Downfall

The pairing of an Intel Core i5-9400 with an AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT in Downfall presents a classic study in balance, where the data reveals how a strong GPU can compensate for a mid-range CPU, but also where the CPU’s limits become apparent. The measured frames per second across resolutions and settings tell a story of scaling, bottlenecks, and the practical realities of running a horror title at various quality levels. This analysis breaks down the numbers to understand what is driving performance in this specific configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and predictable degradation as resolution increases, but the rate of that degradation is not uniform across all settings, which reveals the shifting balance between CPU and GPU load. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 240 FPS, a figure that suggests the game is heavily CPU-bound at this point, as the GPU is nowhere near its limit. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 172 FPS, a 28% reduction, and then to 4K Low, where it falls to 107 FPS, a further 38% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that as pixel count rises, the GPU becomes the primary limiter.

However, the scaling story changes when looking at higher quality presets. At High settings, the drop from 1080p (161 FPS) to 1440p (115 FPS) is a 29% decrease, but the jump from 1440p to 4K (72 FPS) is a 37% reduction. The Ultra preset shows an even more dramatic collapse: 101 FPS at 1080p falls to 72 FPS at 1440p (a 29% drop), and then plummets to 45 FPS at 4K, which is a 37.5% reduction from the 1440p score. This suggests that the Ultra preset’s demands on the GPU scale super-linearly with resolution, likely due to effects like shadows and textures overwhelming the Radeon RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB memory or shader throughput.

The data implies that at 1080p, particularly on Low and Medium presets, the Intel Core i5-9400 is holding back the system. The difference between 1080p Low (240 FPS) and 1440p Low (172 FPS) is substantial, but the fact that 1080p Low achieves such a high frame rate indicates the CPU is maxing out before the GPU can show its full potential. Conversely, at 4K Ultra, the 45 FPS result shows a GPU-bound scenario where the RX 6750 XT is fully saturated, and the CPU’s role is diminished. The interesting middle ground is 1440p, where the balance shifts; the CPU can still feed the GPU enough frames for playable results, but the GPU is now doing significant work, as seen by the 72 FPS at Ultra.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the high frame rates in most scenarios. With a base clock of 2150 MHz and a boost clock of 2600 MHz, the card has substantial headroom for sustained loads. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for a 2016 horror game like Downfall, even at 4K. The card’s 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units contribute to its raw compute power, capable of 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU’s role is most evident in the 4K results. At 4K High, the card produces 72 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it achieves 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. These numbers suggest the RX 6750 XT is a capable 4K card for this title, but the Ultra preset’s 45 FPS shows its limits. The card’s 64 ROPs and a pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s are likely the bottleneck at Ultra settings, where fill-rate-heavy effects are applied. The benchmark scores for the GPU support its position: a Passmark G3D score of 20700 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2548 place it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs.

Interestingly, the nearest rivals for the RX 6750 XT, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (0.5% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (1.1% higher), which are close in aggregate performance but likely differ wildly in feature support. In Downfall, the GPU’s raw power is sufficient to push high frame rates, but the data shows that the 12 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor here, as even 4K Ultra doesn’t show signs of memory throttling beyond the FPS drop, which is more likely due to compute limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide decent single-threaded performance, which is critical for older titles like Downfall that may not utilize many threads effectively. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a middling performer by modern standards.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is clearly to feed the GPU, and the data shows this works well up to a point. At 1080p Low, the 240 FPS average is almost certainly CPU-limited, as the GPU could likely render more frames. The fact that 1080p Medium (197 FPS) and 1080p High (161 FPS) are also very high suggests the CPU can handle the game’s logic and draw calls at these settings. However, the Ultra preset at 1080p (101 FPS) shows a larger gap from High, which might indicate that the CPU is also struggling with the additional draw calls or physics calculations that Ultra settings introduce, not just the GPU load.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is dual-channel DDR4, which is modest but sufficient for this game. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data reuse, but the lack of hyper-threading (6 cores, 6 threads) could be a hindrance in scenes with many dynamic objects. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% lower in average score) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% higher), have similar multi-threaded capabilities, but their single-thread performance may vary. In this pairing, the CPU is not the star, but it is adequate to keep the GPU busy at 1440p and below, as evidenced by the playable frame rates at those resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 1695 out of 3716 combos for Downfall. This places it in the middle of the pack, which is a reasonable position given the CPU’s mid-range status and the GPU’s upper-mid-range performance. The rank suggests that while the GPU is strong, the CPU prevents this combo from achieving top-tier status, especially in scenarios where frame rates are high.

The rank is likely dragged down by the CPU’s 47th percentile standing, as the GPU’s 71st percentile is relatively high. The data implies that in a game like Downfall, which is not particularly demanding on modern hardware, the CPU can become a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The combo’s rank of 1695 out of 3716 is not a poor showing, but it indicates that there are many other combinations that perform better, likely those with more powerful CPUs or higher-end GPUs. However, the rank also shows that this combo beats over half of the tested systems, which confirms the RX 6750 XT’s ability to carry the load in most scenarios.

The measured FPS data aligns with this rank: the combo offers a smooth experience at 1440p and even 4K on High settings, which is better than many systems would achieve. The rank is thus a reflection of the combo’s balance—not exceptional, but far from inadequate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance for this combo depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers an average of 197 FPS with a minimum of 167 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset still delivers 161 FPS, and even Ultra (101 FPS) is playable, but Medium provides the best headroom above 60 FPS. For 1440p, the High preset at 115 FPS is the sweet spot, as it maintains a high frame rate while offering better visuals than Medium (140 FPS). The Ultra preset at 1440p (72 FPS) is acceptable but close to the edge of smoothness.

At 4K, the High preset (72 FPS) is the recommended choice, as it provides a playable experience with good detail. The Medium preset (87 FPS) is also viable, but the Low preset (107 FPS) sacrifices too much visual quality for a marginal gain. The Ultra preset at 4K (45 FPS) is not recommended for a smooth experience, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that players should prioritize High settings for 4K, Medium or High for 1440p, and Medium for 1080p to get the best experience without frame rate dips. The minimum FPS data for Medium settings (167 at 1080p, 119 at 1440p, 74 at 4K) indicates that this preset provides a stable experience across all resolutions, making it a safe fallback.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT in Downfall?*

A: The data suggests yes, but primarily at 1080p and low settings. The 240 FPS at 1080p Low indicates the CPU is maxing out before the GPU can reach its full potential, as the GPU is capable of higher scores in synthetic benchmarks (71st percentile) compared to the CPU (47th percentile).

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average FPS is 72, which is playable. At 4K Medium, it rises to 87 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve the highest frame rates?

A: At 1080p, the combo achieves an average of 240 FPS on Low settings and 197 FPS on Medium. These are the highest measured frame rates, indicating that 1080p is where the CPU and GPU work best together to maximize FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6750 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 26011, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (25891), 0.6% higher than the AMD FirePro W7100 (25856), and 1.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (25740). In Downfall, the measured FPS shows the RX 6750 XT is capable of high performance, but the rival comparisons are based on aggregate scores, not in-game data.

*Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM on the GPU sufficient for Downfall?*

A: The data indicates yes. Even at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 45, but there is no evidence of memory-related stuttering or texture pop-in in the measured rows. The 12 GB capacity is more than enough for a 2016 title like Downfall, and the bottleneck at 4K Ultra is more likely due to compute or fill-rate limits.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1695 out of 3716 tested combinations for Downfall, placing it in the 45.6th percentile of all tested systems. This indicates it performs better than a majority of combos, but there is room for improvement, likely with a stronger CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT in Downfall is as follows:

At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 240 FPS. Medium settings yield an average of 197 FPS, with a minimum of 167 FPS and a maximum of 226 FPS. High settings produce an average of 161 FPS, and Ultra settings produce an average of 101 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 172 FPS. Medium settings yield an average of 140 FPS, with a minimum of 119 FPS and a maximum of 162 FPS. High settings produce an average of 115 FPS, and Ultra settings produce an average of 72 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low settings produce an average of 107 FPS. Medium settings yield an average of 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High settings produce an average of 72 FPS, and Ultra settings produce an average of 45 FPS.

These numbers show a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra across all resolutions. The gaps between settings are larger at lower resolutions (e.g., 1080p Low to Ultra is a 139 FPS difference), which indicates a CPU limit at low settings. At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra is only 62 FPS, showing the GPU is the primary constraint. The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, and it shows stable frame times across all resolutions, making it a reliable choice for consistent performance.