Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall with the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER reveals a predictable but steep scaling curve as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 347.7 FPS, but dropping to 2560x1440 Low reduces that to 248.4 FPS, a 28.6% performance hit. Pushing further to 3840x2160 Low yields 154.7 FPS, meaning the move from 1080p to 4K at Low settings costs roughly 55.5% of the frame rate.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when examining higher quality presets. At Ultra settings, the 1080p result is 143.9 FPS, the 1440p result is 106.8 FPS, and the 4K result falls to 62.5 FPS. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is 41.5%, which is notably steeper than the 28.6% drop seen at Low settings across the same resolution gap. This suggests that at Ultra, the GPU becomes the limiting factor more aggressively, whereas at Low, the CPU has more headroom to push frames.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the system is largely CPU-bound, particularly at Low and Medium settings where frame rates exceed 280 FPS. The Intel Core i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, provides ample processing power to feed the RTX 4070 SUPER at these lower resolutions. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows exponentially, and the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on the RTX 4070 SUPER starts to feel the pressure, especially at Ultra settings where the 4K result drops below 63 FPS.

Interestingly, the gap between Medium and High settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, High produces 235.3 FPS versus 285.7 FPS for Medium, a 17.6% difference. At 4K, High yields 102.6 FPS versus 124 FPS for Medium, a 17.2% difference. This consistency suggests that the settings scaling is relatively uniform across resolutions, with the GPU handling the extra load proportionally. The Ultra preset, however, exacts a disproportionate toll at 4K, where the 62.5 FPS result is nearly 40% lower than the High preset's 102.6 FPS. This indicates that Ultra introduces effects or memory usage that push the RTX 4070 SUPER beyond its comfortable operating envelope at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for smooth gameplay with this combo in Downfall?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo delivers 166 FPS, which is well above typical display refresh rates. The 1920x1080 High setting produces 235.3 FPS, while 4K High still manages 102.6 FPS, so all three resolutions are playable at High, but 1440p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom.

Q: How does the Ultra preset affect performance compared to High?

A: The drop from High to Ultra is significant at every resolution. At 1080p, Ultra yields 143.9 FPS versus 235.3 FPS on High, a 38.8% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra produces 106.8 FPS versus 166 FPS on High, a 35.7% drop. At 4K, Ultra falls to 62.5 FPS versus 102.6 FPS on High, a 39.1% reduction. The Ultra preset consistently costs roughly 35-40% of the frame rate compared to High.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER sufficient for 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the combo averages 102.6 FPS, which is smooth for most players. At 4K Medium, it reaches 124 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 62.5 FPS, which may be borderline for high-refresh-rate displays. The 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appear adequate for High and Medium at 4K, but Ultra pushes the GPU harder.

Q: How does the CPU affect results at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo hits 347.7 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 285.7 FPS. These very high frame rates indicate the Intel Core i7-14700KF, with its 5.60 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of L3 cache, is capable of feeding the GPU efficiently at low resolutions. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs supports this, as it sits near the top of the performance distribution.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured data shows 203.9 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This is a strong result that leaves substantial headroom for frame rate dips during intense horror sequences, which is valuable in this genre where smooth motion is critical for atmosphere.

Q: How does this combo rank among tested systems in Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 301st out of 1,741 tested combinations, placing it in the top 17.3% of all systems tested in this game. This is a strong showing, though the specific rank depends on the mix of CPUs and GPUs tested, as well as the settings used.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER plays a central role in determining Downfall's performance, particularly at higher resolutions and quality settings. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is critical for the horror title, as high-resolution textures and complex lighting effects consume VRAM quickly. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 62.5 FPS, which suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity are stretched thin by the most demanding preset.

The RTX 4070 SUPER operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz and boosts to 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These clock speeds, combined with 7,168 shading units and 224 texture mapping units, provide the raw compute power needed for the game's rendering tasks. The GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantial, but the 4K Ultra results indicate that even this level of compute is insufficient to maintain high frame rates when all visual features are enabled.

The GPU's 80 raster output units (ROPs) and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are directly relevant to Downfall's resolution scaling. As resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the number of pixels to fill quadruples, and the ROPs become a bottleneck. This is evident in the scaling data: at High settings, the 1080p to 4K drop is 56.3% (235.3 to 102.6 FPS), which is less severe than the 62.5% drop at Low settings (347.7 to 154.7 FPS). The pixel throughput limits become more apparent at lower settings when other bottlenecks are removed.

The GPU's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42,576, places it in the upper tier of graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scores 42,653 (0.2% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE scores 42,723 (0.3% higher). This indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is competitively positioned, though not at the absolute top of the performance hierarchy. In Downfall specifically, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for the game's requirements at High and Medium settings, but Ultra at 4K may approach the limit.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER in Downfall is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the combo produces:

• Low: 347.7 FPS
• Medium: 285.7 FPS
• High: 235.3 FPS
• Ultra: 143.9 FPS

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 248.4 FPS
• Medium: 203.9 FPS
• High: 166 FPS
• Ultra: 106.8 FPS

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are:

• Low: 154.7 FPS
• Medium: 124 FPS
• High: 102.6 FPS
• Ultra: 62.5 FPS

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 41.4% of the Low preset's frame rate (143.9 vs 347.7 FPS). At 1440p, Ultra delivers 43.0% of Low (106.8 vs 248.4 FPS). At 4K, Ultra delivers 40.4% of Low (62.5 vs 154.7 FPS). This consistency suggests that the visual feature overhead of the Ultra preset is relatively uniform across resolutions, rather than scaling disproportionately with pixel count.

The Medium preset offers the most balanced performance across resolutions. At 1080p, it delivers 285.7 FPS, which is 82.1% of Low's performance. At 1440p, Medium reaches 203.9 FPS, or 82.1% of Low. At 4K, Medium produces 124 FPS, or 80.2% of Low. This near-constant ratio indicates that Medium adds a predictable amount of graphical work regardless of resolution, making it a reliable choice for players who want quality without sacrificing frame rate.

The High preset shows a slightly different pattern. At 1080p, High delivers 235.3 FPS (67.7% of Low). At 1440p, High reaches 166 FPS (66.8% of Low). At 4K, High produces 102.6 FPS (66.3% of Low). The gradual decline in the ratio as resolution increases suggests that High settings introduce effects that are more demanding at higher pixel counts, such as additional post-processing or shadow detail that scales with resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

In the Downfall benchmark database, the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 301st out of 1,741 tested combinations. This places the combo in the top 17.3% of all systems tested, which is a strong result given the breadth of hardware configurations included in the database. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components, and the data shows that this pairing is well-balanced for this horror title.

The CPU component of this combo, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, has an average benchmark score of 70,104 and sits in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-14700K with an average score of 70,074 (0% delta), the AMD EPYC 9115 at 69,887 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at 70,420 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 at 71,056 (1.3% lower). This places the CPU in a tight cluster of high-performance processors, where the differences between models are minimal.

The GPU component, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, has an average benchmark score of 42,576 and sits in the 84th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 at 42,653 (0.2% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE at 42,723 (0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro 580X at 41,991 (1.4% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 at 41,897 (1.6% higher). The RTX 4070 SUPER is thus positioned in the upper mid-range of GPU performance, with its closest competitors being a mix of professional and consumer cards.

The 301st rank out of 1,741 combos indicates that while this pairing is strong, there are 300 other combinations that perform better in Downfall. Given that the CPU is in the 96th percentile and the GPU is in the 84th percentile, the overall rank is slightly lower than either component's individual percentile would suggest. This could indicate that the game is more sensitive to GPU performance, as the GPU's lower percentile relative to the CPU drags the combined rank down. Alternatively, it may reflect that other high-end CPUs paired with more powerful GPUs occupy the top ranks, leaving this combo in a competitive but not top-tier position.