Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER

The pairing of Intel's 24-core Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER creates a substantial bottleneck in Downfall, where the GPU—not the CPU—dictates playable performance across all resolutions. The data shows a system that delivers smooth 1080p gameplay but struggles to maintain consistent frame rates at 4K, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening dramatically as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how sharply performance degrades as resolution climbs from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 210 FPS average, but this falls to 150 FPS at 1440p and further to 94 FPS at 4K—a 55% drop from 1080p to 4K at the same settings. The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets: High settings deliver 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K, representing a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K. Medium settings show a similar trajectory with 172 FPS at 1080p, 123 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K, a 55% decrease overall.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest resolution penalty. The combo manages 88 FPS at 1080p, drops to 63 FPS at 1440p, and falls to 39 FPS at 4K—a 56% loss from 1080p to 4K. This consistent ~55% scaling penalty across all presets indicates the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component; the CPU's headroom remains untapped as pixel count rises. The delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution tells the same story: at 1080p, Ultra costs 58% of the Low frame rate (88 vs 210 FPS), while at 4K, Ultra delivers only 41% of the Low performance (39 vs 94 FPS). This widening gap suggests the GPU's shading and memory resources are progressively saturated, making resolution scaling the dominant factor in performance outcomes.

How This Combo Ranks

In Downfall's measured database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 2157 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations. That rank reflects the GPU's modest standing rather than the CPU's capability—the RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus ranks at the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The massive disparity between these two percentiles explains why the combo's in-game ranking lags behind what the processor alone would suggest.

The GPU's nearest rivals underscore its mid-pack positioning. The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 20282 is 1% below the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), 1.2% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), 1.3% behind the Intel Arc B570 (20556), and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582). These narrow deltas—all within 1.5%—indicate that the GPU sits in a tightly contested performance cluster, and Downfall's results mirror this competitive parity. The combo's 2157th rank out of 3716 means roughly 42% of tested configurations perform worse, but the system clearly trails high-end pairings that pair modern GPUs with flagship CPUs.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Downfall but becomes a constraint at 4K. The GPU's base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, deliver a peak FP32 throughput of 9.062 TFLOPS. These specifications align with the measured frame rates: the card produces 210 FPS at 1080p Low, but that figure drops by more than half to 94 FPS at 4K Low, illustrating how pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become limiting factors as resolution increases.

The GPU's 12 nm Turing architecture includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, though Downfall—a 2016 horror title—does not leverage ray tracing or DLSS features, meaning the card's raw rasterization performance determines results. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 and Passmark G3D score of 18169 place the GPU in the 65th percentile, consistent with its mid-range standing. The 14 Gbps effective memory clock, combined with 8 GB capacity, handles Downfall's texture loads at 1080p and 1440p, but the 39 FPS Ultra result at 4K suggests the frame buffer and bandwidth are overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows indicate that Medium settings at 1440p offer the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1440p Medium, the system produces 123 FPS average with a minimum of 105 FPS and maximum of 141 FPS, providing a smooth experience with headroom above typical 60 FPS display refresh rates. Moving to High at 1440p drops the average to 101 FPS, still playable but with less margin, while Ultra at 1440p falls to 63 FPS—exactly at the 60 FPS threshold but without buffer for demanding scenes.

For 4K users, Medium is the highest viable preset, delivering 77 FPS average with a minimum of 65 FPS and maximum of 88 FPS. High at 4K produces 63 FPS average, which dips into uncomfortable territory during heavy sequences, while Ultra at 4K yields only 39 FPS—clearly not recommended for consistent gameplay. At 1080p, the combo has ample performance headroom: Ultra delivers 88 FPS average, and High produces 141 FPS, making either preset viable. Low settings are unnecessary at 1080p given the GPU's capability, but at 4K, Low's 94 FPS average provides the only high-refresh option.

The data suggests that 1440p Medium represents the sweet spot, capturing 73% of the 1080p Medium frame rate while delivering substantially more detail than Low presets. For players prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, 1080p High at 141 FPS offers excellent responsiveness, while 4K Medium at 77 FPS provides the best compromise for resolution-focused users.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low produces 210 FPS average, Medium yields 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS and maximum of 198 FPS, High reaches 141 FPS, and Ultra drops to 88 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra spans 122 FPS, demonstrating the GPU's ability to handle high frame rates at this resolution even with maximum quality settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low averages 150 FPS, Medium delivers 123 FPS with minimum 105 FPS and maximum 141 FPS, High hits 101 FPS, and Ultra falls to 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 87 FPS, reflecting increased GPU load at higher pixel counts. The Medium preset's minimum of 105 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes, while Ultra's 63 FPS average hovers near the edge of acceptable performance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. Low averages 94 FPS, Medium delivers 77 FPS with minimum 65 FPS and maximum 88 FPS, High drops to 63 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread compresses to 55 FPS, indicating that even the lowest settings cannot fully alleviate the GPU bottleneck at 4K. The Medium preset's minimum of 65 FPS provides a playable floor, but Ultra's 39 FPS average makes that preset impractical for this resolution. The measured data shows clear tiering: 1080p supports high-refresh gameplay on all presets, 1440p supports smooth gameplay up to High, and 4K requires Medium or lower for acceptable performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides formidable processing power that goes largely unused in Downfall. With 24 cores and 24 threads, a base clock of 3.70 GHz, and boost clock of 5.80 GHz, this Arrow Lake Refresh processor on TSMC's 3 nm process delivers exceptional multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and single-core score of 7303 place the CPU at the 96th percentile among all processors, and its average benchmark score of 84003 sits just 0.2% above the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's 83807 and 1.1% above the AMD EPYC 4584PX's 83090.

Downfall, as a 2016 horror title, does not demand the CPU's full capabilities. The game's engine benefits from high single-thread performance, which the 290K Plus provides in abundance—its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 reflects strong per-core throughput. However, the measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecks: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 210 FPS, and even at 4K Ultra, the 39 FPS result is clearly GPU-limited. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for game logic and asset streaming, but the RTX 2070 SUPER cannot translate this headroom into higher frame rates.

The CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 confirm its top-tier status, yet Downfall's performance envelope is defined almost entirely by the GPU. The combo's 2157th rank out of 3716 configurations reflects this imbalance—the CPU contributes all necessary processing power, but the GPU's 65th percentile standing caps overall performance. For users considering this pairing for Downfall, the data clearly indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield far greater performance gains than any CPU change, as the 290K Plus already operates far below its potential in this title.