Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces a benchmark combination that ranks 18th out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations. This pairing leverages a 14-core, 20-thread CPU with a 5.30 GHz boost clock alongside a 32 GB GDDR7 GPU with a 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth, delivering frame rates that range from 90 FPS at 4K Ultra to 477 FPS at 1080p Low. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions but shows signs of CPU influence at the lowest settings, making it a versatile but nuanced performer in this horror title.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 18th out of 2,928 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.6% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 D compared to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712, which is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) but 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940).

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 477 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, with the Medium preset reaching 395 FPS and the Ultra preset dropping to 202 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU outperform its closest rival in multi-threaded workloads?

A: The Core i5-14600K scores 48,618 on average, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470) but 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698).

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded across all tested settings?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 90 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is the most demanding configuration tested.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth compare to its texture rate?

A: The RTX 5090 D has a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, with a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s, indicating a balanced design for high-resolution rendering.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 24 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core. This CPU is designed for desktop use with an Intel Socket 1700, supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and includes UHD Graphics 770 as integrated graphics. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24,491 and a single-core score of 2,064, alongside a Geekbench multi-core score of 16,673 and single-core score of 2,491.

The CPU's performance percentile of 90 against all CPUs indicates it sits comfortably above the majority of processors. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698, -0.2% delta), AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470, +0.3% delta), Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287, +0.7% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48,995, -0.8% delta). These small deltas suggest the 14600K is positioned in a tightly contested performance band, with no single rival holding a decisive edge.

In Downfall, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining frame rate behavior across settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 477 FPS, which is substantially higher than the 324 FPS at 1080p High. This 153 FPS gap between Low and High settings at the same resolution indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to push frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates. The 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's horror-themed rendering workloads, though the single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,064) is likely more relevant for the game's main thread, which often dictates minimum frame rates.

The 5.30 GHz boost clock is particularly beneficial for Downfall, as horror games frequently rely on high single-thread performance for AI, physics, and scripting. The CPU's 125W TDP suggests it can sustain these boost clocks under load without excessive thermal throttling, though the data does not include temperature measurements. The presence of 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which can be critical in scenes with many entities or complex lighting calculations common in horror titles.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. It features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units, along with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) across a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This configuration delivers 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s.

The GPU's benchmark scores show strong DirectX performance, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915, and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 310,674. Its Passmark G3D score of 44,065 and GPU compute score of 28,396 further validate its compute capabilities. The RTX 5090 D holds a percentile of 92 against all GPUs, with its nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904, +1.1% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, -1.6% delta), NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396, -2.1% delta), and NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605, -2.4% delta).

In Downfall, the GPU's role is dominant across most settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 90 FPS, which drops to 144 FPS at 4K High—a 54 FPS difference that underscores the GPU's sensitivity to preset quality. The 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this 2016 horror title, even at 4K with Ultra settings, so memory capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not create bottlenecks, allowing the GPU to maintain consistent frame times.

The RTX 5090 D's 170 ray tracing cores may provide additional visual fidelity options in Downfall, though the game's original release predates widespread ray tracing adoption. The GPU's 680 tensor cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6 ensure broad API compatibility. The boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with a 575W TDP and a suggested 950W PSU, indicates this GPU is designed for sustained high-performance workloads, which aligns with the high frame rates observed in the measured data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 18 out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 99.4th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the synergy between a top-tier CPU and a flagship GPU, though the data suggests the GPU is the primary driver of this high position. The CPU's percentile of 90 and GPU's percentile of 92 are both strong individually, but their combined rank of 18 indicates that the pairing extracts near-maximum performance from both components.

When considering the CPU's nearest rivals, the delta percentages are small—ranging from -0.8% to +0.7%—which means the 14600K's choice over alternatives like the AMD EPYC 4345P or Intel Core Ultra 5 245 would have minimal impact on the combo's overall rank. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals show deltas between -2.4% and +1.1%, suggesting that swapping the RTX 5090 D for an AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT could shift the combo's position by only a few ranks at most. This tight clustering of scores indicates that the 18th rank is more a function of the GPU's raw power than the CPU's specific model.

The rank of 18 also implies that only 17 combos out of 2,928 outperform this pairing in Downfall, which likely includes configurations with higher-end CPUs (such as Core i9 or Ryzen 9 parts) paired with the same or similar GPUs. The 14600K's 14-core/20-thread configuration provides enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 D in most scenarios, but at 1080p Low, where the CPU's role is most pronounced, the frame rate of 477 FPS may be approaching the CPU's limit. This is supported by the fact that the CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4,270 is strong but not class-leading, which could explain why the combo does not rank higher.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 477 FPS, Medium achieves 395 FPS (with a minimum of 335 and maximum of 454), High reaches 324 FPS, and Ultra drops to 202 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 275 FPS reduction, representing a 57.7% decrease in average frame rate. The Medium preset's min/max range of 335-454 FPS indicates good frame time consistency, with only a 119 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

At 2560x1440, frame rates remain high but show a clear scaling trend. Low settings average 345 FPS, Medium achieves 282 FPS (min 240, max 324), High reaches 231 FPS, and Ultra drops to 144 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low (477 FPS) to 1440p Low (345 FPS) represents a 27.7% reduction, while the 1440p Ultra to 1080p Ultra comparison shows a 58 FPS decrease (202 to 144 FPS), or 28.7%. The Medium preset at 1440p has a min/max range of 240-324 FPS, showing a tighter 84 FPS spread compared to 1080p Medium's 119 FPS spread.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings average 214 FPS, Medium achieves 175 FPS (min 149, max 202), High reaches 144 FPS, and Ultra drops to 90 FPS. The difference between 4K Low and 4K Ultra is 124 FPS, representing a 57.9% reduction. Comparing 4K Medium (175 FPS) to 1440p Medium (282 FPS) shows a 107 FPS drop, or 37.9%, which is more pronounced than the 1440p to 1080p Medium drop of 113 FPS (395 to 282, or 28.6%). This suggests that resolution scaling has an increasing impact on performance as pixel count grows, consistent with the GPU's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s being tested at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 324 FPS, which is comfortably above any display refresh rate and leaves headroom for future content or background tasks. At 1440p High, 231 FPS remains exceptionally smooth, while 4K High at 144 FPS is exactly at the threshold of high-refresh-rate 4K displays. The High preset offers a 60.4% improvement over Ultra at 4K (144 vs 90 FPS) while likely retaining most visual fidelity benefits.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p (477 FPS) or 1440p (345 FPS) delivers the highest possible responsiveness, though this comes at the cost of visual quality. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 395 FPS at 1080p and 282 FPS at 1440p, but the min/max ranges (335-454 and 240-324 respectively) show slightly more variance than High presets, which do not have reported min/max values.

The Ultra preset should be avoided at 4K, as 90 FPS is below the 100 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay in fast-paced horror titles. However, at 1080p Ultra (202 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (144 FPS), the preset remains playable and may be preferred for users with high-refresh-rate displays who want maximum visual detail. Given that the game's release date is 2016, the Ultra preset likely represents the highest fidelity settings available, and the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM ensures no memory-related stutters at any resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the progression is 477 FPS (1080p) → 345 FPS (1440p) → 214 FPS (4K), representing drops of 27.7% and 38.0% respectively. At Medium, the progression is 395 → 282 → 175 FPS, with drops of 28.6% and 37.9%. At High, the progression is 324 → 231 → 144 FPS, with drops of 28.7% and 37.7%. At Ultra, the progression is 202 → 144 → 90 FPS, with drops of 28.7% and 37.5%.

The consistent ~28% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~38% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the GPU's rendering throughput is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The pixel count increases by 77.8% from 1080p to 1440p and an additional 125% from 1440p to 4K, yet frame rates drop by less than these percentages, suggesting the GPU has some headroom in its shading and memory subsystems. The RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth scales well with the increased memory pressure at 4K, preventing bandwidth-related stutters.

The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical across all settings (Low through Ultra) provides strong evidence that the CPU is not a limiting factor at higher resolutions. If the CPU were bottlenecking, the drops would be more severe at lower settings where frame rates are higher. Instead, the consistent scaling pattern points to the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity as the determining factors. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are likely the specific resources being taxed, as these directly correlate with resolution and texture detail. At 1080p Low, the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock and 24 MB L3 cache may contribute to the 477 FPS result, but even at this extreme frame rate, the GPU is still delivering the majority of the rendering work.