Downfall

Downfall is a 2016 horror title, and the benchmark data shows the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptionally high-performance experience across all tested resolutions. The measured frame rates are consistently high, indicating that this combination is far more powerful than what the game typically requires. The data suggests that the primary constraint in this pairing shifts from the GPU at lower resolutions to a more balanced workload at 4K, though the overall performance headroom remains substantial.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound performance, though the severity of the drop is moderated by the sheer power of the RTX 4090. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 296 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the average drops to 212 FPS, a reduction of approximately 28.4%. At 3840x2160, the average further declines to 132 FPS, which is a 55.4% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling curve is steep, indicating that the GPU is the limiting component as resolution increases, while the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions.

The Low settings preset shows an even more dramatic scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the average is 442 FPS, which falls to 315 FPS at 1440p (a 28.7% drop) and then to 196 FPS at 4K (a 55.7% drop from 1080p). The relative consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that the rendering load scales predictably with pixel count. However, the absolute numbers remain high enough that even the 4K Low result of 196 FPS is far beyond the refresh rate of most displays, indicating that the limiting factor is rarely the hardware in real-world usage.

The Medium preset, which includes minimum and maximum frame data, provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 361 FPS with a minimum of 307 FPS and a maximum of 416 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 258 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 297 FPS. Finally, at 4K Medium, the average is 161 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS and a maximum of 185 FPS. The minimum frame rates at each resolution are within 15-16% of the average, suggesting that frame pacing remains stable even under load, which is a positive indicator for a horror game where sudden frame drops can break immersion. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on Medium is a 37.6% reduction, which is slightly less severe than the High preset's 37.7% reduction, but the pattern is consistent.

What is most telling is the Ultra preset's behavior. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 185 FPS, which is notably lower than the High preset's 296 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 132 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 82 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p on Ultra is 28.6%, and the drop from 1080p to 4K is 55.7%, mirroring the scaling of other presets. This indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a nearly uniform additional rendering cost across all resolutions, likely due to advanced effects that scale with resolution rather than being resolution-independent. The 4K Ultra result of 82 FPS is the only measured point that approaches the threshold where a high-refresh-rate display might not be fully utilized, suggesting that this is the only configuration where the GPU is truly stressed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This massive bandwidth is likely a key factor in maintaining high average frame rates, especially at 4K where texture data requirements are highest. The memory clock is listed at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective, which is consistent with the high bandwidth figure. The GPU's base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and while these clocks are not directly measured in the frame data, they contribute to the raw compute throughput.

The GPU's compute resources are substantial: 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The FP32 performance is rated at 82.58 TFLOPS, which is more than sufficient for a 2016 horror title. The RTX 4090's architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. This hardware is clearly overqualified for Downfall, which is reflected in the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 82, well above the 60 FPS threshold that is often considered the minimum for smooth gameplay.

The GPU's role as the limiting factor becomes most apparent when comparing the 1080p and 4K results. At 1080p Low, the 442 FPS average is likely constrained by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls, but the GPU still has headroom. At 4K Ultra, the 82 FPS average shows the GPU is working harder, but the fact that it still delivers playable frame rates indicates that the game's engine is not particularly demanding by modern standards. The RTX 4090's percentile rank of 88 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347, places it in the upper echelon, but its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, which are not gaming-focused parts, highlighting that the RTX 4090's gaming performance is exceptional relative to its peer group.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 109 out of 3,716 tested combos in Downfall. This puts it in the top 2.9% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing given the age of the game and the fact that many newer titles might favor different hardware. The rank of 109 suggests that there are 108 other combos that perform better, but the delta between this combo and those above it is likely small, as the measured frame rates are already extremely high.

The CPU itself has a percentile rank of 94 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69,355. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9115 with a delta of 0.1%, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X with a delta of -0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX with a delta of -0.7%. These deltas are negligible, indicating that the i7-14700K is effectively tied with the top-performing CPUs in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU's percentile rank is 88, with an average score of 60,347, and its nearest rivals show deltas of 0% to 2.9%, again indicating close performance parity with its peers.

The combo's rank of 109 is likely influenced by the fact that Downfall is a CPU-light game, and the i7-14700K's strong single-core performance (as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,160) ensures that the CPU never becomes a bottleneck. The GPU's high frame rates are therefore able to shine, and the combo's rank reflects a well-balanced pairing where both components are performing near their theoretical limits. The data shows that this combo is not just fast, but consistently fast, with no single resolution or settings preset showing a disproportionate drop that would indicate a bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 442 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate in the dataset. The Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 361 FPS, with a minimum of 307 and a maximum of 416. The High preset at 1080p produces an average of 296 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to an average of 185 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 58.1% reduction in average FPS, which is a significant cost for the highest visual quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 315 FPS, which is 28.7% lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 258 FPS, with a minimum of 219 and a maximum of 297. The High preset at 1440p averages 212 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 132 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 58.1%, matching the 1080p scaling exactly, which suggests that the relative cost of each preset is resolution-independent. The minimum FPS of 219 on the Medium preset at 1440p is still far above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that even the lowest recorded frame rates are smooth.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 196 FPS, which is 55.7% lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 4K averages 161 FPS, with a minimum of 136 and a maximum of 185. The High preset at 4K averages 132 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 82 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 58.2%, again consistent with the other resolutions. The minimum FPS of 136 on the Medium preset at 4K is still well above 60 FPS, but the Ultra preset's 82 FPS average is the only data point that might cause concern for users with a 120 Hz or higher refresh rate display, as it falls below the 100 FPS mark that is often considered the sweet spot for high-refresh gaming.

The data also shows a clear pattern in the Medium preset's minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the maximum of 416 FPS is 15.2% higher than the average, while the minimum of 307 FPS is 15.0% lower. At 1440p, the maximum of 297 FPS is 15.1% higher than the average, and the minimum of 219 FPS is 15.1% lower. At 4K, the maximum of 185 FPS is 14.9% higher, and the minimum of 136 FPS is 15.5% lower. This consistency suggests that the frame time variance is stable across resolutions, which is a positive sign for gameplay smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the High settings preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance for this hardware combination. At 1080p High, the average of 296 FPS is more than twice the refresh rate of most standard monitors, and even at 4K High, the 132 FPS average is sufficient for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset provides a significant visual improvement over Medium without the steep performance penalty of Ultra. The data shows that moving from High to Ultra at any resolution costs approximately 37.5% of the average FPS (from 296 to 185 at 1080p, from 212 to 132 at 1440p, and from 132 to 82 at 4K), which is a substantial reduction for what is likely a marginal visual gain in a horror game that relies on atmosphere rather than graphical fidelity.

The Medium preset is also a viable option for users who prefer higher frame rates, as it delivers 361 FPS at 1080p and 161 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS values for Medium at each resolution are 307, 219, and 136 respectively, all of which are well above the 60 FPS threshold. However, the High preset's minimum FPS is not recorded in the data, so it is impossible to compare frame time stability directly. Given that the average FPS for High at 4K is 132, it is reasonable to assume that the minimum would be around 110-115 FPS based on the pattern seen in the Medium preset, which would still be excellent.

The Ultra preset is the only setting that pushes the hardware to its limits, particularly at 4K where the average drops to 82 FPS. While this is still playable, it represents a significant compromise in frame rate for the highest visual quality. Given that Downfall is a horror game where smooth motion is important for immersion, the Ultra preset at 4K might not be the best choice, as the 82 FPS average could result in occasional stutters on a 120 Hz display. The Low preset, on the other hand, offers the highest frame rates but likely sacrifices too much visual quality for the horror atmosphere to be effective. Therefore, the High preset is recommended as the best default, with Medium as a fallback for users who prioritize frame rate above all else.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K plays a supporting role in this pairing, but its capabilities ensure that it never becomes a bottleneck. The CPU features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This high boost clock is crucial for gaming, as most games, including Downfall, rely heavily on single-threaded performance. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,160 and multi-core score of 33,440.5 indicate strong performance in both metrics, which is reflected in the game's frame rates at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 442 is likely limited by the CPU's ability to process game logic and issue draw calls, but the i7-14700K's high single-core performance ensures that this limit is exceptionally high. The CPU's L3 cache of 33 MB shared across all cores helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game engines that access shared data frequently. The CPU's architecture, Raptor Lake, is built on a 10 nm process from Intel, and its 125 W TDP is modest for a 20-core part, but the data shows that this power envelope is sufficient to maintain high clocks under load.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which has a delta of -0.2% in average score, indicating that the i7-14700K is essentially tied with the best consumer CPUs. This parity is reflected in the game's frame rates, where the combo's rank of 109 out of 3,716 suggests that the CPU is not holding back the GPU. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 82 is still constrained by the GPU, as the CPU has more than enough headroom to feed the RTX 4090. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 52,392 and single-thread score of 4,472 further confirm its capability, but the game's results are more dependent on the GPU's raw power than the CPU's compute throughput.

In summary, the i7-14700K provides a solid foundation for the RTX 4090, with its high boost clock and substantial core count ensuring that the GPU is never starved for data. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are more than adequate for a 2016 horror title, and its performance is effectively tied with the top rivals in its class. The combo's rank of 109 confirms the CPU's ability to keep pace with the GPU, even in a game that is not particularly demanding.