Downfall

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 in Downfall?

A: This combination ranks 56th out of 2928 tested combos in the database for Downfall, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations measured for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus averages 84,003 points across all benchmark tests, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83,807) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83,090). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3% (85,072).

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards in the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 holds a 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79,605, putting the RTX 5090 just 0.3% ahead.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K with High settings?

A: At 3840x2160 resolution with High settings, the measured average FPS is 135. For comparison, Ultra settings at the same resolution drop this to 84 FPS, while Low settings increase it to 201 FPS.

Q: How much performance difference exists between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings deliver 323 FPS average, while Ultra settings deliver 135 FPS average. This represents a 188 FPS difference, meaning Ultra settings reduce performance by roughly 58% compared to Low.

Q: Does the data show a CPU or GPU bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The scaling from 1080p to 4K suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 452 FPS, but at 4K Low it drops to 201 FPS — a 55.5% reduction. The CPU's strong multi-core performance (51,731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) keeps 1080p frame rates exceptionally high, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint as resolution increases.

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 a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock runs at 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, and it carries 36 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 3 MB of L2 cache per core. This configuration produces a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and a single-core score of 7,303, placing the CPU in the 96th percentile of all processors tested.

For Downfall, a horror title from 2016, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with enough draw calls and game logic updates to maintain high frame rates. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 indicate that the processor handles both heavily threaded background tasks and latency-sensitive single-threaded game loops without becoming a bottleneck. The 24 threads are particularly relevant for modern game engines that offload physics, audio, and streaming to separate worker threads.

The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 452 FPS average. This extremely high frame rate is only possible if the CPU can process and submit frames faster than the GPU can render them. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 5.80 GHz boost clock, delivers the single-threaded responsiveness needed for this scenario. Its PassMark single-thread score of 4,823 is competitive with the nearest rivals, though the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K trails by only 0.2% in overall average score, meaning the performance margin between these two CPUs is negligible in practice.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 also plays a role in feeding the GPU with texture and geometry data. While the RTX 5090 has its own 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, the CPU-to-GPU transfer path depends on system memory bandwidth. The 17,800 million transistors packed into a 243 mm² die suggest a highly efficient design that maintains high clock speeds without excessive power draw, though the 125 W TDP does require adequate cooling.

In the context of Downfall, the CPU's benchmark results indicate it can sustain high frame rates even when the GPU is not fully loaded. At 1080p Ultra, the combo still produces 190 FPS average, which is well above the refresh rate of most displays. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that it is not the limiting component in this configuration for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a massive 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. It features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units, along with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) across a 512-bit bus.

The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Downfall's requirements given the game's 2016 release date. The GPU's FP32 compute performance of 104.8 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s demonstrate its raw rendering capability. In the PassMark G3D benchmark, the RTX 5090 scores 39,650, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs.

For Downfall specifically, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 452 FPS, but this drops to 323 FPS at 1440p Low and 201 FPS at 4K Low. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the RTX 5090's rendering throughput determines the frame rate. The GPU's 32 GB of VRAM also ensures that texture loading is never a bottleneck, even at Ultra settings where higher resolution textures demand more memory.

The RTX 5090's nearest rival in the database is the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79,605 in average benchmarks — a 0.3% deficit. However, the RTX 5090's advantage in gaming-specific workloads is likely more pronounced given its consumer-oriented architecture with dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, though the data does not isolate gaming-specific GPU benchmarks beyond the measured FPS in Downfall.

The GPU's 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU indicate that it requires substantial power delivery, but the dual-slot design and 1x 16-pin connector make installation manageable in most full-tower cases. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensures no bandwidth limitation when communicating with the CPU. In Downfall, the GPU's performance at 4K Ultra (84 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (190 FPS) shows a 55.8% reduction, confirming that the GPU is the primary scaling factor across resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 56th out of 2,928 tested combos in Downfall, placing it in the 98.1st percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects the combined capability of both components working together in this specific game.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards suggest that both components are near the top of their respective categories. However, the combo rank of 56th out of 2,928 indicates that there are 55 configurations that achieve higher performance in Downfall. These are likely combinations with even more optimized pairings or potentially different CPU-GPU balances that yield higher frame rates in this particular title.

The nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 0.2% lower on average across all benchmarks, yet the combo rank in Downfall is measured specifically for this game, not synthetic workloads. The data shows that the RTX 5090's closest GPU rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, is 0.3% behind in average score, but the Tesla P100 is a compute-oriented card unlikely to be paired with a high-end consumer CPU for gaming. This suggests that the 56th rank is driven by the specific combination of this CPU and GPU rather than either component being deficient.

At 4K Ultra settings, the combo produces 84 FPS average, which is playable but not exceptionally high for a top-tier configuration. This could explain why 55 other combos rank higher — they may achieve higher frame rates at Ultra settings due to different architectural efficiencies in Downfall's engine. The 2928 total combos tested provide a broad comparison landscape, and a rank of 56th places this configuration in the top 1.9% of all possible pairings, which is a strong result for a game released in 2016.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across three resolutions and four settings presets provides clear guidance for optimal gameplay experience in Downfall. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 84 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Dropping to High settings at 4K increases the average to 135 FPS, a 60.7% improvement that provides much more comfortable frame pacing.

At 1440p, Medium settings deliver 264 FPS average with a minimum of 225 FPS and maximum of 304 FPS, making it the most balanced preset for high-refresh-rate monitors. Ultra at 1440p drops to 135 FPS, which is still smooth but sacrifices the headroom that Medium provides. For players with 144Hz or 165Hz displays, the Medium preset at 1440p is the sweet spot, as it exceeds the refresh rate with substantial margin.

At 1080p, even Ultra settings achieve 190 FPS average, so players with 1080p displays can run the game at maximum settings without concern. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 452 FPS, which may be useful for competitive play or for reducing GPU load to lower power consumption, but the visual quality tradeoff is significant for a horror game where atmosphere matters.

The best overall experience based on the measured data is High settings at 4K, which delivers 135 FPS with the visual fidelity of High preset. This provides a 60.7% improvement over Ultra while maintaining high-quality visuals. Alternatively, Medium at 1440p offers 264 FPS with a tighter frame time distribution (minimum 225 FPS) compared to High at 4K, making it the better choice for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average FPS across settings: Low at 452 FPS, Medium at 370 FPS with a minimum of 314 FPS and maximum of 425 FPS, High at 303 FPS, and Ultra at 190 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 82 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 113 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces significantly more rendering load than High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 323 FPS, Medium at 264 FPS with a minimum of 225 FPS and maximum of 304 FPS, High at 217 FPS, and Ultra at 135 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 28.5% for Low (452 to 323 FPS), 28.6% for Medium (370 to 264 FPS), 28.4% for High (303 to 217 FPS), and 28.9% for Ultra (190 to 135 FPS). This consistent ~28% reduction across all settings indicates that the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is resolution-bound rather than settings-bound.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 201 FPS, Medium at 164 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS and maximum of 189 FPS, High at 135 FPS, and Ultra at 84 FPS. The reduction from 1440p to 4K is 37.8% for Low (323 to 201 FPS), 37.9% for Medium (264 to 164 FPS), 37.8% for High (217 to 135 FPS), and 37.8% for Ultra (135 to 84 FPS). Again, the consistent percentage reduction suggests that the resolution increase is the dominant factor, with settings having minimal impact on the scaling ratio.

The Medium preset consistently shows the tightest frame time distribution, with minimums that are 85.1% of the average at 1080p (314 vs 370), 85.2% at 1440p (225 vs 264), and 85.4% at 4K (140 vs 164). This indicates that Medium provides the most stable frame pacing across all resolutions, which is crucial for maintaining smooth gameplay in a horror title where frame hitches can be jarring.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about which component limits performance in Downfall. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 452 FPS at 1080p to 323 FPS at 1440p and 201 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.5% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 37.8% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 55.5%.

At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 190 FPS at 1080p to 135 FPS at 1440p and 84 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.9% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 37.8% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 55.8%. The near-identical scaling percentages between Low and Ultra settings — 55.5% versus 55.8% — indicate that the resolution increase affects performance uniformly regardless of the graphics preset.

This uniform scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see smaller FPS reductions at higher resolutions because the GPU would have more time to render each frame, allowing the CPU to keep up. Instead, the consistent ~28% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and ~38% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all settings suggests that the RTX 5090's rendering throughput is the primary constraint as resolution increases.

The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p (2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels) and by 125% from 1440p to 4K (3.69 million to 8.29 million pixels). The FPS reductions of 28% and 38% respectively indicate that the GPU is not scaling linearly with pixel count, which is expected given that memory bandwidth and cache efficiency also play roles. The RTX 5090's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 32 GB of GDDR7 memory help mitigate the impact of higher resolutions, but the data clearly shows that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution increases.

At 1080p, the extremely high frame rates (452 FPS on Low) suggest that the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock and 24 threads are sufficient to drive the GPU to its limits. However, the fact that 4K Ultra still achieves 84 FPS — a playable frame rate — demonstrates that this combination handles the most demanding scenario in Downfall without dropping below acceptable levels. The scaling behavior confirms that for this game, the RTX 5090 is the component that determines performance at higher resolutions, while the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides ample headroom at lower resolutions.