Downfall

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable, if not always smooth, experience in Downfall. Benchmark data shows this combination ranks 1518th out of 1741 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The CPU is a high-end Alder Lake-S part with 12 cores and 20 threads, while the GPU is an end-of-life Turing-based card with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit bus. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can handle 1080p and 1440p well at moderate settings, but struggles significantly at 4K and at the Ultra preset.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the combo averages 86.8 FPS, which is smooth, while High settings yield 71.9 FPS. 1920x1080 is faster (120.2 FPS at Medium), but 1440p offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 14286 is essentially tied with its closest competitors. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314) and 0.2% behind the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389) by 0.7%.

Q: What is the CPU’s standing relative to other processors?

A: The Core i7-12700K sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 35684 is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940), but it is 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i7-13700T.

Q: Is the Ultra preset usable at any resolution?

A: No. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 62.0 FPS, which is borderline. At 2560x1440, it drops to 43.0 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 28.6 FPS. These results indicate the Ultra preset is too demanding for this GPU at higher resolutions.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 101.7 at 1080p to 71.9 at 1440p, a 29.3% reduction. Moving to 4K, the average drops to 46.4 FPS, which is 54.4% lower than the 1080p result. The scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU has a strong multithreaded score of 29241 in Cinebench R23 and a PassMark multithread score of 34404. However, the GPU’s PassMark G3D score is 12699. The frame rate drops significantly with resolution increases, a classic sign of GPU limitation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the defining component in this pairing. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, with 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs. Its FP32 performance is rated at 5.027 TFLOPS.

In Downfall, the GPU’s role is evident in the measured FPS. The card’s percentile rank of 55 places it just above the median of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 14286 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, making it a mid-pack performer. The data indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute capabilities are the limiting factors when settings are increased.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution highlights the GPU’s workload. At 1920x1080, the GTX 1660 SUPER produces 148.3 FPS on Low but only 62.0 FPS on Ultra. This 86.3 FPS gap shows that the card has ample headroom for simple scenes but is quickly saturated by the additional shading and texture work required by Ultra. The GPU’s 6 GB frame buffer is a concern at higher resolutions, but the data does not show a complete failure, only a steady decline in performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 120.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 86.8 FPS at 2560x1440, a 27.8% drop. Moving to 3840x2160, the average falls to 53.6 FPS, which is 55.4% lower than the 1080p result. This consistent decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload.

At High settings, the same trend is visible. The average FPS goes from 101.7 at 1080p to 71.9 at 1440p and then to 46.4 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 54.4%, which is similar to the Medium preset’s decline. This suggests that the scaling is not heavily dependent on the specific preset but rather on the resolution’s pixel count.

The Low preset shows a slightly different pattern. At 1080p, the average is 148.3 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 103.3 FPS, a 30.3% reduction. At 4K, it falls to 65.6 FPS, a 55.8% drop from 1080p. The absolute numbers are higher, but the relative scaling is nearly identical. This indicates that the limiting factor is the GPU’s rendering throughput, not the CPU or memory subsystem.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1518th out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the bottom 13% of all configurations in the database. The rank reflects the overall performance of the pair, which is heavily weighted by the GPU’s mid-range capabilities.

The CPU itself is a strong performer, with an average benchmark score of 35684 and a percentile rank of 89. It is within 0.8% of its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-13800H at 35416 and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 at 35802. However, the GPU’s average score of 14286 is only at the 55th percentile. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389), are less than 1% faster, but they are still low-end parts.

The combo rank of 1518 suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the rank would likely be higher. Instead, the data shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER holds the system back, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The system is more than capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset is the best overall choice for this combo. At 1920x1080, it delivers an average of 120.2 FPS, which is smooth for a horror game. At 2560x1440, it produces 86.8 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 3840x2160, it manages 53.6 FPS, which is playable.

The High preset is also viable, but with caveats. At 1440p, it delivers 71.9 FPS, which is good. At 1080p, it averages 101.7 FPS. However, at 4K, it drops to 46.4 FPS, which may feel less fluid. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates, with 148.3 FPS at 1080p, but it sacrifices visual quality.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this hardware. Even at 1080p, it only averages 62.0 FPS, and at 1440p it falls to 43.0 FPS. At 4K, it drops to 28.6 FPS, which is not a playable experience. For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is taken directly from the measured FPS results for the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER in Downfall.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves an average of 148.3 FPS on Low settings. The Medium preset produces 120.2 FPS, and the High preset yields 101.7 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at this resolution, with an average of 62.0 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 86.3 FPS, showing the GPU’s sensitivity to settings.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops across all presets. Low settings produce 103.3 FPS, Medium yields 86.8 FPS, and High delivers 71.9 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 43.0 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 60.3 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but still significant.

At 3840x2160, the performance is heavily constrained. Low settings average 65.6 FPS, Medium averages 53.6 FPS, and High averages 46.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is the lowest result in the entire dataset, with an average of 28.6 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent, with the Ultra preset losing 33.4 FPS and the Low preset losing 82.7 FPS. These numbers confirm that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU has sufficient headroom to handle the workload at all tested resolutions.