Downfall

# Downfall: Intel Core i7-12700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

This combo ranks 308th out of 1,741 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the top 18% of all systems tested for this horror title. That ranking reflects a balanced pairing where the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and the i7-12700KF's 12-core, 20-thread configuration work together to deliver consistently high frame rates across all resolutions. The data shows a system that is clearly capable of handling this game's demands, though the gap between the Ultra and High presets at 4K suggests a steep performance cliff that users should respect.

How This Combo Ranks

The 308th position out of 1,741 tested combos puts this pairing in the upper tier of systems evaluated for Downfall. The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 against all processors indicates strong overall compute capability, while the GPU sits at the 84th percentile against all graphics cards. The combination of these two above-average components results in a system that outperforms roughly 82% of tested configurations in this game.

The processor's nearest rivals show how tightly clustered the mid-to-high-end CPU field is. The Intel Core i5-14400 scores 35,336 average benchmark points, just 0.1% below the i7-12700KF's 35,355. The Intel Core i7-13800H sits 0.2% ahead, while the Intel Core i9-12900HX and Intel Core i5-13600T trail by 0.2% and 0.3% respectively. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the i7-12700KF is effectively on par with several newer and older alternatives.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 42,576 places it within 0.2% of the NVIDIA RTX A6000's 42,653 and 0.3% of the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE's 42,723. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X and NVIDIA Tesla M40 lag behind by 1.4% and 1.6% respectively. This clustering indicates the 4070 SUPER delivers professional-grade rasterization performance in a consumer package.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves ample for Downfall at all tested settings, with the largest performance gap appearing between the 4K Ultra and High presets. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1980 MHz allow it to sustain high throughput across the game's horror scenes, which often feature dynamic lighting and shadow effects.

The card's 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output processors handle the visual workload efficiently. With 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores on the Ada Lovelace architecture, the GPU has dedicated hardware for advanced effects, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance specifically. The 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate provide theoretical headroom that aligns with the observed frame rates.

The data shows the GPU scales predictably with resolution. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is 200.7 FPS, while at 3840x2160 that gap narrows to 88.8 FPS. This indicates the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as resolution increases, which is typical for a card in this class.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K with High settings?

A: The system achieves 103.2 FPS on average at 3840x2160 with High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold commonly targeted for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER significantly better than its closest GPU rivals?

A: No, the data shows it is nearly identical to the NVIDIA RTX A6000, which scores 0.2% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE, which scores 0.3% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X trails by 1.4%.

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

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the system delivers 166.6 FPS, which balances visual quality with high refresh rates. At 1920x1080 High, it reaches 231.6 FPS, while 4K High stays above 100 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the Intel Core i5-14400?

A: The i7-12700KF scores 35,355 average benchmark points, only 0.1% higher than the i5-14400's 35,336. This means the two processors perform virtually identically in synthetic tests.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, it achieves 106.9 FPS at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, which is playable, though it represents a significant drop from the 166.6 FPS seen at High settings.

Q: Does the GPU's 12 GB VRAM cause any issues at 4K?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related bottlenecks. At 4K Ultra, the system still manages 64.8 FPS, indicating the memory capacity is sufficient for this game's demands.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear sweet spot for this combo. At every resolution, the High preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. The step from Medium to High costs relatively little performance while the jump from High to Ultra is substantial, particularly at 4K.

At 3840x2160, High delivers 103.2 FPS, which is 23.1 FPS lower than Medium's 126.3 but 38.4 FPS higher than Ultra's 64.8. The Ultra preset at 4K dips below the 70 FPS mark, which many players would find less fluid for a horror game where responsiveness matters. At 2560x1440, High hits 166.6 FPS, comfortably above Medium's 202.8 and nearly 60 FPS above Ultra's 106.9. At 1920x1080, High produces 231.6 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors.

For players with 144 Hz displays, the High preset at 1440p is the optimal choice. Those with 4K displays should stick with High to maintain triple-digit frame rates. The Medium preset is a viable fallback for 4K users who want extra headroom, but the visual difference between Medium and High in a horror title likely justifies the slight performance cost. Ultra is only recommended for 1080p users who have 240 Hz monitors and value maximum visual quality, since the 145.1 FPS at that setting remains highly playable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the system produces 153.6 FPS on Low, 126.3 FPS on Medium, 103.2 FPS on High, and 64.8 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Medium costs 27.3 FPS, Medium to High costs 23.1 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 38.4 FPS. This shows that the Ultra preset imposes a disproportionately large performance penalty, likely due to demanding shadow and post-processing effects typical of horror games.

At 2560x1440, the results are 245.3 FPS on Low, 202.8 FPS on Medium, 166.6 FPS on High, and 106.9 FPS on Ultra. The performance drops are 42.5 FPS from Low to Medium, 36.2 FPS from Medium to High, and 59.7 FPS from High to Ultra. The Ultra preset here costs nearly as much as the entire Medium-to-High transition combined.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 345.8 FPS on Low, 284.4 FPS on Medium, 231.6 FPS on High, and 145.1 FPS on Ultra. The delta between Medium and High is 52.8 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 86.5 FPS. Even at Ultra, the frame rate remains well above 144 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where Ultra is a reasonable choice for competitive play.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF features 12 cores and 20 threads from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This configuration provides strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28,979 and single-core score of 4,091. The 25 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep game data accessible, while the dual-channel memory controller supports both DDR4 and DDR5, offering flexibility for system builders.

In Downfall, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, as frame rates scale primarily with resolution and settings rather than showing signs of CPU bottlenecking. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,282 and max-thread score of 9,983 indicate the processor can handle heavy multi-threaded workloads, but the game's measured performance suggests it relies more on single-thread performance. The single-thread 3DMark score of 1,043 and PassMark single-thread score of 3,984 are respectable for a 12th-gen part.

The CPU's nearest rivals all fall within 0.3% of its average benchmark score, showing that game performance is unlikely to vary meaningfully among these processors. The i7-12700KF's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general compute tasks, but for Downfall specifically, the data indicates the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates. The processor's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it a capable pairing with the RTX 4070 SUPER, though the game's results do not suggest any CPU-related limitations at any tested resolution or settings level.