Downfall

The Intel Core i5-14600KF pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 to produce a high-performance foundation for Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The data indicates that this combination ranks 21st out of 1741 tested combos, placing it firmly in the top tier of systems for this game. This pairing leverages a 14-core, 20-thread processor with a 5.30 GHz boost clock alongside a GPU with 24 GB of VRAM and a 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth, which translates into extremely high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

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

The Core i5-14600KF is a Raptor Lake-R architecture chip built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache are substantial, and its benchmark scores reflect a strong multi-threaded capability. This is important because Downfall, while a horror game, is not a lightweight title for CPU load, and the data shows that the processor is more than capable of feeding the GPU.

Benchmark results show the 14600KF scores 32889 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4643 in single-core, which are strong numbers. Its PassMark multi-thread score is 38697, and it sits in the 93rd percentile compared to all CPUs. In terms of its closest rivals, the data shows it is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K, 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, and 1.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H. The 14600KF is also 0.5% behind the AMD EPYC 4345P. These deltas are small, meaning the CPU is in a very tight performance cluster at the top end.

The clock speeds are particularly relevant for Downfall's frame pacing. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz provides the high single-thread performance that older game engines often rely on. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combination achieves 445.2 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck even at such high frame rates, as the GPU is still able to be fed with enough draw calls and game logic updates. The 125 W TDP is the only power figure available, and it indicates that this is a high-power part, but the performance data makes it clear that the processing power is being used effectively in this title.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It has 16384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. The GPU's memory configuration is a highlight: 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and the memory runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective. This is a powerful card by any measure, and its benchmark scores reflect that, with a PassMark G3D score of 38194 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223.

The GPU sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rivals, based on average benchmark score, are the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (0.4% behind), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (0.9% behind), and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (1.3% behind). These are all professional or datacenter cards, indicating that the RTX 4090 is at the very top of the consumer gaming heap. The 24 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Downfall, which is a title from 2016, but the memory bandwidth is the key factor for the game's high-resolution performance.

The relationship between the GPU's specs and the game's results is clear when looking at the measured FPS. The RTX 4090 has the raw compute power to push massive frame rates, and the VRAM ensures that texture loading and streaming at 4K Ultra settings are not an issue. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 84.1 FPS, which is playable but a significant drop from the 134.5 FPS at 4K High. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces settings that are heavily taxing on the GPU, but the card's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance ensures it remains fluid.

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU compare to its direct successor, the 14600K?

A: The Core i5-14600KF is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K in average benchmark score, making the performance difference between the two effectively negligible for gaming purposes.

Q: What is the performance gap between this GPU and the Tesla T4?

A: The RTX 4090 is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4 in average benchmark score, though the T4 is a professional compute card, not a gaming GPU, so their real-world gaming performance differs significantly.

Q: Is the 14600KF a high-multithreaded performer?

A: Yes, the data shows a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 38697, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth?

A: The GPU has a 384-bit memory bus with GDDR6X memory, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is critical for high-resolution texture streaming.

Q: What is the best 1080p result measured for this combo?

A: The highest 1080p average FPS recorded is 445.2 FPS, achieved at Low settings.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top 1% of tested systems?

A: The data shows the combo ranks 21st out of 1741 tested combos, which places it in the top 1.2% of all tested systems for Downfall.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 445.2 FPS on Low, 360.4 FPS on Medium, 297.4 FPS on High, and 188.8 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is significant, with a 256.4 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset has a heavy cost at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain extremely high. Low settings produce 314.5 FPS, Medium drops to 257.6 FPS, High to 214.7 FPS, and Ultra to 134.4 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with the Low setting losing 130.7 FPS, which is a 29.4% reduction. This is a typical scaling pattern, as the GPU is still not fully stressed at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the performance is still impressive but shows the expected reduction. Low settings yield 196.7 FPS, Medium 163.3 FPS, High 134.5 FPS, and Ultra 84.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 112.6 FPS. Notably, the 4K Ultra result is the only one that dips below the 100 FPS threshold, indicating that this preset is the most demanding scenario in the data. The 1080p Ultra result of 188.8 FPS is actually higher than the 4K Low result of 196.7 FPS, which shows how resolution scaling affects the GPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 21 out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top 1.2% of all systems tested, which is an exceptionally strong showing. The rank suggests that while there are 20 other combinations that perform slightly better, this pairing is at the high-end of what is possible for this game.

The rank is likely driven by the RTX 4090's dominance, as the CPU is strong but not the absolute best available. The deltaPct values for the CPU's rivals are all within 1.4%, meaning that swapping to a slightly different CPU would not meaningfully change the rank. The GPU's percentile of 91 and its position against professional cards like the Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000 indicate that it is one of the fastest gaming GPUs available. The data implies that the bottleneck in this system is almost never the CPU or GPU, but rather the game's engine limits or the settings preset applied.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data suggests that the High preset offers the most balanced performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 297.4 FPS, which is far beyond what any display can show, but it provides a smooth experience with better visual fidelity than Low or Medium. At 1440p, High yields 214.7 FPS, again offering a wide margin above 60 FPS. At 4K, High maintains 134.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for a horror game that may have dark scenes requiring consistent frame times.

The Ultra preset, while visually superior, shows a significant performance cost. It is the only preset that drops below 100 FPS at 4K, hitting 84.1 FPS. For players with a 120 Hz or 144 Hz 4K display, this could still be acceptable, but the data indicates that High is the more consistent choice for maintaining high refresh rates. The Medium preset is a good middle ground, but the performance difference between Medium and High is smaller than the difference between High and Ultra, suggesting that the Ultra settings introduce effects that are disproportionately expensive.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the drop from 445.2 FPS at 1080p to 314.5 FPS at 1440p is a 130.7 FPS reduction, and further to 196.7 FPS at 4K is another 117.8 FPS reduction. This shows a clear scaling trend where the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as resolution increases. The fact that even at 4K Low, the combo still achieves 196.7 FPS indicates that the CPU is powerful enough to not bottleneck the GPU until extremely high frame rates are reached.

The scaling pattern is more pronounced at Ultra settings. The 1080p Ultra result of 188.8 FPS drops to 134.4 FPS at 1440p and then to 84.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 55.4% at Ultra, which is slightly larger than the 55.8% drop at Low (from 445.2 to 196.7). This suggests that the Ultra preset's additional graphical features scale more heavily with resolution, further shifting the bottleneck to the GPU. The data shows that the RTX 4090 is the primary driver of performance scaling, while the 14600KF provides enough headroom to avoid becoming a limiting factor until the GPU is fully saturated.