Downfall

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B390 is a severely constrained configuration in Downfall, producing playable frame rates only at the lowest settings and standard resolutions. The data indicates that this combo ranks in the bottom percentile of tested systems, and the integrated graphics solution acts as the primary bottleneck across all measured scenarios. While the CPU is a high-end desktop part, the GPU’s performance profile limits the experience to 1080p Low for smooth gameplay, with any increase in graphical fidelity resulting in a rapid decline in frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy of performance across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 106 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches or exceeds the 100 FPS threshold. This is the optimal choice for a responsive experience, as the Medium preset drops to 87 FPS, and High falls further to 71 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution produces just 44 FPS, which is a marginal playable frame rate but represents a 58.5% decrease from the Low setting.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more demanding. The Low preset still manages an average of 76 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS playability target. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 62 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 71 FPS, indicating occasional dips below the smooth threshold. The High preset drops to 51 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 32 FPS, making the latter unsuitable for sustained play. For 1440p users, the Low preset is the only setting that provides consistent headroom above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. The Low preset yields 47 FPS, the Medium preset 39 FPS, and the High preset 32 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces only 20 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. None of the 4K presets achieve 60 FPS, and the data suggests that 4K is not a viable option for this combo. The best experience at 4K would be the Low preset, but even that falls short of a smooth frame rate.

The verdict is straightforward: for a playable experience, the Low preset at 1080p is the recommended configuration. It provides the highest average frame rate and avoids the significant performance penalties associated with higher settings. The Medium preset at 1080p is a secondary option for users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, but the 19 FPS drop from Low to Medium is substantial.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, and its role in this combo is entirely defined by its limited graphics capabilities. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, but its memory configuration is "System Shared" with "System Dependent" bandwidth. This means the GPU relies on the host system’s memory, and its performance is directly influenced by CPU and memory performance. The GPU’s benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, according to the data, are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710, with delta percentages ranging from 1.3% to 2.7% above the Arc B390.

The GPU’s shading units (1536), texture mapping units (48), and raster output units (24) are modest figures, and its pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are indicative of entry-level performance. The FP32 compute throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, which is not sufficient for demanding modern titles at high resolutions. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, but the raw performance data shows that it is not a gaming-focused part. In Downfall, a horror game, the GPU’s limitations are exposed immediately, as the frame rate drops precipitously with each increase in resolution or settings level.

The relationship between the GPU and the CPU is asymmetric. The Core i7-12700K is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 20 threads, capable of significant multi-threaded workload performance. However, the Arc B390’s system-shared memory and low compute throughput mean that the GPU is the limiting factor in every measurement. The CPU’s power is largely irrelevant to the frame rates observed, as the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize the CPU’s capabilities. This is confirmed by the fact that increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K causes a dramatic FPS drop, which is a classic symptom of GPU-bound performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2589 out of 2928 tested combinations in Downfall. This places it in the bottom 11.6% of all systems, which is consistent with the GPU’s low percentile ranking. The combo’s position is a direct result of the GPU’s performance, as the CPU alone would rank much higher. The Core i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-13600T (delta -0.1%), Intel Core i7-12700KF (delta -0.2%), Intel Core i7-13700T (delta -0.3%), and Intel Core 5 213PE (delta -0.4%). These rivals all have slightly higher average scores, but the differences are minimal, within 0.4%.

In contrast, the GPU’s average benchmark score is 1482, and its nearest rivals are all significantly older or lower-end parts. The combo’s rank in Downfall is therefore dragged down entirely by the GPU. The data indicates that the combo is not competitive with systems that pair the same CPU with a discrete graphics card. The rank of 2589 out of 2928 is a poor result, and it suggests that the system is only suitable for the lowest graphical demands. The benchmark results show that the combo’s performance is heavily skewed toward the CPU, but the GPU caps the overall system capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 106 FPS, the Medium preset 87 FPS (with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 100), the High preset 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset 44 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 62 FPS, demonstrating a steep performance cliff as settings increase. The Medium preset’s minimum of 74 FPS indicates that even at this setting, the frame rate remains above 60 FPS, but the High preset’s average of 71 FPS suggests occasional dips below that threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 76 FPS, the Medium preset 62 FPS (with a minimum of 53 and maximum of 71), the High preset 51 FPS, and the Ultra preset 32 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 53 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, indicating that the system struggles to maintain smooth performance at this resolution and settings level. The High preset at 51 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 32 FPS is not playable for a smooth experience. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 44 FPS, which is slightly less severe than at 1080p but still substantial.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 47 FPS, the Medium preset 39 FPS (with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44), the High preset 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset 20 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 33 FPS is very low, and the Ultra preset’s average of 20 FPS is unplayable. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 27 FPS, which is the smallest absolute difference but the lowest absolute performance. The data shows that the combo is not capable of maintaining 60 FPS at any 4K setting, and even the Low preset at 4K is below the playability threshold.

The data also shows the impact of resolution on the Medium preset, which is the only preset with min and max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 87 FPS with a range of 74 to 100. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 62 FPS with a range of 53 to 71. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 39 FPS with a range of 33 to 44. This demonstrates a consistent degradation in frame rate as resolution increases, with the 4K Medium preset’s maximum FPS being lower than the 1080p Medium’s minimum FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of FPS from 1080p to 4K reveals a significant GPU bottleneck. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 106 at 1080p to 76 at 1440p, a decrease of 28.3%. From 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 76 to 47, a further decrease of 38.2%. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 59 FPS, which is a 55.7% reduction. This is a substantial loss that indicates the GPU’s rendering capabilities are the limiting factor, as the resolution increase directly increases the pixel fill rate demand.

At the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 87 at 1080p to 62 at 1440p (a 28.7% decrease), and then to 39 at 4K (a 37.1% decrease). The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 48 FPS, a 55.2% reduction. At the High preset, the FPS drops from 71 at 1080p to 51 at 1440p (a 28.2% decrease), and then to 32 at 4K (a 37.3% decrease). The cumulative drop is 39 FPS, a 54.9% reduction. At the Ultra preset, the FPS drops from 44 at 1080p to 32 at 1440p (a 27.3% decrease), and then to 20 at 4K (a 37.5% decrease). The cumulative drop is 24 FPS, a 54.5% reduction.

The consistency of the percentage drops across all settings is notable. The 1080p to 1440p drop is consistently around 27-29%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is consistently around 37-38%. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the frame rate is inversely proportional to the number of pixels being rendered. The CPU’s performance is not a factor in these scaling results, as the Core i7-12700K’s high multi-threaded scores (e.g., 19784 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) are not being utilized to overcome the GPU’s limitations. The data clearly indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component, and the system’s performance does not scale well with resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 provides the highest average FPS of 106, making it the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p is a secondary option with an average of 87 FPS, but it incurs a 19 FPS penalty compared to Low.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: The performance at 3840x2160 is poor, with the Low preset averaging 47 FPS, Medium at 39 FPS, High at 32 FPS, and Ultra at 20 FPS. None of the 4K presets achieve 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is effectively unplayable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck. The Intel Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of GPUs, while the Core i7-12700K ranks in the 84th percentile of CPUs. The consistent FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, around 55% across all settings, confirms GPU-limited performance.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 2589 out of 2928 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the bottom 11.6% of systems. The low rank is attributable to the GPU, as the CPU’s nearest rivals have average scores within 0.4% of the i7-12700K, but the GPU’s rivals are all significantly less powerful.

Q: What is the FPS difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 106 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 44 FPS. This represents a 62 FPS drop, or a 58.5% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide stable frame rates at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 62 FPS, but its minimum FPS is 53, indicating that frame rates can dip below the 60 FPS smoothness target. The Low preset at 1440p, with an average of 76 FPS, is a more stable choice.