Downfall

The benchmark data for Downfall with the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shows a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU only becoming a relevant factor at the very highest frame rates. The measured results reveal a clear hierarchy of performance scaling that shifts depending on the settings preset and resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking trend in the data is the dramatic drop in average FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K. At the High preset, the system produces 305.4 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 216.7 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 137.9 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 54.9% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at High settings, indicating that the rendering workload at higher resolutions is placing increasingly heavy demands on the GPU.

The scaling pattern at the Low preset is even more pronounced. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 443.8 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all configurations. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low yields 324.8 FPS, a 26.8% decrease, while 3840x2160 Low produces 200.6 FPS, a 54.8% reduction from the 1080p result. The fact that the 4K Low result is still above 200 FPS suggests that the RTX 5090 has substantial headroom even at the most demanding resolution tested.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with 190.5 FPS at 1080p, 138.1 FPS at 1440p, and 83.8 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is the lowest measured in the entire dataset, falling below the 100 FPS threshold. This indicates that the Ultra preset at 4K represents a workload that even this flagship GPU cannot fully saturate, likely due to the combination of high-resolution rendering and the demanding effects enabled at that preset.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090’s specifications directly explain its performance characteristics in Downfall. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This massive memory subsystem is critical for handling the high-resolution textures and geometry that Downfall presents at 4K, where the frame rate drops by roughly half compared to 1080p.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with 21,760 shading units. The compute capabilities are substantial, with FP32 performance rated at 104.8 TFLOPS. These raw numbers translate into the observed frame rates: the GPU is capable of pushing 443.8 FPS at 1080p Low, but the demands of 4K Ultra (83.8 FPS) show that the rendering pipeline becomes the limiting factor at that extreme.

The GPU’s benchmark standings reinforce its position. It scores 39,650 in Passmark G3D and 380,114 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, is essentially identical with a deltaPct of only 0.1%, while the RTX 5050 Mobile is also within 0.2%. This suggests that the desktop RTX 5090 is at the absolute top of the performance stack for this type of workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how each settings preset trades off frame rate. The Low preset at 1920x1080 achieves 443.8 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. At 2560x1440 Low, the system still produces 324.8 FPS, and even at 4K Low it maintains 200.6 FPS. For players prioritizing maximum responsiveness, the Low preset at any resolution delivers excellent performance.

The Medium preset offers a balanced alternative. At 1080p it produces 376.9 FPS, at 1440p it reaches 265.5 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 168.5 FPS. These figures are consistently 15-20% lower than the Low preset at the same resolution, but they likely provide enhanced visual quality without a major performance penalty.

The High preset is where the trade-off becomes more noticeable. At 1080p High, the system delivers 305.4 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth. At 1440p High, the frame rate is 216.7 FPS, and at 4K High it falls to 137.9 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, shows a significant drop: 190.5 FPS at 1080p, 138.1 FPS at 1440p, and 83.8 FPS at 4K. Based on the data, the High preset at 1440p or 4K provides the best experience for most users, as it maintains high frame rates while likely offering substantially better visuals than Low or Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 12th out of 1,741 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top 0.7% of all configurations tested, which is consistent with the hardware’s capabilities. The ranking indicates that while there are 11 other combinations that perform better in this specific game, the overwhelming majority of systems tested fall below this config’s performance level.

The CPU component of this combo contributes to the ranking through its own benchmark standing. The Core i7-12700KF sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35,355. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14400, scores 35,336 (a 0.1% delta), while the Intel Core i7-13800H scores 35,416 (-0.2%). The Core i9-12900HX scores 35,289 (0.2%), and the Core i5-13600T scores 35,256 (0.3%). These near-identical scores show that the i7-12700KF is positioned in a tight cluster of similarly performing processors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF features 12 cores and 20 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This configuration provides substantial multi-threaded capability, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28,979 and single-core score of 4,091. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game logic and physics calculations.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role becomes apparent when examining the frame rate scaling at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 443.8 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that requires the CPU to feed the GPU with draw calls and game state updates quickly enough. The fact that the frame rate drops from 443.8 FPS at 1080p Low to 324.8 FPS at 1440p Low (a 26.8% reduction) while the resolution only increases by 78% suggests that the CPU is approaching its limits at the highest frame rates, though it remains capable of sustaining very high performance.

The CPU’s benchmark results show it is well-matched to the GPU. Its Passmark multithread score of 34,092 and Geekbench multi-core score of 13,596 indicate strong multi-threaded performance. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,282 and max-thread score of 9,983 both exceed the 8-thread score of 7,211, suggesting that the CPU scales well with additional threads. This scaling is important for Downfall, which may utilize multiple threads for its horror game AI and environmental interactions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance range. The Low preset yields 443.8 FPS, Medium produces 376.9 FPS, High reaches 305.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 190.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 253.3 FPS, showing the significant impact of settings on frame rate at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected reduction. Low produces 324.8 FPS, Medium achieves 265.5 FPS, High delivers 216.7 FPS, and Ultra reaches 138.1 FPS. The relative ordering is consistent, with each preset step reducing performance by approximately 20-30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops more dramatically. Low yields 200.6 FPS, Medium produces 168.5 FPS, High reaches 137.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 83.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration tested that falls below 100 FPS, indicating that this is the most demanding scenario in the dataset. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 116.8 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the differences at lower resolutions but affects the absolute frame rates more severely.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 is the dominant factor in this combo’s performance, with the i7-12700KF providing sufficient support to avoid bottlenecking except potentially at the very highest frame rates. The 12th place ranking out of 1,741 combos confirms that this is a top-tier configuration for Downfall, capable of delivering smooth gameplay at high settings across all tested resolutions.