Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a high-refresh-rate experience across all tested resolutions in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that clearly favors GPU throughput at higher settings. The 12-core Alder Lake processor, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241, provides ample headroom, while the RDNA 3 flagship GPU, with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 320-bit bus, dominates frame rates until 4K Ultra pushes the combination to its limits. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, making it a strong candidate for high-refresh 1440p and solid 4K play.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU across settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 338.2 at 1920x1080 to 238.1 at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 30%, and then to 146.5 at 3840x2160, another 38% decline. This scaling pattern suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU remains the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, though the CPU's single-thread performance — evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 — keeps 1080p frame rates exceptionally high.

Moving to Medium settings, the averages are 273.1 at 1080p, 198.3 at 1440p, and 124.2 at 4K. The percentage drops between successive resolutions are roughly 27% and 37%, respectively, showing a consistent trend. High settings yield 226.1, 161.5, and 97.5 FPS across the same resolution ladder. The delta between 1080p and 1440p here is about 29%, while 1440p to 4K sees a 40% reduction. This widening gap at higher settings indicates that the GPU's rendering load — particularly its 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput — becomes more dominant as pixel count and shading complexity increase.

Ultra settings produce the steepest scaling curve: 139.2 FPS at 1080p, 98.6 at 1440p, and 64.1 at 4K. The 29% drop from 1080p to 1440p mirrors other settings, but the 35% further decline to 4K, combined with the absolute values, points to a system where the RX 7900 XT's 800.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is being taxed heavily. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 82.4 FPS, whereas at 1080p it is 199.0 FPS, suggesting that resolution scaling compresses the performance envelope as the GPU saturates.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU's 20 threads and 25 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient to keep the GPU fed, but the limiting component shifts decisively to the GPU at 4K, particularly under Ultra settings where the 64.1 FPS average falls below the 97.5 FPS seen at High. This behavior is consistent with a horror title that relies on detailed textures and lighting effects, both of which scale with GPU memory and compute resources.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 226.1 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, representing a smooth experience well above typical display refresh rates.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra compared to 1440p Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 64.1, while at 2560x1440 Ultra it reaches 98.6. The 34.5 FPS difference represents a 35% performance reduction when moving to 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: With 338.2 FPS at 1080p Low, the CPU's capabilities, including a PassMark single-thread score of 4013, appear sufficient. The GPU, with a PassMark G3D score of 29009, still scales frame rates, indicating a balanced pairing at this resolution.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low settings produce 238.1 FPS, while Ultra yields 98.6 FPS, a difference of 139.5 FPS. This shows a substantial performance cost for maximum visual quality.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT's memory configuration support 4K gaming?

A: The GPU features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth, which supports the 64.1 FPS average observed at 4K Ultra without exceeding memory capacity.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The highest measured average is 338.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, demonstrating the system's ability to exceed 300 FPS in less demanding configurations.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high refresh rates at 1080p, Low settings deliver 338.2 FPS, but Medium at 273.1 FPS offers a substantial visual upgrade while still maintaining frame rates far above standard 144Hz displays. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 47 FPS, dropping to 226.1, yet still remains highly playable. Ultra at 1080p, at 139.2 FPS, is the first setting where the average dips below 200 FPS, indicating diminishing returns for the visual fidelity gained.

At 1440p, Medium settings provide 198.3 FPS, which is an excellent balance between image quality and performance. High settings reduce this to 161.5 FPS, still comfortably above 144Hz thresholds, while Ultra at 98.6 FPS forces a compromise for those without adaptive sync displays. Low at 1440p, with 238.1 FPS, would only be advisable for competitive play where maximum frame rate trumps visuals.

The 4K tier is where settings choices become critical. High settings yield 97.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for 120Hz panels. Medium drops to 124.2 FPS, offering a better balance for 4K displays with refresh rates up to 120Hz. Low at 146.5 FPS exceeds 144Hz at 4K, but the visual sacrifices are significant for a horror game that relies on atmosphere. Ultra at 64.1 FPS is only suitable for 60Hz displays, and the 33.4 FPS loss compared to High suggests this setting is not optimized for this resolution on this hardware.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions, as it maintains at least 124.2 FPS even at 4K while providing a meaningful step up from Low. For 1080p and 1440p users, High is a viable alternative, but at 4K, the gap between High and Medium (26.7 FPS) makes Medium the recommended preset for sustained performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination ranks 378th out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations. This percentile position reflects a strong pairing that outperforms the majority of systems, though it is not at the very top tier reserved for the most extreme hardware combinations. The CPU's average benchmark score of 35684, which places it in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, contributes to this ranking, but the GPU's 82nd percentile standing — with an average score of 38358 — is the more limiting factor in this title.

The ranking suggests that while this combo excels in most scenarios, there are roughly 377 other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in Downfall. Given the game's 2016 release date, this is unsurprising, as newer hardware with higher memory bandwidth and more compute units can push further. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, has an average score of 35802, which is 0.3% higher, indicating that the i7-12700K is closely matched with its direct competition. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, scores 38349, a 0% difference, showing that the RX 7900 XT sits in a tightly contested performance band.

Within the context of all tested combos, the 378th rank out of 1741 means that this system beats approximately 78% of configurations, a strong result for a desktop setup with a 125 W TDP processor and a 300 W TDP graphics card. The measured FPS data aligns with this ranking, as the combo achieves high frame rates at 1440p and playable 4K performance, which is a hallmark of a well-balanced system.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT plays the dominant role in Downfall's performance, particularly as resolution and settings increase. Its RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, delivers a boost clock of 2394 MHz and a game clock of 2025 MHz, with a base clock of 1387 MHz. The 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs, combined with a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s, provide the raw throughput necessary for the frame rates observed in the measured data.

The GPU's 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s, is a critical asset for 4K gaming. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS of 64.1 indicates that the memory subsystem and compute units are working near capacity, but the large frame buffer prevents any potential stuttering from memory exhaustion. The 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, with a density of 109.1M per mm², highlight the architectural efficiency that allows this card to maintain competitive performance.

The RX 7900 XT's benchmark results reinforce its capabilities: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 160119. In the context of Downfall, these scores translate to the 97.5 FPS at 4K High and 226.1 FPS at 1080p High. The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358, positions it as a high-end part that delivers strong results in this horror title.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher settings, where the 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 103.0 TFLOPS FP16 capabilities are leveraged for shading and effects. The 84 ray accelerators also support any advanced lighting features, though Downfall's 2016 release predates widespread ray tracing adoption. The 300 W TDP and dual-slot design, with two 8-pin power connectors and a suggested 700 W PSU, indicate that this is a power-hungry component, but the measured FPS data shows that the power budget is well spent in delivering high frame rates across all tested configurations.