Downfall

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K with the AMD Radeon RX 570 in Downfall presents a stark picture of bottlenecking and generational mismatch. Data shows the combo ranks 1671st out of 1741 tested configurations, placing it in the bottom 4% of all recorded results. This is a horror title from 2016, but the benchmark results indicate a system where the CPU’s significant potential is largely held hostage by a GPU that is end-of-life and clearly struggling with modern demands.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Downfall?*

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 89.5, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 60.1 at High settings and plummets to 37.3 at Ultra for the same resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems in this game?

A: The combination ranks 1671st out of 1741 tested combos. This places it in the bottom percentile of all results, indicating a severely underperforming pair relative to the broader database.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 60.1. When the resolution is increased to 3840x2160 at High settings, the average FPS falls to 27.3, representing a drop of 32.8 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor in this build?

A: The data strongly suggests the GPU is the primary limiter. The RX 570 has a 4 GB memory pool and a 256-bit bus, while the Core i5-14600K is a high-end 14-core processor. The severe FPS drops at higher resolutions and settings are classic signs of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components in this combo?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has a launch MSRP of $319. The AMD Radeon RX 570 has a launch MSRP of 169 USD.

Q: At what settings is the game most playable at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 68.5 FPS, while Medium drops to 54.2 FPS. High produces 46.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to a barely playable 26.5 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the decisive factor in this combo's performance. Its specifications, while dated, are crucial to understanding the measured FPS. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz. Its memory runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 7 Gbps effective, and it is paired with a 4 GB GDDR5 memory pool over a 256-bit bus. This configuration yields a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

These numbers tell a story of a card that was designed for 1080p gaming in its era. The benchmark results show that at 1920x1080, the card can produce playable frame rates, but it begins to break down as the resolution and graphical load increase. The severe drop from 89.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 27.3 FPS at 4K High is a direct result of the GPU's limited memory bandwidth and raw compute power. The card’s FP32 performance is 5.095 TFLOPS, which is insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in Downfall. The data implies that the RX 570 is not just the bottleneck; it is the entire performance envelope for this system.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1671 out of 1741 is a damning statistic. It places this configuration in the bottom 4% of all tested systems for Downfall. This is not a situation where the parts are merely average; they are actively hindering each other. The CPU is a top-tier performer, ranking in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 49166. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and the Intel Core i5-14600KF, with negligible performance deltas.

The GPU, however, is a different story. It sits in the 74th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30158. Its nearest rivals, like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, have nearly identical average scores, but these are modern parts. The gap between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's lower percentile creates a massive imbalance. The benchmark results indicate that the system is not functioning as a cohesive unit; instead, the GPU is dragging the entire combo down to a rank that is far below what the CPU alone is capable of.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data paints a clear picture of the system's capabilities across different settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system shows its best performance. The Low preset averages 89.5 FPS, which is very smooth. Medium averages 74.2 FPS, and High averages 60.1 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, causes a significant drop to 37.3 FPS, indicating that the card's 4 GB of VRAM and compute resources are maxed out.

Moving to 2560x1440, the strain becomes more apparent. The Low preset averages 68.5 FPS, which remains playable. Medium drops to 54.2 FPS, and High falls to 46.4 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution yields a meager 26.5 FPS, making it essentially unplayable. At 3840x2160, the system falters. The Low preset is the only one that approaches playability at 38.5 FPS. Medium averages 36.5 FPS, High drops to 27.3 FPS, and Ultra plummets to a slideshow-like 17.8 FPS. These numbers show a consistent and predictable decline as graphical demands increase.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is not linear; it is an exponential curve of performance loss. At Low settings, the drop from 1920x1080 (89.5 FPS) to 2560x1440 (68.5 FPS) is a loss of 21 FPS. The further jump to 3840x2160 (38.5 FPS) represents a loss of 30 FPS more. This pattern repeats across all settings, with the Ultra preset showing the most severe degradation, falling from 37.3 FPS at 1080p to 17.8 FPS at 4K.

This behavior is a textbook sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU, the Intel Core i5-14600K, is not the cause of this scaling. Its 14 cores and 20 threads, running at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, are more than capable of handling the game's logic at any resolution. The data shows that the frame rate is dictated almost entirely by the GPU's ability to fill pixels. As the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, the RX 570's fill rate and memory bandwidth are overwhelmed, leading to the dramatic FPS drops observed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience is found at 1920x1080 with the High preset, which delivers an average of 60.1 FPS. This provides a smooth, console-like experience while maintaining a reasonable level of graphical fidelity. The Low preset at 1080p is faster (89.5 FPS), but the jump to High offers a better visual experience for a modest performance cost. The Medium preset is a solid middle ground at 74.2 FPS.

For users with a 2560x1440 monitor, the Low preset is the only sensible choice, yielding an average of 68.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 54.2 FPS may be acceptable for some, but it is on the edge of smoothness. The High preset at 46.4 FPS is playable but not ideal. The Ultra preset at 26.5 FPS should be avoided. At 3840x2160, the data suggests that this GPU is not suited for gaming, as even the Low preset only manages 38.5 FPS. The High preset at 4K (27.3 FPS) is not recommended for a responsive experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a powerful processor, and its specifications indicate it is not the source of this combo's poor ranking. With 14 cores, 20 threads, and a 24 MB shared L3 cache, it has more than enough processing power for Downfall. Its benchmark scores are impressive; for example, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32881 and a single-core score of 4642. Its Passmark multithread score is 38682, and its Geekbench multicore score is 15846.

Yet, these capabilities are largely unused in this configuration. The data shows that the CPU is waiting on the GPU at nearly every resolution and setting. The fact that the frame rate drops so dramatically when increasing resolution is a clear indicator that the CPU is not the bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain relatively stable across resolutions, only dropping when scene complexity increased. Instead, the FPS scales inversely with pixel count, which is the signature of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU is a top-tier component, but it is paired with a GPU that cannot keep up, resulting in a system that underperforms its potential.