Downfall

Downfall, a 2016 horror title, remains a demanding benchmark for modern hardware. The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces a wide spread of frame rates depending on resolution and quality settings. The measured data shows a system capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p, strong performance at 1440p, and playable frame rates at 4K, with the Ultra preset acting as a significant performance limiter across all resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 287 FPS at 1920x1080 to 205 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 127 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 55.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent, indicating that even at Low settings, the GPU is the primary driver of performance, as the resolution increase directly impacts the render workload.

At Medium settings, the frame rates drop from 235 FPS at 1080p to 168 FPS at 1440p, and then to 104 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.5%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 38.1%. This non-linear scaling suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become more critical, leading to a steeper decline at higher resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 104 FPS is still playable, but the gap from 1440p is notable.

High settings show a similar trend. At 1080p, the average is 192 FPS, dropping to 137 FPS at 1440p (a 28.6% decrease) and then to 85 FPS at 4K (a 38.0% decrease from 1440p). The 4K High result is above 60 FPS, making it viable for a smooth experience, but the scaling shows that the RTX 4080 is being taxed more heavily at this preset.

The Ultra preset is where the scaling becomes severe. At 1080p, the average is 120 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 86 FPS (a 28.3% decrease), and at 4K, it plunges to 53 FPS (a 38.4% decrease from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this setting is too demanding for the GPU at that resolution. The data clearly shows that the RTX 4080 is the limiting component at 4K, especially with higher quality presets.

The scaling pattern across all settings reveals that the RTX 4080 is the bottleneck at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU may start to play a larger role, particularly at Low settings where the frame rates exceed 280 FPS. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H, with its 14 cores and 18 threads, has the capacity to handle high frame rates, but the data suggests that the GPU is still the dominant factor in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with even Ultra hitting 120 FPS. However, the jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 72 FPS (from 192 to 120), a 37.5% reduction. For most users, High at 1080p offers a better balance, as the difference between High and Medium is only 43 FPS (192 vs 235), but the visual quality gain from Medium to High is generally worth the performance cost. The Low preset at 287 FPS is only relevant for competitive play, which is unlikely in a horror title.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 137 FPS, which is an excellent experience for a 1440p monitor with a high refresh rate. Medium offers 168 FPS, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is noticeable in a horror game where atmosphere and detail matter. Ultra at 86 FPS is still smooth, but the 51 FPS drop from High to Ultra (137 to 86) is steep, representing a 37.2% reduction. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot at 1440p, as it maintains a high frame rate while preserving visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Ultra averages 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for a smooth experience. High averages 85 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, and Medium reaches 104 FPS. The Low preset at 127 FPS is not necessary for a horror game, as the visual quality loss would detract from the experience. Given the data, High is the recommended preset at 4K, as it delivers a solid frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality. Medium is a viable alternative for those who prefer even higher frame rates, but High strikes the best balance.

The Medium preset does have measured min and max FPS values across all resolutions: at 1080p, the range is 199 to 270 FPS; at 1440p, it is 142 to 193 FPS; and at 4K, it is 89 to 120 FPS. This data shows that Medium provides a stable frame rate range, with the minimum FPS staying above 60 at all resolutions. The other presets lack min/max data, so the consistency of Medium is a notable point in its favor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 60 FPS experience at 4K?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 averages 85 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 53 FPS, which is below the target, so High is the recommended choice for 4K.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 287 FPS while Ultra averages 120 FPS. This means Low is 167 FPS faster, or approximately 2.4 times the frame rate of Ultra.

Q: Does the Medium preset have consistent frame times?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with measured min and max FPS values. At 1080p, it ranges from 199 to 270 FPS; at 1440p, from 142 to 193 FPS; and at 4K, from 89 to 120 FPS. The minimum FPS stays above 60 in all cases, indicating good consistency.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, 2560x1440 averages 137 FPS, while 3840x2160 averages 85 FPS. The 4K resolution results in a 52 FPS reduction, or a 38.0% drop from 1440p.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 Ultra averages 120 FPS, and at 2560x1440 it averages 86 FPS. However, at 3840x2160 Ultra averages 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: How does the 1080p Medium frame rate compare to the 4K High frame rate?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average is 235 FPS, while at 4K High it is 85 FPS. The 4K High preset offers a 150 FPS lower average, showing the significant cost of higher resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows a wide range of performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 287 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 235 FPS, with a measured minimum of 199 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. High drops to 192 FPS, and Ultra is the slowest at 120 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 167 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a massive performance penalty at 1080p. The data shows that at this resolution, the CPU and GPU combination is capable of very high frame rates, even with demanding settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. Low averages 205 FPS, which is still very high. Medium averages 168 FPS, with a minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 193 FPS. High averages 137 FPS, providing a smooth experience for most displays. Ultra averages 86 FPS, which is a significant drop from 1080p Ultra’s 120 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 119 FPS, showing that the preset choice has a major impact. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 142 ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 120.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080 is pushed harder. Low averages 127 FPS, which is still playable. Medium averages 104 FPS, with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. High averages 85 FPS, which is a solid result for 4K gaming. Ultra averages 53 FPS, which is the only preset to fall below 60 FPS in this dataset. The drop from High to Ultra at 4K is 32 FPS (85 to 53), representing a 37.6% reduction. The Medium preset’s minimum of 89 FPS shows that even at 4K, frame pacing remains stable.

The data for each resolution shows a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra is particularly large across all resolutions, suggesting that the Ultra preset includes effects that are disproportionately expensive. For example, at 1080p, the gap between High and Ultra is 72 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is only 43 FPS. This pattern indicates that the Ultra preset is not optimized for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures and effects. The GPU’s boost clock of 2505 MHz and base clock of 2205 MHz allow it to maintain high throughput in demanding scenes. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K, where even the Low preset averages 127 FPS, a significant drop from 1080p Low’s 287 FPS.

The RTX 4080’s 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs contribute to its raw rasterization performance. The 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are present, but Downfall is a 2016 title and does not likely utilize ray tracing or DLSS, so these features have no measured impact in this dataset. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS is more than sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The 4K Ultra result of 53 FPS indicates that the GPU is being fully utilized, with no headroom to spare.

The GPU’s benchmark scores align with its gaming performance. The Passmark G3D score of 34457 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average benchmark score that is 0.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% lower. These scores confirm that the RTX 4080 is a high-end part, consistent with its measured FPS in Downfall.

The memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s is a key factor in the 4K results. At lower resolutions, the GPU’s compute units are more important, but at 4K, the ability to feed textures and geometry to the cores becomes critical. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is ample for this game, even at Ultra settings, so the 53 FPS at 4K Ultra is due to compute and fill rate limitations, not memory exhaustion. The GPU’s 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 761.5 GTexel/s texture rate are the metrics that likely constrain performance at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a mobile processor with 14 cores and 18 threads, based on the Meteor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz provide adequate single-thread performance for gaming. The CPU’s L3 cache is 18 MB shared, which helps with data locality. The measured FPS at 1080p, especially at Low settings (287 FPS), suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in Downfall, even at high frame rates.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show it is a capable part. In Cinebench R23, it scores 11875.5 in multi-core and 1700 in single-core. The Passmark single-thread score is 3521, and the multithread score is 22422. These results place the CPU in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has an average benchmark score that is 0.1% lower, while the Intel Core i5-13500HX is 0.6% lower. This indicates that the Core Ultra 5 135H is competitive with desktop parts from a few generations ago.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 287 FPS is high enough that the CPU could become a limiting factor, but the data shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking, as the frame rate scales consistently with resolution changes. The CPU’s 18 threads are more than sufficient for a 2016 horror game, which is unlikely to utilize more than a few cores. The 28 W TDP is low for a processor, but the performance is still strong enough to keep up with the RTX 4080 in this title.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is lower than the GPU’s, but this is not a concern for gaming, as the CPU does not need to move large amounts of texture data. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG 96EU graphics are present, but they are not used in this discrete GPU setup. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 5 interface with 8 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4080, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this pairing, as the FPS drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 902nd out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the 69th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the systems in the database. The rank is influenced by the CPU’s mobile nature, as desktop CPUs with higher boost clocks may provide better frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios, though the data does not show such a limitation in this title.

The combo’s rank is notable because the RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU, but the Core Ultra 5 135H is a mobile part. The 902nd rank suggests that there are many combos with faster CPUs paired with similar or slower GPUs that achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 1080p where CPU performance matters more. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo is still highly capable, with 4K High averaging 85 FPS and 1440p High averaging 137 FPS.

Compared to the GPU’s individual ranking (86th percentile) and the CPU’s ranking (81st percentile), the combo’s rank of 902 out of 2928 is lower than either component’s percentile would suggest. This indicates that the pairing is not optimally balanced for this game, likely due to the CPU’s power constraints. However, the actual gameplay experience is excellent, as the frame rates are high across all resolutions except 4K Ultra.

The combo rank also reflects the fact that Downfall is an older title, and newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance may have an advantage. The Core Ultra 5 135H’s single-core Cinebench R23 score of 1700 is respectable, but desktop CPUs like the Ryzen 7 5800X, which is a close rival, may offer slightly better gaming performance. Despite this, the measured FPS in Downfall shows that the combo is not CPU-limited in most scenarios, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes. The 902nd rank is a data point, but the practical takeaway is that this combo delivers strong performance in this game, with the only weak spot being 4K Ultra.