Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a robust experience in Downfall, a 2016 horror title, across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured frame rates show this combination handles the game comfortably at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K Ultra being the only configuration that drops below 100 FPS. The data indicates a system that is well-balanced for this title, though the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across the three resolutions and four settings presets provides clear guidance for the optimal experience. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 337 FPS, Medium produces 275 FPS, High yields 226 FPS, and Ultra drops to 141 FPS. The progression shows a 34% performance reduction from Low to Medium, an 18% reduction from Medium to High, and a 38% reduction from High to Ultra. Given that even the Ultra preset at 1080p maintains 141 FPS, players with 60Hz or 144Hz displays can comfortably select Ultra without concern for frame rate drops. The 141 FPS at Ultra exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors, making this the recommended preset for 1080p users seeking maximum visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the settings scaling follows a similar pattern: Low achieves 240 FPS, Medium reaches 197 FPS, High produces 161 FPS, and Ultra drops to 101 FPS. The 240 FPS at Low suggests the CPU is capable of pushing very high frame rates, but the more meaningful comparison is between High and Ultra. High at 161 FPS provides a 59% advantage over Ultra at 101 FPS, yet both remain above 100 FPS. For players with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, the High preset strikes the best balance, offering smooth gameplay with only a modest visual reduction compared to Ultra. The Medium preset at 197 FPS is also viable for competitive play, but High provides the best combination of image quality and performance.

At 4K, the settings choices become more consequential. Low produces 150 FPS, Medium achieves 122 FPS, High reaches 100 FPS, and Ultra drops to 63 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is substantial at 37 FPS, representing a 37% reduction. While 63 FPS at Ultra is playable for many, the 100 FPS at High offers a significantly smoother experience. For 4K displays with 120Hz or higher refresh rates, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it maintains triple-digit frame rates while preserving most visual quality. The Medium preset at 122 FPS is an alternative for those prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, but High provides the best overall experience. The Low preset at 150 FPS is only recommended for players with 144Hz or higher 4K displays who demand maximum smoothness.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7900 XT features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves more than sufficient for Downfall, a 2016 horror title that does not present extreme VRAM demands. The GPU's 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 render output units provide substantial raw compute capability. The boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz indicate the card operates at high frequencies under load, while the base clock sits at 1387 MHz.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s is particularly relevant at 4K resolutions, where texture streaming and memory access patterns become more demanding. The measured data shows the GPU handling 4K High at 100 FPS and 4K Medium at 122 FPS, suggesting the memory subsystem is not a bottleneck in this title. The 20 GB VRAM capacity far exceeds what Downfall requires, meaning there is no risk of memory capacity limiting performance. The GPU's 84 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate suggest it is well-prepared for modern workloads, though Downfall's 2016 release predates widespread ray tracing adoption.

The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals, based on the average benchmark score of 13745, places it within a tight cluster. The AMD Radeon 660M scores 13812, a 0.5% difference, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scores 13821, also 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 570X scores 13871, 0.9% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT scores 13543, 1.5% lower. This clustering suggests the RX 7900 XT's raw benchmark performance is comparable to these other GPUs, though its gaming performance in Downfall is what matters most. The GPU's percentile ranking of 55 among all GPUs indicates it sits slightly above the median, which is notable given its high-end positioning.

The power delivery requirements are substantial, with a 300 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The dual-slot cooling solution with 2x 8-pin power connectors is typical for this performance class. The GPU measures 276 mm in length, 110 mm in height, and 51 mm in width, which requires adequate case clearance. The display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C, providing flexible connectivity options for various monitor configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This configuration, built on the Arrow Lake architecture using TSMC's 3 nm process, provides strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache contribute to efficient data access patterns. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration, offering 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

For Downfall, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly important, as horror games often rely on a few primary threads for game logic and physics. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 and multi-core score of 32924 indicate strong performance in both areas. The PassMark single-thread score of 4394 further confirms the CPU's capability in single-threaded workloads. The CPU's boost clock of 5.10 GHz is leveraged effectively in this title, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low settings, where the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 places it in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, indicating strong overall performance. Its nearest rivals show tight competition: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228 (0.5% higher), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698 (0.6% lower), and the Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48618 (0.8% lower). This clustering suggests the Ultra 5 245 performs competitively with these other processors in general benchmarks.

The CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads represent a design choice without hyper-threading, which can be beneficial for power efficiency but may limit multi-threaded scaling in some applications. However, for Downfall, the measured performance suggests this is not a significant issue. The CPU's 65 W TDP is modest for a desktop processor, and the integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU provides basic display output capability, though the discrete GPU handles all rendering in this configuration. The CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes, ensuring sufficient bandwidth for the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming in Downfall with this hardware?

A: The High preset at 4K provides the best balance, achieving 100 FPS average. The Ultra preset drops to 63 FPS, while Medium reaches 122 FPS. For a 4K display with 120Hz refresh rate, High offers the optimal combination of visual quality and smoothness, maintaining triple-digit frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p compared to 4K?

A: At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance enables very high frame rates, with the Low preset reaching 337 FPS and even Ultra achieving 141 FPS. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor, as evidenced by the 100 FPS at High settings, indicating the GPU's rendering load scales with resolution while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

Q: Is the 20 GB VRAM on the RX 7900 XT sufficient for Downfall?

A: Yes, the 20 GB GDDR6 memory with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for Downfall. The game's 2016 release date and horror genre do not present extreme VRAM requirements, and the measured performance at all resolutions and settings shows no indication of memory capacity limitations.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 13745 places it within 1.5% of its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon 660M scores 13812 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scores 13821 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 570X scores 13871 (0.9% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT scores 13543 (1.5% lower).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 197 FPS while Ultra drops to 101 FPS, representing a 96 FPS difference or approximately 49% reduction. The Medium preset also shows a minimum frame rate of 167 FPS and maximum of 226 FPS, while Ultra maintains 101 FPS average.

Q: Does this combination rank highly among all tested configurations for Downfall?

A: The combination ranks 525 out of 2928 tested combos, placing it in the top 18% of all configurations. This indicates the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT provide above-average performance for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns across resolutions. At High settings, the frame rates are 226 FPS at 1080p, 161 FPS at 1440p, and 100 FPS at 4K. This represents a 29% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 38% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 56%, indicating that the GPU's rendering load increases substantially with resolution.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 275 FPS at 1080p, 197 FPS at 1440p, and 122 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 28%, and from 1440p to 4K is 38%, with a total reduction of 56% from 1080p to 4K. The Low settings show 337 FPS at 1080p, 240 FPS at 1440p, and 150 FPS at 4K, representing reductions of 29% and 38% respectively, with a total reduction of 55%. The Ultra settings show 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 28% from 1080p to 1440p and 38% from 1440p to 4K, totaling 55%.

The consistent scaling pattern across all settings presets indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor in resolution scaling. The 4K resolution requires approximately 2.2 times the pixel count of 1440p, which explains the substantial frame rate reductions. The fact that the percentage reductions are nearly identical across all settings suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU's contribution remains relatively constant regardless of resolution.

The 1080p to 1440p transition shows a consistent 28-29% reduction, which aligns with the pixel count increase of 78%. This indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being utilized effectively. The 1440p to 4K transition shows a 38% reduction, which is somewhat less than the 225% pixel count increase, suggesting that other factors such as memory bandwidth or shader complexity play a role in limiting performance at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 337 FPS average, representing the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. The Medium preset reaches 275 FPS with a minimum of 234 FPS and maximum of 317 FPS. The High preset produces 226 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 141 FPS. These results show that even at the most demanding 1080p settings, the hardware maintains frame rates well above typical monitor refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 240 FPS, the Medium preset reaches 197 FPS with a minimum of 167 FPS and maximum of 226 FPS, the High preset produces 161 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 101 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum frame rate of 167 FPS indicates consistent performance without significant dips, while the Ultra preset's 101 FPS average remains above the 100 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 150 FPS, the Medium preset reaches 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS, the High preset produces 100 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 63 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum frame rate of 104 FPS, which is notably close to the maximum of 141 FPS, suggesting relatively stable performance. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 100 FPS, with the 63 FPS average representing the most demanding scenario tested.

The data shows that the Medium preset at each resolution provides the most complete information, as it includes minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p, the Medium preset ranges from 234 to 317 FPS, a spread of 83 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 167 to 226 FPS, a spread of 59 FPS. At 4K, the range is 104 to 141 FPS, a spread of 37 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame delivery, likely because the GPU's workload becomes more uniform at higher pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 525 out of 2928 tested combinations for Downfall, placing it in the top 18% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the hardware's strong performance in this title, though it does not place in the top tier of combinations. The rank of 525 indicates that while this setup delivers excellent frame rates across most settings and resolutions, there are 524 combinations that achieve even higher performance in Downfall.

The ranking is particularly notable given the CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The CPU's strong performance, with an average benchmark score of 48995, helps push the combination to a higher ranking than the GPU's percentile alone might suggest. The GPU's average benchmark score of 13745 places it near the median, yet the combination still achieves a top 18% ranking in this game, indicating that Downfall is not particularly demanding on the GPU relative to other titles.

The combination of 525 out of 2928 represents a competitive position, especially considering that the dataset includes configurations with more powerful GPUs such as the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which scores 1.5% lower in average benchmarks but may perform differently in specific games. The ranking also benefits from the CPU's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, which is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in games like Downfall that may have single-threaded bottlenecks.

The 525th rank out of 2928 combinations means this setup outperforms approximately 82% of tested configurations in Downfall. This places it firmly in the upper quartile of performance, making it a strong choice for players who prioritize smooth gameplay in this title. The combination's ability to maintain 100 FPS at 4K High settings and 141 FPS at 1080p Ultra settings demonstrates its capability to handle both high-resolution and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.