Downfall

Downfall is a demanding horror title, and this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER produces a wide range of performance depending on how you configure it. The data reveals a system that is exceptionally capable at high refresh rates but requires careful settings management to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K. The measured FPS across resolutions indicates a GPU-bound scenario at higher settings, while the 10-core processor provides ample headroom to prevent bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, confirming that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary performance driver in this configuration. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 369 FPS, which drops to 264 FPS at 1440p and further to 164 FPS at 4K. This represents a 55.6% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is a substantial hit but still leaves the game highly playable.

The scaling becomes more dramatic at higher graphical presets. With High settings, the frame rate drops from 248 FPS at 1080p to 177 FPS at 1440p and finally to 110 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 55.6%, nearly identical to the Low preset scaling. This consistency suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to feed the GPU's 8448 shading units even at 4K, with the bottleneck shifting to raw compute throughput.

Ultra settings tell a different story. The frame rate plummets to 155 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and just 69 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 37.8%, which is steeper than the 28.8% drop seen from 1080p to 1440p. This non-linear scaling indicates that Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU at higher resolutions, likely related to the 66 RT cores and 264 tensor cores being more heavily utilized.

The Medium preset offers the most interesting data point, as it is the only preset with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 4K Medium, the average is 134 FPS with a minimum of 114 FPS and maximum of 154 FPS. This 20 FPS variance band shows that even at medium settings, the horror game's scenes can vary in complexity. The minimum FPS of 114 at 4K Medium is still well above the 69 FPS average seen at Ultra, making Medium a far more stable option for high-resolution play.

The data strongly suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU has enough headroom with its 4.90 GHz boost clock to keep the GPU fed at all but the lowest settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the 69 FPS average indicates the GPU is fully saturated. The scaling patterns also reveal that the 3 nm processor with 20 MB of L3 cache is not the limiting factor here; the performance degradation is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's workload increasing with pixel count.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the data clearly points to Medium settings as the sweet spot. The 134 FPS average at 4K Medium is 21.8% higher than the 110 FPS at High, and crucially, the 114 FPS minimum ensures that even the most intense horror sequences maintain smooth motion. Ultra at 4K drops to 69 FPS average, which is playable but leaves little margin for frame time spikes, a critical concern in a horror title where sudden scares can cause performance dips.

At 1440p, High settings provide an excellent balance with 177 FPS average, which is 59.5% higher than the 111 FPS at Ultra. The jump from Medium to High costs 39 FPS (from 216 to 177), but the visual fidelity improvement is typically worth it for a horror game where atmosphere matters. The 1440p High configuration leaves enough GPU headroom that even the most demanding scenes should stay well above 144 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

For competitive or high-refresh 1080p play, Ultra settings at 155 FPS are still viable, but Medium at 302 FPS or Low at 369 FPS provide the kind of frame rates that eliminate any potential for input lag. The 1080p Low settings nearly double the Ultra frame rate, going from 155 to 369 FPS, which is a massive difference for anyone prioritizing response time over visual quality. However, given the horror genre's focus on atmosphere, 1080p High at 248 FPS is likely the best compromise, offering strong visuals while maintaining triple-digit headroom.

The 4K Ultra setting at 69 FPS is the only configuration that dips below the 100 FPS threshold, and the data suggests avoiding it unless visual fidelity is paramount. The 4K High setting at 110 FPS is a more practical choice, providing 59.4% more performance than Ultra. For players with VRR displays, 4K Medium at 134 FPS is the recommended target, as it combines the highest minimum FPS (114) with a strong average, ensuring consistent frame pacing during the game's darker, more demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Downfall?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium settings, the average FPS is 134 with a minimum of 114, which is excellent for smooth gameplay. At 4K High, the average drops to 110 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 69 FPS. For the best 4K experience, Medium settings are recommended, as they maintain a high minimum frame rate that avoids stutter during intense horror sequences.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: High settings at 1440p deliver 177 FPS average, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate. Even Ultra settings at 1440p achieve 111 FPS, which is close but may not saturate a 144Hz panel consistently. For a locked 144Hz experience, High settings are the safest choice, providing 59.5% more performance than Ultra.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset cost compared to Low?

A: The performance cost of Ultra settings is substantial. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 155 FPS versus 369 FPS at Low, a 58.0% reduction. At 1440p, the difference is 111 FPS versus 264 FPS, a 58.0% reduction. At 4K, Ultra provides 69 FPS versus 164 FPS at Low, a 57.9% reduction. The Ultra preset consistently halves or more than halves the frame rate across all resolutions.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data indicates yes, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock provide sufficient compute, as evidenced by the 369 FPS at 1080p Low, which would likely be higher if the processor were the limiting factor.

Q: Are there any settings that cause frame rate instability?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 4K Medium, the range is 114 to 154 FPS, a 40 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 183 to 248 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it is 257 to 347 FPS. This data suggests that Medium settings produce a wider variance than other presets, though the minimums remain high enough for smooth play.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Downfall?

A: The combination ranks 289 out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top 9.9% of all configurations, which is a strong result. The high ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data showing excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p, with capable 4K performance at Medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings yield 369 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 302 FPS average with a minimum of 257 FPS and a maximum of 347 FPS. High settings deliver 248 FPS average, and Ultra settings still manage 155 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a stepwise reduction: 369, 302, 248, and 155 FPS. This represents a 58.0% drop from Low to Ultra, with the largest single-step decrease occurring between High and Ultra, a 37.5% reduction from 248 to 155 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected resolution penalty. Low settings achieve 264 FPS, which is 28.5% lower than the 1080p result. Medium settings hit 216 FPS average, with a minimum of 183 FPS and a maximum of 248 FPS. High settings reach 177 FPS, a 28.5% drop from the 1080p High result. Ultra settings produce 111 FPS, which is 28.4% lower than the 1080p Ultra number. The consistency of the 28.5% reduction across all presets suggests a uniform GPU workload scaling with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down further but remains playable on Medium and High. Low settings deliver 164 FPS, a 37.9% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings produce 134 FPS average, with a minimum of 114 FPS and a maximum of 154 FPS. High settings achieve 110 FPS, a 55.6% reduction from 1080p High. Ultra settings drop to 69 FPS, a 55.5% reduction from 1080p Ultra. The 4K data points reveal a steeper scaling curve from 1440p, with an average reduction of 37.9% from 1440p to 4K across all presets.

The 4K Medium setting at 134 FPS is notable for its high minimum of 114 FPS, which is only 16.2% below the average. This tight variance suggests that Medium settings at 4K are well-optimized for this GPU. In contrast, the 4K Ultra setting at 69 FPS shows no recorded minimum or maximum, but the average itself indicates that the GPU is working at its limit. The 1080p Medium setting shows the widest absolute spread between minimum and maximum, spanning 90 FPS, but the minimum of 257 FPS still leaves ample performance headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 289 out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall. This places the system in the 90.1st percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly 90% of the systems in the database. The rank of 289 is a strong indicator of high-end performance, though it is not at the very top tier where more expensive processors and flagship GPUs would reside.

The GPU's benchmark scores support this ranking. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a Passmark G3D score of 31811, with a percentile ranking of 76 against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 31087, and it sits within 1.9% of the NVIDIA TITAN RTX's score of 31676. The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks aligns with its measured FPS in Downfall, showing it to be a capable 4K card when settings are managed appropriately.

The CPU's benchmark data also contributes to the combo's strong ranking. The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, placing it in the 85th percentile against all CPUs. In Cinebench R23, it scores 25891 multi-core and 3655 single-core. The single-core performance of 3655 is particularly relevant for gaming, as it indicates strong per-thread performance that can keep up with demanding game engines. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has an average score of 36945, a delta of 0%, showing they perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks.

The combination of a top 10% GPU and a top 15% CPU results in the 289th rank. This suggests that the system is well-balanced, with neither component dramatically outperforming the other. The rank of 289 out of 2928 is a clear signal that this configuration is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, with solid 4K performance at Medium settings. The data indicates that the system sits just below the top tier of gaming rigs, but delivers performance that would satisfy most gamers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC. It features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The processor has a 65 W TDP, which is modest for a desktop CPU, and its 20 MB of shared L3 cache provides a substantial pool for game data. The lack of hyperthreading, with threads equal to cores at 10, is notable, but the high boost clock compensates in gaming workloads.

In Downfall, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS scales consistently with resolution changes. At 1080p Low, the system hits 369 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that CPU limitations could potentially arise. However, the data does not show any signs of CPU bottlenecking, as the frame rates continue to scale predictably with resolution. The 4.90 GHz boost clock is likely the key factor, providing the single-thread performance needed to handle game logic and physics without becoming a limiting factor.

The Cinebench R23 scores for the Core Ultra 5 225 are 25891 multi-core and 3655 single-core. The single-core score of 3655 is competitive with other desktop CPUs and indicates strong per-thread IPC. In the Passmark suite, the CPU scores 4412 on single-thread tests and 30459 on multithread tests. These scores suggest that the processor can handle both the single-threaded aspects of game engines and the multi-threaded background tasks that modern games run.

The 10-core configuration without hyperthreading means the CPU has 10 physical threads for game workloads. Downfall, being a horror title from 2016, likely does not scale across many cores, making the high boost clock more important than core count. The 20 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game performance. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 provides adequate data throughput for the GPU, though the GPU's own 672.3 GB/s bandwidth is far higher.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. At 4K Ultra, the 69 FPS average is clearly GPU-bound, as the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is working at maximum capacity. Even at 1080p Low with 369 FPS, the CPU's 4.90 GHz boost clock and strong single-core performance are sufficient to keep the game running smoothly. The processor's 85th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938, confirms that it is a capable gaming processor that pairs well with a high-end GPU in this title.