Downfall

Downfall, a 2016 horror title, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination. The measured data shows this pairing achieves high frame rates across all tested settings, but the relationship between resolution, graphical presets, and the CPU/GPU components reveals a complex performance picture that goes beyond simple averages.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 425th out of 3716 tested combos for Downfall. This places it in the top 11.4% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a game that is nearly a decade old. The high rank is not surprising given the hardware involved, but the specific placement suggests that the game's engine still responds well to modern component strengths.

The CPU itself sits in the 94th percentile against all other processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 70,879. Its nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance: the Intel Xeon 6511P scores 71,051 (a delta of -0.2%), the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 scores 71,370 (-0.7%), the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163 (+1%), and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996 (+1.3%). This indicates that the Core Ultra 7 265K is very well-positioned within its performance tier, with no single rival holding a significant advantage.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a 76th percentile against all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 31,087. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31,206, -0.4%), the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q (31,220, -0.4%), the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell (31,532, -1.4%), and the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31,676, -1.9%). The GPU's percentile is notably lower than the CPU's, which hints that in this specific game, the processor may have more headroom relative to its peers than the graphics card does.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, running on a 3 nm process from TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy consists of 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. This large core count and high boost clock are typical of a modern desktop flagship.

In Downfall, the CPU's role appears significant, especially at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 369 FPS, which is substantially higher than at 4K with the same settings (164 FPS). This large gap suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than at higher resolutions, where the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The processor's single-core performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2020, is strong and likely contributes to the high frame rates in a game that may not fully utilize all 20 threads.

The multi-core performance is also impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,850 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 23,085. While Downfall is a horror game that may not be heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's ability to handle background tasks and maintain high minimum frame rates is reflected in the Medium preset results, where minimum FPS values are recorded. The processor's Passmark multi-thread score of 58,594 further underscores its capability, but the game's performance scaling with resolution indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Downfall?

A: The data shows the highest average frame rate at 1080p with Low settings (369 FPS), but for a balanced experience, 1440p with High settings (177 FPS) offers a strong mix of quality and speed. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 69 FPS, which may be less desirable for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265K's average benchmark score of 70,879 is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6511P (71,051, -0.2%) and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (71,370, -0.7%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70,163, +1%) and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69,996, +1.3%).

Q: Does the GPU's performance in Downfall match its overall benchmark standing?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has a 76th percentile ranking among all GPUs, but its nearest rival, the NVIDIA TITAN RTX, scores 31,676 (a delta of -1.9%). In Downfall, the GPU's performance varies greatly by settings, suggesting that the game is not purely GPU-bound at all resolutions.

Q: What is the impact of raising graphical settings from Low to Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 164 at Low to 69 at Ultra, a reduction of 95 FPS. This indicates a significant GPU load increase, with the Medium preset providing a middle ground at 134 FPS.

Q: Are the minimum frame rates consistent across settings?

A: The data only includes minimum FPS values for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the minimum is 257 FPS; at 1440p, it is 183 FPS; and at 4K, it is 114 FPS. These values show a steady decrease with resolution, but all remain above common refresh rate thresholds.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2020, while the multi-core score is 35,850. This ratio of roughly 17.7x demonstrates strong scaling across the 20 cores, but in Downfall, the single-core score may be more relevant for determining maximum frame rates at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers outstanding results: Low settings produce an average of 369 FPS, Medium 302 FPS (with a minimum of 257 FPS and maximum of 347 FPS), High 248 FPS, and Ultra 155 FPS. This shows a smooth progression of performance degradation as settings increase, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 214 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are still very high: Low yields 264 FPS, Medium 216 FPS (minimum 183 FPS, maximum 248 FPS), High 177 FPS, and Ultra 111 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 153 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become more of a limiting factor. At 3840x2160, the averages drop further: Low 164 FPS, Medium 134 FPS (minimum 114 FPS, maximum 154 FPS), High 110 FPS, and Ultra 69 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is now 95 FPS, showing that the GPU is increasingly strained at higher resolutions.

The data reveals that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 69 is playable, but it is the only configuration that falls below the 100 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 4K, with an average of 134 FPS and a minimum of 114 FPS, offers the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate stability for users seeking a high-refresh-rate experience at that resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of this combo is telling. From 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, the average FPS drops from 369 to 264, a reduction of 28.5%. From 1440p to 4K at Low, the drop is from 264 to 164, a reduction of 37.9%. This increasing percentage drop suggests that the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck as resolution rises.

At High settings, the scaling is slightly different: 1080p to 1440p sees a drop from 248 to 177 (28.6%), and 1440p to 4K drops from 177 to 110 (37.9%). The consistency of these percentages across Low and High indicates that the game's engine scales predictably with resolution. For Ultra settings, the drops are from 155 to 111 (28.4%) and from 111 to 69 (37.8%), following the same pattern.

This scaling analysis implies that the CPU is not the primary limiter when moving to higher resolutions. The consistent percentage drops align with the GPU's workload increasing proportionally with pixel count. The CPU's high single-thread performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R23 score of 2020, appears sufficient to keep up even at 1080p, where the frame rates are highest. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, which shows a nearly linear relationship between resolution and FPS loss.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and target frame rate. For 1080p, the High preset at 248 FPS is recommended, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (302 FPS) with only a 54 FPS cost. The Ultra preset at 155 FPS may be appealing for maximum quality, but the jump from High is substantial.

At 1440p, the High preset (177 FPS) offers an excellent balance, with the Medium preset (216 FPS) being a viable alternative for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity. The Ultra preset (111 FPS) is still above 100 FPS, making it a reasonable choice for users with high-refresh-rate monitors who want maximum quality.

For 4K, the Medium preset (134 FPS) is the strongest recommendation, as it maintains a high average frame rate with a minimum of 114 FPS, ensuring consistent performance. The High preset (110 FPS) is also playable, but the Ultra preset (69 FPS) may introduce noticeable stuttering in a horror game where smoothness is critical. The Low preset (164 FPS) is less desirable due to its reduced visual quality, but it demonstrates the combo's capability to exceed 160 FPS even at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with an AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 2340 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with a TDP of 285 W. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. This large memory pool is more than sufficient for Downfall, which was released in 2016 and likely does not have high VRAM requirements.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 8448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. It also has 66 ray tracing cores and 264 tensor cores, though these features are unlikely to be heavily utilized in a game from 2016. The FP32 performance is 44.10 TFLOPS, which is substantial for traditional rasterization.

In Downfall, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings increase. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 69 FPS, indicating that the GPU is heavily loaded. The GPU's benchmark percentile of 76% is lower than the CPU's 94%, which suggests that in this specific game, the graphics card is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The minimum FPS values for Medium settings show that the GPU maintains a floor of 114 FPS at 4K and 257 FPS at 1080p, demonstrating its ability to sustain high frame rates even under load.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s and the 16 GB VRAM capacity ensure that even at 4K with high-resolution textures, the card does not run out of memory. However, the performance scaling suggests that the GPU's raw compute power, not memory, is what limits performance at higher settings. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's position relative to rivals, such as the NVIDIA TITAN RTX with a score of 31,676, shows that it is competitive but not dominant, which aligns with its mid-to-high-end market positioning.