Downfall

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a stark example of a modern, capable processor being held back by a legacy graphics card in Downfall. The data reveals a system where the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at every measurable resolution, and the CPU’s substantial headroom goes largely unused. This combination ranks near the very bottom of the database, sitting at 3666 out of 3716 tested combos, which places it in the 1.3rd percentile of all system pairings for this title. The following analysis breaks down the measured frame rates to show exactly where this combo struggles and what settings offer the only playable experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 74 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 53 FPS, a 28.4% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 33 FPS, which is a 55.4% drop from the 1080p result. This steep decline with increasing pixel count is the signature of a graphics card that has run out of raw fill rate and memory bandwidth. The GTX 1050 Ti’s 112.1 GB/s bandwidth and 44.54 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for higher resolutions in this horror title.

The pattern holds across all quality presets. For High settings, the progression is 50 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. That represents a 30% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 56% drop from 1080p to 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 60 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. The frame rate loss is not linear; it accelerates as resolution increases, which indicates the GPU’s memory subsystem and shader cores are being saturated. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor here, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with the number of pixels being rendered.

The Ultra preset is particularly revealing. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 14, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average is only 31 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 43 FPS (74 vs 31), showing that the GTX 1050 Ti has a very narrow window of usable quality settings. The min FPS data, where available, confirms the instability: 4K Medium shows a min of 23 FPS and a max of 31 FPS, a 8 FPS variance that would cause noticeable stuttering in a horror game where smooth motion is critical for atmosphere. The 1440p Medium row shows a min of 37 and max of 50, a 13 FPS spread that further emphasizes the GPU’s struggle.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a Pascal-architecture card from 2016, built on a 14 nm process. It has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The core clocks are relatively low by modern standards, with a base of 1291 MHz and a boost of 1392 MHz. The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the card in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are mobile-class parts like the AMD Radeon R5 M330 and NVIDIA Quadro K2100M, which it beats by only 0.6% and 1% respectively in average benchmark scores. This is not a desktop gaming card by modern measure; it is an entry-level part that was end-of-life even before the CPU was released.

The benchmark results for the GPU confirm its weak compute performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 305, and in PassMark’s G3D test it scores 6340. The DirectX 12 PassMark score is just 26, which is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 45. This indicates that the card’s driver and hardware support for modern APIs is poor, which directly impacts Downfall’s rendering efficiency. The FP32 performance is 2.138 TFLOPS, which is minuscule compared to what modern titles expect. The 4 GB VRAM is also a limiting factor; while the measured data does not show explicit VRAM exhaustion, the sharp FPS drops at 4K suggest the card is thrashing its memory pool.

The card’s memory clock is listed as 1752 MHz with 7 Gbps effective speed. This is a fixed specification; the card does not have a "game" clock listed. The lack of any power connectors and a 75 W TDP indicates it draws power solely from the PCIe slot, which limits its sustained boost behavior. In Downfall, the data shows that the GPU’s low fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints. The jump from 1080p Low (74 FPS) to 1080p High (50 FPS) is a 32.4% performance hit, which is a direct result of the card’s inability to handle increased texture detail and post-processing effects without sacrificing throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo holds the rank of 3666 out of 3716 tested combinations in Downfall. This places it in the bottom 1.3% of all system pairings, which is a critical data point for anyone considering this hardware. The rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU’s poor performance, as the CPU is objectively strong. The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (0.1% faster), Intel Core i9-11900 (0.2% faster), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (0.2% slower). This is a top-tier mid-range processor.

The disconnect between the CPU’s high percentile (83) and the GPU’s low percentile (25) explains the combo’s abysmal rank. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the system only achieves 74 FPS, which is far below what the CPU could potentially push if paired with a stronger card. The data indicates that the i5-14400F is not the constraint; the GTX 1050 Ti is. This is a textbook case of a system bottlenecked by its graphics solution. The combo rank is a warning to builders: this CPU deserves a much better GPU, and pairing it with a 1050 Ti in a game like Downfall wastes the processor’s capabilities.

Looking at the CPU’s synthetic benchmarks, it scores 21645 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3055 in single-core. It also achieves 25470 in PassMark’s multithread test and 3701 in single-thread. These scores are consistently high, confirming that the processor is not the weak link. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 6340 is less than a third of the CPU’s PassMark multithread score, which illustrates the massive imbalance. In practical terms, the combo rank of 3666 means that virtually every other tested setup, even those with much weaker CPUs, will outperform this pairing in Downfall because they likely have better graphics cards.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average FPS this combo can achieve in Downfall?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 74, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, making it the sole target for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The average FPS at 3840x2160 ranges from 14 (Ultra) to 33 (Low), which is a 57.6% variation based solely on quality settings. The CPU’s performance is far above what is needed to drive these frame rates, so the GTX 1050 Ti’s rendering limits are the sole constraint.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti’s average benchmark score is 4193. It is 0.6% faster than the AMD Radeon R5 M330 and 1% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M, but it is 1.1% slower than the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M and 1.8% slower than the AMD Radeon Vega 3. These are all extremely close scores, indicating the 1050 Ti is at the very bottom of the performance ladder.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between 1080p and 4K on the Medium preset?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average FPS is 60. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average drops to 27 FPS. This is a 55% reduction in performance, which directly correlates with the 4x increase in pixel count that the GPU must process.

Q: Does the CPU’s performance have any impact on the 4K results?

A: No. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 21645 and its single-core score is 3055, both of which are in the 83rd percentile. The 4K FPS results (14-33) are so low that they are entirely within the GPU’s processing capability, leaving the CPU with significant idle headroom.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank in the database for this game?

A: The combo ranks 3666 out of 3716 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 1.3% of all system pairings, which is a direct consequence of the GPU’s 25th percentile performance being paired with a CPU in the 83rd percentile.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only viable settings for this combo are at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This configuration yields an average of 74 FPS, which is the only measured result that provides a smooth experience for a horror game where frame pacing is crucial. The Low preset at 1440p yields 53 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, and the Medium preset at 1080p yields 60 FPS, which is acceptable. However, the data shows that the High preset at 1080p drops to 50 FPS, and the Ultra preset at 1080p falls to 31 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter and makes the game feel unresponsive.

For users with a 1080p monitor, the recommendation is to start with the Low preset and only increase to Medium if the 60 FPS average is deemed sufficient. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a min FPS of 51 and a max of 69, which is a 18 FPS variance that may cause occasional hitches. The Low preset does not have min/max data listed, but the higher average of 74 FPS suggests more consistent performance. For 1440p displays, the Low preset at 53 FPS is the only reasonable choice, as the Medium preset drops to 43 FPS and High falls to 35 FPS. At 4K, no setting is recommended. The Low preset at 4K achieves 33 FPS, but the game will feel sluggish, and the Ultra preset at 14 FPS is a slide show.

The data clearly indicates that the GTX 1050 Ti cannot handle this game at higher quality settings. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 14 FPS, and the jump from Medium to High costs another 10 FPS. The Ultra preset is essentially unplayable, costing half the FPS of the High preset. The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p Low, with 1080p Medium as a secondary option if the user prioritizes visual fidelity over absolute smoothness. It is important to note that the 4 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p, but the card’s raw compute power is the limiting factor, not memory capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake generation, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It has a 20 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its synthetic benchmarks are robust: it scores 21645 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 3055 in single-core, and 9090 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. These numbers place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, which is only 0.1% faster, and the Intel Core i9-11900, which is 0.2% faster.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is entirely secondary. The measured FPS data shows that the system’s performance is dictated by the GPU at every resolution. For instance, at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 74. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers across different resolutions, as the CPU’s workload would remain constant. Instead, we see a steep decline from 74 FPS at 1080p to 33 FPS at 4K on the same Low preset. This proves that the CPU is not being taxed to its limit. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 3055 in Cinebench R23 and 3701 in PassMark single-thread indicate it can easily handle the game’s logic and draw calls.

The data suggests that the CPU has enormous headroom in this pairing. The i5-14400F’s multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a PassMark multithread score of 25470, is more than sufficient for Downfall, which is likely not heavily threaded. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are overkill for this title, but they ensure that the system will not suffer from CPU-related stutters. The bottleneck is purely the GPU’s rendering pipeline. The combination of a high-percentile CPU with a low-percentile GPU results in a system where the processor is effectively idle, waiting for the graphics card to finish its work. This is a clear indication that upgrading the GPU would yield massive performance gains in Downfall, while upgrading the CPU would yield no measurable improvement.