Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers an exceptionally strong performance profile in Downfall, placing 3rd out of 1,741 tested combinations. This places the combo in the top 0.2% of all tested systems, a position that reflects both the CPU's high multi-threaded throughput and the GPU's massive compute resources. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings presets indicate a system with substantial headroom, though the scaling patterns reveal where the bottlenecks actually lie.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline varies significantly by settings preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 sees average FPS drop from 457.4 to 329.7, a reduction of 27.9%. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Low settings further reduces average FPS to 202.9, another 38.5% drop. The total scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low is a 55.6% reduction in average frame rate, which strongly suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset exhibits similar behavior, starting at 374.7 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 269.2 FPS at 1440p (a 28.2% reduction), and then to 169.8 FPS at 4K (a 36.9% reduction from 1440p). The High preset shows a slightly different pattern: 306.4 FPS at 1080p, 216.5 FPS at 1440p (a 29.3% drop), and 136.9 FPS at 4K (a 36.8% drop from 1440p). In all three presets, the 1080p to 1440p scaling is remarkably consistent at roughly 28-29%, indicating that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at these resolutions.

The Ultra preset tells a different story entirely. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 194.4 FPS, dropping to 136.6 FPS at 1440p (a 29.7% reduction) and then to 85.0 FPS at 4K (a 37.8% reduction from 1440p). The relatively consistent percentage drops across all presets — around 28-30% from 1080p to 1440p and 37-38% from 1440p to 4K — indicate that the rendering pipeline is scaling in a predictable, GPU-bound manner. The fact that 1080p Low produces 457.4 FPS while 4K Low produces 202.9 FPS shows the RTX 5090's raw rasterization power, but the 55.6% total reduction at Low settings suggests that even this GPU cannot fully overcome the pixel throughput demands of 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K brings 20 cores and 28 threads to this pairing, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and a single-core score of 6,287, placing it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The high single-thread performance is critical for Downfall's frame pacing, as the 1080p Low result of 457.4 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can sustain extremely high frame delivery without becoming a limiting factor.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals shows a tightly packed field. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores essentially identically with a 0% delta, while the AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.3% behind and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.5% ahead. The Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 leads by 1.4%, though this is a server-class part. These small deltas suggest that the i7-14700K's 20-core configuration is well-balanced for gaming workloads, providing enough multi-threaded headroom (Cinebench R23 multi-core of 44,534) to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 even at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the system reaches 457.4 FPS, and the fact that scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings only costs 27.9% performance indicates the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can process them at 1080p. The Geekbench multi-core score of 18,896 and PassMark multi-thread score of 52,392 reinforce that this CPU has substantial parallel processing capability, which matters for Downfall's physics and AI calculations during intense horror sequences. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain low latency access to frequently used game data.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?*

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 at High settings offers the best balance, delivering 216.5 FPS average. This is 36.8% higher than 4K High (136.9 FPS) while still providing excellent visual fidelity. At 1080p High, the system reaches 306.4 FPS, which is beyond the refresh rate of most displays.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 achieves an average benchmark score of 84,306, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, is just 0.1% behind, while the RTX 5050 Mobile is 0.2% behind. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 trails by 1.3%, and the NVIDIA CMP 40HX leads by 1.6%.

Q: Does the i7-14700K bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: The data suggests minimal CPU bottlenecking. Even at 1080p Low, the system produces 457.4 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. The consistent 28-30% performance drop from 1080p to 1440p across all presets points to GPU-bound scaling rather than CPU limitation.

Q: What is the performance difference between Ultra and High settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Ultra settings produce 85.0 FPS average, while High settings deliver 136.9 FPS. This represents a 61.1% performance advantage for High settings over Ultra, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects come at a substantial frame rate cost.

Q: How many frames per second can this combo achieve at 1080p Medium?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the system achieves 374.7 FPS average. This is 22.4% higher than High settings (306.4 FPS) and 92.7% higher than Ultra settings (194.4 FPS) at the same resolution.

Q: Is the i7-14700K's multi-threaded performance competitive with other CPUs?

A: Yes. The i7-14700K's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals show deltas of less than 1.5%, with the Ryzen 9 9950X being 0.5% faster and the EPYC 9115 being 0.3% slower.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals that the High preset offers the most efficient experience across all resolutions. At 4K High, the system maintains 136.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and represents a 61.1% improvement over the 85.0 FPS at Ultra. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 32.9 FPS (from 169.8 to 136.9), but the visual improvements typically justify this reduction for a horror title where atmosphere matters.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1440p delivers 329.7 FPS, which is 52.3% higher than High at the same resolution. However, the Low preset sacrifices significant visual quality. The Medium preset at 1440p provides a strong middle ground at 269.2 FPS, which is 24.3% higher than High settings. At 1080p, even Ultra settings achieve 194.4 FPS, making this resolution suitable for the highest visual fidelity without concern for frame rate drops.

The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 100 FPS, producing 85.0 FPS average. Given that the High preset at 4K maintains 136.9 FPS, the Ultra preset's additional visual effects appear to exact a heavy toll. The data supports High settings as the recommended preset for 4K and 1440p, while 1080p users can comfortably use Ultra at 194.4 FPS or Medium at 374.7 FPS depending on their refresh rate capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 3rd out of 1,741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 0.17% of all systems tested. This top-3 positioning reflects the synergy between the 20-core processor and the Blackwell-architecture GPU. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs combine to create a system that excels across the entire resolution spectrum.

This ranking is particularly notable because the individual components do not each sit at the absolute top of their respective benchmark charts. The i7-14700K trails the Ryzen 9 9950X by 0.5% in average CPU score, and the RTX 5090 is outperformed by the CMP 40HX by 1.6% in average GPU score. Yet the combination of the i7-14700K's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core of 6,287) and the RTX 5090's massive 32 GB GDDR7 memory pool with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth produces a result that outranks 1,738 other pairings.

The 3rd place finish suggests that Downfall responds particularly well to this specific hardware configuration. The game's horror genre typically involves complex lighting and shadow calculations, which benefit from the RTX 5090's 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. The CPU's 28 threads ensure that background AI and physics simulations do not interfere with frame delivery, maintaining the high average FPS observed across all settings. With only two other combos performing better out of 1,741, this pairing represents near-optimal performance for this title.