Downfall

The data for Downfall with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics processor. The measured frame rates reveal a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, while the central processor appears to have ample headroom. This analysis will break down the measured results, contextualize the combo's standing, and provide specific recommendations based on the data.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic drop in frame rates across all settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 166 FPS at 1080p to 119 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 47 FPS. Moving further to 4K, the average drops to 74 FPS, which is a 55% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical for a system where the pixel throughput of the graphics card is the limiting factor.

The High preset shows a similar trend, with average frame rates of 112 FPS at 1080p, 80 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset follows suit, delivering 136 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. In every case, the gap between 1440p and 4K is substantial, often halving the frame rate. For instance, the Ultra preset drops from 50 FPS at 1440p to 31 FPS at 4K, which is a 38% performance loss for a single resolution step.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is likely approaching a balance point between CPU and GPU capabilities, but the rapid decline at higher resolutions confirms that the RTX 5050 Mobile's 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The 31 FPS average at 4K Ultra is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, while the 50 FPS at 4K High is marginal. The scaling between resolutions is not linear, with the most significant drops occurring when moving to 3840x2160, which points to the GPU's memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s and 128-bit bus being saturated by the increased pixel workload.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Downfall, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile ranks 2977 out of 3716 tested combos. This places the system in the bottom 20% of all configurations measured for this game, which is a poor showing for a modern laptop platform. The percentile ranking of the CPU is 91, meaning it outperforms 91% of all processors, but the GPU's percentile is 83. Despite the relatively high individual component percentiles, the combination does not translate into a high game-specific rank.

The low combo rank suggests that Downfall is particularly demanding on the graphics subsystem, and the RTX 5050 Mobile is the weak link. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with a 0.2% higher average score and the Intel Core i9-13900F with a 0.7% higher average score, indicate that the processor is highly competitive in synthetic benchmarks. However, the GPU's nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER with a 0.1% higher average score and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile with a 0.9% higher average score, do not change the fact that the 5050 Mobile is a lower-tier part.

The rank of 2977 out of 3716 combos is a stark indicator that, for this specific title, the overall system performance is below average. The data shows that while the CPU is a top-tier mobile part, the GPU does not provide the necessary frame rates to achieve a high rank. This disparity between component quality and game performance is a key insight from the measured data.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo in Downfall?*

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 166 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 31 FPS on Ultra to 74 FPS on Low. The Medium preset yields a 61 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration that stays above the 50 FPS threshold for all measured frames.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the Medium preset?

A: The average frame rate drops from 136 FPS at 1920x1080 to 97 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 61 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 75 FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the CPU and GPU individually?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX has a percentile ranking of 91 against all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile has a percentile ranking of 83 against all GPUs.

Q: Are there any settings where the minimum frame rate is recorded?

A: Yes, the data includes minimum frame rates for the Medium preset at all resolutions: 116 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the combo's rank in the database for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2977 out of 3716 total tested combinations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this system in Downfall depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset is the best choice, delivering a 112 FPS average. This is well above the refresh rate of most standard displays and provides a significant visual improvement over the Low preset's 166 FPS, which may be unnecessarily high for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 136 FPS is also viable, but the High preset offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 2560x1440, the High preset remains the recommended option, with an average of 80 FPS. This is a smooth experience for most users. The Medium preset at 97 FPS is also playable, but the visual quality difference between Medium and High is often noticeable in a horror title where atmosphere is key. The Ultra preset at 50 FPS is borderline and may result in occasional stutters, so it is not recommended.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Medium preset is the only configuration that provides a consistent experience, with a 61 FPS average and a 51 FPS minimum. The High preset at 50 FPS is playable but does not have a recorded minimum frame rate, which indicates a potential for dips below 50 FPS. The Low preset at 74 FPS is technically the smoothest, but it sacrifices too much visual quality. The Ultra preset at 31 FPS is not recommended for any serious gameplay.

The data indicates that the Medium preset at 4K is the sweet spot for this GPU, as it maintains a minimum frame rate of 51 FPS, ensuring no major hitches. The recommendation is to use the High preset at 1080p and 1440p for the best visual experience, and the Medium preset at 4K for a playable frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average frame rates for each resolution and settings combination.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 166 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 136 FPS, with a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 157 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 112 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 70 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 119 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 97 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 80 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 50 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves an average of 74 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 61 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 50 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 31 FPS.

The data shows a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions: Low > Medium > High > Ultra in terms of frame rate. The gap between High and Ultra is significant, with a 42 FPS difference at 1080p and a 19 FPS difference at 4K. The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, providing a reliable measure of frame time consistency. The minimum frame rates for Medium at 1080p (116 FPS) and 1440p (83 FPS) are still high enough for smooth gameplay, while the 4K minimum of 51 FPS is the lowest recorded value in the dataset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The processor features a 24 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU performs well, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34731 and a single-core score of 4903. Its average benchmark score of 52073 places it in the 91st percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (0.2% higher avg score) and the Intel Core i7-14700 (0.4% lower avg score). This indicates strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

For Downfall, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The frame rates at 1080p Low (166 FPS) are high, but they do not exceed what the GPU can render. The fact that the frame rates drop so precipitously at higher resolutions indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor; if it were, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions. The 14 cores and 14 threads provide ample processing power for the game's logic and physics, and the high boost clock of 5.10 GHz ensures responsive single-threaded performance. The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any tested resolution, as the GPU is unable to keep up with the CPU's output capability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile is based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process. It has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. The base clock is 1020 MHz with a boost clock of 1500 MHz, and the memory runs at 1500 MHz (24 Gbps effective). The FP32 compute performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 2365 in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 84171 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 83rd percentile. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (0.1% higher avg score). The RTX 5050 Mobile is a mobile part with a TDP of 50 W, indicating a power-efficient design.

The GPU's performance in Downfall is the defining factor of this combo's low rank. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures, but the 128-bit memory bus and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely limiting factors at 4K resolution. The measured frame rates show that the GPU struggles to maintain high averages at 4K, with the Ultra preset dropping to 31 FPS. The boost clock of 1500 MHz is relatively low for a modern GPU, and the 7.680 TFLOPS of compute power is simply not enough for demanding 4K workloads. The data clearly shows that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU has significant headroom. The 50 W TDP also suggests that this is a lower-power part, which may throttle under sustained load, further explaining the performance drops at higher resolutions.