Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + AMD Radeon RX 9070

Downfall, the 2016 horror title, shows remarkably strong performance on this Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 pairing. The measured FPS data indicates that this combination delivers playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra settings, with a substantial performance headroom at lower resolutions. The combo ranks 829th out of 2928 tested configurations, placing it in the upper quartile of all tested systems for this game. This ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component consistently bottlenecks the other across the resolution and settings matrix tested.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, though with some nuance at the highest settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 295 FPS at 1920x1080 to 210 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 29% reduction), then to 131 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 38% further drop). This steep decline from 1440p to 4K indicates that the Radeon RX 9070's rendering throughput becomes the primary constraint as pixel count increases, which is expected given the 16 GB GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are being fed an increasingly large pixel workload.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more linear: 241 FPS at 1080p, 172 FPS at 1440p (a 29% drop), and 107 FPS at 4K (a 38% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium presets suggests the GPU's compute units—3584 shading units running at a boost clock of 2520 MHz—are scaling predictably with resolution. However, at High settings the pattern shifts slightly: 198 FPS at 1080p, 141 FPS at 1440p (a 29% drop), and 88 FPS at 4K (a 38% drop), showing the same relative declines but at lower absolute values.

The Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the system manages 123 FPS, dropping to 88 FPS at 1440p (a 28% reduction) and then to 55 FPS at 4K (a 37% reduction). The percentage drops remain consistent, but the absolute 4K figure of 55 FPS suggests that the most demanding settings push this GPU to its limits. The fact that the resolution scaling percentages are nearly identical across all four settings presets—roughly 29% from 1080p to 1440p and 38% from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the limiting component is the GPU's raw pixel throughput rather than any CPU-related constraint. The Core Ultra 5 235, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, clearly has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU even at 1080p Low where the system reaches 295 FPS.

FAQ

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

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 295, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates the CPU and GPU combination is capable of extremely high frame rates when graphical load is minimized.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 55. This is above the minimum threshold for playable frame rates, though it shows that the most demanding configuration pushes the Radeon RX 9070 to its limits.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The system reaches 295 FPS at 1080p Low and 241 FPS at 1080p Medium, demonstrating that the CPU's boost clock of 5.00 GHz and 24 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample processing power for this game at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured range is 146 FPS minimum to 198 FPS maximum, with an average of 172 FPS. This 52 FPS spread indicates some frame time variance but generally smooth performance.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations in Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 829th out of 2,928 tested combos, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all systems tested for this game. This is a strong result given the game's age and the modern hardware used.

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

A: Yes, with caveats. At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 88, which is excellent. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 55 FPS, which is still playable but shows the GPU's performance ceiling at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings-to-resolution trade-offs. For 4K gaming, High settings deliver 88 FPS average, which is a substantial improvement over the 55 FPS seen at Ultra settings. The jump from Ultra to High at 4K yields a 60% performance increase (from 55 FPS to 88 FPS), while the visual difference between these presets in a horror game like Downfall is often less critical than maintaining smooth frame rates. Given that Downfall is a horror title where responsiveness matters, High settings at 4K appear to be the sweet spot for this resolution.

At 1440p, the data suggests Medium settings provide the best balance. The 172 FPS average at Medium is 22% higher than the 141 FPS at High, while the minimum FPS of 146 at Medium stays well above the 88 FPS average at Ultra. The frame time range at 1440p Medium (146-198 FPS) shows consistent performance that would be smooth on any display. For competitive play or maximum fluidity, Low settings at 1440p deliver 210 FPS, but the jump from Medium to Low only gains 38 FPS (22%), which may not justify the visual quality loss.

At 1080p, the system has so much headroom that even Ultra settings maintain 123 FPS average. However, for players with high refresh rate monitors, Medium settings at 241 FPS or Low settings at 295 FPS would better utilize a 240 Hz or 360 Hz display. The 1080p Ultra figure of 123 FPS is still excellent for standard 120 Hz displays, but the data shows that dropping to Medium nearly doubles the frame rate. The recommended configuration depends on the display's refresh rate: for 144 Hz monitors, High at 1080p (198 FPS) is more than sufficient; for 240 Hz displays, Medium or Low provides the necessary headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The 829th rank out of 2,928 tested combos places this system firmly in the top 28% of all configurations tested in Downfall. This ranking is particularly notable because the game was released in 2016, and the hardware combination of a 2025 CPU and 2025 GPU represents modern technology applied to an older title. The percentile ranking of 89 for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 across all CPUs and 69 for the Radeon RX 9070 across all GPUs suggests that the CPU is relatively stronger than the GPU in the broader benchmark landscape, yet the in-game ranking shows this pairing works well together.

The nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 with a delta of 0.1%, the Intel Core i9-13900HX with a delta of -0.1%, and the AMD EPYC 4364P with a delta of 0.2%. These extremely tight margins (all within 0.2%) indicate that the Core Ultra 5 235's synthetic performance is essentially identical to these alternatives, meaning any in-game differences would be minimal. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z with a delta of 0.6%, the AMD Radeon RX 6800S with a delta of -0.8%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile with a delta of 1.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER with a delta of -1.2%. These deltas show that the RX 9070's average benchmark score is within 1.2% of these older or mobile parts, which is surprising given the architectural differences.

The 829th rank out of 2,928 combos means that 2,099 other configurations performed better in Downfall, while 828 performed worse. Given that this rank is derived from a combination of CPU and GPU performance, and the synthetic benchmarks show both components are mid-pack to upper-mid-pack performers, the in-game ranking is consistent with expectations. The fact that this combo achieves 88 FPS at 4K High settings while ranking 829th suggests that many higher-ranked combos likely use more powerful GPUs, even if the CPU is similar.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 plays a supporting but critical role in this game's performance. With 14 cores and 14 threads running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, the CPU provides substantial processing power for Downfall's game logic and physics. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 192 KB L1 cache per core ensure that frequently accessed data remains close to the processing units. The CPU's architecture, Arrow Lake built on a 3 nm process at TSMC, delivers high single-thread performance, which is crucial for older games like Downfall that may not scale well across many cores.

The synthetic benchmark scores place this CPU at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14,769 and a single-core score of 2,085. These numbers indicate strong multi-threaded performance for a 14-core part, while the single-core score is competitive for gaming workloads. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,516 and the multithread score of 37,816 show similar strengths. The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, Intel Core i9-13900HX, and two AMD EPYC server parts—all score within 0.2% of the Core Ultra 5 235, meaning the choice between these CPUs would have negligible impact on Downfall's frame rates.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 295 FPS, which requires the CPU to process frames quickly enough to feed the GPU. The fact that frame rates scale consistently with resolution across all settings suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor even at this high frame rate. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz provides the single-thread speed needed for game logic, while the 14 cores handle background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems. The CPU's TDP of 65 W and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensure that memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck either.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 295 FPS, representing the absolute ceiling of this combination's capability in Downfall. Medium settings reduce the average to 241 FPS with a measured range of 205 FPS minimum to 277 FPS maximum, showing a 36 FPS spread that indicates consistent frame delivery. High settings yield 198 FPS average, while Ultra settings still manage 123 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 58% reduction in frame rate (from 295 to 123 FPS), which is a significant but expected cost for the highest visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low settings deliver 210 FPS average, which is still well above the refresh rate of most monitors. Medium settings produce 172 FPS average with a range of 146 to 198 FPS, representing a 52 FPS spread that is slightly wider than at 1080p but still smooth. High settings achieve 141 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 88 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level shows a consistent 29% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution step.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits. Low settings still deliver a very playable 131 FPS average, which is remarkable for 4K. Medium settings produce 107 FPS with a range of 91 to 123 FPS, showing a 32 FPS spread that is the tightest of the Medium preset across all resolutions. High settings achieve 88 FPS average, which is excellent for 4K gaming. Ultra settings drop to 55 FPS average, which is the lowest measured figure in the entire dataset but remains above the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for playability. The 4K data shows that this combination can handle 4K gaming with High settings comfortably, while Ultra settings require a tolerance for lower frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the primary driver of frame rate performance in Downfall, as evidenced by the consistent resolution scaling patterns. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample memory resources for this 2016 title, even at 4K with Ultra settings. The RDNA 4.0 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC, includes 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 raster operation units. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz provide the processing speed needed to maintain high frame rates.

The GPU's synthetic benchmarks show a 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 25,381 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,290. The nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z with a delta of 0.6% and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S with a delta of -0.8%, indicating that the RX 9070's overall benchmark performance is comparable to these parts despite being a newer architecture. In Downfall specifically, the GPU's 56 ray tracing cores are likely underutilized given the game's 2016 release date, which predates widespread ray tracing adoption. The GPU's pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s are more relevant to this game's rendering workload.

The GPU's role becomes most evident at 4K Ultra settings, where the 55 FPS average represents a 55% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure of 123 FPS. This steep decline indicates that the GPU's compute resources are fully saturated at the highest resolution and settings. The fact that the system maintains 88 FPS at 4K High settings shows that the RX 9070 has significant headroom when settings are reduced by one tier. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Downfall, as the game was designed for hardware with far less memory, so there is no risk of VRAM-related performance degradation at any tested configuration. The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot cooler allow it to sustain boost clocks during extended gaming sessions, which is reflected in the consistent frame rates across the measured data.