Downfall

The Intel Core i7-14700KF coupled with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers a powerful 1080p and 1440p experience in Downfall, but the data shows a significant performance cliff at 4K Ultra, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution and settings increase. The measured frame rates demonstrate a clear hierarchy: the combination excels at high refresh rates in lower resolutions, yet struggles to maintain playable performance at the highest visual settings in 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the combo produces an average of 292.8 FPS, which drops to 130.7 FPS at 4K Low—a reduction of 55.4%. This steep decline is consistent with the GPU being pushed to its limits by the increased pixel count, while the CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads remain largely underutilized.

Moving from 1440p to 4K shows the most dramatic scaling penalties. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 143.7 at 1440p to 91 at 4K, a 36.7% drop. The Ultra preset is even more demanding: 90 FPS at 1440p plummets to 57.4 FPS at 4K, a 36.2% reduction. These numbers indicate that the Radeon RX 9070, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The game’s horror atmosphere relies on detailed textures and lighting, which scale heavily with pixel count, and the data reflects this.

The 1080p to 1440p transition is comparatively gentler, with High settings dropping from 199.3 FPS to 143.7 FPS (a 27.9% decrease). This suggests that while the GPU is still the main constraint, the CPU’s high boost clock of 5.60 GHz helps maintain a strong frame rate floor. The overall pattern confirms that Downfall is heavily GPU-limited beyond 1080p, with the CPU’s influence waning as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070’s specifications directly correlate with the measured results. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides ample capacity for the game’s textures, even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 57.4. The card’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz drive its performance, with a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s proving sufficient for all settings below Ultra.

The GPU’s RDNA 4.0 architecture, built on a 4 nm process, delivers a FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS. This raw compute power translates into the measured frame rates: the card achieves 130.7 FPS at 4K Low, but the jump to Medium (105.7 FPS) and High (91 FPS) shows a linear scaling penalty of roughly 15-20 FPS per preset tier. The Ultra preset, however, imposes a disproportionate cost—a 45.4% drop from High at 4K—suggesting that Ultra settings enable effects that heavily tax the 128 ROPs and 56 RT cores.

The GPU’s 79th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 34780 position it as a strong mid-to-high-end part. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA A2 (deltaPct -0.2) and Quadro GV100 (deltaPct 0.3), show nearly identical average scores, indicating the RX 9070’s performance is well within a competitive band. However, the 4K Ultra result highlights its limits, where the frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider playable.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p is the sweet spot. At High settings, the combo delivers 143.7 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds, while 4K High drops to 91 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to 57.4 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9070’s 16 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6 memory is sufficient for 4K textures, as evidenced by the 91 FPS at 4K High. The bottleneck at 4K Ultra (57.4 FPS) is more likely due to the GPU’s compute and ROP throughput rather than memory capacity.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700KF a limiting factor at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 292.8 FPS, indicating the CPU’s 5.60 GHz boost clock and 20 cores are more than capable. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 70104 support this.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in performance?

A: The Ultra preset incurs a massive penalty. At 1440p, it drops from 143.7 FPS (High) to 90 FPS (Ultra), a 37.4% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 91 FPS to 57.4 FPS, a 36.9% reduction.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, Low yields 292.8 FPS and Medium yields 239.9 FPS, a 18.1% difference. At 4K, the gap narrows to 130.7 vs 105.7 FPS, a 19.1% difference, showing consistent scaling.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 553rd out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 68th percentile of tested systems, which aligns with the GPU’s 79th percentile but reflects the demanding 4K Ultra results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9070 produce exceptional frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 292.8 FPS, while Medium delivers 239.9 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 199.3 FPS, and the Ultra preset still manages a solid 125.8 FPS. These numbers indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, with the GPU’s raw throughput driving performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low settings yield 209.3 FPS, and Medium drops to 170.2 FPS. High settings are still very playable at 143.7 FPS, but the Ultra preset falls to exactly 90 FPS. This represents a 57% reduction from Low to Ultra, highlighting the GPU’s limitations under heavy load at higher pixel counts.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates show where this combo begins to struggle. Low settings still produce 130.7 FPS, and Medium maintains 105.7 FPS. High settings drop to 91 FPS, which is acceptable, but the Ultra preset plummets to 57.4 FPS. This 4K Ultra result is the only measurement below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the RX 9070’s 36.13 TFLOPS compute power is insufficient for the most demanding settings at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting high refresh rates, the Low preset at 1080p is the obvious choice, delivering 292.8 FPS. This is ideal for competitive play or for users with 240 Hz monitors. At 1440p, the High preset offers the best balance—143.7 FPS is well above the 120 Hz threshold and provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium’s 170.2 FPS.

The Medium preset is a strong fallback for 4K gaming, producing 105.7 FPS, which is smooth on a 100 Hz display. Players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate may consider High at 4K (91 FPS), but the Ultra preset is not recommended. At 57.4 FPS, the 4K Ultra experience is borderline playable but risks noticeable stutter in a horror game where smooth motion is critical for immersion. The data suggests that High at 1440p is the optimal compromise, offering a 143.7 FPS average without the extreme penalty of Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF’s specifications are largely responsible for the high frame rates seen at 1080p. With 20 cores, 28 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, the CPU ensures that the GPU is never starved for data. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking among all processors and its average benchmark score of 70104 confirm its high-end status. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, has a deltaPct of 0, showing they are functionally identical in performance.

The CPU’s 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide low-latency access to game data, which is critical for maintaining consistent frame times. In Downfall, a horror title that likely features complex AI and physics calculations, the CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 52425 and physics score of 2961 indicate it can handle these workloads without becoming a bottleneck. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 292.8 FPS, while at 1440p High, it still achieves 143.7 FPS, showing the CPU maintains headroom even as GPU load increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 553rd out of 1741 tested combos in Downfall. This places the combo in the top 31.8% of all tested systems. The GPU’s 79th percentile ranking (vs all GPUs) and the CPU’s 96th percentile ranking (vs all CPUs) suggest that the system’s overall position is dragged down by the GPU’s relative weakness in this specific title’s most demanding settings.

The combo’s rank is more impressive when considering the 4K Ultra result of 57.4 FPS, which is a significant outlier compared to the otherwise strong performance. At 1440p and below, the combo performs like a top-tier system, with the 1080p Low result of 292.8 FPS being particularly notable. The rank of 553 out of 1741 reflects the system’s overall versatility, as it excels in most scenarios but falls short of the highest-end configurations in the most extreme settings. Given the GPU’s average benchmark score of 34780 and its close rivals (NVIDIA A2 at -0.2% and Quadro GV100 at +0.3%), the RX 9070 is a capable mid-to-high-end card, and this combo represents a well-balanced system for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with acceptable 4K performance only on lower presets.