Downfall

FAQ

Q: What is the combined rank of this CPU-GPU pairing in Downfall?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 1303 out of 1741 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower-mid tier of all recorded hardware configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF?

A: The two processors are effectively identical in aggregate benchmark performance. The i7-14700KF scores an average of 70104 against the i7-14700K's 70074, yielding a deltaPct of 0 — a statistical dead heat.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The RX 5700 XT sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, scores 24763, a difference of only -0.1%.

Q: What frame rate does the system achieve at 1080p with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the measured average FPS is 126.8. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and represents a smooth experience for a horror title.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 134.4 FPS on Low to 53.9 FPS on Ultra — a reduction of approximately 60% as the graphics load intensifies.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the more dominant component in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. At 4K Ultra, the system produces only 34.5 FPS, while the CPU's high single-thread score of 6287 in Cinebench R23 suggests it is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor built on Intel's Raptor Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, supported by a 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core. These specifications place it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, indicating top-tier processing capability.

In Downfall, a horror game that typically relies on consistent frame pacing rather than extreme multithreading, the CPU's single-core performance is particularly relevant. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6287 and Geekbench single-core score of 2932 demonstrate strong per-thread throughput. The multi-core results are equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and a Passmark multithread score of 52392, though a horror title like this rarely exploits all 28 threads simultaneously.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the i7-14700KF (deltaPct 0), the AMD EPYC 9115 (deltaPct 0.3), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (deltaPct -0.5). The i7-14700K trails the Ryzen 9 9950X by a negligible 0.5% in average benchmark score, confirming that this processor is not a weak link in the system. Its benchmark scores in Passmark integer math (182876) and floating-point math (134222) suggest ample headroom for game logic, physics calculations, and AI routines typical of the horror genre.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory with a dual-channel memory bus provide flexibility, though memory bandwidth is not listed as a limiting factor in the measured results. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present but irrelevant when a discrete GPU is installed. The 10 nm process node and 257 mm² die size are architectural details that inform thermal characteristics but do not directly appear in the game's measured FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 10 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

This GPU sits at the 68th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 24731. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (deltaPct -0.1), the Intel Arc A350M (deltaPct 0.3), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (deltaPct 0.6). The RX 5700 XT essentially matches the RTX A5000 Mobile in aggregate performance, though the latter is a mobile part.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is decisive. The measured frame rates scale dramatically with settings, and the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity can become a constraint at higher resolutions and quality presets. At 4K Ultra, the system produces only 34.5 FPS, indicating the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of resolution and settings. The GPU's pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are modest by modern standards, and its FP32 performance of 9.754 TFLOPS places it firmly in the mid-range segment.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 16277 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2134 provide additional context for its DirectX 12 capabilities, which are relevant for a 2016 horror title that likely uses a contemporary API. The DirectX 12 Passmark score of 64 is notably low compared to the DirectX 11 score of 116, suggesting the architecture performs better under legacy APIs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers strong performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 190.6 FPS, Medium drops to 152 FPS, High achieves 126.8 FPS, and Ultra still maintains a playable 80.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 58% reduction in frame rate, but even the worst-case Ultra preset remains comfortably above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but begin to show the GPU's limitations. Low settings yield 134.4 FPS, Medium drops to 112.5 FPS, and High produces 91.8 FPS. Ultra at 1440p falls to 53.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and indicates that the RX 5700 XT struggles with the highest quality preset at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. Low settings produce 84.5 FPS, Medium drops to 69.3 FPS, and High falls to 57.1 FPS. Ultra at 4K is nearly unplayable at 34.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 50 FPS, illustrating the severe impact of settings on this GPU at high resolutions.

The settings scaling is consistent across all resolutions: Low to Medium costs roughly 10-20% performance, Medium to High costs another 10-20%, and High to Ultra costs the most, typically a 30-40% reduction. This pattern suggests that Ultra settings introduce disproportionately heavy effects such as advanced shadows, reflections, and post-processing that the RDNA 1.0 architecture cannot handle efficiently.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate decline from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the limiting component clearly. At High settings, the system drops from 126.8 FPS at 1080p to 91.8 FPS at 1440p, then to 57.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the drop is from 190.6 FPS to 134.4 FPS to 84.5 FPS, a 56% reduction. At Ultra settings, the decline is from 80.8 FPS to 53.9 FPS to 34.5 FPS, a 57% reduction.

These percentage drops are remarkably consistent across all settings presets, which is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's performance is effectively constant regardless of resolution — the i7-14700K's single-thread capabilities are sufficient to feed the GPU even at 1080p Low, where the system reaches nearly 200 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would plateau at lower resolutions and the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K would be much larger.

The resolution scaling also shows that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is not the primary constraint at 4K — even at Low settings, which use less VRAM, the system only achieves 84.5 FPS. The raw compute throughput of the Navi 10 chip is the limiting factor. The GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 performance are insufficient for 4K Ultra in this title, as evidenced by the 34.5 FPS result.

The data indicates that for this configuration, 1080p is the sweet spot, with all settings presets delivering playable frame rates. At 1440p, Ultra settings fall below 60 FPS, and at 4K, even High settings struggle to maintain 60 FPS. The system is best suited for 1080p Ultra or 1440p High, where it delivers 80.8 FPS and 91.8 FPS respectively. The CPU's headroom is substantial, as evidenced by its 96th percentile ranking, meaning any future GPU upgrade would yield immediate performance gains without requiring a processor change.