Downfall

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a clear performance profile in Downfall, a Horror title from 2016. The benchmark data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU’s substantial headroom only becoming apparent at 1080p. The measured frame rates span from a demanding 38 FPS at 4K Ultra to a fluid 202 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the experience is entirely dependent on the graphics settings and resolution chosen.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate impact of moving from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the bottleneck dynamics of this configuration. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 135 at 1920x1080 to 97 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 38 FPS, and then to 60 at 3840x2160, a further drop of 37 FPS. This scaling pattern shows a consistent performance penalty as pixel count increases, with the most significant absolute loss occurring between 1440p and 4K.

The scaling behavior at Low settings is even more telling. The system achieves 202 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 144 FPS at 1440p, and then to 90 FPS at 4K. The 52 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings indicates that even when graphical load is minimized, the GPU is the limiting factor. The fact that 1080p Low produces 202 FPS while 1080p Ultra produces only 85 FPS demonstrates that the CPU is not the primary constraint; otherwise, the frame rate would remain static regardless of the settings.

The data suggests a classic GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the RTX 4060’s compute resources are saturated. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 13 FPS (73 vs 60), while the gap between High and Ultra is 22 FPS (60 vs 38). This non-linear scaling implies that Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU, pushing the system from a playable 60 FPS to a less fluid 38 FPS. At 1080p, the scaling is more linear, with a 30 FPS difference between Low and Medium (202 vs 165) and another 30 FPS between Medium and High (165 vs 135), suggesting the GPU still has headroom but is beginning to feel the load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the decisive component in these results, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling. Operating with a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, the GPU’s performance is directly reflected in the measured FPS. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for the texture loads at 1080p and 1440p but becomes a potential constraint at 4K Ultra, where the 38 FPS average suggests memory bandwidth or capacity limits are being approached.

The GPU’s architecture, Ada Lovelace, built on a 5 nm process by TSMC, includes 3072 shading units and 24 RT cores. In Downfall, a 2016 Horror title, ray tracing is not a factor, so the RT cores likely remain idle. The raw rasterization performance, driven by the 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, is what carries the load. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p Low, as the CPU is capable of feeding it more frames than it can render.

The RTX 4060’s benchmark percentile of 61 vs all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 780M and AMD Radeon Pro 560, with deltaPct values of 0.3 and 0.5 respectively. This context shows that while the GPU is not a top-tier part, it delivers consistent performance in this specific title. The measured FPS at 1440p High (97 FPS) and 4K Medium (73 FPS) indicate that the GPU’s 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for most settings, but the Ultra preset at 4K clearly exceeds its comfortable operating range.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds a comboRankInGame of 2270 out of 3716 combos. This places the system in the lower half of all tested configurations for Downfall, suggesting that while it can run the game, many other pairings deliver higher average frame rates. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the CPU’s high benchmark scores do not boost the combo’s standing in this GPU-bound title.

The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 88 is significantly higher than the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 61, confirming a mismatch where the processor’s capabilities are underutilized. The data shows that the combo’s rank is determined by the GPU’s performance ceiling, not the CPU’s potential. This is evident from the fact that the RTX 4060’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon 780M with a deltaPct of 0.3, are integrated graphics solutions, yet they perform within 1% of the dedicated GPU in synthetic benchmarks. In Downfall, the discrete GPU’s dedicated memory and bandwidth still provide an advantage, but the combo rank indicates that this advantage is not enough to break into the upper tier of tested systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset produces an average of 202 FPS, which drops to 165 FPS at Medium, 135 FPS at High, and 85 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 190 FPS, indicating a stable experience with minimal frame time variance. At Ultra, the average of 85 FPS is still smooth, but the lack of min/max data suggests the performance is less predictable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain playable across all settings. Low averages 144 FPS, Medium averages 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS, High averages 97 FPS, and Ultra averages 60 FPS. The 1440p Medium data shows a 36 FPS range between min and max, which is wider than at 1080p, indicating increased GPU stress. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces exactly 60 FPS, which is the threshold for smooth gameplay on standard refresh rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the system starts to struggle. Low averages 90 FPS, Medium averages 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS, High averages 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 38 FPS. The 4K Medium data shows a 22 FPS range between min and max, which is the largest relative variance in the dataset, highlighting the GPU’s difficulty in maintaining consistent frame times under load. The Ultra preset’s 38 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target and would be noticeably less fluid, especially in a Horror game where smooth motion is critical for immersion.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor based on the Panther Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by Intel. Its base clock of 2.10 GHz can boost to 5.10 GHz, and it features 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18911 and a single-core score of 2200.5, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, has a deltaPct of -0.2, indicating the Ultra X9 388H is essentially tied with it in synthetic performance.

In Downfall, the CPU’s role is largely passive due to the GPU bottleneck. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 202 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output for this title. The fact that increasing resolution to 1440p Low only drops the frame rate to 144 FPS, while the CPU’s core count and clock speed remain constant, confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s 16 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom for the game’s logic and physics, so the frame rate is not constrained by processor performance.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 36811 and single-thread score of 4280 further illustrate the CPU’s capability. The high single-thread performance is particularly relevant for older games like Downfall, which often rely on a few cores for game logic. However, the benchmark results show that even at 1080p Ultra, where the CPU would be most stressed due to higher draw calls, the system still achieves 85 FPS, indicating the CPU is never the primary constraint in this configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for a consistent 60 FPS experience?

A: At 2560x1440 Ultra, the system averages exactly 60 FPS, and at 3840x2160 High, it also averages 60 FPS. For a guaranteed 60 FPS with headroom, 2560x1440 High provides 97 FPS, while 1920x1080 Ultra offers 85 FPS.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score of 44466, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D’s 44573. It is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX, which scores 44342.

*Q: Is the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in Downfall?*

A: The data shows that at 4K Medium, the system averages 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS, indicating the 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for Medium settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 38 FPS, suggesting the VRAM or memory bandwidth is insufficient for the highest settings.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking among all tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 2270 out of 3716 tested combos for Downfall. This places it in the lower half, reflecting the GPU’s mid-range performance tier.

Q: At what settings does the frame rate become unstable?

A: The widest variance between minimum and maximum FPS occurs at 4K Medium, with a range of 22 FPS (62 to 84). At 1080p Medium, the range is 50 FPS (140 to 190), but the average of 165 FPS is high enough to mask the variance in practice.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 202 FPS. This is the highest frame rate in the dataset, and since the GPU is a mid-range part, the CPU is likely approaching its frame delivery limit, but the GPU is still the primary bottleneck as performance scales down with increased resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the 2560x1440 High preset offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance, delivering an average of 97 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience in a Horror title where atmosphere benefits from higher detail. The 1440p Medium preset, averaging 118 FPS, is also excellent, with a minimum of 100 FPS ensuring no drops below the 60 FPS floor.

At 1920x1080, the High preset at 135 FPS is the optimal choice for competitive or fast-paced play, as it offers a significant boost over Ultra’s 85 FPS while maintaining high visual quality. The Medium preset at 165 FPS is even smoother, but the visual difference between Medium and High is often noticeable in texture detail and shadow quality. For users with 144 Hz monitors, the 1080p Medium preset’s 165 FPS average and 140 FPS minimum make it the most reliable way to fully utilize the refresh rate.

At 4K, the High preset at 60 FPS is the only viable option for a standard 60 Hz display, as it matches the refresh rate exactly. The Medium preset at 73 FPS provides a safety margin, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is apparent. The Ultra preset at 38 FPS is not recommended, as the frame rate falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and the Horror genre relies on consistent motion to maintain tension. The data clearly shows that the system is best utilized at 1440p, where it can maintain high frame rates across all settings, or at 1080p for maximum fluidity.