Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a compelling result in Downfall, a horror title whose benchmark data reveals a clear hierarchy between CPU and GPU workload. This combination ranks 104th out of 1,741 tested configurations, placing it in the top 6% of all recorded setups. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings show a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher fidelity levels, with the processor only becoming a significant factor at extreme low settings and high refresh rates.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary limiting component as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 267.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 192.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 28.1%. Moving to 3840x2160 yields 120.7 FPS, which is another 37.3% decline from the 1440p figure. This trajectory is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the rendering workload scales with resolution.

The Low settings data tells a more dramatic story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 397.9 FPS. This drops to 284.9 FPS at 1440p, a 28.4% decrease, and then to 177.9 FPS at 4K, a 37.5% further reduction. The consistency of these percentages across High and Low settings suggests that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the governing factors, not the CPU. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 736.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are directly challenged as the resolution increases.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is slightly different. The 1080p result is 165 FPS, which drops to 117.6 FPS at 1440p (a 28.7% decline) and then to 73.2 FPS at 4K, a more pronounced 37.8% drop from 1440p. This steeper decline at the highest settings implies that the extra shading and texture work at Ultra are more demanding on the GPU’s 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate. The data shows that Downfall is not a CPU-limited title at standard resolutions; the bottleneck shifts definitively to the graphics card as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the star performer in this configuration. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides ample capacity and bandwidth for Downfall’s textures, even at Ultra settings and 4K resolution. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the GPU is not starved for data, which is critical in a horror game where sudden scene changes and dense environmental details can spike memory demand.

The GPU’s clock behavior is also relevant. With a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, the RTX 4080 SUPER maintains high sustained performance. The benchmark scores for this GPU corroborate its strength: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 and a Passmark G3D score of 34245 place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the aggregate benchmark include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 53489 (a delta of 0.2%), and the Radeon Pro W6600M at 53414 (0.4% delta). This indicates the RTX 4080 SUPER is at the top of its performance tier, slightly ahead of these competitors.

In Downfall specifically, the GPU’s role is dominant. The transition from High to Ultra at 1080p reduces frame rates from 267.7 FPS to 165 FPS, a 38.4% performance hit. This is a direct result of increased shader complexity and texture filtering demands, which the 10240 shading units and 320 texture mapping units must process. The GPU’s 80 ray tracing cores are present, though Downfall’s horror aesthetic may not heavily rely on them; the data suggests the rasterization pipeline is the primary workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a high-end processor with 20 cores and 28 threads, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide substantial on-die storage for game logic and asset streaming. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44534 and a single-core score of 6287, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

However, in Downfall, the CPU’s influence is muted at higher resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (73.2 FPS) versus 4K Low (177.9 FPS) shows a 58.8% difference, entirely attributable to GPU workload changes. The CPU is not the limiting factor here. Its role becomes more apparent at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 397.9 FPS. At this point, the CPU must feed frames fast enough to the GPU, and the i7-14700K’s high boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures it can keep up with the RTX 4080 SUPER’s output.

The CPU’s benchmark rivals show it is a top-tier part. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70104 (0% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70420 (-0.5% delta), indicating the i7-14700K is effectively on par with these flagships. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title; it provides ample headroom for the GPU to operate at its full potential. The processor’s 125 W TDP and support for DDR5 memory ensure that system-level performance is not constrained by the platform.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration ranks 104th out of 1,741 tested combos in Downfall, which places it in the top 5.97% of all systems. This is an excellent result, indicating that the pairing of the i7-14700K with the RTX 4080 SUPER is well-balanced for this title. The rank suggests that there are only 103 other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates, likely featuring newer or more expensive GPUs like the RTX 5090 or higher-end 40-series cards.

The combo’s position is driven primarily by the GPU’s performance at 4K and 1440p. At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with the Low setting exceeding 397 FPS, which is beyond the refresh rate of most displays. The rank of 104 out of 1741 is a strong indicator that this system delivers top-tier performance in Downfall. The data shows that the combination is not held back by any single component; the CPU and GPU work in concert to deliver high frame rates across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance. With Low settings, the average frame rate is 397.9 FPS. Medium settings yield 324.6 FPS, which is a 18.4% reduction from Low. High settings produce 267.7 FPS, a further 17.5% drop from Medium. Ultra settings reduce performance to 165 FPS, a 38.4% decline from High. These numbers show that even at the most demanding 1080p settings, the system remains highly playable, far exceeding the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. Low settings achieve 284.9 FPS, Medium delivers 233.2 FPS, and High produces 192.4 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 117.6 FPS. The relative differences between settings remain consistent with the 1080p results, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The 1440p Ultra result of 117.6 FPS is still well above playable levels for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the system still performs admirably. Low settings average 177.9 FPS, Medium settings 142.9 FPS, and High settings 120.7 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 73.2 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset. This 4K Ultra figure is still above the standard 60 FPS target, making the game fully playable at maximum fidelity on this resolution. The data shows a clear and predictable degradation curve, with each resolution and setting tier providing a distinct level of performance that aligns with the hardware’s capabilities.