Downfall

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Downfall with the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 reveals a steep resolution scaling curve that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 91 FPS, which drops to 65 FPS at 1440p Low (-28.6%) and further to 41 FPS at 4K Low (-54.9% from 1080p). This pattern — where halving the pixel count roughly doubles the frame rate — is the classic signature of a pixel-throughput-limited scenario, not a CPU-limited one.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced at higher presets. At Medium settings, the average FPS moves from 75 at 1080p, to 53 at 1440p, and down to 33 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p Medium is 29.3%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K Medium is 37.7%. At High settings, the numbers are 61 FPS (1080p), 44 FPS (1440p), and 27 FPS (4K) — a consistent reduction of roughly 27-39% per resolution step. At Ultra, the figures are 38 FPS, 27 FPS, and 17 FPS respectively, with the 4K Ultra result falling below the playable threshold.

What this scaling curve indicates is that the GTX 1650, with its 128-bit memory bus and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth, simply cannot feed enough pixels to keep up with the Core i7-12700K's processing headroom. The CPU, which scores 19784 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1850.5 in single-core, is far more capable than what this GPU can utilize in a horror title like Downfall. The fact that the FPS drops nearly linearly with pixel count — rather than plateauing — confirms that the GPU's shading units, TMUs, and ROPs (896, 56, and 32 respectively) are saturated before the CPU ever becomes a constraint.

The 4K Ultra result of 17 FPS is particularly telling. Even a modest reduction to 4K High yields 27 FPS, and 4K Medium gives 33 FPS. The jump from Ultra to High at 4K represents a 58.8% improvement in average FPS, which is far larger than the visual difference between those presets typically warrants. This suggests that the Ultra preset in Downfall includes effects that disproportionately tax the GTX 1650's limited fillrate and memory bandwidth — likely high-resolution shadows or post-processing that require additional memory transactions.

At 1080p, the scaling is less severe but still present. The gap between 1080p Low (91 FPS) and 1080p Medium (75 FPS) is 17.6%, and between Medium and High (61 FPS) is 18.7%. The Ultra preset at 1080p (38 FPS) is nearly half of High, indicating that the most demanding settings carry a heavy cost regardless of resolution. This pattern — where the Ultra preset costs more than the sum of its parts — points to a specific setting (likely volumetric lighting or ambient occlusion) that the Turing-based TU117 chip struggles with.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Given the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and the user's tolerance for frame rate dips. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 75 FPS average with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS — this is the sweet spot. The min-to-max spread of 22 FPS indicates acceptable frame pacing for a horror game where sudden drops can be jarring. High at 1080p (61 FPS) is also viable, but the 14 FPS reduction from Medium may not justify the visual upgrade in a game like Downfall, which relies more on atmosphere than fine texture detail.

For 1440p, the Medium preset (53 FPS average, 45 min, 61 max) is the only setting that stays consistently above the 45 FPS threshold. Low at 1440p (65 FPS) is smoother, but the visual fidelity loss in a horror title — where darkness and shadow detail matter — may not be worth the extra 12 FPS. High at 1440p (44 FPS) dips into uncomfortable territory, and Ultra (27 FPS) is unplayable by any standard.

At 4K, no preset achieves a consistently smooth experience. Low (41 FPS) is the only option that approaches playability, and even then, the frame rate will feel stuttery during intense scenes. Medium (33 FPS) and High (27 FPS) are slideshows, and Ultra (17 FPS) is a non-starter. For users who insist on 4K output, the data suggests that the GTX 1650 is simply not adequate for Downfall at this resolution, and dropping to 1440p is the pragmatic choice.

The measured min FPS values, where available, reinforce the Medium preset recommendation. At 1080p Medium, the 64 FPS minimum is still 68% of the average, indicating reasonable consistency. At 1440p Medium, the 45 FPS minimum is 85% of average — tighter, but still above the 30 FPS floor. The absence of min FPS data for Low and High presets means we cannot fully assess their frame pacing, but the average values suggest they are more variable.

One notable observation: the Ultra preset at any resolution is not worth the cost. At 1080p Ultra (38 FPS), the user gets less than half the frame rate of Medium while the visual difference in a dark horror game is unlikely to be transformative. The data strongly supports Medium as the best overall choice, with Low as a fallback for users who prioritize frame rate above all else.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination ranks 3593 out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places the combo in the bottom 3.3% of all configurations tested for this game. The percentile is stark: this is a pairing that sits near the very bottom of the performance ladder, despite the CPU being a high-end desktop part.

To contextualize: the CPU alone, the Core i7-12700K, sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs tested on this site, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-13600T (avg score 35305, delta -0.1%), the Core i7-12700KF (35365, -0.2%), the Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.3%), and the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, -0.4%). All of these are within 0.4% of the i7-12700K's average score, meaning the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo's low rank.

The GPU, the GTX 1650, sits at the 40th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 7472. Its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks are the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (avg score 7447, delta +0.3%), the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441, +0.4%), the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425, +0.6%), and the Intel Arc A310 (7550, -1%). The GTX 1650 is essentially tied with these older or integrated solutions in raw benchmark terms — a clear sign that it is a low-end part relative to modern expectations.

The gap between the CPU's 84th percentile and the GPU's 40th percentile is enormous, and it directly explains the 3593rd rank. In Downfall, which is a GPU-bound title at these settings, the combo's in-game rank is determined almost entirely by the GPU. The i7-12700K could easily drive a much faster graphics card — its 12 cores, 20 threads, and 5.00 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom — but the GTX 1650's 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM cap the experience.

The rank of 3593 out of 3716 means that 96.7% of tested combos outperform this pairing in Downfall. This is not a configuration that any enthusiast would choose for this game; it is a legacy pairing that happens to be measured in the database. The data confirms that the GTX 1650 is the weakest link, and any upgrade path would involve replacing the GPU first.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data for Downfall with this combo is as follows, organized by resolution and preset:

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 91 FPS average
• Medium: 75 FPS average, 64 FPS minimum, 86 FPS maximum
• High: 61 FPS average
• Ultra: 38 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 65 FPS average
• Medium: 53 FPS average, 45 FPS minimum, 61 FPS maximum
• High: 44 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 41 FPS average
• Medium: 33 FPS average, 28 FPS minimum, 38 FPS maximum
• High: 27 FPS average
• Ultra: 17 FPS average

The only preset with complete min/max data is Medium across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 64-86 FPS range represents a 34% spread from min to max, which is moderate for a horror game with variable scene complexity. At 1440p Medium, the 45-61 FPS range is a 35.6% spread — similar in relative terms. At 4K Medium, the 28-38 FPS range is a 35.7% spread, with the minimum dipping below 30 FPS, which will be noticeable as stutter.

The delta between Low and Medium is consistent across resolutions: 16 FPS at 1080p (91 to 75), 12 FPS at 1440p (65 to 53), and 8 FPS at 4K (41 to 33). This suggests that the Medium preset adds a similar relative workload regardless of resolution. The delta between Medium and High is 14 FPS at 1080p (75 to 61), 9 FPS at 1440p (53 to 44), and 6 FPS at 4K (33 to 27) — again proportional. The largest jump is between High and Ultra: 23 FPS at 1080p (61 to 38), 17 FPS at 1440p (44 to 27), and 10 FPS at 4K (27 to 17). The Ultra preset is disproportionately expensive, costing roughly 40-45% of the High preset's frame rate.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is built on the TU117 chip using a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. It features 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory running at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is decisive. The game's horror aesthetic relies on dark environments, dynamic lighting, and particle effects — all of which stress the shading units and memory bandwidth. The GTX 1650's 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is modest by modern standards, and the 4 GB VRAM is a hard constraint. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS of 28 indicates that memory bandwidth is being saturated, causing frame drops during texture-heavy scenes.

The GPU's benchmark results contextualize its performance: it scores 7880 in Passmark G3D, 3048 in GPU compute, and 29629 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its DirectX 12 score in Passmark is 35, DirectX 11 is 58, and DirectX 9 is 124. These numbers place it at the 40th percentile among all GPUs, which is consistent with the in-game FPS results. The nearest GPU rivals — the AMD Radeon HD 8850M, Intel UHD Graphics 750, AMD Radeon R7 350, and Intel Arc A310 — are all within 1% of its average score, meaning the GTX 1650 is at the bottom of the discrete GPU hierarchy.

The 4 GB VRAM is particularly problematic for Downfall at higher resolutions. The game's texture streaming at 4K likely exceeds 4 GB, causing the GPU to fall back to system memory via PCIe 3.0 x16, which has far lower bandwidth. This explains why the 4K Ultra result (17 FPS) is so poor — the memory subsystem is the choke point. Even at 1080p Ultra (38 FPS), the VRAM may be close to capacity, as the Ultra preset typically includes higher-resolution textures.

The GPU's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors indicate it is designed for low-power systems, and its dual-slot cooler is adequate for that power envelope. However, the suggested PSU of 250 W shows that this card is not intended for high-end gaming. In Downfall, the GTX 1650 delivers playable frame rates only at 1080p Medium, and even then, the 64 FPS minimum suggests occasional dips during intense scenes.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and it features 25 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 per core and 80 KB of L1 per core. It has integrated UHD Graphics 770, though the GTX 1650 handles all rendering here.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is secondary but not negligible. The game is a 2016 horror title that is not heavily multi-threaded, but the i7-12700K's single-thread performance is excellent — it scores 1850.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2308 in Geekbench single-core. This ensures that the game's main thread is never a bottleneck, even when the GPU is delivering low frame rates.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is also strong: 19784 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 12229 in Cinebench R20, and 9979 in 3DMark max threads. However, Downfall likely does not utilize all 20 threads effectively, so these scores are not directly relevant to the game's FPS. The Passmark scores — 34404 in multithread, 114264 in integer math, 88035 in floating-point math, and 28885 in extended instructions — further confirm that the CPU has ample compute headroom.

The 3DMark thread scaling results show the CPU's strength: 9276 with 16 threads, 7202 with 8 threads, 4011 with 4 threads, and 2065 with 2 threads. The single-thread score of 1043 is strong, but the scaling from 2 to 4 threads (94% increase) and 4 to 8 threads (79.6% increase) indicates good multi-threading efficiency. However, in a game like Downfall, where the render thread is the primary driver, the GPU's limitations dominate.

The CPU's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287, places it well above average. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its score, indicating that the i7-12700K is a solid mid-range-to-high-end desktop part. The fact that this combo ranks 3593rd in Downfall is entirely due to the GPU — the CPU is capable of driving a much faster graphics card without becoming a constraint.

The CPU's 25 MB of L3 cache and 20 MB of L2 cache (1.25 MB per core) provide low-latency access to frequently used data, which helps maintain consistent frame times even when the GPU is struggling. The 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that the game's logic and physics calculations complete quickly, leaving the GPU as the sole limiting factor. In summary, the i7-12700K is overkill for the GTX 1650 in this title, and the measured FPS numbers reflect the GPU's ceiling, not the CPU's capability.