Downfall

Downfall, a 2016 horror title, presents a demanding workload for the combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can deliver smooth gameplay at lower resolutions and settings, but which struggles to maintain playable performance at 4K with high visual fidelity. The data indicates that this pairing is heavily constrained by the graphics card, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the GPU to operate at its limits.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results for this specific hardware combination in Downfall show a clear trade-off between visual quality and frame rate. For the most consistent and responsive experience, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the optimal choice. This configuration delivers an average of 123.7 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay and maintains a significant margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The jump from Low to Medium only costs about 26 FPS but provides a notable improvement in visual fidelity.

If the goal is to prioritize frame rate above all else, the Low preset at 1920x1080 yields the highest average of 149.5 FPS. However, this comes at the cost of visual detail. For users with high-refresh-rate monitors, the High preset at 1920x1080, averaging 103.2 FPS, strikes a strong balance between responsiveness and graphics quality. The Ultra preset at this resolution is not recommended, as the average FPS drops to 59.8, which is only marginally above the 60 FPS target and leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. The Medium preset is the most viable option, producing an average of 90 FPS. This provides a good balance for a high-resolution experience. The High preset at 70.2 FPS is also playable, but the higher settings will be more sensitive to frame-time spikes. The Low preset at 104.1 FPS is exceptionally fast, but it undermines the purpose of using a higher resolution. The Ultra preset, with an average of 45.5 FPS, is not suitable for smooth play.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that this combination is not capable of a consistently smooth experience at high or ultra settings. The Low preset is the only viable option for playable frame rates, averaging 63.3 FPS. The Medium preset dips to 55.5 FPS, and the High preset falls to 42.3 FPS, both of which are below the ideal threshold for a horror game where responsiveness is key. The Ultra preset at 26.9 FPS is effectively unplayable. Therefore, the best experience per the measured data is the Medium preset at 1080p, or the Low preset at 1440p if a higher resolution is preferred.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the primary bottleneck in this configuration for Downfall. The data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, which is a classic indicator of GPU-bound performance. The card's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, appears to be a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings, confirming that the graphics card's processing power and memory subsystem are being saturated.

With a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, the GTX 1660 Ti's Turing architecture (TU116 chip) shows its age in this title. The benchmark scores place it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, indicating a mid-range performer. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 570X, which it leads by a negligible 0.4%, and the NVIDIA Tesla K10, which is 0.7% faster. This positions the GTX 1660 Ti as a competent 1080p card that can handle 1440p with adjusted settings, but it is not equipped to handle the demands of 4K gaming with high-quality presets.

The scalability of the settings within the game reinforces this. At 1080p, dropping from Ultra to Low yields a massive 89.7 FPS difference (from 59.8 to 149.5). This indicates that the game's visual effects have a profound impact on the GPU's workload. The card's FP32 performance of 5.437 TFLOPS is simply insufficient to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions with complex rendering effects enabled.

CPU Role

In stark contrast to the GPU, the Intel Core i5-14600K is not the limiting factor in this pairing for Downfall. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, provides far more processing power than the GTX 1660 Ti can utilize in this game. The results show that even at the highest settings and resolutions, the CPU's performance headroom is not the cause of low frame rates. The 14600K's strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 4270, ensures that game logic and draw call submissions are handled with ease.

The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz and its architecture, Raptor Lake, are more than sufficient for this 2016 title. Its average benchmark score of 49166 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, and it trades blows with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, leading it by 0.2%. The 14600K's multi-threaded capabilities are also extensive, but Downfall is unlikely to leverage all 20 threads. The data indicates that frame rates are determined by the GPU's rendering speed, not by the CPU's ability to feed it data.

The fact that the CPU's performance is not a bottleneck is clear from the resolution scaling. When the resolution increases, the frame rate drops significantly despite the CPU's capabilities remaining constant. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would remain relatively stable across different resolutions. The 14600K is a high-end processor that will not hamper the GTX 1660 Ti in any scenario presented in the data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 1508th out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the lower percentile of all possible hardware pairings, which is a direct consequence of the aging GPU. The CPU is a top-tier part, but its performance is wasted in this configuration because the graphics card is the limiting factor. This ranking highlights how a powerful modern CPU cannot compensate for an older, mid-range GPU in a graphically demanding game.

This low ranking is not a reflection of the system's ability to run the game, as it can achieve playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but rather its overall performance ceiling compared to other configurations. A system with a more powerful GPU would achieve significantly higher frame rates, particularly at 4K where the GTX 1660 Ti struggles. The data shows a clear imbalance in this pairing, where the CPU's potential is untapped due to the GPU's limitations.

The ranking is consistent with the GPU's percentile of 55, which shows it is only a mid-range performer. In contrast, the CPU's 93rd percentile placement is far higher. This mismatch is the defining characteristic of this combo’s performance profile. It works, but it leaves significant performance on the table. For users considering this combination, the data clearly indicates that the GPU is the component that will determine the gaming experience in Downfall.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data is definitive in showing that the GTX 1660 Ti is the bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the High preset results in a frame rate drop from 103.2 FPS to 70.2 FPS, a decrease of 33 FPS. The further jump to 3840x2160 causes a more dramatic drop to 42.3 FPS. This pattern of steep performance degradation with increasing pixel count is the hallmark of a GPU-bound system.

The scaling is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 149.5 FPS at 1080p, to 104.1 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 63.3 FPS at 4K. This consistent percentage-based drop across all presets indicates that the GPU's rendering capabilities, including its 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 power and 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, are being exhausted as the resolution increases. The pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s is simply not high enough to handle the 4K workload at high frame rates.

This data confirms that the limiting component is the graphics card. The CPU, despite its power, cannot influence the frame rate when the GPU is unable to render frames quickly enough. The 4K results, where even the Low preset only manages 63.3 FPS, are particularly telling. This system is best suited for 1080p gaming, is capable at 1440p with settings adjustments, and is not a viable option for 4K gaming beyond the lowest settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Downfall at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: The data indicates that at 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves an average of 63.3 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 55.5 FPS, High to 42.3 FPS, and Ultra is unplayable at 26.9 FPS. Therefore, 4K is only viable on the lowest settings.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The best experience is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, offering an average of 123.7 FPS. This provides a smooth frame rate while maintaining a decent level of visual quality. The High preset at 1080p is also a good choice at 103.2 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600K a bottleneck for the GTX 1660 Ti in this game?

A: No. The performance scaling with resolution shows that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile, while the GPU is in the 55th, indicating a significant imbalance where the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of 13925. It is 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 570X and 0.8% faster than the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile. It is 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA Tesla K10.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 149.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 59.8 FPS. This represents a 89.7 FPS difference, showing a massive performance cost for the highest visual quality settings.

Q: How much faster is the CPU compared to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average score of 49166, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, its nearest rival.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average frame rates for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination across all tested resolutions and settings in Downfall.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS |

| :--------- | :------- | :---------- |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 26.9 |

| | High | 42.3 |

| | Medium | 55.5 |

| | Low | 63.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 45.5 |

| | High | 70.2 |

| | Medium | 90.0 |

| | Low | 104.1 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 59.8 |

| | High | 103.2 |

| | Medium | 123.7 |

| | Low | 149.5 |