Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptional performance in Downfall, a horror title where frame pacing can be as critical as raw speed. The measured data reveals a configuration capable of dominating at high refresh rates across all standard resolutions, though the scaling patterns expose interesting bottlenecks. The RTX 5090 D sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the i7-14700F ranks in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, creating a balanced top-tier foundation. This combination achieves a rank of 22 out of 3,716 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations. The data suggests that players with this setup can expect maximum settings to remain highly playable, with the caveat that Ultra presets at 4K push the engine to its limits.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo in Downfall?*

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 476, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates the game engine presents minimal load at this configuration, allowing the GPU to operate at its peak potential.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 22nd out of 3,716 total tested combinations. This places it in the top 0.6% of all systems benchmarked for Downfall, showing that this specific pairing of the i7-14700F and RTX 5090 D is exceptionally well-suited for this title.

Q: Does the CPU's single-core performance limit the frame rate at lower resolutions?

A: The i7-14700F has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,958 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,429. At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 476, but this is not necessarily a CPU limit; the data shows a clear scaling pattern where FPS decreases as resolution increases, suggesting the GPU remains the primary workload driver even at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 5090 D and how might it affect 4K performance?

A: The RTX 5090 D features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This high bandwidth is critical for the 144 FPS average seen at 4K High settings, as the game can stream textures and geometry without hitting memory transfer ceilings.

Q: Are there any settings where the minimum FPS drops below 100?

A: Yes, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 90, though no minimum FPS was recorded for that preset. For Medium settings, the minimum FPS recorded is 149 at 4K, 240 at 1440p, and 335 at 1080p, showing that Ultra is the only preset where average performance falls below the 100 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB by 2.4% and the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB by 2.1%, while leading the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT by 1.6% and the RX 6650M XT by 1.1%. These are close margins, indicating the 5090 D is competitively positioned within its performance tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant force in this configuration, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines provide the raw compute necessary for Downfall's horror visuals. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2,017 MHz with a boost clock of 2,407 MHz, allowing it to sustain high throughput during intense scenes. The memory subsystem is particularly notable: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for the game's detailed environmental textures and lighting effects. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate that fill-rate limited scenarios are unlikely to be a concern at any tested setting.

In Downfall, the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 202 at Ultra to 476 at Low, showing that even the most demanding preset leaves substantial headroom. The jump from 1080p to 1440p results in a 29% reduction in FPS at Low settings (from 476 to 345), but the GPU still maintains 231 FPS at High settings. At 4K, the RTX 5090 D continues to deliver playable results, with 144 FPS at High and 175 FPS at Medium. The 4K Ultra preset is the only scenario where the GPU appears to struggle, producing 90 FPS average. This suggests that the Ultra preset likely enables features that are particularly taxing on the GPU's compute units or memory bandwidth, despite the 1.79 TB/s available. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs is reflected in these results, as it consistently outpaces what most systems could achieve in this horror title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 395 FPS average with a minimum of 335 FPS, ensuring that even the most chaotic horror sequences remain fluid. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 282 FPS with a minimum of 240 FPS, which is still well above the threshold for high refresh rate monitors. The 4K Medium setting provides 175 FPS average with a minimum of 149 FPS, making it the only preset at 4K that maintains a minimum above 144 FPS.

For players prioritizing maximum visual quality, the High preset is the recommended choice. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 324, while at 1440p High it is 231. The 4K High preset delivers 144 FPS average, which aligns perfectly with 144 Hz displays. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, shows a significant performance cost: 202 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and just 90 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only data point below 100 FPS, suggesting that this preset is designed for lower resolutions or future hardware. Low settings, while delivering the highest frame rates (476 FPS at 1080p), likely sacrifice too much visual detail for a horror game where atmosphere matters. The data indicates that Medium provides the most consistent experience, with the minimum FPS values showing less variance compared to other presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5090 D demonstrates its dominance with remarkable frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 476 FPS average, while Medium reaches 395 FPS with a minimum of 335 and maximum of 454. High settings produce 324 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 202 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 71 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 122 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a disproportionately heavy load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptional but shows the expected scaling. Low settings deliver 345 FPS average, Medium provides 282 FPS with a minimum of 240 and maximum of 324. High settings sustain 231 FPS, while Ultra drops to 144 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p results in a 27.5% reduction in FPS at Low settings, but the reduction is smaller at higher settings: 15.6% for Medium and 16.7% for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the GPU faces its most demanding challenge. Low settings still manage 214 FPS average, while Medium achieves 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 and maximum of 202. High settings produce 144 FPS, and Ultra drops to 90 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K causes a 38% reduction in FPS at Low settings, but only a 29% reduction at High settings, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a more significant factor as resolution increases. The minimum FPS data at Medium settings shows that the combo maintains playable frame rates even under load, with the 4K minimum of 149 FPS being particularly impressive.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 476 at 1080p to 214 at 4K, a 55% reduction. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is being pushed harder at higher resolutions, with the pixel throughput requirements increasing fourfold from 1080p to 4K. The fact that the RTX 5090 D still manages 214 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates its massive compute headroom.

At Medium settings, the scaling is slightly less severe: 395 FPS at 1080p, 282 FPS at 1440p, and 175 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 28.6%, while from 1440p to 4K it is 37.9%. This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at 4K, as the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth must serve the larger frame buffer and texture loads. The High settings show a similar pattern: 324 FPS at 1080p, 231 FPS at 1440p, and 144 FPS at 4K. The consistent 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K across Medium and High presets indicates that the game engine scales predictably with resolution, with the GPU remaining the primary workload driver.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 202 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 28.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is 37.5%. The 4K Ultra result of 90 FPS suggests that this preset likely enables advanced rendering features that multiply the GPU's workload beyond simple pixel count scaling. The data implies that the RTX 5090 D is well-matched for 1440p and 4K gaming at High settings, but the Ultra preset at 4K pushes the hardware to its limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides the computational backbone for this configuration, featuring 20 cores and 28 threads based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.10 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz allow it to handle both single-threaded game logic and multi-threaded background tasks. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample fast storage for game data. The 65 W TDP is notably low for a processor with this core count, suggesting efficient power management.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is likely secondary to the GPU, given the game's genre and the high frame rates observed. The i7-14700F's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,122 and single-core score of 4,958 indicate strong all-around performance. The Geekbench scores of 19,620 multi-core and 2,429 single-core further confirm this. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs means it sits in the top 9% of processors, which is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 D in most scenarios.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 476 FPS, which could theoretically approach the CPU's frame generation limit. However, the fact that FPS scales consistently with resolution suggests that the GPU remains the bottleneck even at lower resolutions. The CPU's passmark multi-thread score of 41,317 and single-thread score of 4,257 demonstrate its capability to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The nearest rivals, including the Intel Xeon 6505P (-0.2% delta) and AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (+0.6% delta), are all within 1% of the i7-14700F's average benchmark score of 53,620, indicating that this CPU is competitively positioned for gaming workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 22 out of 3,716 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 0.6% of all configurations. This exceptional ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, as neither component appears to significantly bottleneck the other. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking and the CPU's 91st percentile ranking are closely aligned, creating a system where both components contribute meaningfully to the overall performance.

The rank of 22 means that only 21 other combinations of CPUs and GPUs produced better results in this game. Given the RTX 5090 D's position relative to its rivals — trailing the Tesla P100 16 GB by 2.4% but leading the RX 6850M XT by 1.6% — the GPU's average benchmark score of 77,712 is competitive. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6505P, is only 0.2% faster on average, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is 0.6% slower. These tight margins suggest that minor variations in component performance could shift the ranking slightly, but the overall position in the top 1% is secure.

The measured FPS data confirms the ranking's validity. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 231 FPS, and at 4K High it maintains 144 FPS. These results are consistent with a top-tier gaming system. The fact that the combo ranks 22nd despite the RTX 5090 D not being the absolute fastest GPU (based on its rival comparisons) indicates that the CPU-GPU pairing is well-optimized for Downfall's specific workload. The data suggests that this configuration delivers a premium gaming experience, with only a handful of exotic or newer components capable of surpassing it.