Downfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 reveals a clear scaling pattern that shifts the performance bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1080p, the system produces very high frame rates that indicate the CPU is the primary limiting factor, while at 4K, the GPU takes over as the dominant constraint. This is classic behavior for a high-refresh-rate pairing where the GPU has enough raw throughput to expose processor limits at lower pixel counts.

At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 312 FPS average. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low reduces that to 223 FPS, a 28.5% decline. Moving to 3840x2160 Low yields 139 FPS, which is 55.4% below the 1080p figure. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p, suggesting the GPU begins to saturate as pixel count rises. The RTX 4070’s 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Low settings across all resolutions, so the frame rate drop is purely compute-bound.

For High settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The combo delivers 210 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p (28.6% drop), and 93 FPS at 4K (55.7% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings indicates that the GPU’s workload scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, and the CPU headroom is not exhausted until frame rates exceed roughly 300 FPS.

Medium settings show a slightly different story. At 1080p Medium, the average is 256 FPS with a minimum of 217 FPS and maximum of 294 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 182 FPS with a 155 FPS minimum and 210 FPS maximum. At 4K Medium, the average is 114 FPS with a 97 FPS minimum and 131 FPS maximum. The presence of min/max data only for Medium settings suggests this is the most demanding configuration that still maintains playable frame rates across the board, making it the sweet spot for this title.

Ultra settings reveal the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 131 FPS average. At 1440p Ultra, that falls to 94 FPS (28.2% drop). At 4K Ultra, the average plunges to 58 FPS (55.7% drop from 1080p Ultra). The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration below 60 FPS in the entire dataset, indicating that this is the boundary where the RTX 4070’s compute resources become fully saturated. The 58 FPS average at 4K Ultra is still technically playable but falls short of high-refresh expectations.

The scaling data indicates that the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p Low and Medium, where frame rates exceed 250 FPS and the processor’s 14 cores and 14 threads with a 5.10 GHz boost clock are pushed to their limits. At 4K across all settings, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops are proportional to pixel count increases. The transition zone is around 1440p High and 4K Medium, where neither component is fully saturated and the system balances both workloads efficiently.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this CPU-GPU pair in Downfall?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 Medium delivers 182 FPS average with a 155 FPS minimum and 210 FPS maximum, which is well above 144 Hz refresh rates. For 4K, Medium settings at 114 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum is the most balanced option, as Ultra drops to 58 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070’s VRAM capacity affect Downfall performance?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is never a limiting factor in this game. Even at 4K Ultra settings, the frame rate drops to 58 FPS due to compute limitations rather than memory exhaustion, as evidenced by the consistent scaling pattern across all settings.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 sufficient for high refresh rate gaming in Downfall?

A: Yes. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 312 FPS average, which is close to the CPU’s practical limit. The 14 cores, 14 threads, and 5.10 GHz boost clock provide ample single-thread performance for this horror title, with the processor ranking in the 90th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 139 FPS average while Ultra settings produce 58 FPS average. This represents a 58.3% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset at 4K resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 631st out of 2928 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21.5% of all systems. This is a strong showing, particularly considering the game’s 2016 release date and the modern hardware pairing.

Q: Does the frame rate scaling suggest a CPU or GPU bottleneck at 1440p?

A: At 1440p High, the 150 FPS average and 28.6% drop from 1080p High indicates a balanced workload. The CPU is still capable of higher frame rates, but the GPU is beginning to limit performance. Medium settings at 1440p show 182 FPS, confirming that the processor has headroom until roughly 200 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays the dominant role in shaping Downfall’s performance at higher resolutions, while its capabilities are partially masked at 1080p by the CPU’s limitations. The GPU’s architecture, memory subsystem, and clock speeds all contribute to the measured results in distinct ways.

The RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip built on TSMC’s 5 nm process, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. For Downfall, a horror title from 2016, the standard rasterization performance is what matters most, and the 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput provides ample compute for this game’s rendering demands.

Clock speeds are a critical factor in the GPU’s performance. The base clock of 1920 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz are relatively high for a mid-range card, and the measured frame rates reflect this. At 1080p Low, the GPU is capable of 312 FPS, which means it is rendering frames faster than the CPU can feed it. The boost clock’s ability to sustain high frequencies under load is evident in the 4K Medium result of 114 FPS, which maintains a playable frame rate despite the 8.3 million pixel workload.

The 12 GB GDDR6X memory clocked at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth across a 192-bit bus. For Downfall, this bandwidth is more than sufficient. Even at 4K Ultra settings, the game does not appear to exceed this memory capacity, as the frame rate drop from 4K Medium (114 FPS) to 4K Ultra (58 FPS) is consistent with the increased shading and texture work rather than a memory bottleneck. The 12 GB capacity also ensures that texture streaming and asset loading do not cause frame hitches, which is particularly important in a horror game where sudden visual changes are common.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s provide the fill rate necessary for high-resolution rendering. At 4K, the 58 FPS Ultra result is limited by these factors, as the GPU must fill 8.3 million pixels per frame while applying complex textures and effects. The 64 ROPs are the limiting factor for pixel throughput, and this is evident in the steep scaling from 1080p Ultra (131 FPS) to 4K Ultra (58 FPS).

The RTX 4070 ranks in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% higher score), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (1.3% lower). This places the desktop RTX 4070 in a competitive position, and the measured Downfall results confirm that it delivers performance consistent with its benchmark standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Downfall covers three resolutions and four quality settings, providing a complete picture of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 4070 combination’s capabilities. The dataset is comprehensive, with 12 distinct configurations ranging from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce 312 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 256 FPS average with a 217 FPS minimum and 294 FPS maximum, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings reduce the average to 210 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 131 FPS. The 1080p results are all well above 120 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the GPU beginning to assert its influence. Low settings produce 223 FPS average, a 28.5% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings yield 182 FPS average with a 155 FPS minimum and 210 FPS maximum, which is still excellent for 144 Hz displays. High settings deliver 150 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 94 FPS. All 1440p configurations remain above 90 FPS, providing a smooth experience even at maximum quality.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings produce 139 FPS average, which is still very playable. Medium settings yield 114 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum and 131 FPS maximum, making this the only 4K configuration with recorded min/max data. High settings deliver 93 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 58 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration below 60 FPS, and it barely misses the playability threshold.

The Medium settings configurations are notable for having complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 217 FPS minimum and 294 FPS maximum show a 77 FPS spread, indicating some frame time variance. At 1440p, the 155 FPS minimum and 210 FPS maximum show a 55 FPS spread, which is tighter relative to the average. At 4K, the 97 FPS minimum and 131 FPS maximum show a 34 FPS spread, demonstrating that frame pacing improves as the GPU becomes more consistently loaded.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution follows a similar pattern. At 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is 181 FPS (312 to 131), representing a 58% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is 129 FPS (223 to 94), a 57.8% reduction. At 4K, the drop is 81 FPS (139 to 58), a 58.3% reduction. This consistency across resolutions indicates that the quality settings scale the GPU workload uniformly, without any unexpected bottlenecks at specific configuration points.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 631st out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 21.5% of all systems tested. This is a strong result for a mid-range CPU paired with a mid-to-high-range GPU, and it reflects the balanced nature of this particular hardware pairing.

The rank of 631 out of 2928 means that 2297 other combinations perform worse in this game, while 630 perform better. This places the combo in the upper quartile of all tested systems, which is notable given that Downfall is a 2016 title that may not fully utilize modern hardware features. The game’s horror genre typically emphasizes atmosphere and lighting effects, which can be demanding on GPU resources, and the RTX 4070 handles these workloads effectively.

The CPU’s contribution to this ranking is significant. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 32924 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4648 in single-core, with a 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 48995 places it within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, and it is 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K. This level of CPU performance ensures that the processor does not bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios, which is reflected in the combo’s strong ranking.

The GPU’s contribution is equally important. The RTX 4070 scores 26927 in Passmark G3D and 14720 in GPU Compute, with an 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 37648 is within 1.3% of the RTX 4080 Mobile and 0.4% of the RX Vega 56. In Downfall specifically, the GPU’s performance at 4K Ultra (58 FPS) is the limiting factor for the combo’s ranking, as faster GPUs would achieve higher frame rates at this demanding configuration.

The ranking context suggests that this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high refresh rates, with 4K performance being acceptable but not exceptional. The 631st rank out of 2928 combos indicates that there are faster systems, but the vast majority of tested combinations are slower. For a game like Downfall, which emphasizes tension and atmosphere over competitive frame rates, this level of performance is more than adequate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 plays a crucial role in enabling high frame rates in Downfall, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom to render frames quickly. The processor’s architecture, core configuration, and clock speeds all contribute to the measured results.

The CPU is built on Arrow Lake architecture using TSMC’s 3 nm process, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. It features 14 cores and 14 threads, which is a notable configuration for a desktop processor. The lack of hyperthreading means each core handles one thread, and the 14 physical cores provide strong multi-threaded performance for games that utilize multiple threads, though Downfall’s 2016 release date means it may not fully exploit this core count.

Clock speeds are the CPU’s primary strength for gaming. The base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide excellent single-thread performance, which is critical for games like Downfall that have significant sequential processing demands. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 confirms this strength, and the 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that the processor is in the top 10% for overall performance.

The cache hierarchy is designed to minimize latency and maximize throughput. The L1 cache is 192 KB per core, L2 is 3 MB per core, and L3 is 24 MB shared across all cores. For a game like Downfall, the 24 MB shared L3 cache is likely sufficient to hold frequently accessed game data, reducing memory latency and improving frame pacing. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed the GPU with data quickly, though the game’s 2016 release means it may not fully utilize DDR5’s bandwidth advantages.

The CPU’s benchmark results provide context for its gaming performance. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 indicates strong multi-threaded throughput, while the R20 scores of 13828 multi-core and 1952 single-core show consistent scaling. The Passmark tests reveal specific strengths: floating point math at 120548, integer math at 91187, and multithread at 38706. The single-thread score of 4394 confirms that the processor excels at tasks requiring high per-core performance, which is directly relevant to Downfall’s frame rate at 1080p.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within 0.8% of its average score of 48995. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228 (0.5% higher), and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698 (0.6% lower). The Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48618 (0.8% lower). This tight grouping indicates that the Ultra 5 245 is competitive with other high-performance processors, and the 0.4-0.8% differences are unlikely to produce noticeable gaming performance variations.

In Downfall specifically, the CPU’s role becomes apparent at 1080p Low and Medium settings, where frame rates exceed 250 FPS. At these settings, the GPU is capable of rendering frames faster than the CPU can process game logic and issue draw calls, making the processor the limiting factor. The 312 FPS at 1080p Low represents the CPU’s practical ceiling for this game, and the 5.10 GHz boost clock is likely the key feature enabling this performance. At 4K, the CPU has ample headroom, as the GPU’s rendering workload dominates the frame time budget.