Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

This pairing combines Intel's 20-core Raptor Lake Refresh flagship-class processor with AMD's RDNA 2-based Navi 21 GPU, producing a horror game experience that spans from comfortably playable at 4K Ultra to exceptionally high refresh rates at 1080p. The benchmark data reveals a system that excels in high-FPS scenarios while maintaining solid 4K performance, though the Ultra preset at 4K drops to just 54 FPS, suggesting a clear performance ceiling when both components are pushed to their limits.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700KF brings substantial processing resources to this horror title, with 20 cores and 28 threads operating at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosting up to 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process with a 125 W TDP, offers a large 33 MB shared L3 cache alongside 2 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core. The CPU's benchmark profile shows strong multi-threaded capability, scoring 44,167 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 18,550 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, while single-core performance reaches 6,235 in R23 and 2,618 in R20. Geekbench results further confirm this, with 21,462 multi-core and 2,578 single-core scores.

In Downfall, the CPU's influence becomes apparent when examining the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 291 FPS, a figure that demands both high single-thread performance and efficient multi-core scheduling. The 14700KF's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it firmly in the top tier, though its average benchmark score of 70,163 sits remarkably close to its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F trails by just 0.2% with a score of 69,996, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX is 0.4% behind at 69,875. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X comes within 0.9% at 69,515, and interestingly, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K actually leads this processor by 1% with a score of 70,879.

This tight clustering of rival scores suggests that the 14700KF's role in Downfall is less about raw CPU dominance and more about providing consistent, high-level performance that doesn't bottleneck the GPU. The CPU's boost clock of 5.60 GHz likely helps maintain high frame rates in scenes with complex AI or physics calculations, common in horror games where enemy behavior and environmental interactions tax the processor. The data shows that at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom, the CPU's strength becomes more critical — the jump from 4K High at 87 FPS to 1080p High at 195 FPS demonstrates that the 14700KF can feed the RX 6800 XT effectively as resolution drops and frame rates rise.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of this combo's performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional frame rates across all settings: Low averages 291 FPS, Medium averages 238 FPS with a minimum of 202 and maximum of 273, High averages 195 FPS, and Ultra averages 122 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the RX 6800 XT has ample headroom, and even the demanding Ultra preset maintains a frame rate well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected impact of increased pixel count. The Low preset averages 207 FPS, Medium averages 170 FPS (minimum 144, maximum 195), High averages 139 FPS, and Ultra drops to 87 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p still maintains a minimum of 144 FPS, which precisely matches a 144 Hz display's refresh rate — a notable result for competitive or smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset's 87 FPS average at 1440p represents a significant step down but remains playable for most users.

At 3840x2160, the system faces its greatest challenge. Low averages 129 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS (minimum 90, maximum 121), High averages 87 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS, suggesting that this setting combination pushes the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a steady decline: 129, 106, 87, then 54 — a pattern that reveals how each quality tier incrementally increases the GPU workload.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT achieves a combo rank of 1,160 out of 3,716 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the 68.8th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's strong performance and the GPU's mid-to-high-tier capabilities. The fact that this combo sits in the top 31% of all tested configurations indicates that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it outperforms the majority of systems running Downfall.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 94 versus the GPU's 85th percentile suggests that the processor is the stronger component in this pairing. This creates an interesting dynamic where the CPU has more headroom than the GPU, potentially making the RX 6800 XT the limiting factor in most scenarios. The combo rank of 1,160 out of 3,716, when considered alongside the CPU's high percentile, implies that upgrading the GPU would likely produce a more substantial performance improvement than upgrading the CPU. The nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile at 1.5% higher score (47,743 versus 48,477), the Intel Arc A550M at 2.5% lower (49,737), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti at 3% lower (49,957), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 also at 3% lower (50,001). These comparisons show the RX 6800 XT holding its own against a mix of professional and consumer graphics solutions.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the FPS scaling across resolutions reveals important insights about which component constrains performance in Downfall. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 291 FPS at 1080p to 207 FPS at 1440p (a 28.9% decrease) and then to 129 FPS at 4K (a 55.7% decrease from 1080p). This substantial drop at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count rises, since the CPU's workload remains relatively constant while the GPU's rendering load multiplies.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 238 FPS at 1080p falls to 170 FPS at 1440p (28.6% decrease) and 106 FPS at 4K (55.5% decrease from 1080p). High settings demonstrate 195 FPS at 1080p, 139 FPS at 1440p (28.7% decrease), and 87 FPS at 4K (55.4% decrease). Ultra settings follow the trend with 122 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p (28.7% decrease), and 54 FPS at 4K (55.7% decrease). The remarkably consistent percentage decreases across all quality presets — approximately 28-29% from 1080p to 1440p and 55-56% from 1080p to 4K — strongly suggest that resolution scaling is governed by the GPU's rendering throughput rather than CPU limitations.

This consistency indicates that the 14700KF provides sufficient processing power at all resolutions tested, and the bottleneck shifts entirely to the RX 6800 XT as resolution increases. The 4K Ultra result of 54 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold, highlights that this GPU reaches its practical limit for demanding settings at 4K. Conversely, the extremely high 1080p frame rates (up to 291 FPS at Low) demonstrate that the CPU can handle even the most frame-rate-intensive scenarios without becoming a constraint.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want to stay above 60 FPS at all times?

A: The data shows that every preset at 1080p and 1440p maintains an average above 60 FPS, including Ultra at 122 FPS and 87 FPS respectively. At 4K, only the Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS with an average of 54 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark performance?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70,163, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69,996) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875). It also leads the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X by 0.9% (69,515). However, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K outperforms it by 1% with a score of 70,879.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo averages 139 FPS. This is between the Medium preset's 170 FPS average and the Ultra preset's 87 FPS average, offering a balance between visual quality and performance that exceeds standard 60 Hz displays by a wide margin.

Q: Is the RX 6800 XT the limiting factor in this system for Downfall?

A: The evidence suggests yes. The consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K (approximately 55-56% decrease across all presets) indicate GPU-bound scaling. Additionally, the GPU's 85th percentile ranking compared to the CPU's 94th percentile suggests the graphics card is the weaker component in this pairing.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming comfortably?

A: Yes, with some caveats. At 4K Low, the system averages 129 FPS; at Medium, 106 FPS with a 90 FPS minimum; at High, 87 FPS; and at Ultra, 54 FPS. For smooth 4K gameplay, Medium or High settings provide the best experience, while Ultra should be avoided if maintaining 60 FPS is important.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest competitors?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 48,477, which is 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile (47,743). It trails the Intel Arc A550M by 2.5% (49,737), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 3% (49,957), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 by 3% (50,001).

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and performance priorities. At 1080p, all presets deliver excellent performance, but the High preset at 195 FPS provides an ideal balance — it offers significantly better visual quality than Low (291 FPS) or Medium (238 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate that exceeds most high-refresh-rate displays. The Ultra preset at 122 FPS remains highly playable and would be the choice for users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity.

For 1440p gaming, the Medium preset stands out as the best recommendation. At 170 FPS average with a 144 FPS minimum, it guarantees smooth performance on 144 Hz monitors while providing moderate visual upgrades over Low (207 FPS). The High preset at 139 FPS is also viable, but its lower minimum frame rate (not specified in the data) combined with a reduced average makes Medium the safer choice for consistent performance. The Ultra preset at 87 FPS is playable but sacrifices the high-refresh-rate experience that this combo can otherwise deliver.

At 4K, the Medium preset again emerges as the optimal choice, averaging 106 FPS with a 90 FPS minimum. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while maintaining respectable visual quality. The High preset at 87 FPS is acceptable for users who prioritize graphics over frame rate, but the Ultra preset's 54 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided. For users with high-refresh-rate 4K displays, the Low preset at 129 FPS offers the smoothest experience, though at a significant visual quality cost. Across all resolutions, the data consistently shows Medium as the sweet spot for this combo, delivering frame rates that are roughly 70-75% higher than Ultra while maintaining playable visual quality.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 21 chip, provides the graphical horsepower for this pairing. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves particularly relevant for a horror game like Downfall that may load large textures and environments. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). The 7 nm TSMC process packs 26,800 million transistors into a 520 mm² die, and the card's 4608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 128 ROPs provide the raw compute throughput of 20.74 TFLOPS FP32.

The GPU's benchmark scores paint a picture of solid mid-to-high-tier performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 24,980 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,689 demonstrate capable DirectX 12 performance, while Geekbench scores of 181,337 (Metal), 171,304 (OpenCL), and 136,875 (Vulkan) show strong compute capabilities across different APIs. The 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it comfortably above average, though its average benchmark score of 48,477 sits in a competitive range with its nearest rivals.

In Downfall specifically, the GPU's role becomes clear through the FPS data. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, memory is unlikely to be a constraint, yet the 54 FPS result at that setting suggests the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the most demanding configuration. The card's 300 W TDP and dual-slot design with 2x 8-pin power connectors indicate a power-hungry component, and the suggested 700 W PSU reflects its substantial electrical requirements. The 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears well-suited to the game's demands at Medium and High settings across all resolutions, where the combo maintains playable-to-excellent frame rates. The GPU's pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s provide the foundation for the detailed environments typical of horror games, and the data shows these capabilities are best utilized at Medium settings for the most balanced experience.