Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers strong performance in Downfall, a 2016 horror title that remains demanding at higher settings. Measured frame rates show this combination easily handles 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K Ultra presents a more significant challenge. The data reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 14 cores and high boost clock keep frame rates elevated even in the most demanding scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Downfall shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 246 FPS at 1080p to 176 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 28%, and then further to 109 FPS at 4K, which is about 56% lower than the 1080p figure. This scaling curve indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, with the gap between 1440p and 4K being particularly pronounced.

The pattern repeats across all quality presets. At Low settings, the system delivers 366 FPS at 1080p, 262 FPS at 1440p, and 163 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 55%, almost identical to the High setting drop. This consistency suggests the scaling behavior is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. At Medium settings, the numbers are 300 FPS at 1080p, 214 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K, with the 4K figure representing a 56% decline from 1080p.

Ultra settings tell a more dramatic story. The system produces 154 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p, and only 68 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 38%, which is the steepest single-step decline across all settings. This suggests that Ultra 4K pushes the RTX 4070 Ti to its limits, with the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus width becoming significant factors at this resolution.

The fact that frame rates remain above 60 FPS at 4K even on Ultra settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. At 1080p, however, the extremely high frame rates—366 FPS on Low and 300 FPS on Medium—suggest the CPU begins to play a more prominent role, though the Core Ultra 5 245's boost clock of 5.10 GHz keeps performance from bottlenecking severely.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti serves as the primary driver of Downfall's performance at higher resolutions. Its AD104 chip, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, contains 35,800 million transistors across a 294 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This translates to a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s over a 192-bit bus, which is a critical factor for a 2016 horror title that can be texture-heavy at Ultra settings.

The GPU's 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines deliver a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput of 40.09 TFLOPS provides ample compute headroom for Downfall's rendering workload. With 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, the architecture is well-equipped for modern graphics features, although Downfall's 2016 release predates widespread ray tracing adoption.

In benchmark terms, the RTX 4070 Ti achieves a Passmark G3D score of 31624 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024. Its average benchmark score of 44795 places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are closely matched: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile scores 45152 (0.8% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 45384 (1.3% higher), the Intel Arc A730M scores 45592 (1.7% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 44075 (1.6% lower).

The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory proves sufficient for Downfall at all tested settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS indicates the GPU is working near its capacity. The 192-bit memory bus, while narrower than some competitors, still delivers 504.2 GB/s, which is adequate for this title. The data shows that the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises, with the 4K High result of 109 FPS being roughly 44% lower than the 1440p High figure of 176 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 provides the computational foundation for this system, and its performance characteristics are well-suited to Downfall's requirements. This Arrow Lake-S architecture CPU, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC, features 14 cores and 14 threads—a configuration that prioritizes single-thread performance over multi-threading. The base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz are notable for a 65 W TDP processor.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support consists of dual-channel DDR5 with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The processor also includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, though the discrete RTX 4070 Ti handles all rendering duties in this configuration.

Benchmark results show strong single-thread capability. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 and multi-core score of 32924 demonstrate balanced performance. Passmark scores include a single-thread result of 4394 and a multithread score of 38706. The average benchmark score of 48995 places this CPU in the 90th percentile of all processors.

The nearest CPU rivals are tightly clustered. 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 grouping indicates the Core Ultra 5 245 sits in a highly competitive performance tier.

In Downfall, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where frame rates reach 366 FPS on Low settings. This figure suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively even at very high frame rates. The 14-core configuration with a 5.10 GHz boost clock provides sufficient headroom for the game's physics and AI workloads, which are typical for a horror title. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the bottleneck, but the high single-thread scores ensure no CPU-induced stuttering in the data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 335th out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 11.4% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's strong overall performance, which is driven by the complementary strengths of both components.

The CPU's 90th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 84th percentile among all GPUs indicate a well-balanced pairing. The system avoids the common pitfall of pairing a high-end GPU with a weak CPU or vice versa. Instead, both components operate in a performance tier where neither significantly limits the other across most of the tested resolution and settings combinations.

The ranking becomes more impressive when considering the GPU's nearest rivals. The RTX 4070 Ti's average benchmark score of 44795 is within 1.7% of the Intel Arc A730M and 1.6% of the NVIDIA RTX A6000, yet the combo ranking in Downfall benefits from the CPU's strong single-thread performance. This suggests that the Core Ultra 5 245's 4648 Cinebench R23 single-core score helps extract maximum performance from the GPU in this title.

At 1080p, the combo's performance is exceptional, with even Ultra settings producing 154 FPS. This places the system well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 1440p results are similarly strong, with High settings delivering 176 FPS. The 4K results, while lower, remain playable at all settings, with the 68 FPS Ultra figure being the only result below 100 FPS.

The rank of 335 out of 2928 combos indicates that while this system is not at the absolute top of the performance hierarchy, it outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. The combination of a 90th percentile CPU and 84th percentile GPU creates a system that excels in Downfall's demanding scenarios, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where frame rates consistently exceed 100 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Downfall with this hardware?

A: The data shows 1440p High delivers 176 FPS average, which is smooth and visually detailed. At 1080p, the system produces 246 FPS on High, but 1440p offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. For 4K, High settings at 109 FPS are playable, but Ultra drops to 68 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti's average benchmark score of 44795 is 0.8% lower than the RTX 5090 Mobile, 1.3% lower than the Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1.7% lower than the Arc A730M, and 1.6% higher than the RTX A6000. These margins are small, indicating similar performance potential.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS suggests the GPU is the primary constraint. The RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title, but the rendering load at 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits. The CPU's 5.10 GHz boost clock provides adequate support.

Q: What CPU benchmark scores does the Core Ultra 5 245 achieve?

A: The CPU scores 4648 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 32924 in multi-core. Passmark results include 4394 in single-thread and 38706 in multithread tests. These scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: How does the system perform at 1080p Low settings?

A: The system delivers 366 FPS average at 1080p Low, which is the highest measured result across all resolutions and settings. This indicates the CPU-GPU combination has substantial headroom for esports-style gameplay or high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 335th out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the top 11.4% of all configurations. This ranking reflects strong performance across all resolution and settings combinations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Downfall reveals a comprehensive picture of performance across four resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 366 FPS on Low, 300 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 255 and maximum of 345), 246 FPS on High, and 154 FPS on Ultra. These figures demonstrate excellent 1080p performance, with even the most demanding preset maintaining triple-digit frame rates.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong: 262 FPS on Low, 214 FPS on Medium (minimum 182, maximum 246), 176 FPS on High, and 110 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show the system can handle high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution, with High settings delivering 176 FPS and Ultra still exceeding 100 FPS.

The 3840x2160 results show more variation: 163 FPS on Low, 133 FPS on Medium (minimum 113, maximum 153), 109 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. While 4K performance is lower, the system maintains playable frame rates across all settings. The Medium preset's minimum of 113 FPS indicates consistent performance without significant drops.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across settings. At Low settings, the drop from 366 to 163 FPS represents a 55% reduction. At Medium, the drop from 300 to 133 FPS is also 56%. High settings see a 56% reduction from 246 to 109 FPS. Ultra settings show the largest proportional drop, from 154 to 68 FPS, a 56% decrease. This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 255 to 345 FPS; at 1440p, it is 182 to 246 FPS; and at 4K, it is 113 to 153 FPS. These ranges show tighter variance at higher resolutions, suggesting more consistent frame pacing when the GPU is more heavily loaded.