Downfall

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 is a legacy 1080p-oriented combination, and the measured data for Downfall confirms this classification with stark clarity. The performance curve from 1080p to 4K shows a classic GPU-bound scenario, where the Polaris 20 chip becomes the absolute bottleneck as pixel count rises, while the CPU’s six cores remain largely underutilized. This pairing sits at rank 3547 out of 3716 tested combos for this title, placing it in the bottom 5% of all configurations, which signals that while the experience is playable at lower resolutions, it is far from competitive by modern standards.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 570 is the limiting component in this pairing for Downfall. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 62 FPS, which drops to 44 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 27 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 56.5% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at the same preset, a pattern consistent with a GPU that is saturated by the increased pixel workload. The scaling is not linear, however; the jump from 1440p to 4K results in a 38.6% loss (from 44 to 27 FPS), whereas the jump from 1080p to 1440p results in a 29.0% loss (from 62 to 44 FPS). This suggests that the RX 570’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are severely taxed at 4K, causing the frame rate to collapse more aggressively at the highest resolution.

The trend holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, the combo achieves 92 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K — a 55.4% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the figures are 75, 54, and 33 FPS respectively, showing a 56.0% reduction. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic falloff, with 39 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K — a 56.4% loss. The consistency of these percentages across presets (all hovering around 55-56%) is telling: it indicates that the resolution scaling penalty is purely a function of the GPU’s rendering throughput, not the CPU or memory subsystem. The Intel Core i5-9400’s six threads and 9 MB of shared L3 cache are not the constraint here; if they were, the percentage drop would diminish at higher resolutions as the CPU became less relevant, but the data shows no such relief.

The min FPS data available for Medium settings reinforces this GPU-bound interpretation. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 64 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p Medium, the minimum drops to 46 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it falls to 28 FPS. These minimums track the averages closely, suggesting consistent frame pacing without sudden CPU-related hitches. The lack of stutter spikes is a positive sign for a horror title where frame drops can ruin atmosphere, but the absolute values at 4K make that resolution impractical for this combo.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows indicate that the optimal balance of visual quality and frame rate for this combo is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, delivering 75 FPS average with a recorded minimum of 64 FPS. This is the only preset at any resolution where the minimum FPS stays comfortably above 60, making it the safe recommendation for a smooth experience. The High preset at 1080p achieves 62 FPS average, which is playable, but the lack of min FPS data means there is no guarantee against dips below 60 in intense scenes; the Medium preset’s documented 64 FPS floor provides greater certainty.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 92 FPS average, a 22.7% improvement over Medium, but the visual degradation in a horror game — where shadow quality and texture detail contribute significantly to atmosphere — may not be worth the extra frames. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields only 39 FPS average, which is below the 40 FPS threshold many players consider the minimum for acceptable playability in a slow-paced horror title. At 1440p, the Medium preset offers 54 FPS average with a 46 FPS minimum, which is borderline; some players might tolerate this, but the 1080p Medium option is objectively safer. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 28 FPS, which is unsuitable for gameplay. At 4K, no preset is viable: even Low only reaches 41 FPS average, and the Ultra preset collapses to 17 FPS, making it unplayable.

The data suggests that the sweet spot is 1080p Medium, with 1080p High as a secondary option for those willing to accept a 62 FPS average. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 17.3% performance (75 to 62 FPS), which is a significant hit for what is typically a modest visual upgrade in most titles. Given the horror genre’s reliance on stable frame delivery for jump scares, the Medium preset’s documented 64 FPS minimum makes it the practical choice. The Low preset at 1080p is a fallback for high-refresh-rate displays, but the 1440p and 4K options should be avoided entirely for this pairing.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the dominant performance driver in this combo, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, which are modest figures for its generation, but the 2048 shading units and 128 TMUs provide the raw throughput needed for 1080p gaming. The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus yields 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and even 1440p at lower presets, but becomes a critical bottleneck at 4K where texture data exceeds the VRAM capacity. The measured frame rates at 4K — 27 FPS on High, 33 FPS on Medium — suggest that the GPU is not only bandwidth-limited but also capacity-limited, as the 4 GB buffer is insufficient for the high-resolution texture sets in Downfall.

The GPU’s position in the benchmark hierarchy reinforces its mid-range status. With a percentile rank of 74 among all GPUs, the RX 570 performs above average in synthetic tests, scoring 28,766 in the average benchmark score. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, scores 28,874, a delta of -0.4%, meaning the RX 570 is essentially on par with a mobile flagship from a later generation — evidence of the Polaris architecture’s efficiency, but also a sign that this GPU is far from the top of the stack. The RX 570’s 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 159.2 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for 1080p, but the data shows that the GPU saturates quickly as resolution increases. The 150 W TDP and 1x 6-pin power connector suggest a power-efficient design, but the performance ceiling is clearly defined by the 4 GB memory capacity and the 1244 MHz boost clock.

The GPU’s role in Downfall is further clarified by the fact that the measured FPS at 1080p Low (92 FPS) is nearly 2.4 times higher than at 4K Ultra (17 FPS), a spread that is entirely attributable to the GPU’s pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth. The 32 ROPs provide a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s, which is the fundamental limit for rasterization at high resolutions. The data indicates that the RX 570 is a 1080p-class card for this title, and any resolution above that requires significant settings reductions to maintain playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a full range of playable options. Low settings produce the highest average at 92 FPS, Medium follows at 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 and maximum of 86, High achieves 62 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 53 FPS, or a 57.6% performance penalty for maximum visual quality. The Medium preset’s recorded min/max range of 64-86 FPS shows a tight 22 FPS spread, indicating stable frame delivery without major spikes. The High preset’s 62 FPS average is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the absence of min FPS data for this preset leaves uncertainty about worst-case performance. The Ultra preset’s 39 FPS average is below the 40 FPS mark, making it marginal for a game that relies on smooth motion for horror pacing.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 66 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 62. The 46 FPS minimum is below the 60 FPS target, so players will notice frame drops during demanding scenes. High settings average 44 FPS, and Ultra falls to 28 FPS. The Medium preset’s min/max range of 46-62 FPS shows a 16 FPS spread, which is tighter than at 1080p but still indicates occasional dips below the playability threshold. The 1440p resolution is technically usable only at Low settings, where the 66 FPS average provides a smooth experience, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial.

At 3840x2160, the combo is largely non-functional for serious play. Low settings average 41 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and will feel sluggish. Medium settings average 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 and maximum of 38, a range that is consistently below any playability threshold. High settings average 27 FPS, and Ultra drops to 17 FPS. The Medium preset’s min/max range of 28-38 FPS shows a 10 FPS spread, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain even a consistent low frame rate. The 4K resolution is clearly beyond the capabilities of this pairing, and the data suggests that users should not attempt it under any circumstances.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s position in the global ranking for Downfall is decisively poor. With a rank of 3547 out of 3716 tested combos, this configuration sits in the bottom 4.5% of all systems tested for this title. This is a surprising result given that the individual components have respectable percentile scores — the CPU ranks at the 47th percentile among all processors, and the GPU ranks at the 74th percentile among all GPUs. The combination of a mid-range CPU and an above-average GPU should theoretically place this system in the upper half of the rankings, but the data shows otherwise, indicating that Downfall has specific optimization quirks that penalize this particular pairing.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database provide context for its performance. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, a delta of -0.2% from the i5-9400’s 2254 average, meaning they are statistically identical. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, a delta of -0.4%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a delta of 0.4%. These rivals all fall within a 1% performance band, indicating that the i5-9400 is a solid mid-range processor that is not the cause of the low game rank. The GPU’s nearest rivals show a similar pattern: the AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 28874 (delta -0.4%), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580 (delta 0.7%), and the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996 (delta -0.8%). The RX 570’s 28766 average is squarely in the middle of this pack, again suggesting that the GPU is not an outlier.

The low game rank must therefore be attributed to the combination’s overall behavior in Downfall, which the measured FPS data shows is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The fact that the combo ranks in the bottom 5% despite having components that rank in the 47th and 74th percentiles suggests that the game’s engine is particularly demanding on the memory subsystem or has poor optimization for this specific architecture combination. The 4 GB VRAM limitation is likely a contributing factor, as modern horror titles often require more than 4 GB at higher settings. The data does not include comparisons to other combos’ measured FPS, so it is impossible to determine exactly where the shortfall occurs, but the ranking is unambiguous: this is a bottom-tier configuration for Downfall.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 plays a secondary role in this pairing, and the measured FPS data confirms that it is rarely the bottleneck. The CPU features 6 cores and 6 threads with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, which are respectable figures for a Coffee Lake Refresh part. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for gaming. The CPU’s benchmark scores — 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core — place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is a capable mid-range processor that should not struggle with a horror title like Downfall.

The fact that the FPS scaling across resolutions is nearly uniform (56% drop from 1080p to 4K at all presets) is the strongest evidence that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would plateau at higher resolutions as the GPU became less utilized, but the data shows continuous decline. The 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for the game’s rendering thread and physics, and the lack of hyper-threading does not appear to be a hindrance given that the GPU is saturated. The CPU’s nearest rivals — the i7-1068NG7, i7-10710U, and Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 — all perform within 0.4% of the i5-9400, so there is no headroom to be gained by swapping to a comparable CPU; the performance ceiling is set by the GPU.

The CPU’s role is further diminished by the fact that the game’s minimum FPS data, where available, does not show signs of CPU-related stuttering. The Medium preset at 1080p has a 64 FPS minimum, which is close to the 75 FPS average, indicating that frame drops are mild and likely GPU-driven. If the CPU were causing hitches, the minimum FPS would be significantly lower than the average, but the data shows a consistent 85% ratio of min-to-avg across all Medium presets. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 14 nm process node make it an efficient part, but efficiency does not translate to gaming performance when the GPU is the constraint. For this combo, the i5-9400 is more than adequate; the RX 570 is the component that determines whether the game is playable, and the data shows that it is only playable at 1080p with Medium settings or lower.