Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the top-performing combination for Downfall, securing rank 1 out of 2,928 tested combos. This pairing delivers exceptional frame rates across every resolution and settings preset, with the data showing a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at 4K but increasingly CPU-limited at lower resolutions. The benchmark results demonstrate that this combo provides a definitive high-end experience, with average FPS ranging from 90 at 4K Ultra to 482 at 1080p Low, making it a reference point for maximum performance in this horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear shift in system bottleneck. At 1080p High, the combo produces 324 FPS, but at 1440p High this drops to 231 FPS, and at 4K High it falls further to 144 FPS. This represents a 55.6% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at High settings, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, though the magnitude of the drop varies.

At Low settings, the transition is even more dramatic: 482 FPS at 1080p drops to 345 FPS at 1440p (a 28.4% decrease) and then to 214 FPS at 4K (a 38.0% decrease from 1440p). This steep decline at lower settings suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, but the RTX 5090 D's rendering workload at 4K becomes the dominant constraint. The 1080p Low result of 482 FPS approaches the practical ceiling for many display technologies, yet the data shows the combo still has headroom to push higher.

Medium settings exhibit a similar trend: 395 FPS at 1080p, 282 FPS at 1440p, and 175 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.6%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 37.9%. This consistency across settings indicates that the resolution scaling is primarily driven by GPU fill-rate and shading demands, not by settings-specific CPU overhead.

Ultra settings show the most constrained performance at each resolution: 202 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only sub-100 FPS figure in the entire dataset, and it highlights that even this flagship GPU must make concessions at maximum quality. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra represents a 55.4% reduction, nearly identical to the High settings scaling, which suggests that the GPU's memory subsystem and compute throughput are the limiting factors at 4K regardless of quality level.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the Core i9-14900K's 32 threads and 6.00 GHz boost clock are sufficient to keep the RTX 5090 D fed, as evidenced by the 482 FPS Low result. However, the incremental gains from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (137 FPS difference) versus the gains from 1440p to 4K (131 FPS difference) show a nearly linear degradation, pointing to the GPU being the consistent bottleneck across all tested resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured performance. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the GPU delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Downfall's horror environments that likely feature high-resolution textures and complex lighting. The 4K Ultra result of 90 FPS, while the lowest in the dataset, still represents a playable experience, and the 4K High result of 144 FPS suggests that most users can achieve smooth gameplay with minor settings adjustments.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs, deliver a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS provides substantial compute headroom, which is reflected in the 4K Medium result of 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and maximum of 202 FPS.

The RTX 5090 D's 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are relevant for a horror game that may employ ray-traced effects or DLSS-like upscaling, though the measured data does not specify which features were enabled. The GPU's benchmark scores support its high-end positioning: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915. The PassMark G3D score of 44,065 places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 77,712 is just 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, though this comparison is based on synthetic workloads rather than Downfall-specific performance.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly notable for 4K gaming. The 32 GB capacity ensures that even the most demanding texture packs in Downfall will not exceed VRAM limits, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provides ample throughput for the high-resolution frame buffer. The measured 4K Ultra 90 FPS result indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the CPU would be capable of higher frame rates based on the 1080p Low result of 482 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K plays a supporting but essential role in this combo. With 24 cores and 32 threads, the CPU provides substantial multi-threaded throughput, and its 6.00 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance. The architecture is Raptor Lake-R on a 10 nm process, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. These specifications translate to a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39,399.5 and a single-core score of 2,262.5, placing the CPU in the 95th percentile of all processors.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the combo achieves 482 FPS. This result suggests that the CPU can drive frame rates well above 400 FPS in this title, and the bottleneck at higher resolutions is entirely GPU-side. The 1080p Ultra result of 202 FPS versus the 4K Ultra result of 90 FPS shows a 55.4% reduction, which is consistent with GPU-bound scaling rather than CPU limitations.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which scores 0.3% lower on average, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which scores 0.6% lower. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 1.7% higher, while the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 1.2% lower. These small deltas indicate that the i9-14900K is competitive with other high-end processors, though the differences are unlikely to manifest as meaningful FPS variations in Downfall given the GPU-bound nature of the game at most settings.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility, though the measured FPS data does not specify which memory type was used. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4,697 and multi-thread score of 58,674 indicate strong overall performance, but in Downfall, the CPU's primary contribution is ensuring that the RTX 5090 D is never starved of draw calls or physics calculations. At 1080p Low, the 482 FPS result confirms the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1st out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall, making it the definitive reference for maximum performance in this game. The rank is unsurprising given the combination of a 95th percentile CPU and a 92nd percentile GPU, but the margin by which it leads is not specified in the data. The rank of 1 indicates that no other tested combination of CPU and GPU achieves higher average FPS across the measured resolutions and settings.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% lower average score), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% higher), and two NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (2.1% and 2.4% higher). However, these comparisons are based on average benchmark scores, not Downfall-specific performance, and the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM and Blackwell 2.0 architecture give it advantages that synthetic tests may not fully capture.

The CPU's nearest rivals show similarly small deltas, with the Core i9-14900KF being nearly identical (0.3% lower), and the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus being 0.6% lower. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% higher in average score, but this does not translate to a higher combo rank in Downfall, suggesting that the game's performance is more sensitive to the GPU than the CPU.

The rank of 1 out of 2,928 is a strong endorsement of this pairing for Downfall, but it also means that any comparison to other combos is inherently one-sided—there is no higher-ranked configuration to benchmark against. The data shows that users seeking the absolute best performance in this horror title should your best option is this combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 482 FPS, which is the single highest result in the dataset. Medium settings average 395 FPS with a minimum of 335 FPS and maximum of 454 FPS, while High settings average 324 FPS. Ultra settings average 202 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 280 FPS, indicating that settings have a substantial impact on performance even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the results show a clear step down. Low settings average 345 FPS, Medium settings average 282 FPS with a minimum of 240 FPS and maximum of 324 FPS, and High settings average 231 FPS. Ultra settings average 144 FPS, which is exactly half of the 1080p Low result. The 1440p results suggest that users with 144 Hz monitors can run Ultra settings at their display's maximum refresh rate, while those seeking higher frame rates can drop to High or Medium for 231 FPS or 282 FPS respectively.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings average 214 FPS, Medium settings average 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and maximum of 202 FPS, and High settings average 144 FPS. Ultra settings average 90 FPS, which is the only result below 100 FPS in the entire dataset. The 4K Ultra minimum FPS is not provided, but the Medium settings minimum of 149 FPS suggests that the GPU maintains reasonably consistent frame times even under load.

The Medium settings results are the only ones with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 335-454 FPS; at 1440p, the range is 240-324 FPS; and at 4K, the range is 149-202 FPS. This data shows that the variability in frame rates scales proportionally with resolution, with the 4K result having a 53 FPS spread, the 1440p result having an 84 FPS spread, and the 1080p result having a 119 FPS spread. The relative consistency at 4K suggests that the GPU is more uniformly loaded at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: At 4K, High settings produce 144 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 90 FPS. Medium settings offer 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS, making it the best balance of quality and performance for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this combo achieve 240 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 1440p Low settings the combo averages 345 FPS, and at Medium settings it averages 282 FPS. However, at High settings the average drops to 231 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 144 FPS, so 240 FPS is only achievable with Medium settings or lower.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT. However, these are synthetic benchmarks, not Downfall-specific results.

Q: Is the Core i9-14900K a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The 1080p Low result of 482 FPS suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The CPU's 6.00 GHz boost clock and 32 threads provide ample headroom, and the scaling to 4K indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the lowest FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 90 at 4K Ultra settings. The only min FPS data available is from Medium settings: 335 FPS at 1080p, 240 FPS at 1440p, and 149 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1st out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall, making it the highest-performing configuration in the database for this game.