Downfall

This analysis examines how the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti perform in Downfall, a horror title from 2016. The data comes from measured FPS rows across three resolutions and four settings presets, alongside synthetic benchmarks and relative rankings for both components. The focus is on what these numbers mean for actual gameplay, how the combo scales, and where its strengths and limitations lie.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 271 FPS average, which drops to 242 FPS at 1440p and further to 163 FPS at 4K. This represents a 40% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor while the CPU remains relatively unburdened at lower resolutions.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling becomes steeper: 252 FPS at 1080p, 214 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K here is 37.9%, which is slightly less severe than the Low preset's 32.6% drop (from 242 to 163 FPS). This suggests that as settings increase, the GPU workload grows disproportionately, but the 4K Medium result of 133 FPS still shows the RTX 4070 Ti handling the resolution bump with substantial headroom.

High settings tell a similar story: 235 FPS at 1080p, 176 FPS at 1440p, and 109 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K reduction is 38.1%, nearly identical to Medium. This consistency across presets indicates that Downfall scales resolution in a uniform way, with the GPU's computational load increasing roughly proportionally to pixel count. The limiting component at 1080p and 1440p is not the GPU, as even at 4K High, the average stays above 100 FPS.

Ultra settings expose the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p, the combo achieves 154 FPS, at 1440p it drops to 110 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 68 FPS. The 1440p to 4K drop is 38.2%, again consistent with other presets. However, the absolute numbers reveal that Ultra at 4K is the first configuration where the combo dips below 70 FPS, suggesting that the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth become stressed at this extreme combination. The limiting component at 4K Ultra is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's six cores and six threads are unlikely to bottleneck a 2016 horror title at any resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results indicate that the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, the data shows that even Ultra settings deliver 154 FPS average, which is well above standard 60 Hz and 144 Hz refresh rates. High settings push this to 235 FPS, Medium to 252 FPS, and Low to 271 FPS. For most 1080p users, Ultra at 154 FPS offers the best visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness, making this the recommended preset based on measured rows.

At 1440p, the picture changes. Ultra drops to 110 FPS, which is still playable but may not satisfy users with 144 Hz or higher monitors. High settings at 176 FPS provide a strong balance, offering a 60% improvement over Ultra while maintaining high visual quality. Medium at 214 FPS is even smoother, with a 94.5% advantage over Ultra. For competitive play or high-refresh displays, Medium is the practical choice, while High serves as the best quality-per-frame option. Low at 242 FPS offers marginal gains over Medium and sacrifices too much visual detail.

For 4K, the recommendations tighten considerably. Ultra at 68 FPS is borderline, dipping below the 70 FPS threshold that many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. High settings at 109 FPS are the clear winner, providing a 60% improvement over Ultra while still delivering strong visuals. Medium at 133 FPS is also viable, but the gap between High and Medium (18% difference) is smaller than the gap between High and Ultra (37.8% difference), making High the sweet spot. Low at 163 FPS is unnecessary for most 4K users, as the visual degradation outweighs the frame rate gain.

The measured data suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti has enough headroom to run Downfall at High settings across all resolutions, with the exception of 4K Ultra. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game's textures, as evidenced by the stable frame rates even at Ultra presets. The recommendation is to start at High for 4K, Medium for 1440p high-refresh, and Ultra for 1080p, adjusting based on personal preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti plays a dominant role in this combo's performance, as its 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz and base clock of 2310 MHz provide the computational foundation for the measured frame rates. With 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, the AD104 chip delivers 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is more than sufficient for a 2016 horror title.

The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus yields 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for Downfall, as the 4K Ultra preset still achieves 68 FPS average, though this is the weakest measured result. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, which contributes to the GPU's overall throughput. The pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s further support the high frame rates observed at lower resolutions.

The GPU's 285 W TDP and suggested 600 W PSU indicate that power draw is not a limiting factor for this combo, even under sustained load. The dual-slot design and 1x 16-pin power connector are standard for this performance class. The PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface ensures no bandwidth bottleneck, though the CPU's PCIe Gen 3, 16 lanes could theoretically limit transfer rates, but this does not manifest in the measured FPS data.

The benchmark results position the RTX 4070 Ti among strong competitors. Its average benchmark score of 44795 places it within 0.8% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45152) and 1.3% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45384). It is 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44075) and 1.7% ahead of the Intel Arc A730M (45592). These narrow deltas suggest that the GPU's performance in Downfall is consistent with its synthetic standing, with the measured FPS confirming that it is not a bottleneck except at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 271 FPS average, which is the ceiling for this resolution. Medium follows at 252 FPS, with a minimum of 214 FPS and maximum of 290 FPS, indicating some frame variance but no severe stuttering. High settings reduce the average to 235 FPS, still exceptionally smooth. Ultra settings drop to 154 FPS, which is a 43.2% reduction from Low but remains well above the 60 FPS threshold.

The 2560x1440 results show a consistent step down. Low achieves 242 FPS, which is 10.7% lower than 1080p Low. Medium produces 214 FPS (182 min, 246 max), a 15.1% drop from 1080p Medium. High falls to 176 FPS, a 25.1% reduction from 1080p High. Ultra at 110 FPS represents a 28.6% decrease from 1080p Ultra. These percentages indicate that the GPU's workload scales with pixel count, but the RTX 4070 Ti maintains playable frame rates across all settings at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance ceiling lowers further. Low settings yield 163 FPS, which is still excellent for 4K. Medium produces 133 FPS (113 min, 153 max), showing a tight range that suggests stable performance. High settings achieve 109 FPS, which is the recommended config for 4K. Ultra drops to 68 FPS, marking the only configuration below 70 FPS in the entire dataset. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 95 FPS, compared to 132 FPS at 1440p and 117 FPS at 1080p, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a proportionally larger penalty at higher resolutions.

The min and max FPS data, where available, reveals consistency. At 4K Medium, the range is 113 to 153 FPS, a spread of 40 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 182 to 246 FPS, a 64 FPS spread. At 1080p Medium, the range is 214 to 290 FPS, a 76 FPS spread. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded, reducing frame time spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 679th out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 18.3% of all configurations. This ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's strong performance, as the CPU's 47th percentile standing among all CPUs would typically drag a combo lower. The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254 places it nearly equal to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, -0.2% delta), Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, -0.4% delta), Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, +0.3% delta), and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, +0.4% delta). This CPU is not a performance outlier, yet the combo still ranks highly.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 84 means it outperforms 84% of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 44795 is within 1.7% of its closest rivals. The RTX 4070 Ti's nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 Mobile (-0.8% delta), Radeon Pro 5500 XT (-1.3% delta), RTX A6000 (+1.6% delta), and Arc A730M (-1.7% delta). These narrow margins indicate that the GPU sits in a competitive performance band, and its contribution to the combo rank is substantial.

Given the CPU's modest standing, the 679th rank out of 3716 combos suggests that Downfall is heavily GPU-bound. The game's 2016 release date means it does not leverage modern multi-core CPUs heavily, so the i5-9400's six cores and six threads are sufficient. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth do not create a bottleneck, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p where CPU overhead would be most apparent. The combo rank reflects a balanced pairing for this specific title, despite the CPU's lower synthetic scores.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?*

A: Based on measured FPS, 2560x1440 at High settings delivers 176 FPS average, which balances visual quality and smoothness. At 4K, High settings still achieve 109 FPS, making it viable, while 1080p at Ultra reaches 154 FPS.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-9400 bottleneck the RTX 4070 Ti?

A: The data shows no significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 271 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it drops to 68 FPS, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor at higher loads. The CPU's 47th percentile ranking does not prevent high frame rates in this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44795, which is 0.8% lower than the RTX 5090 Mobile (45152), 1.3% lower than the Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45384), 1.6% higher than the RTX A6000 (44075), and 1.7% higher than the Arc A730M (45592).

Q: Is Ultra settings playable at 4K with this combo?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 68, which is below the 70 FPS threshold often considered minimum for smooth gameplay. High settings at 109 FPS provide a more comfortable experience.

Q: What is the frame rate range at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the range is 214 to 290 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it is 182 to 246 FPS. At 4K Medium, it is 113 to 153 FPS. The range narrows as resolution increases, indicating more consistent frame pacing.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 + RTX 4070 Ti ranks 679th out of 3716 combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 18.3% of all tested pairings. This high rank is primarily attributed to the GPU's 84th percentile standing.