Downfall

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 presents a stark contrast in capabilities. The processor is a high-end 20-core part that sits in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, while the graphics card is an end-of-life entry-level model that ranks in only the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. Benchmark results for Downfall reflect this imbalance, with frame rates that range from playable at lower settings to severely constrained at higher presets. The data indicates that the GTX 1650 is the definitive bottleneck in this configuration, and the Core Ultra 7 265K's substantial processing power is largely left untapped by this 2016 horror title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows a clear hierarchy of playability across the four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 91.8 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in any configuration. This provides a smooth, responsive experience that is ideal for a genre where reaction time can be critical. The Medium preset at 73 FPS and the High preset at 62.4 FPS are also viable options, offering progressively better visual fidelity while maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold.

The Ultra preset, however, represents a significant performance cliff. At 1920x1080, it drops to an average of 36.4 FPS, which is nearly half the frame rate of the High preset. This makes Ultra a poor choice for this hardware combination. The cost of the extra visual effects is too high relative to the performance gain.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended choice. It provides a substantial improvement in visual detail over Medium and Low while keeping the average frame rate at 62.4 FPS. This is a nearly perfect 60 FPS experience. If a higher frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 91.8 FPS is the fallback option, ensuring maximum smoothness. The data suggests that the GTX 1650 lacks the raw throughput to handle the Ultra preset's demands at any resolution, so it should be avoided entirely.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this CPU and GPU combination in Downfall?*

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 91.8 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: At what resolution and settings does the system fail to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (63.5 FPS) stays above 60 FPS. The Medium (55.3 FPS) and High (42.6 FPS) presets at this resolution, as well as all presets at 3840x2160, fall below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of performance cost at 1080p?

A: The performance cost is severe. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 36.4 FPS, which is a drop of 26 FPS compared to the High preset's 62.4 FPS average. This represents a 41.6% reduction in frame rate for the visual upgrade.

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

A: The benchmark data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 8713 and sits in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. In contrast, the Core Ultra 7 265K is in the 97th percentile of all CPUs with an average score of 79102. The FPS drops associated with increasing resolution and settings are characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario.

Q: Is there a resolution where the system can handle the High preset with a playable frame rate?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080, the High preset yields an average of 62.4 FPS, which is playable. At 2560x1440, the High preset average drops to 42.6 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this specific hardware combination for this game?

A: This combination of CPU and GPU ranks 1675th out of 1741 tested combinations for Downfall, placing it in the bottom 4% of all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the decisive component in this benchmark analysis. Its specifications reveal why it struggles with Downfall at higher settings. The card features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. This limited memory capacity and bandwidth are likely reasons why the Ultra preset, which typically demands more memory and higher throughput, causes such a significant performance collapse.

The GPU's compute capabilities are modest. It has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units, leading to a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 2.984 TFLOPS. These figures are consistent with a card designed for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings in less demanding titles from its era, but Downfall's Ultra preset appears to exceed its capabilities.

The benchmark scores for the GTX 1650 corroborate its position. Its Passmark G3D score is 7880, and it achieves 58 in the Passmark DirectX 11 test, which is relevant for a game from 2016. These scores place it in the 43rd percentile, and its nearest rivals are within a 0.5% performance delta. The data clearly shows that while the GPU can handle the core workload at lower presets, the additional geometric and shading complexity of higher presets pushes it beyond its limits. The Core Ultra 7 265K, with its high multi-threaded scores like 58838 in Passmark Multithread, is not the source of the frame rate drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all tested settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the GTX 1650 shows its best performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 91.8 FPS. The Medium preset averages 73 FPS, while the High preset averages 62.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is the outlier, collapsing to an average of only 36.4 FPS. This is a clear demonstration of the performance cost associated with the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the demand on the GPU increases significantly. The Low preset manages an average of 63.5 FPS, still playable. The Medium preset drops to 55.3 FPS, and the High preset falls to 42.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution is nearly unplayable, with an average of just 25.2 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system is severely overburdened. The Low preset averages 41.1 FPS. The Medium preset averages 35.7 FPS, and the High preset averages 29.6 FPS. The Ultra preset produces an average of 19.1 FPS, which is a slideshow-like experience. The frame rates at this resolution across all settings are below the threshold for smooth, interactive gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable and steep decline in performance as resolution increases, which further confirms the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 62.4 FPS to 42.6 FPS, a reduction of 31.7%. The subsequent move to 3840x2160 at the High preset sees the frame rate fall to 29.6 FPS, another 30.5% reduction from the 1440p figure.

The scaling pattern holds across other settings as well. At the Low preset, the frame rate goes from 91.8 FPS at 1080p to 63.5 FPS at 1440p, and then to 41.1 FPS at 4K. This linear degradation is the signature of a GPU that is processing more pixels with a fixed amount of computational and memory resources. The 4 GB VRAM buffer and 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth are insufficient to feed the rendering pipeline efficiently at higher resolutions.

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial at every setting. For instance, the Low preset loses 55.2% of its average frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K (91.8 to 41.1 FPS). This steep decline indicates that the limiting component is the graphics card. A CPU-bound system would show much less variance in frame rates across resolutions, as the processor's workload would remain relatively constant. Here, the consistent and large FPS drops with each resolution increase are a clear indicator that the GTX 1650's rendering capabilities are the definitive constraint, with the powerful Core Ultra 7 265K waiting idle for data that the GPU cannot deliver quickly enough.