Downfall

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the AMD Radeon 880M delivers playable but constrained performance in Downfall, a 2016 horror title. This is an integrated-graphics setup, and the measured frame rates reflect that positioning. The data shows a combo that is firmly entry-level for modern gaming expectations, ranking in the bottom percentile of all tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution climbs, which is typical for an iGPU configuration. At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the combo averages 73 FPS. Stepping up to 2560x1440 at the same Medium preset drops the average to 52 FPS, a 28.8% reduction. Moving to 3840x2160 at Medium yields just 32 FPS, which is 56.2% below the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that the AMD Radeon 880M's rendering throughput is the limiting factor; the pixel fill rate and shader count simply cannot sustain higher resolutions.

The 1080p to 1440p transition at High settings tells a similar story: 60 FPS down to 43 FPS, a 28.3% loss. The 1440p to 4K jump at High is even more punishing, dropping from 43 FPS to 27 FPS, a 37.2% loss. This nonlinear degradation points to memory bandwidth constraints. The Radeon 880M uses System Shared memory, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H's dual-channel configuration provides 89.6 GB/s. At 4K, the bandwidth requirement outstrips what this setup can deliver, causing the frame rate to collapse.

Interestingly, the Low preset at 4K manages 40 FPS, which is higher than the Medium preset at 1440p (32 FPS). This suggests that at Low settings, the game's texture and shader demands are reduced enough that the iGPU can prioritize raw fill rate over memory traffic. For a horror game where atmosphere matters, this is a meaningful trade-off: you can chase resolution or fidelity, but not both.

The 1080p Ultra preset averages 37 FPS, which is actually lower than the 4K Low average of 40 FPS. This counterintuitive result confirms that Downfall's Ultra preset imposes a heavy computational load—likely via volumetric effects and complex lighting—that disproportionately taxes the 768 shading units and 48 texture mapping units of the Radeon 880M. The bottleneck is not resolution alone but the combination of resolution and preset complexity.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Downfall at 4K?*

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it averages 40 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 32 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game that benefits from smooth motion. High and Ultra presets at 4K are not viable, averaging 27 FPS and 17 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings balance for smooth gameplay?

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 at Medium offers 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum, providing the best combination of fluidity and visual detail. If you prefer High settings, 1080p still delivers a 60 FPS average, which is acceptable for this genre.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at the same resolution?

A: The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding. At 1080p, Ultra averages 37 FPS compared to High's 60 FPS, a 38.3% performance penalty. At 1440p, the gap widens: Ultra averages 27 FPS versus High's 43 FPS. At 4K, Ultra is nearly unplayable at 17 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data strongly indicates the GPU is the bottleneck. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor with a 4.80 GHz boost clock and scores 15028 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. The Radeon 880M, by contrast, ranks in the 43rd percentile among all GPUs and is comparable to a GeForce GTX 675MX. The frame rate drops follow GPU-bound resolution scaling, not CPU-bound logic.

Q: What are the frame time consistency numbers for this combo?

A: Only the Medium preset includes min/max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the range is 62 to 84 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it narrows to 44 to 60 FPS. At 4K Medium, it tightens further to 28 to 37 FPS, showing that as the iGPU approaches its limit, the frame pacing becomes more uniform but the overall rate becomes less playable.

*Q: How does this combo rank against all tested configurations in Downfall?*

A: It ranks 3629 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 2.3% of all systems tested for this game. This is consistent with an integrated graphics solution competing against dedicated GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests a clear hierarchy for this combo. For a target of 60+ FPS, 1920x1080 at Medium is the sweet spot, averaging 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS. This preset provides enough headroom that even demanding scenes in a horror game—where sudden lighting changes and particle effects occur—should remain fluid.

If visual fidelity is the priority, 1080p High at 60 FPS average is acceptable, but the lack of min/max data means frame dips could be more pronounced. The 1440p Medium preset at 52 FPS is playable but sits below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider ideal for action sequences. For a slower-paced horror title, this might be tolerable, but the 44 FPS minimum suggests occasional stutter during intense moments.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. Even at 1080p, it only averages 37 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for a genre that relies on responsive camera movement. The 4K options are similarly compromised: Low at 40 FPS is the only playable 4K setting, and it sacrifices too much detail for a game that builds atmosphere through visual fidelity.

The practical recommendation is 1080p Medium for the best experience, with 1080p High as a second choice if you can tolerate occasional dips. The 1440p Medium preset is a viable compromise for users with 1440p displays who prefer native resolution over upscaling, but the 52 FPS average and 44 FPS minimum make it a marginal choice. Avoid 4K entirely unless you are willing to run Low settings and accept the visual compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3629 out of 3716 is a stark metric. It places this system in the bottom 2.3% of all CPU-GPU combinations tested in Downfall. This is not surprising given the component profile: an integrated GPU with 768 shading units and a 15W TDP paired with a mobile CPU. The Radeon 880M's standalone GPU percentile is 43, meaning it outperforms only 43% of all GPUs in the benchmark database. When combined with the CPU's 83rd percentile ranking, the overall system performance is dragged down by the graphics subsystem.

The nearest GPU rivals provide context for the Radeon 880M's position. It scores within 0.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 and within 0.1% of the GeForce GTX 675MX. These are older discrete GPUs or low-end mobile parts, which illustrates the performance class of this iGPU. The AMD Radeon HD 8870M is 0.3% behind, and the Radeon R9 M375X is 1.3% behind. In practice, the Radeon 880M behaves like a modest discrete GPU from several generations ago.

The CPU side tells a different story. The Core Ultra 7 155H scores 32700 in average benchmark scores, placing it in the 83rd percentile and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-14600T and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. This is a capable processor for productivity and general tasks, but in Downfall, its potential is hamstrung by the iGPU. The 16 cores and 22 threads are largely irrelevant when the graphics pipeline cannot feed frames fast enough.

For context, this combo's rank is not about the CPU being weak—it is about the GPU being the wrong tool for the job. A system with the same CPU and a discrete GPU would rank significantly higher. The data suggests that users considering this combo for gaming should temper expectations: it is a productivity-first machine that can handle light gaming at reduced settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 880M is built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture using a 4nm process from TSMC. It features 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs, with 12 ray tracing cores. The boost clock reaches 2900 MHz, and the FP32 performance is rated at 4.454 TFLOPS. These specifications place it firmly in the integrated graphics class, despite the "Radeon" branding that might suggest otherwise.

The GPU's memory configuration is System Shared, meaning it relies on the CPU's dual-channel DDR5 memory with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. This is a critical limitation for Downfall, a game that, while from 2016, still requires substantial memory bandwidth at higher resolutions. The 4K performance collapse from 40 FPS at Low to 32 FPS at Medium illustrates this constraint: as texture detail increases, the shared memory bus becomes saturated.

The Radeon 880M's benchmark scores reinforce its entry-level status. It scores 7615 in Passmark G3D and 3719 in Passmark GPU Compute. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 535 is low, reflecting the GPU's difficulty with modern DirectX 12 workloads. DirectX 11 performance is the best of the legacy API scores at 73, which aligns with Downfall's 2016 release date and its likely DirectX 11 rendering path.

The GPU's 15W TDP is remarkably low, which is both a strength and a weakness. It means this combo can run in thin-and-light laptops without active cooling for the GPU, but it also caps sustained performance. The boost clock of 2900 MHz is high for an iGPU, but thermal and power constraints likely prevent it from sustaining that frequency under load. The measured frame rates reflect this: the 1080p Medium average of 73 FPS is respectable for an iGPU, but the 4K results show the power envelope cannot handle heavy workloads.

The ray tracing cores (12 RT cores) are present, but Downfall is unlikely to use them given its age. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility mean the GPU is future-proof in API terms, but raw throughput limits its practical gaming utility. For this title, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck, and no amount of CPU headroom can compensate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 89 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average, 62 FPS minimum, 84 FPS maximum
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 64 FPS average
• Medium: 52 FPS average, 44 FPS minimum, 60 FPS maximum
• High: 43 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 40 FPS average
• Medium: 32 FPS average, 28 FPS minimum, 37 FPS maximum
• High: 27 FPS average
• Ultra: 17 FPS average

The 1080p Low preset at 89 FPS is the only configuration that approaches high-refresh territory, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for a horror game. The 1080p Medium preset is the most balanced, offering 73 FPS with a 62 FPS floor. This is the recommended configuration for consistent gameplay.

At 1440p, the Low preset's 64 FPS is playable, but Medium's 52 FPS is the highest quality option that remains above 50 FPS. The High preset at 43 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 27 FPS is not recommended. The 4K results are uniformly poor: even Low at 40 FPS will feel sluggish in a genre that benefits from smooth camera panning.

The min/max data for Medium presets reveals the frame pacing characteristics. At 1080p, the 62-84 FPS range shows acceptable variance. At 1440p, the 44-60 FPS range indicates tighter pacing but lower overall performance. At 4K, the 28-37 FPS range shows the GPU is running near its limit, with reduced variance but insufficient frame rates. This pattern is typical of an iGPU hitting memory bandwidth ceilings rather than shader compute limits.