Downfall

# Downfall with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a playable experience across most of Downfall's settings, though the data reveals a clear pattern: this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra pushes the system to its limits. Measured results show the system ranking 1207th out of 2928 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The 24-core Arrow Lake Refresh processor provides substantial headroom, but the 8 GB GeForce 30-series GPU becomes the defining constraint as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent decline as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 257 FPS at 1080p to 183 FPS at 1440p — a reduction of 74 FPS (approximately 29%) — and then falls further to 114 FPS at 4K, representing another 69 FPS drop (approximately 38%). This scaling pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior: the CPU can feed frames quickly at lower resolutions, but the RTX 3070's rendering throughput diminishes as pixel count quadruples.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with slightly smaller absolute numbers. At 1920x1080, the average is 210 FPS, which drops to 150 FPS at 2560x1440 and 93 FPS at 3840x2160. The 4K figure is 44% lower than the 1080p result, showing that the gap widens with more demanding settings. High settings follow the same trajectory: 172 FPS at 1080p, 123 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset compresses these differences — 108 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K — because the GPU is already saturated even at the lowest resolution, leaving less room for resolution-based scaling.

What the data suggests about the limiting component is straightforward. At 1080p Low, the 257 FPS average far exceeds what most displays can show, meaning the CPU is likely not the constraint at this point. However, the dramatic falloff at 4K — where Ultra produces only 48 FPS — points squarely at the GPU as the limiting factor. The RTX 3070's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are taxed heavily at 3840x2160, and even the Ultra 9 290K's 24 cores cannot compensate for the GPU's pixel throughput ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. Its base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1725 MHz are modest by current standards, but the card's 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units provide substantial raw compute. The measured FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s explain why the card handles 1080p and 1440p so competently in Downfall.

The 8 GB GDDR6 memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus yields 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This figure is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 48 FPS suggests the memory subsystem is a limiting factor at the highest resolution and quality combination. The 96 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s, which is the likely ceiling for 4K rendering — at that resolution, the card must fill over 8 million pixels per frame, and the pixel fill rate becomes the bottleneck.

The GPU's percentile rank of 61 among all tested graphics cards places it in the mid-range tier, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (0.7% higher average score), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (1% higher), and AMD Radeon HD 7970M (1.1% higher). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c sits 1.5% above in average benchmark score. These close margins indicate the RTX 3070 is competitive with its immediate peers, but none of these rivals would be expected to deliver dramatically different Downfall performance given the similar compute profiles.

The card's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class, and its 12-pin power connector suggests it draws power efficiently for the output delivered. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3162 and Passmark G3D score of 22214 provide additional context: the card performs well in synthetic tests but the Downfall results show real-world gaming behavior that aligns with these numbers.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 172 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors and indicates a smooth experience.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rate ranges from 114 FPS at Low settings down to 48 FPS at Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth, so 4K is only viable at lower presets.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 17208 is 0.7% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, 1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, and 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon HD 7970M. It sits 1.5% above the NVIDIA Tesla K40c.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution offers a strong balance, with 183 FPS at Low, 150 FPS at Medium, 123 FPS at High, and 77 FPS at Ultra. All presets exceed 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any point?

A: At 1080p Low, the 257 FPS average suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly enough. The Ultra 9 290K's 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom, so GPU constraints emerge first as resolution increases.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 1207th out of 2928 tested combos for Downfall, placing it in the upper-middle percentile of all configurations tested in the database.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1207 out of 2928 places this configuration in the 59th percentile of all tested systems for Downfall. This is a solid mid-tier ranking, though not exceptional — the top performers in the database likely pair higher-end GPUs with similar processors. The Ultra 9 290K's individual percentile of 96 among all CPUs indicates the processor is not the limiting factor; rather, the RTX 3070's percentile of 61 among all GPUs drags the overall ranking down.

The deltaPct values from the CPU's nearest rivals provide context for the processor's contribution. The Ultra 9 290K scores 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX, and 1.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 9135, while sitting 1.3% below the AMD EPYC 7F72. These are marginal differences, meaning the CPU choice is unlikely to meaningfully alter Downfall performance — the GPU remains the deciding factor.

Given that the GPU's nearest rivals are all within 1.5% of its average score, the RTX 3070 is a middle-of-the-pack card. The combo's 1207th rank reflects this: it outperforms roughly 59% of tested systems, which is consistent with a strong CPU paired with a mid-range GPU. Systems ranked above this combo likely use GPUs with higher memory bandwidth or more shading units, which would provide better 4K performance in Downfall's demanding scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings is playable. Low settings produce an average of 257 FPS, Medium achieves 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 and maximum of 242, High reaches 172 FPS, and Ultra drops to 108 FPS. All of these results exceed 100 FPS, making 1080p a comfortable experience at any preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain strong but show the GPU working harder. Low yields 183 FPS, Medium produces 150 FPS with a range of 127 to 172, High delivers 123 FPS, and Ultra falls to 77 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 127 FPS indicates that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above 60 FPS, providing a consistent experience.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress significantly. Low settings average 114 FPS, Medium drops to 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 107, High reaches 77 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 48 FPS. The Medium preset's 79 FPS minimum is the only sub-60 result recorded across all tested configurations, but the Ultra preset's 48 FPS average suggests that 4K Ultra is not a viable option for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a clear pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 149 FPS (257 vs 108), while at 4K it shrinks to 66 FPS (114 vs 48). This indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU can take advantage of reduced graphical load to push higher frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering limits dominate regardless of settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 108 FPS provide the best visual quality while maintaining a frame rate well above 60 FPS — this is the recommended preset for users prioritizing image fidelity. For those with high-refresh displays, Medium at 210 FPS or Low at 257 FPS offer smoother motion at the cost of visual quality.

At 2560x1440, Ultra at 77 FPS is the best balance of quality and performance, as it remains above 60 FPS while delivering the highest graphical detail. The Medium preset at 150 FPS is a strong alternative for users who prefer higher frame rates, and its 127 FPS minimum ensures consistent performance during intense scenes. High at 123 FPS is also viable, though it offers little advantage over Medium given the smaller gap in visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Medium at 93 FPS is the recommended preset, as it delivers smooth gameplay with a 79 FPS minimum while maintaining reasonable visual quality. High at 77 FPS is acceptable for users who prioritize quality over headroom, but Ultra at 48 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided. Low at 114 FPS is the option for users who want maximum frame rates, though the visual compromise may not be worth the performance gain.

The data suggests that the RTX 3070's 8 GB memory capacity is a limiting factor at 4K Ultra specifically, where memory bandwidth and capacity demands are highest. For users targeting 4K, Medium settings provide the best experience per the measured rows, as the 93 FPS average balances visual fidelity with playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm process. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.80 GHz, combined with 36 MB of shared L3 cache, make it one of the fastest desktop CPUs in the database — its 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms this. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and single-core score of 7303 demonstrate exceptional throughput across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads.

In Downfall, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 257 FPS, which is likely near the game engine's frame rate ceiling or the GPU's rendering limit at that resolution. The CPU's 24 cores provide more than enough processing power for game logic, physics, and AI, and the 5.80 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance for tasks that cannot leverage multiple cores.

The Passmark multi-thread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 further illustrate the CPU's capabilities. The data compression score of 698346 and integer math score of 166194 indicate strong general-purpose processing, which supports the game's background tasks without introducing bottlenecks. The memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is sufficient for the GPU to receive data without starvation, as evidenced by the GPU-bound scaling pattern observed across resolutions.

The nearest CPU rivals — the Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% lower), EPYC 4584PX (1.1% lower), and EPYC 9135 (1.2% lower) — are all within a narrow performance band, meaning that swapping the processor for any of these alternatives would produce negligible differences in Downfall's frame rates. This confirms that the CPU is not the limiting component in this configuration; the RTX 3070's GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions defines the overall experience. For users considering upgrades, the data suggests that improving the GPU would yield greater performance gains in Downfall than upgrading the already-powerful CPU.