Downfall

Downfall is a 2016 horror title that, on paper, should not trouble a modern high-end system, yet the benchmark data for the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination reveals a complex scaling pattern. This pairing is clearly capable of delivering extremely high frame rates, but the way those rates shift across resolutions and settings tells a story about where the bottlenecks lie in this particular game engine. The data indicates that while the GPU is the dominant force at 4K, the processor becomes a surprisingly significant factor at lower resolutions, a dynamic that PC builders should consider when optimizing for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline is highly dependent on the graphics preset. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 445 FPS at 1920x1080 to 345 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 100 FPS, and then further to 214 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 52% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial performance hit. However, the absolute numbers remain so high that even the 4K result is far beyond what any standard display can refresh, making the Low preset a curiosity rather than a practical setting.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when moving to the High preset. Here, the average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 324 FPS, which falls to 231 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 144 FPS at 3840x2160. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 180 FPS, or roughly 56%, which is a larger absolute and relative decrease than what was observed at Low settings. This suggests that as the graphics load increases, the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor, but the engine is still leaving a significant amount of performance on the table at 1080p, likely due to CPU overhead or draw-call limitations.

At the Medium preset, the pattern between 1080p and 1440p shows a 113 FPS drop from 395 FPS to 282 FPS, and then a further 107 FPS drop to 175 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with a 58 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (202 to 144 FPS) and another 54 FPS drop to 4K (144 to 90 FPS). The Ultra data is telling: at 4K Ultra, the system produces 90 FPS, which is the only measured configuration where the frame rate drops below the 144 Hz threshold commonly targeted by gamers. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is a 37.5% reduction, indicating that this is the point where the GPU is fully saturated and the game's visual demands are finally overwhelming the hardware.

This overall scaling behavior indicates that Downfall is not a straightforward GPU-bound title. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 243 FPS (445 to 202), which shows that the game engine is not scaling perfectly with GPU load at lower resolutions. The fact that the 1080p High preset (324 FPS) is significantly lower than the 1080p Low preset (445 FPS) while the 4K Ultra preset (90 FPS) is only 54 FPS lower than the 4K High preset (144 FPS) suggests that the CPU is holding back performance at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over as the primary constraint at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For players using this specific combination of hardware, the benchmark data offers a clear hierarchy of presets based on the measured average frame rates. The Low preset delivers a minimum of 214 FPS even at 4K, which is excessive for any current display technology and comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The Medium preset offers a more balanced approach, providing 175 FPS at 4K and 395 FPS at 1080p, with the only recorded minimum frame rate data showing a 149 FPS floor at 4K, which is still comfortably above 144 Hz.

The High preset is where the data suggests the best balance for most users with high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, it produces 144 FPS, which exactly matches the refresh rate of common 144 Hz displays. At 1440p, it jumps to 231 FPS, and at 1080p, it reaches 324 FPS. This preset is the only one where the 4K average frame rate aligns perfectly with a standard high-refresh target, making it the recommended setting for those who prioritize both visual quality and smoothness at the highest resolution.

The Ultra preset, by contrast, shows a significant performance penalty for the extra visual effects. At 4K, it drops to 90 FPS, which is a 37.5% reduction from the High preset's 144 FPS. This frames-per-second cost is substantial, and the data suggests that the visual difference between High and Ultra is not worth the performance hit for most players. At 1440p, Ultra still manages 144 FPS, but the 4K result is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 144 FPS, making it unsuitable for high-refresh 4K gaming.

Based on the measured rows, the High preset is the optimal choice for this hardware combination. It provides the highest frame rate that still synchronizes cleanly with a 144 Hz display at 4K, while offering a substantial visual upgrade over Medium. For players with 1440p or 1080p displays, the Medium preset offers an excellent balance, ensuring frame rates well above 240 FPS at 1080p and 280 FPS at 1440p, which is more than sufficient for even the fastest competitive monitors. The Ultra preset should only be considered for players who prioritize maximum visual fidelity over frame rate and are willing to accept the 90 FPS average at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, running on a 10 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it has a 25 MB shared L3 cache. The benchmark data for this CPU shows a strong multithreaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 and a single-core score of 4071. These results place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is a high-end processor relative to the broader market.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU's role is most evident when examining the frame rate differences at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset produces 445 FPS, but this drops to 324 FPS at High and 202 FPS at Ultra. This 243 FPS spread across settings at the same resolution is far larger than what would be expected if the GPU were the only limiting factor, suggesting that the CPU is struggling to feed the GPU with enough draw calls at lower graphical loads. The 12 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for the game's physics and AI calculations, but the single-thread performance, while strong at 4071 in Cinebench R23, appears to be a constraint in this older engine.

The processor's boost clock of 5.00 GHz is likely being utilized to its full potential in this scenario, but the data indicates that the game's engine is not able to leverage the full multithreaded capability of the 12700KF. The 3dmark benchmarks show a scaling from 1043 in single-thread to 9983 in max-threads, but Downfall's performance at 1080p Low (445 FPS) versus 4K Ultra (90 FPS) suggests that the engine is more dependent on a few high-frequency cores than on the many-core count. The L3 cache of 25 MB is shared across all cores, which helps with data locality, but the game's demands are not enough to fully utilize this resource.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Downfall, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 23rd out of 2928 total combinations. This places it in the top 0.8% of all tested systems, which is an exceptional result. The rank is based on the overall performance across all measured resolutions and settings, and the data shows that this combination is among the fastest that can be assembled for this title.

The high rank is primarily driven by the sheer power of the RTX 5090 D, which is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. However, the CPU's 85th percentile ranking and its ability to maintain high frame rates at 1080p are also contributing factors. The fact that this combination ranks 23rd out of 2928 indicates that there are only 22 other systems in the database that perform better in Downfall, which is a remarkable achievement for this hardware pairing.

When considering the rank, it is important to note that the top 22 systems likely feature even more powerful CPUs or GPUs, such as newer generations of processors with higher single-thread performance. However, the 23rd rank confirms the balance of this combination. The gap between 1080p and 4K performance is significant, but the absolute frame rates at all resolutions are high enough to provide a smooth experience on any display. This rank should give confidence to builders that this pairing is not leaving meaningful performance on the table for this specific game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a monster of a graphics card, based on the GB202 chip and Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU has 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operations pipelines, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. Its raw compute power is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, and it achieves a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is most clearly defined at 4K resolution, where it becomes the primary bottleneck. The benchmark data shows that at 4K, the frame rate drops from 214 FPS at Low to 90 FPS at Ultra, a 58% reduction. This scaling is directly attributable to the GPU's workload increasing with each preset, and the 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient to handle any texture or geometry demands the game can throw at it. The 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth ensures that data transfer is not a limiting factor, even at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's performance percentile of 92 places it among the top graphics cards available, but its nearest rivals in the database are notably different. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and RX 6850M XT, which are mobile GPUs, have average benchmark scores within 1.6% of the RTX 5090 D. This is an unusual comparison, but it highlights that the benchmark scores are not solely indicative of gaming performance in Downfall, where the RTX 5090 D's massive memory bandwidth and compute power clearly shine. The GPU's directx 12 benchmark score of 219 in Passmark is relatively low compared to its other scores, but this is not reflected in the actual game measurements, which show excellent performance.

The 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU indicate that this GPU demands significant power, but the benchmark results justify the requirement. At 4K High, the GPU delivers 144 FPS, which is a level of performance that was previously impossible for this game at such high resolutions. The 32 GB of VRAM is future-proof and ensures that even the most demanding texture packs or mods will not cause memory-related stuttering. The GPU's role in this combination is to provide headroom at 4K, and the data shows that it does so effectively, with the only configuration falling below 144 FPS being 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves at 4K?

A: The highest average frame rate at 3840x2160 is 214 FPS, achieved with the Low preset. The High preset produces 144 FPS, Medium produces 175 FPS, and Ultra produces 90 FPS.

Q: Does this CPU-GPU combination maintain 144 FPS at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, the measured data shows an average of 144 FPS at 3840x2160 with the High preset, which exactly matches the refresh rate target of 144 Hz displays.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Downfall?

A: This Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 23rd out of 2928 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.8% of all systems.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the frame rate varies from 445 FPS at Low to 202 FPS at Ultra, a spread of 243 FPS. This significant variation at the same resolution indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU is not fully utilized at lower graphical loads.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this hardware at 4K?

A: The only recorded minimum frame rate at 3840x2160 is 149 FPS, which was measured with the Medium preset. The other presets at 4K do not have recorded minimum frame rates in the data.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, and 2.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB.