Downfall

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use with the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT in Downfall?

A: The High preset delivers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080 it averages 189 FPS, at 2560x1440 it hits 135 FPS, and even at 3840x2160 it maintains 84 FPS — all without the steep performance penalty of Ultra.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 4K?

A: The Low preset averages 125 FPS at 3840x2160, which is 72 FPS higher than the Ultra preset's 53 FPS at the same resolution. That represents a 135% performance uplift when dropping from Ultra to Low.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K in Downfall?

A: Yes, but only on lower presets. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 averages 103 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS, while High averages 84 FPS. Ultra at 4K falls to 53 FPS, which may be below the threshold for smooth gameplay depending on the display's refresh rate.

Q: How does the i5-14400F compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14400F posts an average benchmark score of 32279, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U's 32233 and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900's 32226. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS by 0.2% (32354).

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic benchmark standing relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7800 XT has an average benchmark score of 11627, placing it 0.5% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (11680) and 1.8% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (11842). It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M by 0.9% and the NVIDIA Tesla K20c by 1.3%.

Q: What memory configuration does the RX 7800 XT use, and how does it affect Downfall?

A: The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. This large frame buffer helps sustain high average FPS across all presets and resolutions in Downfall, particularly at 4K where the Medium preset still holds a 87 FPS minimum.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz boosts up to 4.70 GHz, providing the computational headroom needed for Downfall's horror-game workloads. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache, alongside 1.25 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core, helps feed the Radeon RX 7800 XT with sufficient data to maintain high frame rates.

In synthetic testing, the i5-14400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055. The Geekbench results show 11268 multi-core and 2058 single-core. These figures indicate strong per-thread performance, which matters for Downfall's engine that likely relies on a mix of heavily-threaded rendering tasks and single-threaded game logic. The Passmark multi-thread score of 25470 and single-thread score of 3701 reinforce the processor's balanced capability.

The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking against all processors places it firmly in the upper tier of desktop chips. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, 0.1% lower) and the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, 0.2% lower). The i5-14400F's 32279 average score is essentially neck-and-neck with these alternatives, suggesting that in CPU-bound scenarios within Downfall, the choice between these processors would yield negligible differences.

The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel bus, with ECC memory support as an option. Its 65 W TDP indicates efficient power delivery, and the Intel Socket 1700 platform provides PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes from the CPU. For Downfall, the CPU's role is to maintain consistent frame pacing; with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, the i5-14400F has sufficient single-core speed to avoid bottlenecking the RX 7800 XT at lower resolutions where frame rates climb above 200 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process node. The GPU contains 28,100 million transistors across a 346 mm² die, with 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The 60 ray-tracing cores provide hardware acceleration for any ray-traced effects in Downfall, though the game's 2016 release date suggests traditional rasterization dominates.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable: a base clock of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2124 MHz, and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. Memory runs at 2438 MHz with 19.5 Gbps effective speed, delivering 624.1 GB/s across a 256-bit bus. The 16 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is generous, ensuring that even at 4K resolution with High settings, the card does not run out of memory capacity.

Compute performance is substantial, with FP32 throughput of 37.32 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s. The texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s ensures that texture-heavy scenes in Downfall are processed without delay. The GPU's TDP of 263 W requires a 600 W suggested PSU and dual 8-pin power connectors, which is standard for this performance class.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7800 XT scores 24176 in Passmark G3D, 54228 in Geekbench Vulkan, and 18290 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its 51st percentile ranking against all GPUs might seem modest, but the nearest rivals tell a different story — the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (11680, 0.5% higher) and AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (11842, 1.8% higher) are close in average score, yet the RX 7800 XT's real-world gaming performance in Downfall demonstrates far greater capability than these synthetic averages suggest. The card's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4157 indicates strong DirectX 12 performance.

Downfall's measured results show the RX 7800 XT scaling efficiently with resolution. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 282 FPS; at 4K Low, it still manages 125 FPS. The GPU's memory bandwidth and 16 GB capacity allow it to maintain playable frame rates even at 4K Medium (103 FPS average, 87 FPS minimum), which is where the card's strengths are most evident.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across presets and resolutions allows for clear recommendations. The High preset emerges as the optimal choice for most users, providing the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1920x1080, High averages 189 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most high-refresh monitors. At 2560x1440, High maintains 135 FPS, comfortably above 120 FPS for smooth gameplay. Even at 3840x2160, High delivers 84 FPS, which is playable on 60 Hz displays and close to 90 Hz thresholds.

The Medium preset offers a safer margin at 4K, with an average of 103 FPS and a minimum of 87 FPS. The minimum frame rate is critical for horror games like Downfall, where sudden scene changes can cause stutter. The Medium preset at 4K has a 16 FPS higher minimum than the High preset's average at that resolution, ensuring more consistent frame delivery. At lower resolutions, Medium provides 231 FPS (1080p) and 165 FPS (1440p), with minimums of 196 and 140 respectively.

The Ultra preset is only advisable for those with lower-resolution displays or very high refresh rate requirements. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the combo averages 118 FPS, which is excellent. At 2560x1440 Ultra, 85 FPS is still solid. However, at 4K Ultra, the system drops to 53 FPS, which may introduce noticeable judder in a horror title where smooth motion is important for atmosphere.

The Low preset is not recommended for general play, as it sacrifices too much visual fidelity. However, its performance ceiling is remarkable: 282 FPS at 1080p, 202 FPS at 1440p, and 125 FPS at 4K. This makes Low viable for competitive play or for users with 240 Hz monitors at 1080p, where the 282 FPS average can be fully utilized.

For a 1440p monitor, the High preset (135 FPS) is the sweet spot, offering a 50 FPS improvement over Ultra (85 FPS) while maintaining visual quality. For 4K displays, Medium is the recommended choice, as its 103 FPS average with an 87 FPS floor provides a more consistent experience than High's 84 FPS average without a recorded minimum.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT ranks 1234 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top third of all configurations, specifically within the 66.8th percentile (calculated from the rank and total). This ranking reflects the system's capability to deliver high frame rates across all resolutions and settings, as demonstrated in the measured FPS data.

The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking against all processors contributes positively to this overall position. The i5-14400F's synthetic average score of 32279 places it just above the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and Intel Core i9-11900, with negligible deltas of 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. This indicates that the processor is not a limiting factor in the combo's Downfall performance.

The GPU's 51st percentile ranking might appear to drag the combo down, but the nearest rivals' scores — the GTX 1660 (11680) and RX 6500 XT (11842) — are comparable in synthetic averages yet vastly inferior in actual gaming workloads. The RX 7800 XT's average benchmark score of 11627 does not reflect its gaming capability, as evidenced by the measured FPS in Downfall.

Within the 3716 tested combinations, a rank of 1234 means that approximately 2482 combos perform worse in Downfall. This places the i5-14400F + RX 7800 XT pairing ahead of 66.8% of all tested systems. The combo's strength lies in its 4K capability — many higher-ranked combos may achieve higher frame rates at 1080p but struggle at 4K, whereas this pairing maintains playable performance even at 3840x2160.

The CPU's 10-core/16-thread configuration and the GPU's 16 GB memory buffer create a balanced system that handles both CPU-bound and GPU-bound scenarios effectively. The 4K Medium result of 103 FPS average with 87 FPS minimum is particularly impressive for a combo ranked in the 66th percentile, suggesting that the ranking may understate the system's real-world gaming performance in modern titles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset averages 282 FPS, the highest recorded result in the entire dataset. Medium averages 231 FPS with a minimum of 196 and maximum of 266 FPS, providing a wide performance window. High averages 189 FPS, which is still very high and suitable for 144 Hz or 165 Hz displays. Ultra drops to 118 FPS, which is the first preset at this resolution to fall below 200 FPS but remains perfectly playable.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low averages 202 FPS, maintaining triple-digit frame rates. Medium averages 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 and maximum of 190 FPS. High averages 135 FPS, which is a 28.6% reduction from the Low preset but still smooth. Ultra averages 85 FPS, representing a 37.3% drop from High — the largest percentage decrease between adjacent presets at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits while remaining functional. Low averages 125 FPS, which is remarkable for 4K. Medium averages 103 FPS with a minimum of 87 and maximum of 118 FPS, making it the only 4K preset with recorded min/max values. High averages 84 FPS, which is borderline for 90 Hz displays but fine for 60 Hz. Ultra averages 53 FPS, which is the lowest result in the dataset and may not provide a consistent experience.

Comparing across resolutions, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at the High preset shows a 28.6% performance drop (from 189 to 135 FPS), while 1440p to 4K at High shows a 37.8% drop (from 135 to 84 FPS). The Medium preset shows 28.6% drops at each step: 231 to 165 FPS (1080p to 1440p) and 165 to 103 FPS (1440p to 4K). The Low preset demonstrates the GPU's headroom: 282 to 202 FPS (28.4% drop) and 202 to 125 FPS (38.1% drop).

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 118 to 85 FPS (28.0% drop) and 85 to 53 FPS (37.6% drop). The consistent ~28% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~38% drop from 1440p to 4K across all presets indicates that the RX 7800 XT's performance scales predictably with pixel count, and the i5-14400F does not introduce any unexpected bottlenecks at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset's min/max data across all three resolutions provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the 196-266 FPS range spans 70 FPS, indicating variance. At 1440p, the 140-190 FPS range spans 50 FPS. At 4K, the 87-118 FPS range spans 31 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes the limiting factor, reducing the CPU's ability to cause frame spikes. For a horror game where frame pacing is crucial, the tighter 4K range is preferable.