Downfall

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers playable frame rates in Downfall at most resolutions, but the data reveals a system heavily constrained by the graphics card. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 104.3 FPS, which drops to 73.9 FPS at 1440p and further to 49.2 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern—a 29% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K—indicates that pixel throughput is the primary bottleneck. The GTX 1070’s 256-bit memory bus and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated as resolution increases, while the i5-14600KF’s 14 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock are not the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear, predictable decline as resolution increases, with the steepest drop occurring between 1440p and 4K. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 153.9 FPS, demonstrating that the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical refresh rates. Moving to 1080p Medium yields 130.7 FPS, and High settings still hold 104.3 FPS—all comfortably above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p, however, drops to 68.1 FPS, suggesting that the GTX 1070’s 8 GB VRAM and 1920 shading units begin to struggle with the highest texture and effect loads.

At 1440p, the pattern becomes more pronounced. Low settings hit 111.5 FPS, Medium manages 92.1 FPS, and High falls to 73.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 49.9 FPS, crossing below the 60 FPS threshold. This indicates that even at a mid-range resolution, the GPU’s 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for maximum settings. The 4K results confirm this trend: Low settings yield 66.4 FPS, Medium drops to 58.7 FPS, High falls to 49.2 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 31.9 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling—it is less than half the 1080p High score, showing that the GPU is overwhelmed by the combined demand of resolution and graphical fidelity.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution reveals the GPU’s architectural limits. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 85.8 FPS (153.9 to 68.1), while at 4K the spread narrows to 34.5 FPS (66.4 to 31.9). This compression at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is so heavily pixel-bound at 4K that even lowering settings cannot fully compensate—the memory bandwidth and ROP throughput become the hard ceiling. The 150 W TDP and 16 nm Pascal process node are dated, but the data shows the card still handles 1080p and 1440p gaming adequately in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-14600KF and GTX 1070 ranks 1451 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 17% of systems. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits at the 51st percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 12331. The CPU, by contrast, is in the 93rd percentile with an average benchmark score of 49367, showing a massive capability gap between the two components.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database illustrate its mid-range positioning. The GTX 1070 scores 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (which averages 12241), and 1.4% higher than the GTX 1650 SUPER (which averages 12504). It is 1.3% below the GTX 880M (12490) and 1.7% below the Tesla K20Xm (12547). These small deltas—all within ±2%—confirm that the GTX 1070 is a competent but unexceptional performer in the current database, and its age (released 2016-06-09) shows against newer architectures.

For the CPU, the i5-14600KF’s closest rivals are tightly clustered. It scores 0.4% above the i5-14600K (49166 average), 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062), and 1.4% above the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698). It trails the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.5% (49595 average). This grouping shows the i5-14600KF is a strong modern processor, but in Downfall its headroom is wasted—the combo rank is dragged down by the GPU, which cannot translate the CPU’s compute potential into higher frame rates at demanding settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the definitive limiting factor in this combination. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K Ultra, where the 31.9 FPS result indicates VRAM capacity or bandwidth saturation. The GPU’s 1506 MHz base clock and 1683 MHz boost clock, combined with 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, deliver 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. These specifications explain the performance curve: the card is built for 1080p gaming from 2016, and Downfall (released 2016-02-28) is contemporary with its architecture.

The Pascal architecture, built on TSMC’s 16 nm process with 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, shows its age in the benchmark scores. The passmark G3D score of 13498 places it in the 51st percentile, and its DirectX 12 score of 48 is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 100, suggesting that the card does not efficiently handle modern API workloads. The GPU’s 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate are the physical limits that govern the 4K Ultra result—at 31.9 FPS, the card is producing approximately 3.4 billion pixels per second, which is close to its theoretical maximum under load.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Downfall at all tested settings, as the game is from 2016 and likely has modest texture requirements. However, the memory clock of 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) and the resulting 256.3 GB/s bandwidth create a bottleneck at 4K, where the fill rate demand outpaces the memory subsystem’s ability to feed the ROPs. The GTX 1070’s end-of-life production status and 2016 release date mean it is a legacy part, and the benchmark data confirms it cannot leverage the i5-14600KF’s modern capabilities.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?*

A: The data shows 1080p is the optimal resolution, where even High settings achieve 104.3 FPS and Ultra stays above 60 FPS at 68.1 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops below 60 FPS to 49.9 FPS, making 1080p the ceiling for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its closest rivals in the database?

A: The GTX 1070 scores 0.7% above the Quadro K4200 and 1.4% above the GTX 1650 SUPER, while trailing the GTX 880M by 1.3% and the Tesla K20Xm by 1.7%. All deltas are within ±2%, indicating very similar performance levels.

Q: Why does the 4K Ultra result drop to 31.9 FPS?

A: At 4K Ultra, the GPU is simultaneously stressed by pixel count and settings. The 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for the combined demand, producing a result that is less than half the 1080p High score.

Q: Is the i5-14600KF holding back the GTX 1070?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile with a 49367 average benchmark score, and at 1080p Low the combo hits 153.9 FPS, showing the CPU can feed the GPU far beyond what the card can process. The GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 1451 out of 1741 combos in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 17% of systems. This low rank is driven by the GPU’s 51st percentile standing, not the CPU’s strong 93rd percentile.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings achieve 111.5 FPS while Ultra drops to 49.9 FPS, a difference of 61.6 FPS. This 55% reduction from Low to Ultra shows the GPU’s sensitivity to graphical fidelity at mid-range resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a high-end desktop processor that provides ample headroom for the GTX 1070, but its capabilities are largely underutilized in Downfall. With 14 cores, 20 threads, a 3.50 GHz base clock, and a 5.30 GHz boost clock, the CPU delivers exceptional multithreaded performance—its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32889 and Geekbench multicore score of 15636 demonstrate this. However, the game’s measured FPS at 1080p Low (153.9 FPS) shows the CPU can push far beyond the GPU’s limits, confirming that the processor is not the performance ceiling in this configuration.

The CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide low-latency access to game data, which helps maintain consistent frame delivery. The 125 W TDP and Raptor Lake architecture (10 nm process) are modern specifications, and the 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs underscores its strength. Its nearest rival, the i5-14600K, scores 0.4% lower on average, showing the KF variant (without integrated graphics) is essentially identical in performance. The CPU’s 5.30 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for single-threaded game logic, and its Cinebench R15 single-core score of 468 and R23 single-core score of 4643 indicate strong per-core performance.

The data suggests that in Downfall, the CPU’s role is to maintain high minimum frame rates and avoid bottlenecking the GPU—which it does successfully. At 1080p Low, the 153.9 FPS result is likely GPU-limited, as the GTX 1070 cannot exceed its architectural limits regardless of CPU capability. The CPU’s memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, along with dual-channel memory bus, ensures adequate bandwidth for feeding the GPU. The 93rd percentile CPU combined with a 51st percentile GPU creates an unbalanced system where the processor waits on the graphics card at every resolution above 1080p Low. This imbalance is the defining characteristic of the combo: the i5-14600KF is a future-proof component capable of driving much faster GPUs, while the GTX 1070 is a legacy part that caps the system’s potential in Downfall.