Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 6600

This pairing of a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable horror experience across most resolution and settings combinations, though the data shows clear limits at the highest visual presets. The RX 6600, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and RDNA 2 architecture, carries the load well at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra demands more than this combination can consistently provide. The measured results reveal a GPU that scales predictably with resolution, with the CPU rarely appearing as the bottleneck in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial across all settings, confirming that Downfall is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 175 FPS at 1080p to 125 FPS at 1440p, then to 78 FPS at 4K — a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline indicates the RX 6600's rendering pipeline is being pushed hard as pixel count quadruples.

At Medium settings, the progression is 143 FPS (1080p), 102 FPS (1440p), and 64 FPS (4K). The 4K result includes a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS, showing some frame-time variance at this demanding resolution. High settings follow a similar pattern: 117 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is roughly 28% at both Medium and High, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe at around 37-38% — a sign that memory bandwidth and pixel throughput become limiting factors at 4K.

Ultra settings tell a different story. The average FPS at 1080p is 73, which drops to 52 at 1440p and falls to just 33 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in most horror titles, where consistent frame pacing matters for atmosphere. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 55% reduction, matching the Low setting's proportional drop. This suggests that at Ultra, both the shading workload and memory pressure escalate in tandem with resolution.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p Low, the i5-9400's six threads may occasionally hold back the RX 6600, but the high frame rates suggest the CPU keeps pace adequately. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the constraint — the RX 6600's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate are the ceiling. The 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient even at 4K, as no settings row shows the kind of catastrophic frame collapse typically associated with VRAM overflow.

FAQ

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

A: At High settings, the average FPS is 52, which is borderline playable but not ideal for a horror game where sudden frame dips hurt immersion. Medium settings at 4K yield 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS, making it the best 4K option for consistent performance. Ultra at 4K drops to 33 FPS average, which is not recommended.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1440p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At High settings, the average FPS is 84, and at Medium it reaches 102 FPS with a minimum of 87. These figures provide smooth gameplay while taking advantage of the RX 6600's capabilities. 1080p is also excellent, with even the Ultra preset maintaining 73 FPS average.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600's average benchmark score of 19036 places it 0% from the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (19030), 0.1% behind the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049), 0.3% behind the Tesla K20m (19089), and 0.4% ahead of the RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18954). This indicates the card sits in a tightly contested performance band.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck in Downfall?

A: Based on the FPS scaling, the CPU is not a significant bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the 175 FPS average shows the i5-9400 can feed the RX 6600 adequately, though its 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is a mid-pack processor. The six-core, six-thread configuration with a 4.10 GHz boost clock handles this horror title without obvious frame stalls.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 122-164 FPS, at 1440p it is 87-117 FPS, and at 4K it is 54-73 FPS. The spread is roughly 25% of the average at each resolution, which is acceptable for a horror game where occasional dips add tension rather than frustration.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for Downfall?

A: The combination ranks 2889 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the lower-mid tier. This ranking reflects the i5-9400's modest CPU performance (47th percentile) and the RX 6600's mid-range GPU standing (63rd percentile). For a horror title with moderate demands, this rank is adequate but not exceptional.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the sweet spot for this combo in Downfall. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 143 with a minimum of 122, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target. At 1440p Medium, the average is 102 FPS with a minimum of 87, which remains smooth on most displays. Even at 4K Medium, the 64 FPS average with a 54 FPS minimum is playable, making this the only preset that works reasonably well at all three resolutions.

High settings are a viable alternative for users with 1080p or 1440p monitors. At 1080p High, the 117 FPS average is still excellent, and 1440p High at 84 FPS is smooth. However, 4K High at 52 FPS sits right at the edge of playability — fine for slower-paced horror sections but risky during action sequences. The visual improvement from Medium to High likely justifies the frame rate cost for most players at 1080p and 1440p.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p displays. The 73 FPS average at 1080p Ultra is playable, but 1440p Ultra at 52 FPS and 4K Ultra at 33 FPS are below the standard for a smooth experience. The jump from High to Ultra costs roughly 38% of the frame rate at each resolution, which is a steep price for diminishing returns in visual quality. Low settings should be avoided unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rates — the 175 FPS at 1080p Low is impressive but the visual downgrade is significant.

For a balanced experience, start with Medium at your native resolution and adjust to High if frame rates remain comfortable. The data suggests that Medium provides the best combination of visual fidelity and performance headroom, particularly at 1440p where the 102 FPS average leaves room for future driver improvements or background tasks.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2889 out of 3716 tested configurations places it in the 22nd percentile of all tested combinations for Downfall. This means roughly 78% of tested combos perform better in this specific game. The ranking reflects the pairing of a mid-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU — neither component is a standout in its respective benchmark percentile.

The i5-9400's 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it sits near the median of tested processors. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, 0.2% higher), Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, 0.4% higher), Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, 0.3% lower), and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, 0.4% lower). The tight clustering of these scores suggests the i5-9400 is firmly in a mid-range CPU performance band, with no dramatic advantages or disadvantages.

The RX 6600's 63rd percentile GPU ranking is more favorable, placing it above most tested graphics cards. Its nearest rivals cluster extremely close: the Quadro K6000 (19030, 0% delta), RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, 0.1% higher), Tesla K20m (19089, 0.3% higher), and RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18954, 0.4% lower). This indicates the RX 6600 is well-positioned among contemporary GPUs, though the combo rank shows that Downfall's specific demands don't favor this pairing as strongly as the individual component rankings might suggest.

The gap between the GPU's strong 63rd percentile and the combo's 22nd percentile ranking indicates that Downfall is particularly sensitive to CPU performance or that the i5-9400's six threads without hyper-threading limit performance in this title. Users considering this combo for Downfall should expect mid-pack performance — playable at most settings, but not competitive with higher-tier configurations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the dominant component in this pairing for Downfall, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for this horror title at all tested resolutions. The card's boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz provide the computational throughput needed to maintain playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's RDNA 2 architecture with 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs produces a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s. These figures align with the measured performance: at 4K Medium, the card sustains 64 FPS, which requires processing roughly 497 million pixels per second — well within the pixel rate capability. The FP32 throughput of 8.928 TFLOPS supports the shading workload at all settings except 4K Ultra, where the 33 FPS average suggests the card is overwhelmed.

The RX 6600's 28 ray tracing cores are present but likely underutilized in Downfall, given the game's 2016 release date and the absence of RT-specific benchmark data. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) means the card is future-proof for modern APIs, but this older title likely runs on DirectX 11 or earlier paths where the card's raw rasterization performance matters more.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 6600 achieves a PassMark G3D score of 15096 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492, with a Geekbench Vulkan score of 67623. These numbers place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, confirming its mid-range positioning. The card's 7 nm process node from TSMC with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die gives it a transistor density of 46.7M per mm², contributing to its 132 W TDP — a modest power requirement that makes it suitable for a wide range of systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 6600 and i5-9400 combination delivers strong performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 175 FPS, Medium averages 143 FPS with a minimum of 122 and maximum of 164, High averages 117 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% reduction in frame rate, with the largest single drop occurring between High and Ultra — a 38% decrease from 117 to 73 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results scale down predictably. Low averages 125 FPS, Medium averages 102 FPS with a range of 87-117, High averages 84 FPS, and Ultra averages 52 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 29% at Low (175 to 125) to 29% at Ultra (73 to 52), showing consistent scaling across presets. The Medium preset's minimum of 87 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1440p Medium a strong recommendation.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low averages 78 FPS, Medium averages 64 FPS with a range of 54-73, High averages 52 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The 4K results show that only Low and Medium presets maintain playable frame rates, with High sitting at the edge and Ultra falling below acceptable levels. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (54) is the lowest recorded minimum across all tested configurations, indicating that even the recommended preset can experience noticeable dips during intense scenes.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, providing the most predictable frame time behavior. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for Medium settings or lower. The i5-9400's 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth and six threads appear sufficient for this workload, as the FPS differences between resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound scaling rather than CPU limitations.