Downfall

Downfall, a horror title from 2016, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical preset. The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and AMD Radeon 8060S delivers a wide spectrum of performance, ranging from highly playable frame rates at 1080p to a marginal experience at 4K Ultra. The measured data indicates that this pairing is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for medium or low settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Downfall with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured frame rates, 2560x1440 offers a strong balance, with High settings achieving an average of 101 FPS and Low settings reaching 150 FPS. 1920x1080 provides the highest performance, with Low settings hitting 210 FPS, but 1440p retains high fidelity while staying well above 60 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Downfall?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The data shows an average of 93 FPS at 4K Low and 76 FPS at 4K Medium. However, 4K High drops to 63 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 39 FPS, which is below a smooth playability threshold.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the High preset?

A: The performance cost of Ultra is substantial. At 1920x1080, upgrading from High to Ultra reduces the average frame rate from 141 FPS to 88 FPS, a drop of 53 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average drops from 101 FPS to 63 FPS, and at 4K, it falls from 63 FPS to 39 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU's market position relative to other processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35670, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, scores 35719, meaning the Intel chip is 0.1% behind, indicating near-identical performance.

Q: How does the GPU's raw performance compare to its nearest competitors?

A: The AMD Radeon 8060S has an average benchmark score of 55757, which places it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. It is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which is only 0.1% faster, and it is 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080.

Q: Is the frame rate consistent at Medium settings?

A: The data provides minimum and maximum FPS values for Medium settings. At 1080p, the frame rate fluctuates between 146 and 198 FPS, and at 1440p, it ranges from 104 to 141 FPS. At 4K, the range is narrower, from 65 to 88 FPS, showing a more consistent performance at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is the primary driver of visual performance in this configuration. It is built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture and features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The graphics processor is clocked at a base speed of 1295 MHz and can boost up to 2900 MHz, with a pixel rate of 185.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 464.0 GTexel/s. These specifications translate to a raw compute capability of 14.85 TFLOPS.

The GPU's memory configuration is unique, as it utilizes "System Shared" memory, meaning its bandwidth and size are dependent on the system's main memory. This is a critical factor for Downfall, as the horror game's environment and texture streaming can be sensitive to memory performance. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. For instance, moving from 1080p High (141 FPS) to 4K High (63 FPS) results in a 55.3% performance drop, a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering. The benchmark results for the GPU, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2162, place it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end positioning.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and AMD Radeon 8060S is ranked 1667 out of 2928 tested combinations for Downfall. This places the pairing in the top 57% of all configurations, indicating it is a competent but not top-tier setup for this specific title. The ranking is likely influenced by the game's age and the fact that many other, potentially more powerful desktop-class components have been tested.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 35670 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with a -0.1% difference from the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 and a -0.2% difference from the Intel Core 7 250H. This suggests the processor is not a source of differentiation in performance. The GPU, however, shows more variance. While it is within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, it is 2.8% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. This indicates that the Radeon 8060S is a strong performer, and its capabilities are what likely drive the combo's rank, though the overall position suggests that there are many faster combinations available.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the High preset is the clear recommendation. At 1920x1080, it delivers an average of 141 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. At 2560x1440, it still provides a very smooth 101 FPS. Even at 4K, it manages a playable 63 FPS, which is borderline but acceptable for a slower-paced horror title. The Medium preset offers a significant boost in performance, with average frame rates of 172 FPS at 1080p, 123 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K, making it a great fallback if higher frame rates are prioritized over visual fidelity.

The Ultra preset is not recommended unless the user has a monitor with a low refresh rate and prioritizes graphics. At 1080p, it still manages 88 FPS, but at 1440p it drops to 63 FPS, and at 4K it falls to an unplayable 39 FPS. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates, hitting 210 FPS at 1080p and 150 FPS at 1440p, but it comes with a substantial visual compromise. Ultimately, the data suggests that High at 1440p is the sweet spot, offering a high-resolution experience that remains well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 210 FPS for Low, 172 FPS for Medium, 141 FPS for High, and 88 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a fluctuation between 146 and 198 FPS, indicating a variance of 52 FPS during gameplay. This is a wide range, suggesting potential stutters or demanding scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The average frame rates are 150 FPS for Low, 123 FPS for Medium, 101 FPS for High, and 63 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset again shows a range of 104 to 141 FPS, which is a 37 FPS variance, tighter than at 1080p. This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is more consistently loaded, reducing frame time spikes.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop significantly. The averages are 93 FPS for Low, 76 FPS for Medium, 63 FPS for High, and 39 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset is again the only one with full data, showing a range of 65 to 88 FPS, a 23 FPS variance. This narrower range at higher resolutions suggests that the system is becoming fully GPU-bound, with less CPU-induced variability. The progression from 1080p to 4K shows a clear pattern: the higher the resolution, the lower the average frame rate and the more stable the frame pacing, as evidenced by the shrinking delta between min and max FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 45 W TDP. The CPU features a large cache hierarchy, including 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17984.5 and a single-core score of 1810.5.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The processor's high core count and multi-threading capabilities are unlikely to be fully utilized by a game from 2016, but its strong single-core performance is beneficial for game logic and physics. The evidence for this is the frame rate scaling with resolution. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 210, which is a very high number that could be limited by the CPU in certain scenes. However, the fact that the frame rate increases from 1080p to 1440p to 4K suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The CPU's average benchmark score of 35670 places it in the 85th percentile, and it is essentially tied with its nearest rivals, meaning it is a capable and consistent performer that should not hold back the Radeon 8060S in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of the limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 141 at 1080p to 101 at 1440p, a 28.4% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K High, the frame rate falls to 63 FPS, another 37.6% decrease. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics processor is struggling to fill the increasing number of pixels.

The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the frame rate drops from 88 FPS at 1080p to 63 FPS at 1440p (a 28.4% drop) and then to 39 FPS at 4K (a 38.1% drop). This consistent pattern across all settings confirms that the AMD Radeon 8060S is the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a much smaller difference between resolutions, as the CPU's workload would remain constant. The data shows that the CPU is capable of delivering high frame rates, as evidenced by the 210 FPS result at 1080p Low, but the GPU's rendering capabilities cap the performance at higher resolutions. This analysis suggests that users who want to play at 4K should lower the settings to Medium or Low to maintain playable frame rates, while those at 1080p can enjoy the highest settings with excellent performance.