Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i9-14900K + Intel Arc B370

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a curious combination for playing Downfall, a 2016 horror title. The CPU is a flagship 24-core desktop processor, while the GPU is an integrated graphics solution based on the Panther Lake architecture. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 2688th out of 2928 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the bottom 8% of all pairings. The average FPS figures across resolutions and settings tell a story of a system that is heavily GPU-limited, with the i9-14900K's substantial processing power largely untapped by the Arc B370's modest graphics throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combination achieves in Downfall?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 96, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 64 at High settings for the same resolution, showing a significant performance gap between the lowest and higher preset tiers.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. This places it within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192) and 1.4% ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168). It sits at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, indicating very low overall graphics performance.

Q: At which resolution does the system achieve a playable 60+ FPS at Medium settings?

A: Only at 1920x1080. The Medium preset yields 78 FPS average at 1080p, with minimums at 67 and maximums at 90. At 2560x1440, the Medium average drops to 56 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the performance delta between the Intel Core i9-14900K and its closest rival CPU?

A: The i9-14900K averages a benchmark score of 79097, which is 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i9-14900KF (score 79371). It also trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus by 0.6% (score 79574) and the AMD EPYC 7413 by 1.2% (score 80041), while leading the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 by 1.7% (score 77740).

Q: Does the Arc B370 have dedicated VRAM?

A: No. The GPU uses System Shared memory for both its memory size and type, with bandwidth described as System Dependent. This means the graphics performance is tied directly to the system's main memory configuration rather than a dedicated pool of VRAM.

Q: What is the FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 40. At 3840x2160 Ultra, it falls to 18. This represents a 55% reduction in average frame rate when quadrupling the pixel count.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the definitive bottleneck in this configuration. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, which is remarkably low for a modern part. The nearest rivals — the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, delta -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, delta -0.5%), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, delta -0.7%) — are all legacy mobile or entry-level desktop parts from over a decade ago. This comparison bracket alone signals that the Arc B370 is not designed for demanding 3D workloads, and Downfall's horror atmosphere with its dark corridors and lighting effects pushes this GPU to its limits.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation pipelines. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 6.144 TFLOPS. These specifications, while modest, are not the primary constraint — the shared memory architecture is. With System Shared memory and System Dependent bandwidth, the Arc B370 must compete with the CPU for memory access, and in a system with DDR4 or DDR5 memory, this can introduce latency and bandwidth limitations that directly impact frame pacing.

The data shows the GPU's impact clearly across the measured FPS table. At 1080p Low, the system manages 96 FPS, but this is the ceiling. Moving to Medium drops to 78 FPS, High to 64 FPS, and Ultra to 40 FPS. The scaling pattern — roughly a 20% drop per preset tier — suggests that each additional graphics feature or texture quality increase consumes a proportional amount of the GPU's limited throughput. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 18 FPS, which is effectively unplayable, and even at 1440p Ultra, the average sits at 29 FPS. The GPU's 10 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are present, but the raw compute power to utilize these features in Downfall is insufficient at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is an absolute powerhouse that is entirely underutilized in this pairing. With 24 cores and 32 threads, a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, this Raptor Lake-R architecture CPU is designed for heavy multi-threaded workloads. Its benchmark scores are exceptional: Cinebench R23 multi-core at 39399.5 and single-core at 2262.5, Geekbench multi-core at 21697 and single-core at 2655, and a Passmark multi-thread score of 58674. The CPU sits at the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097.

For Downfall, a 2016 horror game, the CPU requirements are far below what the i9-14900K offers. The game's engine likely uses only a handful of threads, meaning the 32 threads available are mostly idle. The single-core performance is what matters most for gaming, and here the i9-14900K excels, with a Passmark single-thread score of 4697 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5. The L3 cache of 36 MB shared across the cores provides ample fast-access storage for game data, and the dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 is more than sufficient.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. When comparing the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K, the drops are entirely attributable to the GPU. At 1080p High, the system produces 64 FPS; at 1440p High, it produces 46 FPS; at 4K High, it drops to 29 FPS. This linear degradation with pixel count increase is classic GPU-bound behavior. The CPU's 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node are irrelevant to the game's performance here, as the bottleneck is clearly the Arc B370. Even at 1080p Low, where the system hits 96 FPS, the i9-14900K is likely not breaking a sweat, and the frame rate is still capped by the GPU's ability to render frames quickly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. The Low preset averages 96 FPS, which is smooth for a horror title. Medium averages 78 FPS with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 90, providing a stable experience. High averages 64 FPS, a solid playable frame rate. Ultra averages 40 FPS, which is borderline playable but may feel choppy during intense scenes. The spread from Low to Ultra is 56 FPS, representing a 58% reduction in performance at the highest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low averages 68 FPS, still playable but a 29% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium averages 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 and maximum of 64, dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. High averages 46 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game but is not ideal. Ultra averages 29 FPS, which is a significant drop and likely impacts the experience negatively. The resolution jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30% performance across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low averages 43 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium averages 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40, indicating frame times that will be noticeable. High averages 29 FPS, below the 30 FPS playability threshold. Ultra averages 18 FPS, which is effectively a slideshow. The 4K resolution with this GPU is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the experience is marginal. The minimum FPS data available for Medium settings shows 30 FPS at 4K, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 1080p, indicating that frame dips are more severe at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals the GPU bottleneck. At Low settings, the system goes from 96 FPS at 1080p to 68 FPS at 1440p to 43 FPS at 4K. This represents a 29% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 37% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Medium settings, the progression is 78 to 56 to 35 FPS, with drops of 28% and 38% respectively. At High settings, it is 64 to 46 to 29 FPS, with drops of 28% and 37%. At Ultra settings, it is 40 to 29 to 18 FPS, with drops of 28% and 38%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is telling. A GPU-bound system typically shows a predictable scaling pattern based on pixel count, and that is exactly what we see here. The pixel count increases by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p, and by 2.25x from 1440p to 4K. The FPS drops of roughly 28-38% per step are less than the pixel count increase would suggest, which indicates that the Arc B370 is not purely fill-rate limited; it is also constrained by its memory bandwidth and shader throughput. The System Shared memory bandwidth is described as System Dependent, meaning the actual performance will vary based on the system's RAM configuration.

The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The Intel Core i9-14900K, with its 95th percentile ranking and massive multi-threaded scores, would not show this kind of resolution-based scaling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change significantly with pixel count. The data instead shows a clear, consistent drop with each resolution increase, which is the hallmark of a GPU-constrained system. The Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU ranking makes this the obvious conclusion.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset is the optimal choice. It delivers 78 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS, ensuring that frame drops do not go below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 64 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset provides a better safety margin for scenes with more action or particle effects. The Low preset at 96 FPS is excessively fast for a horror game and sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily, while Ultra at 40 FPS is too close to the edge of playability.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the recommended setting. The 68 FPS average is playable, but the Medium preset at 56 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, and its minimum of 48 FPS could result in noticeable stuttering. The High preset at 46 FPS and Ultra at 29 FPS are not recommended for a smooth experience. The horror genre relies on atmosphere and tension, which requires consistent frame pacing; the Low preset at 1440p provides the best combination of visual clarity and performance stability.

At 4K, only the Low preset is worth considering. The 43 FPS average is below the ideal 60 FPS but is above the 30 FPS minimum for playability. The Medium preset at 35 FPS with a 30 FPS minimum is risky, as any demanding scene could drop below playable levels. The High and Ultra presets, at 29 and 18 FPS respectively, are not viable for a game that requires player engagement and reaction. The data suggests that users with a 4K display should either drop to 1440p or accept the Low preset as the only reasonable option.

In summary, the Intel Core i9-14900K + Intel Arc B370 combination is fundamentally unbalanced for Downfall. The CPU is overkill, and the GPU is underpowered. The best experience is achieved at 1080p Medium, where the system delivers a stable 78 FPS average. Users seeking higher resolutions will need to compromise heavily on settings, and even then, the performance may not meet expectations. This pairing ranks 2688th out of 2928 configurations for this game, and the measured data confirms that the Arc B370 is the primary limiting factor.