Downfall

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-9400 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i5-9400’s average benchmark score of 2254 places it within a tight cluster of competitors. It is 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259), 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248), and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246). The largest gap is to the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264), which leads by 0.4%.

Q: What is the GPU’s standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13745. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, scores 13543, putting the RX 7900 XT 1.5% ahead. The other close competitors—AMD Radeon 660M, NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, and AMD Radeon RX 570X—are 0.5%, 0.5%, and 0.9% behind, respectively.

Q: What frame rates does this combo achieve at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 252, with a minimum of 214 FPS and a maximum of 290 FPS. This represents a highly playable experience, well above typical display refresh rates.

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

A: This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 820th out of 3716 tested combos for Downfall. This places it in the top 22% of all tested configurations, indicating a strong overall performance level for this title.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering a memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2500 MHz, with an effective data rate of 20 Gbps.

Q: What is the CPU’s core and thread configuration?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The L3 cache is 9 MB shared.

How This Combo Ranks

The performance data for Downfall places this pairing of Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT at rank 820 out of 3716 tested combinations. This percentile position—roughly the 78th percentile of all combos—indicates a configuration that is substantially above the median performer. The ranking reflects a system that can handle the game’s demands with considerable headroom, as the measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings consistently exceed playable thresholds.

The rank is a composite measure that accounts for the balance between CPU and GPU capabilities. Given that the RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card and the i5-9400 is a mid-range processor from an older generation, the data suggests the GPU is doing the heavy lifting. The 820th position out of 3716 is a strong showing, but it is not near the top, which would require a more modern, higher-core-count CPU to avoid leaving performance on the table. The delta between this combo and the absolute best is not captured in the data, but the rank alone tells the story: this is a very capable machine for Downfall.

The synthetic benchmark average for the GPU (13745) and CPU (2254) align with this ranking. The CPU’s 47th percentile placement among all CPUs is modest, while the GPU’s 55th percentile is slightly better, but the combination in this specific game yields a top-quartile result. This implies that Downfall is not exceptionally CPU-bound at the settings tested, allowing the GPU to express its full potential. The rank of 820 is therefore a signal of the GPU’s brute force rather than the CPU’s computational prowess.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 226 at 1080p to 161 at 1440p, and finally to 100 at 4K. This represents a 29% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 38% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 56%, which is a significant but expected decline for a demanding title.

The scaling pattern tells a story about the limiting component. At 1080p, the CPU is likely the constraining factor, as the GPU has enough headroom to push very high frame rates (271 FPS at Low settings). As resolution increases, the pixel fill rate demand grows, shifting the bottleneck toward the GPU. The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows at higher resolutions, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios. At 4K, the difference between Low (150 FPS) and Ultra (63 FPS) is 87 FPS, while at 1080p, the difference is 130 FPS (271 vs 141). This compression at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter.

The i5-9400’s 6 cores and 6 threads are likely sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the frame rates above 240 FPS suggest the CPU is nearing its limit. The data shows that at 1440p Low, the system hits 240 FPS, which is a common ceiling for many CPUs. At 4K Low, the frame rate drops to 150 FPS, indicating that the GPU is now the bottleneck, as the CPU has excess capacity to generate frames but the GPU cannot render them fast enough. This is a classic sign of a well-balanced system at higher resolutions, where the GPU’s raw throughput becomes the deciding factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is broad. Low settings yield an average of 271 FPS, which is the highest measured across all configurations. Medium settings deliver 252 FPS on average, with a minimum of 214 and a maximum of 290. High settings reduce the average to 226 FPS, while Ultra settings bring it down to 141 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result represents a 48% reduction from Low, highlighting the significant cost of maximum visual fidelity.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected decline. Low settings average 240 FPS, which is exactly 31 FPS less than at 1080p. Medium settings average 197 FPS, with a minimum of 167 and a maximum of 226. High settings drop to 161 FPS on average, and Ultra settings fall to 101 FPS. The Ultra setting at 1440p is the only configuration in this resolution that dips below 100 FPS, though it still maintains a solid average.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s workload becomes substantial. Low settings average 150 FPS, which is still very playable. Medium settings average 122 FPS, with a minimum of 104 and a maximum of 141. High settings drop to 100 FPS on average, and Ultra settings fall to 63 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured average in the dataset, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making it viable for players who prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate.

The Medium settings at each resolution show the most complete data, with min and max FPS values provided. At 1080p, the range is 214 to 290 FPS, a 76 FPS spread that indicates some scene-to-scene variability. At 1440p, the range narrows to 167 to 226 FPS, a 59 FPS spread. At 4K, the range tightens further to 104 to 141 FPS, a 37 FPS spread. This decreasing variability at higher resolutions is consistent with a GPU-bound workload, where frame times become more consistent as the pixel shader workload dominates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and the measured frame rates reflect its high-end positioning. With 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources to handle Downfall at any resolution. The memory configuration is particularly relevant for 4K gaming, where large texture datasets can exceed the capacity of lesser cards. The 320-bit bus width and 20 Gbps effective memory clock ensure that data transfer is not a bottleneck, even at the highest settings.

The GPU’s clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1387 MHz, a game clock of 2025 MHz, and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The boost clock is the maximum achievable under load, and the data shows that the GPU can sustain high frame rates across all tested configurations. The 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs provide the raw compute power necessary for the game’s rendering demands. The GPU’s 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a strong indicator of its capability, and the benchmark results bear this out.

The 4K Ultra result of 63 FPS is particularly telling. This is the most demanding configuration tested, and the GPU manages to stay above the 60 FPS mark, showing that it has sufficient headroom for this title. The fact that 4K High achieves 100 FPS demonstrates that the GPU is not fully saturated at Ultra settings, suggesting that the CPU may be introducing some minor limitation in these extreme scenarios. However, the overall pattern across resolutions is that the GPU scales predictably, with frame rates dropping proportionally to the pixel count increase.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its strong performance. The PassMark G3D score of 29009 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623 are both robust figures. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 71068 is particularly high, indicating excellent API utilization. These synthetic results align with the in-game data, confirming that the RX 7900 XT is a formidable graphics card that performs well in Downfall.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium achieves 252 FPS on average, which is 19 FPS lower than Low but provides significantly better visual fidelity. The minimum FPS of 214 ensures that there are no noticeable dips below high refresh rate thresholds. At 1440p, Medium delivers 197 FPS on average, with a minimum of 167, which is still well above the 144 Hz mark for most monitors. At 4K, Medium averages 122 FPS, with a minimum of 104, which is more than sufficient for a smooth experience.

The High preset is also a viable option, but it comes with a measurable cost. At 4K, High averages 100 FPS, which is 22 FPS lower than Medium. This is a significant reduction that may be noticeable on high refresh rate displays. At 1440p, High averages 161 FPS, which is still excellent, but the 36 FPS drop from Medium is not justified for most users unless they specifically desire the extra visual enhancements. At 1080p, High averages 226 FPS, which is a 26 FPS reduction from Medium, but still exceptionally smooth.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for players who prioritize maximum visual quality over frame rate. At 1080p, Ultra averages 141 FPS, which is playable but represents a 44% reduction from Medium. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 101 FPS, which is still acceptable, but the 96 FPS gap from Medium is substantial. At 4K, Ultra averages 63 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS baseline. This configuration is best suited for players with 60 Hz displays who want the best possible graphics.

The Low preset is not recommended for this hardware combination, as the GPU is capable of much higher settings. The frame rate gains from Low to Medium are relatively small (19 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K), and the visual quality loss is significant. For a game like Downfall, which is a horror title, visual immersion is a key part of the experience, so sacrificing visual fidelity for marginal frame rate gains is counterproductive.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake generation, released in 2018. With a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, it provides adequate single-threaded performance for gaming. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data locality, but the lack of Hyper-Threading means the CPU has a limited thread count. In a game like Downfall, which may not be heavily multi-threaded, this configuration is generally sufficient, but the data suggests it can become a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 271 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. This result indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to sustain high performance. However, the fact that the 1080p Low result is only 31 FPS higher than the 1440p Low result (240 FPS) suggests that the CPU is nearing its limit at 1080p. If the GPU were fully utilized at 1080p Low, the frame rate would be significantly higher, as the GPU has the headroom to render more frames. The 271 FPS ceiling is likely dictated by the CPU’s single-thread performance.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmark scores support this interpretation. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and single-core score of 935 are modest figures for a modern processor. The Geekbench multi-core score of 5141 and single-core score of 1389 are similarly unremarkable. The CPU’s 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is an average performer, and in a game that is not heavily multi-threaded, this can become a bottleneck at high frame rates.

At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes, as the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The 4K Low result of 150 FPS is 121 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result, which is a direct consequence of the increased pixel workload. The CPU has excess capacity at 4K, as it is no longer the limiting factor. This is evidenced by the fact that the frame rate scales almost linearly with resolution at Low settings, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. The i5-9400’s 6 cores are sufficient for this game at 4K, but at 1080p, the CPU’s limitations become apparent in the form of a frame rate ceiling.