Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 5 135H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti produces a wide spread of frame rates in Downfall, ranging from a playable 49 FPS at 4K Ultra to a highly fluid 263 FPS at 1080p Low. The data shows a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the RTX 5070 Ti's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth proving ample for this 2016 horror title. This combination ranks 1392nd out of 3716 tested combos in this game, placing it in the upper portion of the database, though the ranking suggests that many other configurations achieve higher frame rates in this particular title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Downfall?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 263, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 215 FPS at the same resolution with Medium settings, followed by 188 FPS at 2560x1440 on Low.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system delivers an average of 49 FPS. This drops significantly from the 78 FPS average seen at 4K High, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy rendering load that this configuration cannot fully overcome at 4K.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in the database for Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 1392nd out of 3716 tested combinations in this game, placing it in approximately the top 37% of all tested configurations. This is a solid but not elite position, given the RTX 5070 Ti's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: Does the system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440, all four tested settings presets exceed 60 FPS. The lowest result at this resolution is 79 FPS on Ultra, while High and Medium deliver 126 FPS and 154 FPS respectively, and Low reaches 188 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5070 Ti compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 49957, which is 3.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48477), 0.4% higher than the Intel Arc A550M (49737), and 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 2%.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance relative to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H scores 1700 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 11875.5 in multi-core. In PassMark, it scores 3521 in single-thread tests and 22422 in multi-thread tests, showing a roughly 6.4x scaling factor between single and multi-thread workloads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 45,600 million transistors into a 378 mm² die. Its base clock runs at 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2452 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The 16 GB GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus yields 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Downfall, a horror title from 2016 that predates the demands of modern texture-heavy releases.

The GPU's 8960 shading units, 280 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines provide substantial raw compute throughput. The pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s translate directly into the high frame rates observed at lower resolutions. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the card scores 6604, and its PassMark G3D score of 32974 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 212363 and Vulkan score of 225122 further confirm the GPU's strong compute capabilities.

In Downfall specifically, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the system hits 263 FPS, which suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at this setting. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU's workload scales, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The 16 GB VRAM is never a constraint in this game, as even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset does not approach memory capacity limits. The RTX 5070 Ti's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50951, 2% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48477, 3.1% lower), indicating that this GPU sits in a competitive performance tier.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 1392nd out of 3716 tested combos in Downfall. This places the configuration in the 62.5th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 37.5% of tested combos achieve better performance in this game. Given that the GPU alone ranks in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, the combo's lower overall ranking suggests that the CPU is holding back performance in certain scenarios.

The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 29093, sits in the 81st percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29123, 0.1% higher), Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (29245, 0.5% higher), AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28940, 0.5% lower), and Intel Core i5-13500HX (29270, 0.6% higher). This cluster of scores shows that the Core Ultra 5 135H is competitive with these desktop and mobile processors, though none of them are particularly high-end by current standards.

The discrepancy between the GPU's high percentile ranking and the combo's more modest position in Downfall indicates that the game's performance is not purely GPU-limited across all settings. At 1080p Low, where the system produces 263 FPS, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes the bottleneck. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3521 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1700 are respectable for a mobile processor but not exceptional, which explains why the combo cannot reach the frame rates achieved by systems with higher-performing desktop CPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 263 FPS, Medium yields 215 FPS with a minimum of 183 FPS and maximum of 247 FPS, High achieves 176 FPS, and Ultra drops to 110 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 153 FPS difference, representing a 58% reduction in performance when moving from the least to most demanding preset.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clear step down. Low settings average 188 FPS, Medium averages 154 FPS with a range of 130-177 FPS, High averages 126 FPS, and Ultra averages 79 FPS. The transition from Low to Ultra at 1440p results in a 109 FPS drop, or 58% lower performance, mirroring the percentage scaling seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to show its limits. Low settings still produce a respectable 117 FPS, Medium averages 96 FPS with a range of 81-110 FPS, High averages 78 FPS, and Ultra drops to 49 FPS. The 68 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K represents a 58% reduction, consistent with the scaling pattern observed at lower resolutions. The fact that this percentage remains constant across resolutions suggests that the performance scaling between settings presets is consistent regardless of resolution.

The Medium preset is the only setting tier that provides minimum and maximum FPS data across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 183 FPS and maximum of 247 FPS show a 64 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the spread narrows to 47 FPS (130-177). At 4K Medium, the spread further narrows to 29 FPS (81-110). This tightening of frame time variance at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across resolutions for each settings preset. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average FPS from 263 to 188, a 28.5% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K reduces it further to 117 FPS, a 37.8% decrease. The total scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is a 55.5% reduction in frame rate.

At Medium settings, the scaling is slightly different. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 215 to 154 FPS, a 28.4% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 154 to 96 FPS, a 37.7% decrease. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 55.3%, nearly identical to the Low settings scaling.

High settings show a similar pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 176 to 126 FPS, a 28.4% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 126 to 78 FPS, a 38.1% decrease. The total reduction is 55.7%.

Ultra settings follow the same trend. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 110 to 79 FPS, a 28.2% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 79 to 49 FPS, a 38.0% decrease. The total reduction is 55.5%.

The consistency of these scaling percentages across all four settings presets is notable. The 1080p to 1440p transition consistently reduces performance by approximately 28%, while the 1440p to 4K transition reduces it by approximately 38%. This uniform scaling indicates that the system is primarily GPU-limited at all settings, with the GPU's workload scaling predictably with pixel count. The slightly larger drop from 1440p to 4K reflects the 2.25x pixel increase between these resolutions, compared to the 1.78x increase from 1080p to 1440p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a mobile processor from the Core Ultra Series 1, built on Intel's 7 nm Meteor Lake architecture. It features 14 cores and 18 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 18 MB shared L3. The CPU's TDP is 28 W, indicating a power-efficient design suitable for laptops, with memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface.

In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 1700 in single-core and 11875.5 in multi-core. The PassMark results show a single-thread score of 3521 and multi-thread score of 22422. These scores place the CPU in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29093. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, scores 29123, a mere 0.1% difference, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 135H performs on par with that desktop processor in overall benchmarks.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 263 FPS. At this resolution and settings level, the GPU is not fully utilized, and the CPU's single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor. The PassMark single-thread score of 3521 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1700 are decent for a mobile chip but not exceptional, which explains why the frame rate ceiling at 1080p Low is 263 FPS rather than higher.

As resolution increases, the CPU's influence diminishes. At 4K, even the Low settings preset produces 117 FPS, which is still high enough that CPU limitations could theoretically apply, but the GPU is clearly the primary bottleneck at this resolution. The CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample multi-threaded capability for game logic and physics, and the 18 MB L3 cache helps maintain consistent performance. The 4.60 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-thread performance when needed.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience in Downfall for this hardware combination. For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, all settings presets at 1080p and 1440p exceed this threshold, with even the most demanding Ultra preset at 1440p delivering 79 FPS. At 4K, only the Low, Medium, and High presets exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra falling to 49 FPS.

For 1080p displays, the High preset at 176 FPS offers an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 110 FPS still provides a very smooth experience while delivering maximum visual fidelity. Players with high refresh rate monitors may prefer Medium at 215 FPS or Low at 263 FPS, though the visual trade-offs may not be worth the additional frame rate beyond 144 Hz.

At 1440p, the High preset at 126 FPS is the recommended choice for most players, as it provides strong visual quality while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 79 FPS is still playable and offers the best image quality, but the 47 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual improvements for all players. Medium at 154 FPS is a solid alternative for those prioritizing higher frame rates.

For 4K displays, the High preset at 78 FPS is the optimal choice, delivering smooth performance with good visual quality. The Medium preset at 96 FPS offers even higher frame rates with modest visual compromises, making it an attractive option for players who prioritize smoothness. The Low preset at 117 FPS provides the highest frame rate at 4K but sacrifices significant visual quality. The Ultra preset at 49 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stuttering in a horror game where smooth motion is important for atmosphere.

The Medium preset consistently provides the most balanced experience across all resolutions, with frame rates of 215 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 96 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS data available for Medium settings shows that even the lowest recorded frames stay above 81 FPS at 4K, indicating stable performance without significant drops. For players who want consistent performance without worrying about frame rate fluctuations, Medium settings at any resolution will deliver a reliable experience.