Downfall

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a highly constrained gaming experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The benchmark data shows a system where the integrated graphics solution is the decisive bottleneck, with the CPU’s substantial multi-threaded capabilities providing little benefit at higher settings or resolutions. The measured frame rates indicate that the combo is best suited for low-resolution, low-detail play, though it does achieve playable results at 1080p with medium settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, achieving an average of 106 FPS. For a more balanced visual quality, 1920x1080 with Medium settings delivers an average of 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS, which remains comfortably playable.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the Arc B390 scores 1482 points. This places it 1.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463 points) and 1.5% above the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460 points). Its performance is also 2.5% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all other tested processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K sits in the 89th percentile when compared to all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 46881, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971), showing a negligible 0.2% deficit.

Q: Does the game performance scale well with increased graphical settings?

A: No, performance drops sharply with higher settings. At 1920x1080, moving from Low to Medium reduces the average frame rate from 106 FPS to 87 FPS. Selecting High settings yields 71 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to just 44 FPS, indicating a severe performance penalty for the highest visual quality.

Q: Is the CPU likely to be a limiting factor in this game?

A: No, the data suggests the CPU is not the primary limitation. The 3DMark multi-threaded score for the i7-13700K is 12412, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 30745. These robust scores, combined with the GPU's 9th percentile ranking, indicate the Intel Arc B390 is the component constraining frame rates.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in the database for this specific game?

A: For Downfall, this specific combination of CPU and GPU ranks 2589 out of 2928 tested combos. This places it in the lower 12th percentile of all tested systems, reflecting the GPU's limited performance in this title.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant factor in this system's Downfall performance, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 24 render output units (ROPs). Critically, its memory configuration is listed as "System Shared," meaning it relies on the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This architecture explains the significant frame rate drops when resolution and settings are increased.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities, as measured by the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, result in a score of 1482. This places the B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, indicating performance that is only slightly above the lowest-end dedicated graphics cards from a previous generation, such as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX. In Downfall, this translates directly to the measured FPS. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system manages 106 FPS, but this falls to 44 FPS at the Ultra preset. The data suggests that the shared memory bandwidth and limited ROP count become overwhelmed as the rendering load increases, making the GPU the clear performance limiter.

The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz is the peak frequency, but the core architecture is not designed for high-end gaming. With a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s, the B390 can handle basic rendering tasks, but the demands of Downfall at higher settings quickly outpace its capabilities. The benchmark results confirm this, showing a linear decline in performance with each increase in graphical fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

For this combination, the choice of settings is critical for achieving a playable experience. The data shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate, with no single preset offering both high quality and high performance. The measured FPS values provide a clear guide for the optimal configuration.

The Low preset is the only one that provides a consistently smooth experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, it achieves an average of 106 FPS, at 2560x1440 it produces 76 FPS, and even at 3840x2160 it manages 47 FPS. This is the recommended preset for players who prioritize responsiveness, especially in a horror game where smooth motion is essential for immersion.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users at 1080p who want better visuals without sacrificing playability. The average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS, as shown in the measured data. This provides a stable and enjoyable experience. However, at higher resolutions, Medium becomes less viable, with 2560x1440 dropping to 62 FPS and 3840x2160 to 39 FPS.

The High preset is marginal at 1080p, producing an average of 71 FPS, but it falls below 60 FPS territory at 1440p (51 FPS) and becomes difficult to play at 4K (32 FPS). The Ultra preset is not recommended, as it produces an average of only 44 FPS at 1080p and drops to 20 FPS at 4K. Based on this data, the best experience is achieved with Low settings at 1080p, with Medium at 1080p being the best compromise between visual quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a performance profile that is heavily dependent on both resolution and settings. The system's frame rates decline predictably as demands increase, but the severity of the drop highlights the GPU's limitations.

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its best performance. The Low preset yields the highest average of 106 FPS. The Medium preset is the next best, with an average of 87 FPS and a recorded minimum of 74 FPS and maximum of 100 FPS. The High preset produces an average of 71 FPS, which is acceptable for single-player horror. The Ultra preset, however, sees a significant drop to an average of 44 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance impact is immediate. The Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is a 30 FPS decrease from the 1080p result. The Medium preset averages 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 and maximum of 71 FPS. The High preset falls to 51 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 32 FPS. This resolution is only playable with Low or Medium settings.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset is the only option that stays above 30 FPS, with an average of 47 FPS. The Medium preset averages 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44 FPS. The High preset drops to 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at 20 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is not a realistic option for this hardware, except at the lowest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database for Downfall, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2589 out of 2928 total tested combinations. This places the system in the lower portion of the performance spectrum, reflecting the GPU's limited capabilities. The combo's rank is primarily a function of the GPU, as the CPU is a high-performance part.

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 89th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, which is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, which is 0.3% faster. The CPU's performance is not the issue.

In contrast, the Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rivals are all low-end NVIDIA parts, such as the GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% slower) and the GeForce 800M (1.5% slower). This massive disparity between the CPU's high rank and the GPU's low rank is the reason the combo sits at 2589. The system is unbalanced for gaming, with the CPU far exceeding the GPU's ability to render frames. The low rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance ceiling in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K plays a supporting role in this system's Downfall performance, but its capabilities are far beyond what the integrated GPU can utilize. The CPU is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It has 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

Benchmark results for the CPU are strong. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 30745, and its single-core score is 2116. The Geekbench multi-core score is 19429, and the single-core score is 2529. In the 3DMark multi-threaded test, it scores 12412, and in the single-threaded test, it scores 1136. These numbers indicate that the CPU is more than capable of handling the physics and game logic of a 2016 title like Downfall, even at high frame rates.

The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck in this system. For example, at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 106 FPS. However, when the resolution is increased to 3840x2160, the frame rate drops to 47 FPS. This drop is not due to CPU limitations, as the processing load per frame does not increase significantly with resolution. Instead, the GPU's rendering workload increases, and the Arc B390 cannot keep up. The CPU's high single-thread performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116, ensures that it can feed frames to the GPU without becoming a limiting factor.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K provides clear evidence of the system's performance bottleneck. As resolution increases, the average FPS drops for all settings, but the pattern reveals that the GPU is the limiting component.

At Low settings, the average frame rate moves from 106 FPS at 1920x1080, to 76 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 47 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 55.7% drop in performance from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 87 FPS, 62 FPS, and 39 FPS respectively, a 55.2% drop. At High settings, the averages are 71 FPS, 51 FPS, and 32 FPS, a 54.9% drop.

The consistency of the percentage drop across all settings is telling. The performance decrease is almost entirely due to the increase in pixel count, which directly impacts the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth requirements. Since the Arc B390 has a fixed pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and relies on system memory, the load at 4K is simply too high. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively constant as resolution increases, because the CPU's workload would not change. Instead, the data shows a steep, consistent decline, confirming that the Intel Arc B390's rendering capabilities are exhausted well before the CPU's potential is reached.