Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship combination that produces exceptional frame rates in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The measured data shows this pairing at the very top of the database, holding the #1 spot out of 2,928 tested combos. The following analysis breaks down how this hardware behaves across resolutions and settings, what the bottleneck characteristics are, and where each component contributes to the final experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions and transitions to a more balanced, but still GPU-limited, state at 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 324 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 231 FPS, a 28.7% reduction. Stepping up to 4K High yields 144 FPS, which is a 55.6% drop from 1080p High. This pattern—a substantial but not catastrophic decline—indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the primary limiter, but the i7-14700K is strong enough to feed it adequately even at lower resolutions.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more aggressive. At 1080p Low, the system hits 482 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 345 FPS (a 28.4% decrease), and at 4K Low, it falls to 214 FPS (a 55.6% decrease from 1080p). The fact that 1080p Low produces nearly 500 FPS suggests that the CPU is still capable of pushing far beyond what the GPU can render, but the GPU’s workload at 4K Low still results in over 200 FPS, which is exceptionally high for any title. The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the RTX 5090 D’s rendering throughput scales predictably with pixel count.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend with slightly lower raw numbers. At 1080p Medium, the average is 395 FPS with a minimum of 335 FPS and a maximum of 454 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 282 FPS with a minimum of 240 FPS and a maximum of 324 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. The minimum frame rates at Medium settings are worth noting: at 4K, the minimum of 149 FPS is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of many high-end monitors, meaning the experience remains fluid even in demanding scenes.

The Ultra preset is where the GPU’s limits become more apparent. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 202 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 144 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 90 FPS. The drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 55.4%, mirroring the scaling seen at other settings. The 90 FPS average at 4K Ultra is still very playable, but it signals that this is the first setting where the RTX 5090 D is truly working hard. The data suggests that for the vast majority of displays, this combo will never be CPU-limited in Downfall; the GPU is the determining factor across all tested resolutions and settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on which preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. For 4K displays, the High preset at 144 FPS average is the sweet spot. It delivers a frame rate that exactly matches a 144 Hz monitor’s refresh rate, providing a perfectly smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 90 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 37.5% performance penalty for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a horror game from 2016. The Medium preset at 4K offers 175 FPS, which is higher than necessary for most displays and does not provide the visual fidelity of High.

At 1440p, the High preset at 231 FPS is the recommended choice. This frame rate exceeds the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors (typically 144 Hz to 165 Hz), and it leaves headroom for future driver updates or more demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 144 FPS, which is exactly at the 144 Hz mark. If a user has a 144 Hz 1440p monitor, Ultra becomes viable, but High provides a 60% performance buffer that ensures no drops below the refresh rate. The Medium preset at 282 FPS is excessive for typical 1440p displays and sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily.

For 1080p, the situation is different. The High preset at 324 FPS is far beyond what any current 1080p monitor can display (most cap at 240 Hz or 360 Hz). The Ultra preset at 202 FPS is the better choice here, as it still exceeds 200 FPS and provides the highest visual quality available. The Low preset at 482 FPS is pointless for actual gameplay, as no 1080p monitor can display that many frames. The data indicates that at 1080p, users should prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, and Ultra is the only setting that makes sense for a high-refresh-rate 1080p panel.

The minimum frame rate data reinforces these recommendations. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 149 FPS, which is above 144 Hz. At 4K High, no minimum is listed, but the average of 144 FPS suggests the minimum is likely near or slightly below that mark. For competitive play or for users sensitive to frame time consistency, the Medium preset at 4K offers the best guarantee of staying above 144 FPS at all times. For general play, High is the recommended preset due to its superior visuals and acceptable average frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a combo rank of #1 out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall. This is the top position, indicating that no other CPU-GPU pairing in the database produces higher average frame rates in this game. The rank confirms both components’ capabilities, but it is particularly notable given the game’s age and its likely reliance on single-threaded performance and raw GPU throughput.

The CPU’s overall percentile rank is 94th among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69,355. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 9115, scores 69,288, a delta of only 0.1% — essentially a tie. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.2% ahead, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX is 0.7% ahead. This means the i7-14700K is within 1% of the top-performing CPUs in general benchmarks, and its #1 combo rank in Downfall suggests that its specific architecture and clock speeds are particularly well-suited to this game’s engine.

The GPU’s percentile rank is 92nd among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% behind), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (2.1% and 2.4% behind). The RTX 5090 D’s performance in Downfall is clearly above its general benchmark percentile would suggest, as it achieves the #1 combo rank despite being in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. This indicates that Downfall is particularly favorable to this GPU’s architecture, or that the i7-14700K is exceptionally good at feeding it in this specific title.

The rank of #1 out of 2,928 combos is a strong statement. It means that in this database, no other combination of CPU and GPU produces higher frame rates in Downfall. Users considering this combo can be confident that they are purchasing the highest-performing setup for this game, regardless of resolution or settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Downfall with this combo?*

A: The data shows that at 4K High, the combo achieves 144 FPS average, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors. At 1440p High, it produces 231 FPS, and at 1080p High, it reaches 324 FPS. The best resolution depends on your monitor’s refresh rate; 4K High is recommended for 4K 144 Hz displays, while 1440p High offers a significant performance buffer.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings in Downfall?*

A: Yes, the measured data shows 90 FPS average at 4K Ultra. This is playable, but it is a 37.5% drop from the 144 FPS at 4K High. For a smoother experience, High settings are recommended, as Ultra’s visual improvements are unlikely to justify the frame rate penalty.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: Based on the resolution scaling, the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system produces 482 FPS, which is far beyond any monitor’s refresh rate. The frame rate drops consistently as resolution increases, indicating that the RTX 5090 D is the limiting factor. The i7-14700K is powerful enough to avoid being a constraint.

Q: How does this combo compare to other top-tier setups?

A: This combo ranks #1 out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall. The CPU is within 0.9% of its nearest rivals in general benchmarks, and the GPU is within 2.4% of its nearest rivals. In this specific game, the combination outperforms all others in the database.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate at 4K Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a minimum of 149 FPS at 4K Medium, with an average of 175 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. This is the only 4K setting with a recorded minimum, and it is above the 144 Hz threshold, indicating consistent frame delivery.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D’s 32 GB VRAM useful for this game?

A: Downfall is a 2016 horror game, and the data does not indicate that it requires large amounts of VRAM. The 32 GB capacity is far beyond what this game needs, but it provides headroom for other titles and future-proofing. The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is likely more relevant to performance in this title than the capacity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing for Downfall. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for a game from 2016. The memory clock is listed as 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective throughput. The GPU’s base clock is 2017 MHz, and its boost clock is 2407 MHz. These clocks are high, and the data suggests they contribute directly to the frame rates achieved.

The GPU’s architecture is Blackwell 2.0 on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. It has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS. These specifications are extraordinary, and they explain why the GPU is able to produce 482 FPS at 1080p Low.

In Downfall, the GPU’s role is to render the horror environments and effects. The game’s release date in 2016 means it likely uses DirectX 11 or 12, and the RTX 5090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The GPU’s PassMark DirectX 11 score is 371, and its DirectX 12 score is 219, which are the relevant metrics for this game. The Geekbench Vulkan score is 376,915, and the OpenCL score is 310,674, indicating strong compute performance that may be used for post-processing effects.

The GPU’s percentile rank is 92nd out of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals in general benchmarks are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% behind). In Downfall, however, the RTX 5090 D performs at the top of the database, suggesting that the game’s engine is particularly well-optimized for this GPU’s architecture. The combination of high boost clocks, massive memory bandwidth, and raw compute power ensures that the GPU is never the limiting factor until 4K Ultra settings are enabled.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K plays a supporting role in Downfall, but it is a crucial one. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU is overkill for a horror game from 2016, which likely uses only a few threads. The base clock is 3.40 GHz, and the boost clock is 5.60 GHz. The high boost clock is particularly important for gaming, as Downfall likely benefits from high single-threaded performance.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. The L3 cache is substantial and helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory latency. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, though the data does not specify which was used in testing. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 5090 D.

In general benchmarks, the i7-14700K scores 33,440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,160 in single-core. Its Geekbench multi-core score is 20,767, and single-core is 2,569. These scores place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD EPYC 9115 (0.1% behind), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.2% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.7% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.9% ahead). The deltaPct values show that the i7-14700K is effectively tied with these top-tier CPUs in general performance.

For Downfall, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 482 FPS, which is a clear indication that the CPU is capable of extremely high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The fact that the combo ranks #1 out of 2,928 suggests that the i7-14700K’s combination of high single-thread performance and strong multi-threaded capabilities is ideal for this game’s engine. The CPU’s 125W TDP and 10 nm process node from Intel indicate it is a power-efficient design for its performance class. The launch MSRP is $409, but this is not a factor in performance analysis. The CPU’s integrated UHD Graphics 770 is irrelevant for this test, as the dedicated RTX 5090 D handles all rendering.