Downfall

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Downfall shows a predictable but steep performance degradation as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination delivers 187 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 133 FPS, a 29% reduction, and at 4K Low the average falls to 83 FPS, which is 56% below the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 54 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 50 FPS. That near-linear falloff suggests the RX 5700 XT's pixel pipeline is the primary limiter once the resolution increases, rather than any CPU bottleneck. The CPU's strong single-thread performance — a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594 — means it can feed frames quickly at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep pace as pixel counts rise.

At High settings, the pattern shifts slightly. 1080p High yields 125 FPS, 1440p High yields 89 FPS, and 4K High yields 56 FPS. The percentage drops are 29% (1080p to 1440p) and 37% (1440p to 4K), indicating that the GPU workload grows disproportionately with resolution when texture quality and shading complexity increase. The 4K High result of 56 FPS sits right at the edge of playable for a horror title, where smooth motion matters for atmosphere.

Ultra settings tell the most telling story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 78 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that halves to 56 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it collapses to 35 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is 21 FPS, a 38% loss, which is consistent with the GPU being overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maxed-out graphical features. The data clearly indicates that the RX 5700 XT is the limiting component at 4K and at Ultra presets, while the CPU has ample headroom.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture using the Navi 10 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1905 MHz, and the game clock is rated at 1755 MHz. Those clocks directly influence the measured FPS: the boost clock of 1905 MHz is what the card sustains under load, and benchmark results reflect that capability.

Memory capacity is a critical factor for Downfall at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the game demands more video memory for textures and geometry, and the 8 GB frame buffer appears to be a constraint. The 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is not just a compute issue; it suggests the GPU is also swapping data or reducing efficiency due to memory pressure. At 4K High, the average improves to 56 FPS, and at 4K Medium it reaches 68 FPS, indicating that lowering texture quality reduces memory strain and improves throughput.

The GPU's raw compute figures — 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 and a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s — are modest by modern standards, and the benchmark data reflects that. The card's percentile ranking of 59 among all GPUs places it in the mid-range, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (0.1% difference) and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (-0.3% difference). That tight clustering around the average score of 16361 shows the RX 5700 XT is competitive with those specific cards, but none of them are top-tier performers.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 16277 and DirectX 12 score of 64 are consistent with the measured game FPS. The card handles 1080p and 1440p well at medium presets, but the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is unplayable for most users. The data shows that the RX 5700 XT's 8 GB VRAM and RDNA 1.0 architecture are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but they hit a wall at 4K with high settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 68 with a minimum of 58 and maximum of 78, which is playable. At 4K High, the average drops to 56 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 35 FPS, which is not smooth.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU pairing?

A: 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the combo delivers 89 FPS average, and at 1440p Medium it reaches 109 FPS with a minimum of 93. That provides a good balance of visual quality and frame rate.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 16361. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, and 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2. These are very small differences.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in this game?

A: No. The Intel Core i5-14600KF has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594, ranking in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 187 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU well.

Q: What settings should I use for a stable 60 FPS experience at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 109 with a minimum of 93, which exceeds 60 FPS. At 1440p High, the average is 89 FPS. Both settings provide comfortable headroom above 60 FPS.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The data suggests yes. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 35, and even at 4K High it is only 56. Lowering to 4K Medium improves to 68 FPS, indicating that reducing memory-intensive settings helps significantly.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT deliver the highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 187 FPS. Medium settings yield 153 FPS average, with a minimum of 130 and maximum of 176. High settings drop to 125 FPS average. Ultra settings are the most demanding, producing 78 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 58% reduction in average FPS, from 187 down to 78.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but noticeably lower. Low settings average 133 FPS. Medium settings average 109 FPS, with a minimum of 93 and maximum of 126. High settings average 89 FPS. Ultra settings average 56 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 77 FPS, a 58% reduction, matching the percentage loss seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 83 FPS. Medium settings average 68 FPS, with a minimum of 58 and maximum of 78. High settings average 56 FPS. Ultra settings average just 35 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 48 FPS, a 58% reduction, consistent with the other resolutions.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings: High preset goes from 125 FPS at 1080p to 89 FPS at 1440p to 56 FPS at 4K. That is a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K. Medium preset goes from 153 FPS at 1080p to 109 FPS at 1440p to 68 FPS at 4K, a 56% reduction. Low preset goes from 187 FPS at 1080p to 133 FPS at 1440p to 83 FPS at 4K, a 56% reduction. The consistency of these percentage drops indicates a uniform scaling pattern across settings.

The only measured rows with minimum and maximum FPS values are the Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, the range is 130 to 176 FPS, a 46 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 93 to 126 FPS, a 33 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 58 to 78 FPS, a 20 FPS spread. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame time variance decreases as the GPU becomes more consistently loaded.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, specifically the Raptor Lake-R codename. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU is manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process and uses the LGA 1700 socket. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594. Geekbench results show 17085 multi-core and 2445 single-core. PassMark tests reveal a multi-thread score of 38697 and a single-thread score of 4273. The CPU's average benchmark score is 49394, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (0.3% ahead) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (0.4% ahead).

For Downfall, a horror game, the CPU's high single-thread performance is particularly relevant. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz, combined with the strong single-core Cinebench R23 score of 4594, ensures that game logic, AI, and physics calculations are handled without bottlenecking the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (187 FPS average) is evidence that the CPU can push frames well beyond typical monitor refresh rates.

The 14-core configuration with 20 threads provides ample parallel processing for background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems. However, the data shows that even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, the CPU does not prevent the GPU from reaching its maximum output. The 35 FPS at 4K Ultra is a GPU limitation, not a CPU one. The CPU's percentile ranking of 90 and its proximity to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (0.3% difference) confirm that this processor is not the weak link in this pairing.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For a smooth 60 FPS experience in Downfall, the data points to specific configurations. At 1080p, all presets exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 187, Medium at 153, High at 125, and even Ultra at 78 FPS. Any setting is viable at 1080p, though Ultra's 78 FPS average leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset. It delivers 109 FPS average with a minimum of 93 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a comfortable buffer for frame drops. High at 1440p also works at 89 FPS average, but the minimum is not recorded, so the Medium preset's documented floor of 93 FPS offers more certainty. Ultra at 1440p drops to 56 FPS, which is below 60 and not recommended for consistent smoothness.

At 4K, the options are more limited. Medium is the only preset that achieves a playable average, at 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS. That minimum is close to the 60 FPS target but still technically below it. High at 4K averages 56 FPS, and Low at 4K averages 83 FPS, but Low sacrifices too much visual quality for a horror game where atmosphere matters. Ultra at 4K at 35 FPS is not playable.

The best overall experience, balancing visual quality and frame rate, is 1440p Medium. The 109 FPS average with a 93 FPS minimum provides smooth gameplay with good detail. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, 1440p High at 89 FPS is a strong alternative. At 4K, Medium is the only reasonable choice, offering 68 FPS average, though users should accept occasional dips to 58 FPS.

The data suggests that the RX 5700 XT's 8 GB VRAM and RDNA 1.0 architecture are best utilized at 1440p with Medium settings. This configuration avoids the memory pressure seen at 4K Ultra and the unnecessary frame rate headroom at 1080p. For a game like Downfall, where tension relies on smooth motion and detailed environments, 1440p Medium provides the most balanced experience according to the measured results.