Downfall

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Downfall, but the data shows a significant performance cliff when moving from High to Ultra settings. This combination ranks in the 67th percentile of tested configurations, placing it solidly in the upper tier for this horror title. The measured frames per second reveal a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still capable of pushing past 200 FPS at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, though the severity of the drop varies dramatically depending on the quality preset. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 192 FPS at 1920x1080 to 137 FPS at 2560x1440, representing a 29% reduction in throughput. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields an 85 FPS average, which is a 38% drop from the 1440p figure and a 56% decline from the 1080p baseline. This steep curve indicates that the GeForce RTX 4080’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily as pixel count quadruples.

Low settings tell a different story, as the scaling becomes even more aggressive. The 287 FPS average at 1080p drops to 205 FPS at 1440p and then to 127 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K delta here is 160 FPS, or a 56% reduction, which is nearly identical in percentage terms to the High preset drop. This consistency suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline at Low settings still relies heavily on the GPU’s raw compute power, with the RTX 4080’s 9728 shading units being the primary driver.

Medium settings offer the most complete data set, as it is the only preset that includes both minimum and maximum frame rate readings. At 1080p, the average is 235 FPS with a minimum of 199 and a maximum of 270, showing a tight 71 FPS spread. Moving to 1440p drops the average to 168 FPS with a 142-193 range, while 4K falls to 104 FPS with an 89-120 window. The frame time consistency degrades as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-intensive workload.

Ultra settings present the most punishing scaling curve, with the 4K average of 53 FPS representing a mere 44% of the 120 FPS achieved at 1080p. This 67 FPS drop is the largest absolute decline across all presets, underscoring that the combination of 4K resolution and Ultra quality demands more from the RTX 4080 than the card can consistently deliver for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that the limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s 16 cores and 22 threads are unlikely to bottleneck at any resolution in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H brings a 16-core, 22-thread configuration based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a 3.80 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock. In Downfall, a horror title that typically relies on single-thread performance for game logic and physics, the CPU’s 1759 score in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3509 in Passmark single-thread tests provide ample headroom. The data shows no evidence of CPU limitation, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

The processor’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for this game’s demands. The 14551 multi-core score in Cinebench R23 places this chip in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H with a 0.3% higher average score and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X at 0.5% lower. These margins are negligible in gaming contexts, meaning the CPU’s role in Downfall is to stay out of the way, which it does effectively.

At 1080p with Low settings, the 287 FPS average indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU enough draw calls to saturate the RTX 4080’s capabilities. Even at the most demanding Ultra preset, the 120 FPS at 1080p shows the CPU maintains adequate frame pacing. The 28 W TDP of this mobile processor is remarkably efficient for the performance delivered, and the boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic runs at peak speed.

The Passmark data compression score of 291161 and encryption score of 17169 demonstrate strong general-purpose compute, but these are not directly relevant to Downfall’s rendering workload. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, combined with the measured FPS data, confirms that the Core Ultra 7 165H is not a limiting factor at any resolution or settings combination tested.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four quality presets. At 1080p, Low settings produce 287 FPS, Medium 235 FPS, High 192 FPS, and Ultra 120 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is a 72 FPS drop, which is the largest single-preset penalty, suggesting that Ultra introduces disproportionately expensive effects. For players targeting 144 Hz displays at 1080p, High settings offer a comfortable 192 FPS average, leaving substantial headroom for frame time spikes.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more nuanced. Low settings hit 205 FPS, Medium 168 FPS, and High 137 FPS, all of which are playable on high-refresh monitors. Ultra drops to 86 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold but represents a 51 FPS loss from High. The data suggests that High is the optimal balance at 1440p, as it maintains a high frame rate while presumably offering superior visual fidelity over Medium.

The 4K resolution reveals the most critical decision point. Low settings average 127 FPS, Medium 104 FPS, and High 85 FPS, all of which are playable. Ultra, however, falls to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay on many displays. The 32 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K is significant, and the 53 FPS average suggests that Ultra should be avoided at this resolution unless the player prioritizes image quality over responsiveness.

The Medium preset’s minimum frame rate data is instructive for consistency analysis. At 4K, the 89 FPS minimum with a 104 average indicates a 15 FPS variance, while at 1440p the 142 minimum versus 168 average shows a 26 FPS spread. The 1080p Medium setting has a 199 minimum and 235 average, a 36 FPS variance. This pattern suggests that higher resolutions produce more consistent frame times, which may be counterintuitive but reflects the reduced CPU bottleneck at larger pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration holds the 1219th position out of 3716 tested combinations in Downfall, placing it in the upper third of all systems benchmarked. The percentile ranking of approximately 67% indicates that while this is not an extreme high-end desktop setup, it outperforms the majority of configurations that have been tested with this game. The combination of a mobile CPU with a high-end discrete GPU is unusual, and the data suggests the RTX 4080 carries the performance load.

The GPU’s individual benchmark scores reinforce this assessment. The RTX 4080’s Passmark G3D score of 34457 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6567 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER at 0.1% higher average score and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 2.6% lower. These small deltas indicate that the GPU is performing at expected levels for its class, with no thermal or power throttling evident in the measured FPS.

The CPU’s ranking among its peers shows tight competition. The Core Ultra 7 165H’s average benchmark score of 34083 is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 4244P at 34220, a mere 0.4% difference. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 also sits at 34222, just 0.4% higher. This clustering suggests that the specific CPU choice has minimal impact on Downfall performance, as the game’s GPU-bound nature diminishes the importance of processor selection.

The 1219 rank out of 3716 combos means that roughly 2500 tested configurations performed worse in this title. This is a strong showing for a mobile processor paired with a desktop-class GPU, and the data indicates that the RTX 4080’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the dominant factor in the combo’s ranking.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the undisputed performance driver in this configuration. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the high-resolution textures and effects that Downfall employs at higher settings. The 2205 MHz base clock and 2505 MHz boost clock, combined with 9728 shading units, deliver the raw compute necessary for the frame rates observed.

The GPU’s 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, manufactured on TSMC’s 5 nm process, represent a dense and efficient design. The 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs handle texture filtering and pixel output, respectively, with the 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 761.5 GTexel/s texture rate providing ample throughput for 4K rendering. The 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are present but likely underutilized in this horror title, which may not heavily implement ray tracing.

The RTX 4080’s benchmark results confirm its high-end positioning. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 214739 and Vulkan score of 263779 indicate strong compute performance, while the Passmark GPU Compute score of 20671 shows good general-purpose throughput. The DirectX 12 score of 132 in Passmark is relatively low, but this is a synthetic metric that does not necessarily translate to real-world gaming performance.

The GPU’s 320 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate that it requires robust cooling, which is reflected in the measured FPS stability. The 4K Ultra result of 53 FPS shows the card approaching its limits, but the 85 FPS at 4K High demonstrates that the RTX 4080 remains highly capable at the most demanding resolution when settings are managed appropriately. The 1,199 USD launch MSRP reflects its positioning above mainstream cards, and the data justifies this with consistently high frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is playable with extreme headroom. Low settings produce 287 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh display on the market. Medium settings average 235 FPS with a minimum of 199 and maximum of 270, showing excellent frame pacing. High settings drop to 192 FPS, still well above competitive gaming thresholds. Ultra settings produce 120 FPS, which is the first preset to dip below 200 FPS at this resolution, indicating that the game’s Ultra preset introduces expensive post-processing effects.

The 2560x1440 results show a proportional decline across all presets. Low settings yield 205 FPS, maintaining triple-digit performance. Medium settings average 168 FPS with a 142-193 range, providing solid consistency. High settings deliver 137 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors. Ultra settings drop to 86 FPS, a 51 FPS reduction from High, making it the first preset to approach the 60 FPS boundary at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance hierarchy becomes more critical. Low settings produce 127 FPS, which is playable on 120 Hz displays. Medium settings average 104 FPS with an 89-120 range, showing a 31 FPS variance that might be noticeable during fast camera movements. High settings deliver 85 FPS, suitable for 60 Hz and basic 100 Hz displays. Ultra settings drop to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard and may exhibit noticeable stuttering in demanding scenes.

The Medium preset’s minimum and maximum data at each resolution provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the 199-270 range spans 71 FPS, which is the widest spread. At 1440p, the 142-193 range narrows to 51 FPS. At 4K, the 89-120 range tightens further to 31 FPS. This pattern indicates that lower resolutions allow the CPU to deliver frames faster, but the GPU’s workload becomes more consistent at higher resolutions, reducing frame time variance.