Downfall

Downfall, released in early 2016, is a horror title that stresses systems differently than typical action games. The data presented here is measured for the combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. At 1080p, the system produces extremely high frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 364 FPS average. This indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is doing the heavy lifting to feed the GPU. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, with 24 cores and 24 threads, has a boost clock of 5.50 GHz and a base clock of 3.70 GHz. Its strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2439, is crucial for maintaining high minimum frame rates in a horror game where sudden spikes in action can occur. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep game data close at hand, reducing latency that could cause stutter during fast-paced horror sequences.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on a 3 nm process. It features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The processor is unlocked, allowing for overclocking, and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 44253 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2439 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 93785. When compared to its nearest rivals, the Intel Xeon 6520P is essentially tied at a 0% delta, while the AMD EPYC 4564P is 1.5% slower, the AMD EPYC 9175F is 1.9% slower, and the AMD EPYC 4565P is 2.1% slower.

In Downfall, the CPU's role becomes evident when looking at the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 364. When the resolution increases to 2560x1440, the average drops to 260 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 162 FPS. This pattern shows that the CPU is capable of pushing very high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The 24 threads are more than sufficient for Downfall, which is a game from 2016 and likely does not utilize more than a few cores effectively. The high boost clock of 5.50 GHz is the more important specification here, as it ensures that the main game thread runs as fast as possible. The PassMark single-thread score of 5068 aligns with this interpretation, indicating strong per-core performance. The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this configuration, even at 1080p, as frame rates exceed 300 FPS on the Low preset.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a high-end graphics card based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, featuring the Navi 31 chip. It comes with 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The GPU has a boost clock of 2498 MHz and a game clock of 2365 MHz. In synthetic tests, it scores 31238 in PassMark G3D and 6841 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its percentile among all GPUs is 64, with an average benchmark score of 19410. Interestingly, its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB at a 0.4% faster score, the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 1% slower, the AMD FirePro D300 at 1.2% slower, and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp at 1.2% faster. This grouping in the database is based on average scores, which may not reflect gaming performance directly.

In Downfall, the GPU's role is most pronounced at 4K resolution. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 68, which is the lowest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. This is a dramatic drop from the 109 FPS at High settings at the same resolution, showing that the Ultra preset places a significant load on the GPU. The 24 GB of VRAM is more than enough for Downfall, as the game from 2016 would not require anywhere near that amount, even at 4K with Ultra textures. The GPU's high memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s ensures that texture streaming is not an issue. The FP32 performance of 61.39 TFLOPS indicates the raw compute power available, which helps maintain frame rates when the screen is filled with effects typical of horror games, such as fog and dynamic lighting. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as frame rates drop by more than half when going from Low (162 FPS) to Ultra (68 FPS).

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend in how the system scales across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 364 FPS on Low, 298 FPS on Medium, 244 FPS on High, and 153 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 260 FPS on Low, 213 FPS on Medium, 175 FPS on High, and 109 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the averages are 162 FPS on Low, 132 FPS on Medium, 109 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K on the Low preset is from 364 to 162, a reduction of about 55%. On the Medium preset, it goes from 298 to 132, a drop of about 56%. For High, it goes from 244 to 109, a drop of about 55%. For Ultra, it goes from 153 to 68, a drop of about 56%.

This consistent percentage drop across all settings indicates that the scaling is primarily resolution-driven, which points to the GPU being the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The CPU is capable of maintaining high frame rates, but the GPU's workload grows with resolution. The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution: 253 FPS at 1080p, 181 FPS at 1440p, and 113 FPS at 4K. These minimums are still above 100 FPS, suggesting that the system maintains smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The gap between the average and minimum FPS on Medium is 45 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming more consistently loaded, reducing the variance in frame times. At 1080p, the CPU may occasionally hit a limit, causing a larger drop from the average to the minimum, but overall, the system remains highly capable.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 359 out of 2928 tested combos in Downfall. This places it in the top 12% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank is based on the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, with higher average frame rates leading to a better rank. Given that the GPU has a percentile of 64 among all GPUs and the CPU has a percentile of 96, the combo rank of 359 suggests that the pairing works effectively for this title. The high CPU percentile ensures that there is no bottleneck at lower resolutions, allowing the GPU to reach its full potential. The GPU's percentile of 64 might seem low, but the average benchmark score of 19410 is influenced by non-gaming workloads, whereas in Downfall, the 7900 XTX performs exceptionally well, as evidenced by the high frame rates.

The rank of 359 indicates that there are 358 other combos that perform better in Downfall. These would likely include more recent or higher-end GPUs, but the data does not specify which ones. The fact that this combo ranks this high is notable given that the GPU is listed as end-of-life. The CPU's release date is 2026, and the GPU's release date is 2022, but the game is from 2016, so both components are much newer than the game. This means they have more than enough power to run the game at maximum settings. The rank is a single number, but the detailed FPS data shows that this combo can hit 364 FPS at 1080p Low, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors. At 4K Ultra, the 68 FPS average is still playable, though it may be below the threshold for high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data is comprehensive, covering three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 364 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers an average of 298 FPS, with a minimum of 253 FPS and a maximum of 343 FPS. The High preset at 1080p delivers an average of 244 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p delivers an average of 153 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 260 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers an average of 213 FPS, with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 245 FPS. The High preset at 1440p delivers an average of 175 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers an average of 109 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers an average of 162 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K delivers an average of 132 FPS, with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS. The High preset at 4K delivers an average of 109 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K delivers an average of 68 FPS.

These numbers show a clear hierarchy. The Low preset always yields the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, High, and then Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium is relatively small, with a drop of 66 FPS at 1080p, 47 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The difference between Medium and High is 54 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. The difference between High and Ultra is 91 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is clearly the most demanding, with the largest drop from High. At 4K, the Ultra preset yields a 68 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For players with a 60 Hz 4K monitor, this is acceptable, but for those with higher refresh rates at 4K, the High preset at 109 FPS would be more suitable.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Downfall?

A: The highest average frame rate is 364 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 68 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Downfall?

A: The combo ranks 359 out of 2928 tested combos, placing it near the top 12% of all configurations.

Q: What is the minimum FPS on the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS on the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 181 FPS, with an average of 213 FPS and a maximum of 245 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, as frame rates drop consistently by about 55% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU maintains high performance at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the average frame rate on the High preset at 4K?

A: The average frame rate on the High preset at 3840x2160 is 109 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 153 FPS, which is still very high and provides the best visual quality. Given that the High preset at 1080p yields 244 FPS and Medium yields 298 FPS, there is ample headroom to use Ultra for maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 109 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS standard and suitable for 120 Hz displays. The High preset at 1440p offers 175 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors, but the visual difference between High and Ultra may be worth the 66 FPS drop for some players. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 68 FPS, which is playable on a 60 Hz monitor. However, the High preset at 4K provides 109 FPS, which is a more comfortable margin for 60 Hz displays and would be better for reducing input lag. The Medium preset at 4K yields 132 FPS, but the visual quality loss may be significant. The data suggests that for a balanced experience, the High preset is the sweet spot, as it maintains frame rates above 100 FPS across all resolutions, with 244 FPS at 1080p, 175 FPS at 1440p, and 109 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is best reserved for 1080p or 1440p, where the frame rates remain above 100 FPS.