Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers strong performance in Downfall, a horror title from 2016. The measured data shows the combo ranks 194th out of 2,928 tested CPU-GPU combinations, placing it in the top 7% of all configs. The system delivers playable frame rates at every resolution tested, with the sweet spot shifting depending on whether you prioritize visual fidelity or raw refresh rates. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and Ada Lovelace architecture, proves capable of handling even Ultra settings at 4K, though the frame rate cost is substantial.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear pattern: High settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 4K, High delivers 118 FPS average, which is already above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Medium at 4K reaches 144 FPS, but the jump to High costs only 26 FPS while presumably improving visual fidelity significantly. For most players, High at 4K is the recommended starting point.

At 1440p, High produces 190 FPS average, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium at 1440p reaches 232 FPS, but the additional 42 FPS over High may not justify the visual downgrade in a horror title where atmosphere matters. Ultra at 1440p drops to 119 FPS, still playable but a substantial 71 FPS reduction from High. The data suggests High is the most efficient preset at this resolution.

At 1080p, High delivers 267 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of even the fastest mainstream gaming monitors. Medium reaches 325 FPS, and Low hits 397 FPS, but these gains are largely imperceptible on typical displays. Ultra at 1080p produces 167 FPS, which is still very smooth. Given the diminishing returns beyond High, players with 1080p displays should stick with High or Ultra if they want maximum visual detail without sacrificing smoothness.

Ultra settings represent a significant performance penalty across all resolutions. At 4K, Ultra averages just 74 FPS, a 44 FPS drop from High. This suggests the Ultra preset includes features that are particularly demanding on the GPU. Only players with 4K displays that support variable refresh rates should consider Ultra, and they should expect occasional dips below 60 FPS in intense scenes. For the majority of users, High is the recommended preset for the best overall experience.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Downfall, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across settings. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2550 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz, combined with 10,240 shading units and 80 RT cores, provide substantial compute power. The card's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are well-suited to a horror title from 2016.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Downfall at any resolution and settings combination tested. Even at 4K Ultra, the game does not appear to be VRAM-limited, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution rather than hitting a memory capacity wall. The 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not become bottlenecks. This is a case where the GPU's memory subsystem is far ahead of what the game requires.

The RTX 4080 SUPER's performance relative to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks is telling. It scores 54,209 in average benchmark scores, which is essentially identical to the RTX 4080 (54,247, deltaPct -0.1%). The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (deltaPct -1.1%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (deltaPct -2.7%). Interestingly, the RTX 4080 SUPER actually scores slightly lower than several rivals in aggregate benchmarks, yet in Downfall it demonstrates strong real-world performance. The GPU sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of graphics cards.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how Downfall scales with resolution. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 267 FPS at 1080p to 190 FPS at 1440p (a 29% decrease) and further to 118 FPS at 4K (a 56% decrease from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates the game becomes progressively more GPU-bound as resolution increases, which is expected given the RTX 4080 SUPER's capabilities.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is even more dramatic: 397 FPS at 1080p drops to 284 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and 177 FPS at 4K (a 55% decrease from 1080p). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that resolution scaling is independent of graphics settings, pointing to a GPU-bound scenario even at 1080p Low where the frame rates are extremely high.

The Medium settings data includes minimum and maximum FPS values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the average is 325 FPS with a minimum of 276 FPS and maximum of 374 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 232 FPS with a minimum of 197 FPS and maximum of 267 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS and maximum of 166 FPS. The frame rate ranges are relatively tight, suggesting the system maintains consistent performance without major stutters.

The resolution scaling reveals that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this pairing. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between resolutions, especially at 1080p where CPU overhead is more significant. Instead, the FPS scales nearly linearly with pixel count, confirming the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary performance driver.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Downfall at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 74 FPS, which is playable but noticeably lower than other settings. Players who want to maintain high frame rates at 4K should consider High settings, which deliver 118 FPS average.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER significantly better than the standard RTX 4080?

A: Based on the benchmark data, the difference is minimal. The RTX 4080 SUPER averages 54,209 in synthetic benchmarks, while the RTX 4080 scores 54,247, a deltaPct of -0.1%. In practical terms, the SUPER variant provides nearly identical performance to the non-SUPER model.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p high-refresh-rate monitor?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 deliver 190 FPS average, which is sufficient for 144Hz and 165Hz displays. Medium settings reach 232 FPS for those with 240Hz monitors, but the visual trade-off may not be worth the extra 42 FPS in a horror game.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46,062. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, scores 46,030 (deltaPct 0.1%), while the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46,098 (deltaPct -0.1%). The differences are within 0.2%, meaning these CPUs perform effectively identically in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM on the RTX 4080 SUPER sufficient for Downfall?

A: Yes. The measured data shows no signs of VRAM limitations at any resolution or settings combination. The game's performance scales predictably with resolution, indicating the 16 GB GDDR6X memory is more than adequate for this title.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 167 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for most gaming monitors, though it is significantly lower than the 267 FPS achieved at High settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It features a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. Its TDP is 65 W, making it a power-efficient choice.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling analysis. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 397 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed frames to the GPU at very high rates. The CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant for this game, as horror titles often rely on a few well-optimized threads. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,085 and multi-core score of 14,769 indicate solid performance for gaming workloads.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,062. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46,030 (deltaPct 0.1%), the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46,098 (deltaPct -0.1%), the AMD EPYC 4364P scores 45,970 (deltaPct 0.2%), and the AMD EPYC 7303 scores 45,960 (deltaPct 0.2%). The Ultra 5 235 effectively trades blows with these processors, showing that it holds its own against both mobile and server parts.

The 14 cores and 14 threads (no hyperthreading) may seem unusual, but for gaming, the single-thread performance matters more. The 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for games like Downfall that may not scale well across many cores. The 65 W TDP also means the CPU won't contribute excessive heat to the system, allowing the RTX 4080 SUPER to operate within its thermal envelope.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 397 FPS average
• Medium: 325 FPS average (minimum 276, maximum 374)
• High: 267 FPS average
• Ultra: 167 FPS average

At 1080p, even Ultra settings produce frame rates above 144 FPS, making this resolution ideal for competitive or high-refresh-rate play. The drop from High to Ultra costs 100 FPS, which is substantial, but the remaining 167 FPS is still very smooth.

2560x1440:

• Low: 284 FPS average
• Medium: 232 FPS average (minimum 197, maximum 267)
• High: 190 FPS average
• Ultra: 119 FPS average

At 1440p, High settings deliver 190 FPS, which is excellent for 144Hz monitors. Ultra drops to 119 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but represents a 71 FPS penalty compared to High. The Medium settings show a tight frame time distribution with only a 70 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

3840x2160:

• Low: 177 FPS average
• Medium: 144 FPS average (minimum 123, maximum 166)
• High: 118 FPS average
• Ultra: 74 FPS average

At 4K, High settings provide the best balance at 118 FPS. Ultra drops to 74 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth. The Medium settings at 4K show a 43 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating some frame time variance but nothing problematic.

The overall pattern across resolutions and settings shows that this system is GPU-limited in most scenarios, with the RTX 4080 SUPER providing exceptional performance even at 4K. The Ultra 5 235 CPU has sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is pushing nearly 400 FPS. For players seeking the best visual experience, High settings at 4K or Ultra at 1440p offer the most compelling combination of image quality and frame rate.