display at higher resolutions. The GPU's percentile rank of 74 versus all GPUs places it in the mid-range, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which are within 0.2% to 0.8% in average benchmark score, but the RX 570's end-of-life production status means it is a legacy part.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and tells a clear story about the limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 60.5 at 1080p to 42.4 at 1440p, a 29.9% reduction, and then to 27.9 at 4K, a further 34.2% reduction from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU is not the limiting factor. The i5-14400F's strong single-core performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2333 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093, ensures that it is not holding the GPU back. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 95 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game, but at higher settings, the GPU becomes the clear constraint. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with even Low settings only reaching 39.2 FPS, confirming that this combo is not viable for 4K gaming in Downfall.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1629 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 6.4% of all configurations. This low ranking is unsurprising given the GPU's age and the game's demands at higher settings. The rank reflects the overall performance across all resolutions, and the RX 570's inability to maintain playable frame rates at 1440p and 4K drags the combo down. However, within the 1080p segment, the combo is more competitive. The CPU's percentile rank of 88 versus all CPUs is strong, and its average benchmark score of 32508 places it near the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, 0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446, 0.2% delta). This means the i5-14400F is a capable processor that is being held back by the GPU, and in a game like Downfall, the combo's rank is more a reflection of the GPU's limitations than the CPU's capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides a solid foundation for this combo. With 10 cores and 16 threads, it offers substantial multi-threaded performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and Passmark multi-thread score of 25783. Its boost clock of 4.70 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is crucial for game logic and frame pacing. The CPU's L3 cache of 20 MB shared is ample for modern games, and its support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory gives system builders flexibility. In Downfall, the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns. At 1080p Low, the 95 FPS average is likely approaching the CPU's limit, but at higher settings, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The CPU's performance is consistent with its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-13705H (32586, -0.2% delta) and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584, -0.2% delta), all within 0.2% of each other in average benchmark score.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across all resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor: Ultra averages 18 FPS, High averages 27.9 FPS, Medium averages 34.7 FPS, and Low averages 39.2 FPS. None of these are playable for a smooth experience, and even the Low preset falls below the 40 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the situation improves slightly: Ultra averages 30.2 FPS, High averages 42.4 FPS, Medium averages 57 FPS, and Low averages 68.7 FPS. The Medium and Low presets are playable, while High is borderline and Ultra is not recommended. At 1920x1080, the combo shows its strengths: Ultra averages 38.1 FPS, High averages 60.5 FPS, Medium averages 76.2 FPS, and Low averages 95 FPS. The High preset is the sweet spot, offering a 60.5 FPS average that is smooth for most players. The data shows that the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is consistent, with each preset step costing roughly 15-20 FPS until the Ultra preset, which takes a larger 22.4 FPS hit from High. This suggests that the Ultra preset includes effects that are particularly demanding on the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM. For the best experience, stick to 1080p High or Medium, and only drop to Low if you need to maximize refresh rate.