Downfall

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU compare to its closest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 averages 36,938 points, which puts it statistically level with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945, 0% delta). It sits 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37,018) and 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37,093). The Intel Core i9-12900T (37,112) leads this group by 0.5%.

Q: What is the GPU's standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 15,852 places it within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129). The AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014) is 1% faster, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679) trails by 1.1%.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows 115 FPS average at 2560x1440 on High settings. This is a strong result, as it represents a 43 FPS drop from the Low preset (171 FPS) but a 43 FPS improvement over the Ultra preset (72 FPS) at the same resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested CPU-GPU combinations for Downfall?

A: This specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1,308th out of 2,928 tested combos for this game. That places it in the upper-middle tier of all configurations evaluated.

Q: Does the CPU's boost clock matter for gaming performance?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 boosts to 4.90 GHz from a 3.30 GHz base clock. This 1.60 GHz boost range contributes to its 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, and its single-thread Passmark score of 4,412 indicates strong per-core performance that benefits game workloads.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the GPU provide?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 delivers 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth through its 256-bit memory bus. This is paired with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 19.5 Gbps effective, which supports the frame rates seen across all tested resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with AMD Radeon RX 7700 lands at position 1,308 out of 2,928 tested combinations for Downfall. This places the pairing in the 55th percentile of all evaluated systems, a mid-pack result that reflects the balance between the CPU's 85th percentile standing and the GPU's 58th percentile performance.

The ranking makes sense when examining the components individually. The CPU outperforms the GPU relative to their respective pools, meaning the graphics card is more likely to be the limiting factor in this configuration. The CPU's average benchmark score of 36,938 sits near the top of its immediate rival group, while the GPU's 15,852 average score is more mid-pack.

For a horror title like Downfall, the combo's rank suggests it can handle the game's demands, but it won't top any leaderboards. The position indicates that roughly 55% of tested configurations deliver better performance, while 45% fall short. This is a workable position for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the Ultra preset at 4K will challenge the system.

The measured FPS data confirms this mid-tier placement. At 1080p, the combo delivers 240 FPS on Low, which is excellent. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 45 FPS, which shows the performance ceiling. The GPU's 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs aligns with these results, as it provides enough power for smooth gameplay at lower resolutions but struggles with the most demanding settings at high pixel counts.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory to the table, running at 19.5 Gbps effective with a 256-bit bus width. This configuration yields 624.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is substantial for a horror title that may load large textures and environments.

The GPU's clock structure shows a base of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The game clock is the more relevant figure for sustained gaming workloads, as it represents the expected frequency during typical gameplay. The 559 MHz difference between base and boost gives the card headroom to scale performance when thermal and power conditions allow.

With 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, the RX 7700 has the compute resources to handle Downfall's rendering demands. The 40 RT cores provide ray tracing capability, though the game's 2016 release date suggests it likely relies on traditional rasterization. The FP32 throughput of 25.18 TFLOPS indicates solid raw compute performance.

The GPU's benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 20,974, which places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The DirectX 11 score of 186 is notably higher than the DirectX 12 score of 96, which could matter for older titles like Downfall that may use legacy APIs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,865 provides a modern reference point.

The nearest rival data shows this GPU is closely matched with the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862, 0.1% slower) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, 1.1% faster). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129) leads by 1.7%, while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014) is 1% ahead. These small deltas indicate the RX 7700 competes in a tight performance band.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the measured data shows the Low preset delivers 240 FPS average, which is the highest recorded for this combo. Medium produces 196 FPS with a minimum of 167 FPS and maximum of 226 FPS. High reaches 161 FPS, while Ultra drops to 101 FPS. The Medium preset offers the best balance, as it maintains well above 144 FPS while providing improved visual quality over Low.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 171 FPS, Medium delivers 140 FPS with a range of 119 to 161 FPS, High hits 115 FPS, and Ultra falls to 72 FPS. For most players, the Medium preset is the sweet spot here, as it stays comfortably above 60 FPS while offering a significant visual upgrade over Low. The High preset remains playable at 115 FPS and is recommended for those prioritizing image quality.

The 3840x2160 results show a different story. Low produces 107 FPS, Medium reaches 87 FPS with a range of 74 to 100 FPS, High drops to 72 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it maintains 87 FPS average and stays above 60 FPS even at its minimum. The High preset is still viable at 72 FPS, but the Ultra preset should be avoided due to sub-60 FPS performance.

The data indicates that Medium settings provide the most consistent experience across all three resolutions. The min FPS values for Medium are only available in the fact pack, and they show 167 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. These minimums demonstrate that the Medium preset avoids the frame drops that can occur with more demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all presets. Low settings produce 240 FPS average, which represents the ceiling for this configuration. Medium achieves 196 FPS with a spread from 167 to 226 FPS, showing tight frame pacing. High reaches 161 FPS, while Ultra drops to 101 FPS. The step from Medium to High costs 35 FPS, and the step from High to Ultra costs another 60 FPS, making Ultra the least efficient setting at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low delivers 171 FPS, a 69 FPS reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium hits 140 FPS with a range of 119 to 161 FPS, representing a 56 FPS drop from 1080p Medium. High achieves 115 FPS, which is 46 FPS lower than 1080p High. Ultra produces 72 FPS, a 29 FPS decrease from 1080p Ultra. The percentage drops are consistent across presets, indicating the GPU scales uniformly with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the demands of 4K become apparent. Low yields 107 FPS, which is a 64 FPS reduction from 1080p Low and a 64 FPS reduction from 1440p Low. Medium reaches 87 FPS with a range of 74 to 100 FPS, showing a 109 FPS drop from 1080p Medium and a 53 FPS drop from 1440p Medium. High produces 72 FPS, which is 89 FPS below 1080p High and 43 FPS below 1440p High. Ultra falls to 45 FPS, representing a 56 FPS loss from 1080p Ultra and a 27 FPS loss from 1440p Ultra.

The resolution scaling shows that 4K costs roughly 45% of the 1080p frame rate across most settings. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 60 FPS, confirming that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming with High or Medium settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This 65 W TDP processor uses the Arrow Lake architecture on a 3 nm TSMC process, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The L3 cache totals 20 MB shared, with 192 KB L1 and 3 MB L2 per core.

In Downfall, the CPU's performance is sufficient to keep up with the GPU across most settings. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and single-core score of 3,655 indicate strong all-around performance. The Passmark multi-thread score of 30,459 and single-thread score of 4,412 confirm this, with the CPU ranking in the 85th percentile of all processors.

The CPU's nearest rivals show it is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945 average score, 0% delta) and slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37,018, -0.2%) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37,093, -0.4%). The Intel Core i9-12900T (37,112) leads by 0.5%. These tight margins indicate the Core Ultra 5 225 competes well in its segment.

The 10-core, 10-thread configuration means there are no additional threads for background tasks, but for gaming this is rarely a bottleneck. The 4.90 GHz boost clock provides strong single-thread performance, which matters for game logic and physics. The 20 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 provides adequate data throughput for the GPU. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes offers plenty of bandwidth for the RX 7700, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16. This means the GPU can operate at full bandwidth without bottlenecks from the CPU interface.

The Passmark physics score of 2,342 indicates the CPU handles physics calculations well, which is relevant for a horror game that may feature complex environmental interactions. The data encryption score of 22,285 and compression score of 302,811 show the CPU is capable in non-gaming workloads, though these are less relevant for Downfall specifically.