Downfall

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti achieves a combo rank of 970 out of 3,716 tested combinations in Downfall. This places the pairing in the top quarter of all tested systems, a strong showing for a horror title that tends to favor raw GPU throughput in its most demanding scenes. Benchmark results indicate that this combo is positioned well above most mid-range alternatives, with the data showing it outperforming a significant majority of the field. Specifically, the combo’s rank means it sits ahead of roughly 74% of all tested combos, which is a solid result for a game that is not extremely CPU-bound at high resolutions. The percentile for the CPU alone is 85, while the GPU sits at 83, meaning both components are above-average relative to their individual pools, but the GPU’s influence on the final rank is stronger in this title due to the visual load.

When examining the nearest rivals for the CPU, the i7-12700KF is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct: -0.1) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (deltaPct: 0.2). This indicates that within the same performance class, the 12th-gen chip is competitive with newer 13th-gen parts, at least in the context of Downfall. The GPU, meanwhile, is closely matched with the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (deltaPct: 0.8) and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB (deltaPct: -1.2), showing that the RTX 3080 Ti holds its own against professional and data-center cards. However, the GTX 3080 Ti’s average benchmark score is 41,187, which is slightly higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300’s 40,870 and the Tesla M40’s 41,707, so the NVIDIA card is a middle ground in its peer group.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. This memory configuration is a key factor in Downfall’s high-resolution performance, as the game’s horror environments often feature large textures and shadow-dense scenes that consume VRAM. Doubling down on memory, the GPU’s 12 GB capacity is ample for 1440p and 4K Ultra settings, though the Ultra preset at 4K still yields a playable but lower frame rate (discussed later). The clock speeds are set at a base of 1365 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, with memory running at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The boost clock is the practical limit under load, and the data shows that the GPU can leverage this for high average FPS across most settings.

In terms of compute, the RTX 3080 Ti has 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPS, with a texture rate of 532.8 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 186.5 GPixel/s. These numbers translate into strong fill-rate performance; the GPU’s FP32 throughput of 34.10 TFLOPS is a key indicator of its ability to handle the dynamic lighting and particle effects that Downfall uses to create tension. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 3080 Ti is 2.0% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (deltaPct: 2.0) and 0.8% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, but it is 1.2% faster than the Tesla M40 24 GB. This places the GPU in a narrow performance band, but within the game, the measured FPS shows that it is more than sufficient for high-refresh gaming at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the 130+ FPS at Ultra settings in those resolutions.

The GPU’s 350 W TDP is not a factor in the benchmark results, but it is relevant for system planning; the card requires a 750 W power supply and a single 12-pin connector. The data shows that the GPU’s performance is not capped by power in this test, as the measured FPS scales consistently with resolution and setting changes. The RTX 3080 Ti’s production status is end-of-life, but its performance in Down remains competitive, with the 83rd percentile vs all GPUs. This suggests that while newer cards may offer more efficiency, the raw power of the 3080 Ti is still relevant for this horror title.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Downfall with this CPU/GPU combo?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings delivers an average of 149 FPS, while 1920x1080 at High gives 208 FPS. At 4K High, the average drops to 93 FPS, so 1440p is the sweet spot for a balance of visual quality and high frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to its nearest rival for this game?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti is 0.8% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 and 2.0% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, but 1.2% faster than the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB. In practice, these deltas are small, meaning the game’s performance is within ±2% of these rivals.

*Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p in Downfall?*

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 311, which is very high. However, the CPU’s benchmark percentile is 85, and the fact that FPS drops to 130 at Ultra suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings, not the CPU. The CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are sufficient to avoid a bottleneck at this resolution.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset produce such a large FPS drop at 4K?

A: The measured data shows that at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset (58 FPS) is 62% lower than High (93 FPS). This is due to the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading core load, as the Ultra settings likely enable more intensive shadow and lighting effects that the RTX 3080 Ti struggles with at 4K.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM enough for high-resolution textures?

A: Yes, the 12 GB GDDR6X memory is sufficient for all tested settings in Downfall. The 4K High preset uses 93 FPS average, which shows there is no VRAM shortage, as the FPS does not collapse due to memory allocation. The 384-bit bus and 912.4 GB/s bandwidth ensure texture streaming is fast.

Q: How does the CPU’s rank affect the combo’s overall standing?

A: The CPU is in the 97th percentile for benchmarks, and the combo is ranked 970 out of 3,716. This indicates the CPU is a strong contributor, but the GPU’s 83rd percentile is slightly lower, making the combo better than the average but not elite, as the GPU is the weak link in the pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS across settings is as follows: Low yields an average of 311 FPS, Medium yields 254 FPS (with a min of 216 and max of 292), High yields 208 FPS, and Ultra drops to 130 FPS. This shows a linear progression, with Ultra being 58% lower than Low. The min FPS at Medium is 216, which is still well above 60 FPS, so the game is smooth even at lower settings.

At 2560x1440, the FPS decreases: Low gives 222 FPS, Medium 182 FPS (min 154, max 209), High 149 FPS, and Ultra 93 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 58%, similar to 1080p. At this resolution, the GPU is still dominant, but the gap between Low and Ultra narrows slightly, indicating that the CPU is still keeping up.

At 3840x2160, the results are 138 FPS for Low, 113 FPS for Medium (min 96, max 130), 93 FPS for High, and 58 FPS for Ultra. The 4K Ultra is the only setting where the average drops below 60 FPS, making it the least playable option. However, High at 4K is still decent, and Low provides a very high 138 FPS, which is impressive for a 4K display. The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the FPS penalty grows, especially at Ultra.

The FPS at 1080p Ultra (130 FPS) is actually higher than 4K Low (138 FPS) by 6%, which is counterintuitive, but this is because the Low preset reduces GPU load, allowing the CPU to push more frames. At 1440p Ultra (93 FPS) matches 4K High (93 FPS), showing that Ultra settings at 1440p are equivalent to High at 4K in terms of GPU load.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across settings. At Low, the FPS falls from 311 to 138, a 56% reduction. At Medium, it falls from 254 to 113, a 55% reduction. At High, it falls from 208 to 93, a 55% reduction. At Ultra, it falls from 130 to 58, a 55% reduction. This consistent 55% drop across all presets indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the number of pixels is quadrupled (1080p to 4K), but the FPS drops by only 55%, not 75%, which would be expected if the GPU were purely pixel-bound. This suggests that the CPU is still a factor, as the FPS reduction is less than the pixel increase, meaning the CPU can still keep up at lower settings, but the GPU starts to dominate at higher resolution and settings.

The most interesting observation is that the 4K Low average (138 FPS) is still higher than the 1440p Ultra (93 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (130 FPS). That indicates that at 4K Low, the GPU is overprovisioned, and the CPU is the bottleneck, while at 1440p Ultra, the GPU is the bottleneck. The data suggests that the limiting component shifts from CPU at low settings to GPU at high settings, which is normal for a horror title with heavy visual effects. The 4K Ultra performance of 58 FPS is the only time the combo falls below 60 FPS, which is a result of the GPU’s 10,240 shading cores being maxed out with Ultra settings.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 37% FPS drop at High (149 to 93), while from 1080p to 1440p the drop is 28% (208 to 149). This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s is a factor, as the higher resolution requires more bandwidth, but the 3080 Ti’s 384-bit bus is sufficient for the most part. The CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are enough to feed the GPU at 4K Low, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s shading units are the limiting factor.

CPU Role

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. In Downfall, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, which is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU’s L3 cache is 25 MB shared, which helps with repeated accesses to game data. The CPU’s benchmark scores show a strong single-core performance: a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043, and a passmark_single_thread of 3984. This is important for horror games, which often have single-threaded physics or scripted events. The multi-thread score is also high, with a cinebench_r23_multicore of 28838 and a geekbench_multicore of 14367, indicating that the CPU can handle background tasks without dropping frames.

The CPU is in the 85th percentile against all CPUs, with a benchmark score of 35,365, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i-13700K (35,403) and the i5-13600T (35,305). This shows that the 12th gen CPU is not a performance bottleneck in Downfall; in fact, it is on par with newer parts. The CPU’s TDP of 125 W is low, which means it does not thermal-throttle in the game, allowing consistent frame times. The CPU’s memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 is not a factor in the measured FPS, but the dual-channel memory bus ensures enough bandwidth for the CPU to feed the GPU.

At 1080p Low, the CPU is the bottleneck, as the GPU is not fully utilized, and the FPS hits 311, which is a CPU limit. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU is still able to keep up, but the GPU cannot render the shadows. The data shows that the CPU’s single-core performance is more important for Downfall than multi-core, as the game’s genre does not scale well with multiple threads. The CPU’s 20 threads are overkill, but the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that the single-threaded scripts run quickly. The CPU’s nearest rival, the i7-13700T, has a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the 12700KF is slightly faster, which is a minor advantage in this game. Overall, the CPU is not a limiting factor in Downfall except at very low settings, where the GPU’s low load allows the CPU to become the bottleneck.