Downfall

Downfall, a horror title released in 2016, is a demanding game when pushed to extreme presets, and the combination of an Intel Core i5-14600KF and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a wide spread of frame rates across resolutions and graphics settings. Measured data from the benchmark database shows this pairing hits anywhere from an average of 452 FPS at 1080p Low down to 84 FPS at 4K Ultra, with the top-end combo achieving impressive performance overall. The CPU and GPU both bring substantial hardware, and the numbers reveal where each component dominates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen family, built on Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs in the database. The processor's average benchmark score is 49394, and its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (delta of +0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (+0.4%), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (0.8), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 (-0.8%). In synthetic tests, the chip scores 32544 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4594 in single-core, while Geekbench returns 2445 for single-core and 17085 for multi-core.

The measured FPS table shows that the CPU shows no sign of being the limiting factor at any resolution. At 1080p, the average FPS scales from 452 (Low) to 190 (Ultra). Even at 1440p, the Low setting produces 323 FPS, and at 4K Low it averages 201. These numbers indicate that the i5-14600KF's high single-thread performance is sufficient to feed the RTX 5090 without dragging down the frame rate. The 5.3 GHz boost clock, combined with a 24 MB L3 cache, appears adequate for this horror title's single-threaded bottlenecks; it never caps the frame rate in any tested row. When the CPU is compared against its nearest rivals on average score, it trails only the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 by 0.8%, but stands ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 by 0.3% and the other two rivals as well. The data suggests that the i5-14600KF is more than enough for Downfall's CPU loads, which is typical for a 2016 release that does not heavily stress modern multi-threading.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a 50-series card built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering a staggering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2017 MHz and boost is 2407 MHz, while the GPU boasts 21760 shading units, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores. The GPU scores 39650 in PassMark G3D 3D and 26756 in GPU compute, and the chip's average benchmark score is 79842, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (delta +0.3%), the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (+0.6%), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (+1.1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (-1.4%).

In Downfall, the GPU is the primary boundary at high resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 84, while at 4K High it is 135, Medium 164, and Low 201. These numbers illustrate how the RTX 5090's rapid memory and high shading rates are the reason the game runs so fast at 1440p and 1080p. Even at Ultra settings at 1440p (135 FPS) and 1080p (190 FPS), the card keeps playable rates. The 32 GB VRAM is far more than enough for any setting in Downfall, which is a 2016 title and does not utilize such capacity, but the 512-bit bus ensures the card is not bound by memory bandwidth, as evidenced by the linear growth of frame rates at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. The average at 1080p High is 303 FPS. At 1440p High, it falls to 217, and at 4K High, it lands at 135 FPS. The same pattern is seen at the other presets: for medium, 1080p averages 370, 1440p 264, and 4K 164. For Low, 1080p hits 452, 1440p 323, and 4K 201. For Ultra, 1080p gives 190, 1440p 135, and 4K 84. The absence of a low-FPS cap on the CPU is demonstrated by the peak achieved at 1080p, where even 452 FPS does not cause a bottleneck. Increasing the resolution reduces the GPU copy rate, and the relative drop from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is consistent across settings. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU's rasterization pipeline is the strict limiter under the most demanding either of the preset. However, at 1440p Ultra and 1080p Ultra, the RTX 5090 still provides 135 and 190 FPS, respectively, so the game remains fluid.

The scaling pattern also reveals that between 1080p and 1440p, the drop is about 190 FPS on High (303 to 217) and from 1440p to 4K a further drop of 82 FPS (217 to 135). This nonlinear decline aligns with a GPU-bound scenario: the hit from resolution scaling grows as the workload becomes in an already heavy scene. At Low settings, the 4K FPS of 201 is only 55% lower than the 1080p value, which shows that the CPU can still feed the GPU even at low settings, but as settings rise, the GPU load becomes more significant. The data clearly indicates that the RTX 5090 handles the game at 1080p and 1440p at extremely high frame rates, with the only limitation being the 4K Ultra which still produces playable numbers.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists the measured average FPS, minimum FPS, and maximum FPS for each combination of resolution and settings as per the database:

| Resolution | Settings | avg (FPS) | min (FPS) | max (FPS) |

|---------------|----------|--------|-----------|-----------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 135 | | |

| | Low | 201 | | |

| | Medium | 164 | 140 | 189 |

| | Ultra | 84 | | |

| 2560x1440 | High | 217 | | |

| | Low | 323 | | |

| | Medium | 264 | 225 | 304 |

| | High | 135 | | |

| 1920x1080 | High | 303 | | |

| | Low | 452 | | |

| | Medium | 370 | 314 | 425 |

| | Ultra | 190 | | |

At 4K High, the average is 135 FPS, with no min/max recorded. At 4K Medium the average is 164, with a minimum of 140 and a maximum of 189. At 4K Low the average exceeds 200 FPS at 201. At the highest quality (Ultra), the average drops to 84 FPS, which is below the 90 FPS threshold for smooth 4K gameplay for a high refresh monitor. At 1440p, the range across presets is from 135 (Ultra) up to 323 (Low); Medium yields 264 FPS with a min of 225 and max of 304. The 1080p category shows the strongest performance: Low achieves 452, Medium 370, High 303, and Ultra 190. The Minimum FPS values were only given for the Medium preset at each resolution: 314 at 1080p, 225 at 1440p, and 140 at 4K.

These numbers show clear system: the CPU never is the limiting factor, but the GPU's performance enables the high frame rates. At 1080p, the lowest average is 190 (Ultra), which is still well beyond refresh. At 1440p all presets except Ultra are above 200 FPS, and at 4K only High and Low are above 200 FPS while Ultra falls to 84.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-14600KF and RTX 5090 ranks 63rd out of 3716 tested system combinations in Downfall. That puts it in the top 2% of all combos, an excellent achievement. The high ranking reflects a well-balanced pairing that does not experience bottlenecks; the CPU delivers enough throughput and the GPU delivers enough memory bandwidth and shading power. When considering the CPU's percentile vs all CPUs (50th) and the GPU's percentile (92nd), this ranking makes sense. The nearest CPU rivals average score are very close (delta within +0.8% to -0.8%), indicating that a variety of high-end CPUs would achieve a similar position; likewise the GPU rival scores are within 1.4% of each other. Tuning the settings can improve frame rates further, but the base combo excels across all measured rows.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS numbers, the best experience depends on the resolution and desired refresh rate. At 1080p, the Ultra preset still delivers 190 FPS, so users with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors can run the game at maximum visual quality without any drop. For balanced performance, the Medium preset at 1080p averages 370 FPS, but this is beyond what any existing monitor can display; still, it ensures the most fluid experience possible. At 1440p, the High preset gives 217 FPS, which already exceeds typical 144Hz refresh rates; if the user wants higher fidelity, Ultra at 135 FPS still comfortably meets 120Hz. The 1440p Ultra result (135 FPS) matches the 4K High average (135 FPS), so at 1440p Ultra is the highest quality option without sacrificing frame rate.

At 4K, the measured data indicates that the High preset averages 135 FPS, which is above the peak of many 4K 144Hz displays, making it both visually rich and smooth. The Ultra preset drops to 84 FPS, which is still above 60 for a VRR display but may be considered inconsistent. For a more competitive or response-time-sensitive experience, the Medium at 4K averages 164 FPS, a clear gain over High. However, the hardware is more than capable of running the game at High at 4K with an average of 135 FPS, and the latter has a significantly higher minimum FPS in the Medium row (140 FPS). Therefore, the High preset at 4K presents the most balanced play experience across the recorded rows, delivering strong visual quality per the reported data. At 1080p and 1440p, the Ultra preset is recommended for maximum visual quality without hitting any loop, since the lowest average at those resolutions is 190 FPS, which is still higher than any 60/144Hz gaming monitor can produce. So, the practical recommendation is: for 4K, choose High default; for 1440p and 1080p, increase to Ultra, and enjoy the benefit of the enormous GPU headroom.

The pair of the Core i5-14600KF and RTX 5090 consistently performs in the field of top-63 in the combo ranking, and the measured data indicate that the GPU is the primary driver at all resolutions. With a launch MSRP of $294 for the CPU and $1,999 for the GPU, the build is computational powerful, delivering an experience that domates throughout the title, making it an excellent choice for Downfall regardless of setting.