Downfall

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable experience in Downfall, but the data shows a combination that is heavily constrained by the GPU at higher resolutions and settings. The combo ranks 3,177th out of 3,716 tested combinations, placing it in the lower percentile of tested hardware pairs for this specific title. While the 12-core processor provides ample headroom, the 6 GB VRAM and mid-range GPU architecture consistently limit frame rates, particularly at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to just 27.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Downfall?*

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 147, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds the 144 Hz threshold, indicating the combo is capable of high refresh rate gaming only at the lowest settings and resolution.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested hardware pairs in Downfall?*

A: The combination ranks 3,177th out of 3,716 tested combos. This places it in the 14th percentile of all tested configurations, suggesting that the majority of tested hardware pairs outperform it in this game.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and how does it affect performance?

A: The GPU features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The data shows a significant performance cliff between Medium and Ultra settings at all resolutions, with Ultra averaging 27 FPS at 4K versus 54 FPS at Medium, suggesting the frame buffer is saturated at the highest preset.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It uses a 25 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most balanced performance at 1440p?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 86 FPS with minimum and maximum figures of 73 and 99 FPS respectively. This is the only 1440p preset with complete min/max data, and it offers a substantial margin above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual quality.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 12,986, which is 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 580 (12,928). The data indicates these three GPUs perform nearly identically in aggregate testing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 3,177 out of 3,716 places it in a position where the data shows it is outperformed by roughly 85% of all tested configurations in Downfall. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 12,986. The CPU, conversely, performs at the 85th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 35,365.

The disparity between CPU and GPU percentiles is stark. The processor is a top-15% performer, while the graphics card is essentially average. In a game like Downfall, a horror title that relies on atmospheric rendering and lighting effects, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 147 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it falls to 62 FPS, a 58% reduction that cannot be explained by CPU limitations given the processor's high benchmark scores.

When compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-12700KF shows a delta of -0.1% against the Intel Core i7-13700T (35,403), +0.2% against the Intel Core i5-13600T (35,305), and +0.2% against the Intel Core i7-12700K (35,287). These differences are negligible, indicating that the CPU is not the differentiating factor in this combo's performance. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and RX 580 with deltas of 0.4%, similarly show that the graphics card is in a tightly contested performance tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, featuring 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. Its boost clock reaches 1785 MHz from a 1530 MHz base, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 6 GB GDDR6 frame buffer on a 192-bit bus delivers 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the critical specification for Downfall's higher settings.

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern: Ultra settings cause a dramatic performance collapse across all resolutions. At 4K, the drop from Medium (54 FPS) to Ultra (27 FPS) is exactly 50%. At 1440p, the drop is from 86 to 44 FPS (49%), and at 1080p, from 120 to 62 FPS (48%). This consistent halving of frame rates suggests a hard limit, likely VRAM capacity or memory bandwidth, rather than a gradual scaling curve.

The GPU's pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are modest by modern standards, and the FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS places it firmly in the mid-range category. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 147 FPS, but this drops to 99 FPS at High, 120 FPS at Medium (which is actually higher than High, suggesting the High preset may have specific rendering features that are more demanding), and 62 FPS at Ultra. This non-linear scaling points to specific settings within the presets having outsized impacts on the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces an average of 147 FPS on Low, 120 FPS on Medium, 99 FPS on High, and 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset includes min/max data of 102/138 FPS, showing a fairly tight frame time distribution. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 58% reduction in average FPS, with the largest single step being from High (99) to Ultra (62), a 37% drop.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease to 105 FPS on Low, 86 FPS on Medium, 71 FPS on High, and 44 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset records min/max of 73/99 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 28-30% of performance at each settings level, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 44 FPS, which is marginally above the 4K Medium result of 54 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the data shows 65 FPS on Low, 54 FPS on Medium, 44 FPS on High, and 27 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has min/max of 45/62 FPS. The 4K Low result of 65 FPS is notable as it is higher than the 1440p Ultra result of 44 FPS, highlighting how settings have a more significant impact than resolution at this performance tier. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is the lowest recorded figure in the entire dataset and would likely be unplayable in a horror game requiring responsive controls.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF uses the Alder Lake-S architecture on a 10 nm process, with a die size of 215 mm². It operates with 12 cores and 20 threads, featuring 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes and has a TDP of 125 W. Its benchmark results are robust: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 28,838, Geekbench multicore scores 14,367, and PassMark multithread scores 34,092.

The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck in Downfall at any tested configuration. The evidence is in the frame rate scaling: from 1080p Low (147 FPS) to 4K Low (65 FPS), the drop is 56%, which aligns with the 4x pixel count increase. If the CPU were limiting, the frame rate would remain constant regardless of resolution. The processor's single-thread performance is also strong, with Cinebench R23 single-core scoring 4,071 and PassMark single-thread scoring 3,984, which supports high minimum frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700T with an average score of 35,403 (delta of -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-13600T at 35,305 (delta of +0.2%). These deltas are within measurement noise, confirming that the i7-12700KF is performing exactly as expected for its class. The processor's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, and its 12-core configuration provides substantial headroom for any future game updates or more demanding titles.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium produces 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium delivers 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS, which remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for a horror game where responsive controls are essential.

For users with 4K displays, the data suggests that Low settings are the only viable option for acceptable performance, producing 65 FPS on average. The Medium preset at 4K (54 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS target, while High (44 FPS) and Ultra (27 FPS) are not recommended for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 1440p (105 FPS) and 1080p (147 FPS) are options for users prioritizing maximum frame rates, but the Medium preset provides a substantial visual upgrade for only a 18% performance penalty at 1080p and 22% at 1440p.

The Ultra preset is universally problematic, dropping below 30 FPS at 4K and only reaching 62 FPS at 1080p. Given that the Medium-to-Ultra performance gap is roughly 50% at every resolution, the visual fidelity improvements in Ultra appear to come at an excessive cost for this GPU. The data indicates that the High preset, which performs between Medium and Ultra, does not offer a consistent advantage — at 1080p it actually produces lower average FPS (99) than Medium (120), suggesting the High preset may enable specific effects that are disproportionately expensive on this architecture.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern that confirms the GPU as the limiting component. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 120 at 1080p to 86 at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 54 at 4K (a 37% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium is 55%, which is less than the 75% reduction in pixel count (2.07 million to 8.29 million pixels), indicating that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound at this setting.

At Low settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 147 FPS at 1080p, 105 FPS at 1440p (29% drop), and 65 FPS at 4K (38% drop from 1440p). This totals a 56% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The fact that the Low preset scales similarly to Medium suggests that even at minimal settings, the GPU's memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling: 62 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p (29% drop), and 27 FPS at 4K (39% drop from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playability. The consistent 28-29% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all settings, followed by a larger 37-39% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicates that the GPU approaches its VRAM or memory bandwidth ceiling at 4K, with the Ultra preset pushing it over the edge.