Greedfall

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 presents an unusual combination in Greedfall: a quad-core processor from Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake-S family alongside a flagship Blackwell 2.0 GPU. The measured frame rates show this pairing delivers consistently high performance across all tested resolutions, with the RTX 5090’s raw throughput dominating the workload. At 4K Ultra, the combo still averages 68 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, while at 1080p Low it reaches 359 FPS. The data indicates that the RTX 5090 is the primary driver of performance, as the i3-12100F’s four cores and eight threads provide sufficient baseline throughput for this 2019 Action RPG, but the GPU’s massive compute resources (104.8 TFLOPS FP32, 32 GB GDDR7, 1.79 TB/s bandwidth) scale directly with resolution and preset demands.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 68 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available in the measured data, and the fact that it clears the 60 FPS threshold by 8 frames indicates the RTX 5090 has enough headroom for 4K gaming at maximum fidelity. Lower presets at this resolution—High (106 FPS), Medium (117 FPS), and Low (149 FPS)—all exceed 60 FPS, but Ultra is the best choice for visual quality without sacrificing playability.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 113 FPS. This is a substantial jump from 4K Ultra, representing a 66.2% improvement in average frame rate (from 68 to 113 FPS). The 1440p Ultra result is well above the 60 FPS threshold, providing smooth gameplay with maximum graphical detail. For reference, High averages 178 FPS, Medium 196 FPS, and Low 249 FPS at this resolution, but Ultra remains the optimal balance of quality and speed.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the best settings are again Ultra, averaging 164 FPS. This represents a 45.1% increase over 1440p Ultra (from 113 to 164 FPS) and a 141.2% increase over 4K Ultra (from 68 to 164 FPS). The 1080p Ultra result is so far above the 60 FPS threshold that the RTX 5090 is effectively never constrained by the game’s rendering demands at this resolution. Even the most demanding preset leaves massive headroom, with Low settings reaching 359 FPS average.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear division of labor between the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 in Greedfall. The GPU is overwhelmingly the dominant component, as evidenced by the scaling across resolutions. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at the same preset (Ultra) shows average frame rates of 164, 113, and 68 FPS respectively. This represents a 31.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 39.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. These large percentage decreases are characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios, where the rendering workload increases with pixel count and the graphics card becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU’s role is more subtle but still measurable. The i3-12100F has a 3.30 GHz base clock and 4.30 GHz boost clock, with 4 cores and 8 threads. Its benchmark scores—such as Cinebench R23 multi-core at 11860 and single-core at 1674—place it in the 68th percentile among all CPUs. For a game like Greedfall, which is an Action RPG from 2019, the CPU demands are modest. The fact that the combo reaches 359 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate even the RTX 5090’s capabilities at lower resolutions. However, the scaling between presets at the same resolution indicates where the CPU might begin to matter. At 1080p, going from Low (359 FPS) to Ultra (164 FPS) shows a 54.3% reduction, which is almost entirely GPU-driven. The CPU maintains a consistent frame delivery across all presets, suggesting it is not a bottleneck at 1080p.

At 1440p, the same preset comparison (Low 249 FPS vs Ultra 113 FPS) shows a 54.6% reduction, nearly identical to 1080p. This consistency implies the CPU’s contribution is stable regardless of resolution, and the GPU handles the additional pixel workload linearly. At 4K, the gap narrows slightly: Low (149 FPS) to Ultra (68 FPS) is a 54.4% reduction. The near-identical percentage drops across all three resolutions strongly indicate that the RTX 5090 is the sole performance limiter, with the i3-12100F providing adequate instruction throughput without introducing measurable bottlenecks. The CPU’s 4-core architecture is sufficient for Greedfall’s threading model, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at low settings where CPU overhead would be most visible.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K): The measured data includes average FPS for all four presets, with min/max available only for Medium. At Ultra, the average is 68 FPS (no min/max recorded). High averages 106 FPS, Medium averages 117 FPS with a minimum of 99 FPS and maximum of 134 FPS, and Low averages 149 FPS. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 99 shows that even under load, the frame rate never dips below the 60 FPS threshold, and the 35 FPS spread between min and max indicates stable performance. The gap between High (106) and Medium (117) is 11 FPS, while the gap between Medium (117) and Low (149) is 32 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from Low to Medium and a more significant visual quality jump from Medium to High.

2560x1440 (1440p): Ultra averages 113 FPS. High averages 178 FPS. Medium averages 196 FPS, with a minimum of 166 FPS and maximum of 225 FPS, the latter being the highest recorded for any preset at this resolution. Low averages 249 FPS. The Medium min/max spread of 59 FPS (166 to 225) is wider than at 4K Medium, reflecting higher absolute frame rates and more variance. The step from Ultra (113) to High (178) is a 65 FPS jump, which is the largest single-preset delta at 1440p, indicating Ultra carries a significant rendering cost. Low (249) is 53 FPS above Medium (196), showing that Low settings remove substantial GPU workload.

1920x1080 (1080p): Ultra averages 164 FPS. High averages 256 FPS. Medium averages 282 FPS, with a minimum of 240 FPS and maximum of 325 FPS. Low averages 359 FPS. The Medium min/max spread of 85 FPS (240 to 325) is the widest of any resolution, consistent with the highest absolute frame rates. At this resolution, the CPU’s 3.30 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clocks are sufficient to drive the RTX 5090 to its full potential, as evidenced by the 359 FPS Low result. The delta between Ultra (164) and High (256) is 92 FPS, the largest preset gap in the entire dataset, showing that Ultra at 1080p imposes a heavy load even on this flagship GPU.

The Verdict

The data confirms that this PC configuration can absolutely run Greedfall at all tested resolutions with playable frame rates. According to the verdictByResolution data, every resolution—3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080—has all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) marked as playable, meaning each clears the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, the best playable setting is Ultra with an average of 68 FPS, which is 8 FPS above the playable threshold. At 1440p, Ultra averages 113 FPS, a comfortable margin of 53 FPS over 60. At 1080p, Ultra averages 164 FPS, which is 104 FPS above the threshold. The minimum recorded FPS across all settings and resolutions is 99 FPS (4K Medium), which is still 39 FPS above the playable threshold. No recorded frame rate drops below 60 FPS in any measurement. This means the combination of the i3-12100F and RTX 5090 is not only capable of running Greedfall but does so with exceptional headroom, allowing players to max out settings even at 4K without worrying about frame rate dips.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Greedfall at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 68, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four settings at 4K are marked as playable in the verdict data.

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 359 FPS, achieved with Low settings. For Ultra settings, the average is 164 FPS.

Q: Does the frame rate drop below 60 FPS at any point in the measurements?

A: No. The lowest recorded minimum FPS is 99 (at 4K Medium). All other min/max data points are higher, and all average FPS values across every resolution and preset exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5090’s average benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79842, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (score 79605) and 0.6% higher than the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396). It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940) and 1.4% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80959).

Q: What is the CPU’s percentile ranking among all CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F ranks in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core 3 N355 with a score of 13492 (0% delta).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for Greedfall at higher resolutions?

A: The GPU is more important. The data shows a consistent ~54% drop in average FPS from Low to Ultra settings at every resolution (1080p: 359 to 164; 1440p: 249 to 113; 4K: 149 to 68), indicating that the RTX 5090’s rendering workload dominates. The CPU’s performance remains stable across resolutions, as the i3-12100F’s quad-core design is sufficient for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 90th out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall. This places the combo in the top 2.4% of all configurations tested, which is remarkable given the CPU’s modest specifications. The RTX 5090’s 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs (with an average benchmark score of 79842) is the primary driver of this high combo rank. The i3-12100F’s 68th percentile CPU ranking is lower, but the game’s low CPU demands allow the GPU to operate near its full potential. The high combo rank suggests that for Greedfall specifically, the CPU does not meaningfully detract from the overall experience, and the GPU’s dominance ensures excellent frame rates across all settings. The 90th rank out of 3703 is a strong result, indicating that this pairing outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, even those with more balanced CPU-GPU configurations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core i3-12100F’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are a cluster of processors with very small deltas. The Intel Core 3 N355 has an identical average score of 13492 (0% delta), meaning it would perform virtually the same in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452 (0.3% lower), which is effectively negligible. The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594 (0.7% higher), and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351 (1.1% lower). All four rivals are within 1.1% of the i3-12100F’s average score, so any of them would behave nearly identically in Greedfall, given the game’s limited CPU demands. The i5-9500, being a desktop part, and the Core 3 N355, being a newer low-power chip, are the most likely substitutes for a similar system.

For the GPU, the RTX 5090’s nearest rivals are also closely matched. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB has an average score of 79605 (0.3% lower), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396 (0.6% lower). The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940 (1.1% lower), while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959 (1.4% higher). Since Greedfall’s performance is GPU-bound across all resolutions, any of these alternatives would produce frame rates within roughly 1-2% of the RTX 5090. The Tesla P100 cards are data-center parts without display outputs, so they are not practical for gaming, but the RX 6850M XT (a mobile GPU) and Pro Vega 64X (a workstation GPU) could theoretically deliver similar performance if paired with appropriate display capabilities. In practice, the RTX 5090’s nearest rivals suggest that the measured FPS values in this analysis are representative of a very narrow performance band, and users with any of these GPUs would see near-identical results in Greedfall.