Downfall

# Downfall: Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT — Benchmark Analysis

The Intel Core i7-12700K pairs with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT to deliver a formidable 1080p and 1440p experience in Downfall, but the data reveals a sharp performance cliff at 4K Ultra settings that shifts the bottleneck from CPU to GPU. This combination ranks 639th out of 1,741 tested combos, placing it in the top 37% of all configurations — a solid mid-to-upper tier result for a horror title that rewards high frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Downfall?

A: This configuration ranks 639th out of 1,741 tested combos, placing it in the upper portion of the field but not among the elite top-tier setups.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i7-12700K sits within 1% of its closest competitors. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 by 0.3% and the Intel Core i5-14500HX by 0.7%, while leading the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.8% in average benchmark score.

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

A: The 1080p Low setting delivers the highest average frame rate at 282 FPS, while 1440p High remains very playable at 134.4 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 52.1 FPS, which is the weakest result measured.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7800 XT is closely matched with its competitors, trailing the NVIDIA T600 Mobile by 0.7% and the NVIDIA P104-100 by 0.4%, while leading the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 by 0.2% and the AMD FirePro S10000 by 0.7% in average benchmark score.

Q: What frame rate can players expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured average is 162.1 FPS at 1440p Medium, which represents a strong balance between visual quality and performance for this horror title.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate falls to 52.1 FPS — a 56% drop from 4K High — while the CPU's single-thread performance remains ample for the workload.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 1295 MHz with a boost clock of 2430 MHz and a game clock of 2124 MHz, while memory operates at 2438 MHz with 19.5 Gbps effective throughput. These specifications position the card with 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units, supported by 60 ray tracing cores.

The 16 GB frame buffer proves critical in Downfall at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the game demands substantial memory bandwidth, and the RX 7800 XT's 624.1 GB/s throughput becomes a limiting factor. The transition from 4K High (85 FPS) to 4K Ultra (52.1 FPS) represents a 38.7% performance hit, which aligns with the increased memory pressure and shading complexity of Ultra settings. The GPU's 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 233.3 GPixel/s pixel rate handle the game's horror environments well at lower settings, but Ultra's additional effects tax the card heavily.

The graphics card's RDNA 3.0 architecture with 28,100 million transistors on a 5 nm process from TSMC provides the raw throughput needed for high-refresh gaming at 1440p. The 583.2 GTexel/s texture rate ensures detailed surface rendering, while the 96 ROPs manage pixel output efficiently. The card's percentile ranking of 76 against all GPUs indicates it outperforms three-quarters of the graphics cards in the database, though its nearest rivals — including the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 and NVIDIA P104-100 — show how tightly clustered mid-to-high-end GPUs can be.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound progression at higher settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 282 at 1080p to 198.3 at 1440p (a 29.7% reduction), then to 123.9 at 4K (a 37.5% reduction from 1440p). This consistent scaling suggests the CPU maintains adequate headroom, with the GPU taking on increasing load as pixel count rises.

At High settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The 1080p result of 185.8 FPS drops to 134.4 FPS at 1440p (a 27.7% decline), then to 85 FPS at 4K (a 36.8% decline from 1440p). The larger drop at 4K indicates the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources become strained as resolution increases. The RX 7800 XT's 624.1 GB/s bandwidth, while substantial, faces challenges from Downfall's high-resolution textures and lighting effects.

Ultra settings amplify this trend dramatically. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 118.6 FPS, which falls to 86.2 FPS at 1440p (a 27.3% reduction) and then collapses to 52.1 FPS at 4K (a 39.6% reduction). The 4K Ultra result represents the steepest resolution penalty in the dataset, confirming that the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck at this configuration. Meanwhile, the Core i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, provide more than enough processing power, as evidenced by the CPU's 89th percentile ranking against all processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 282 FPS, Medium reaches 229.1 FPS, High achieves 185.8 FPS, and Ultra settles at 118.6 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p gaming presents no challenge to this hardware, with even Ultra settings maintaining frame rates well above 100 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain strong but show the GPU beginning to work harder. Low settings average 198.3 FPS, Medium hits 162.1 FPS, High runs at 134.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 86.2 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result, while lower, still provides a smooth experience for a horror game where atmospheric tension benefits from consistent frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low settings still manage a respectable 123.9 FPS, Medium achieves 101.8 FPS, High delivers 85 FPS, and Ultra falls to 52.1 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that dips below 60 FPS, making it less ideal for players who prioritize smoothness over maximum visual fidelity. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K — from 123.9 to 52.1 FPS — demonstrates the substantial performance cost of Ultra settings at this resolution.

The scaling between settings at each resolution follows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 52.9 FPS, Medium to High costs 43.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 67.2 FPS. At 1440p, these gaps narrow to 36.2 FPS, 27.7 FPS, and 48.2 FPS respectively. At 4K, the gaps compress further to 22.1 FPS, 16.8 FPS, and 32.9 FPS, indicating that as resolution rises, each settings tier imposes a smaller absolute frame rate penalty because the GPU is already near its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT achieves a rank of 639 out of 1,741 tested combos in Downfall. This places the configuration in the 63rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 63% of the combinations in the database while trailing the top-tier configurations.

The CPU's individual performance contributes significantly to this ranking. The Core i7-12700K holds an 89th percentile position against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35,684. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 at 35,802, the Intel Core i5-14500HX at 35,940, the Intel Core i7-13700T at 35,468, and the Intel Core i7-13800H at 35,416 — all sit within 0.8% of the i7-12700K's score. This tight clustering suggests the CPU is not a differentiating factor at this performance tier.

The GPU's 76th percentile ranking against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32,619, similarly places it near its direct competitors. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (32,540), NVIDIA P104-100 (32,747), NVIDIA T600 Mobile (32,849), and AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388) all fall within 0.7% of the RX 7800 XT's average score.

The combo's overall rank of 639 reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outclasses the other. The CPU's strong single-thread performance — highlighted by a PassMark single-thread score of 4,013 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,128 — ensures the GPU receives adequate feeding even at high frame rates. The 1080p Low result of 282 FPS demonstrates this synergy, where the CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock and the GPU's 2,430 MHz boost clock work in concert to deliver maximum frame rates. However, the 4K Ultra result of 52.1 FPS reveals that when the GPU becomes fully saturated, the system's overall performance ceiling is determined by the graphics card's capabilities rather than the processor's headroom.