Greedfall

# Greedfall with Intel Core i3-12100F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

This combination pairs a 4-core, 8-thread Alder Lake processor with AMD's flagship RDNA 3.0 GPU, producing a peculiar bottleneck profile in Greedfall. The RX 7900 XTX, with its 24 GB GDDR6 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, is clearly the dominant component, yet the CPU's modest core count and 12 MB shared L3 cache shape the scaling behavior significantly. The data shows a system that delivers extremely high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the performance curve reveals where the processor begins to constrain the GPU's potential.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data demonstrates classic resolution-dependent scaling, with the gap between 1080p and 4K narrowing as settings increase. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 290 FPS at 1920x1080 to 201 FPS at 2560x1440, a 31% reduction, then falls further to 120 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 59% drop from 1080p. This steep decline at Low settings indicates the GPU is heavily utilized at higher resolutions, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at 1080p.

At High settings, the scaling pattern shifts: 207 FPS at 1080p, 143 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure represents a 59% decrease from 1080p, nearly identical to the Low preset's drop. However, the absolute numbers tell a different story — at 4K High, the system still produces 85 FPS average, which is comfortably playable. The Medium preset data shows 228 FPS at 1080p, 158 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K, with the 4K number falling 59% below the 1080p result.

The Ultra preset reveals the most dramatic scaling, with 132 FPS at 1080p dropping to 91 FPS at 1440p (31% reduction) and then to 55 FPS at 4K (58% reduction from 1080p). This consistent ~59% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K, regardless of preset choice. The CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p, where the frame rates exceed 200 FPS on multiple presets — these numbers indicate the i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock and 8 threads are sufficient to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions, but the GPU's workload scales up quickly as pixel count increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance versus visual quality. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 94 FPS average with minimum and maximum readings of 80 and 108 FPS, respectively. This represents the strongest balance for 4K gaming, as it maintains frame rates above 80 FPS at all times while offering a step up from Low. The High preset at 4K produces 85 FPS average, only 9 FPS lower than Medium, but the lack of min/max data for High makes the Medium preset's guaranteed floor of 80 FPS more attractive for consistent gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 143 FPS average, which is 15 FPS below the Medium preset's 158 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 134 FPS and maximum of 181 FPS provide a stable window, while High's single data point of 143 FPS offers no such confidence interval. For 1440p users, the High preset appears optimal if the goal is maximum visual fidelity without dropping below 140 FPS, but the Medium preset's higher average and documented frame range make it the safer choice for variable scenes.

The 1920x1080 results show the Medium preset at 228 FPS with min/max of 193/262 FPS, while High delivers 207 FPS and Ultra drops to 132 FPS. Given that even Ultra at 1080p exceeds 130 FPS, users with 144 Hz or 165 Hz displays could justify the Ultra preset, but the Medium preset's 228 FPS average provides substantial headroom for demanding scenes. The Low preset's 290 FPS at 1080p is unnecessary for most displays, though competitive players might prefer it for reduced input latency.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX brings formidable specifications to this pairing: 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz, based on a 1929 MHz base, position it as a high-end part capable of sustaining heavy workloads. Its RDNA 3.0 architecture on a 5 nm process from TSMC includes 6144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation units, producing a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s.

The GPU's measured benchmarks reflect its capability: a PassMark G3D score of 31238 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 50465. These synthetic results align with the in-game performance, where the RX 7900 XTX sustains over 120 FPS at 4K Low and 55 FPS at 4K Ultra in Greedfall. The 24 GB VRAM allocation is far beyond what this 2019 Action RPG requires, meaning memory capacity is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting tested.

The GPU's 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 122.8 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) performance indicate substantial raw throughput, yet the 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS suggests Greedfall's Ultra preset imposes rendering workloads that stress even this flagship part. The 355 W TDP and 750 W suggested PSU align with the GPU's high-end positioning, and its 287 mm length indicates a large physical footprint. The GTX 1060 3 GB comparison from the nearestRivals data (0.4% deltaPct on average score) is an artifact of the benchmark database's scoring methodology rather than a reflection of real-world gaming performance, as the in-game FPS demonstrates the RX 7900 XTX's dominance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 562nd out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the 85th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's ability to deliver high frame rates across most resolutions and settings, though the CPU's limitations at 1080p Ultra and the GPU's workload at 4K Ultra prevent a higher placement.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 68% and the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 64% are both mid-pack figures, yet their combined in-game performance exceeds what either component's individual percentile might suggest. This discrepancy arises because Greedfall's engine scales well with the GPU's resources while the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads prove sufficient for the game's threading model at most settings. The combo's rank of 562 out of 3703 means it outperforms 85% of all tested configurations, a strong result given the CPU's modest position in the broader processor landscape.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i3-12100F's average benchmark score of 13494 sits within 1.1% of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13351) and 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-9500 (13452). This tight clustering indicates the CPU's performance is well understood, and in Greedfall, the combination's ranking benefits from the GPU's ability to compensate for any CPU-bound scenarios. The data suggests that users seeking higher rankings would need either a more powerful CPU to reduce 1080p bottlenecks or a different game title where the GPU's strengths are more pronounced.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F operates with 4 physical cores and 8 threads, running at a 3.30 GHz base clock with a 4.30 GHz boost clock. This Alder Lake-S architecture chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Its 58 W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible budget-oriented processor, though its 4-core design limits multi-threaded performance in heavily threaded workloads.

In Greedfall, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p, where frame rates reach 290 FPS at Low settings. This figure suggests the CPU can drive the GPU to very high output levels, but the 132 FPS at 1080p Ultra — compared to 228 FPS at Medium — indicates the Ultra preset's additional CPU overhead (likely from physics, AI, or draw calls) creates a more significant bottleneck. The 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and 2-thread score of 1659 reflect the CPU's strong single-core performance, which is critical for game engines that rely on a primary rendering thread.

The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674 demonstrate the i3-12100F's capability, but the 4-thread 3dmark score of 2859 versus the 8-thread score of 4026 shows diminishing returns beyond 4 threads. In Greedfall, the transition from 1080p High (207 FPS) to 1440p High (143 FPS) represents a 31% reduction, while the CPU's thread scaling suggests the game is not heavily parallelized. The PassMark multithread score of 14015 and single-thread score of 3444 further confirm that this CPU delivers solid single-threaded throughput, which Greedfall likely leverages for its core simulation logic.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression across presets: Low delivers 290 FPS average, Medium achieves 228 FPS with a range of 193 to 262 FPS, High produces 207 FPS, and Ultra drops to 132 FPS. These figures indicate the GPU is not the constraint at 1080p — even the most demanding preset stays above 130 FPS, leaving headroom for the CPU to influence the upper bounds when settings are reduced.

The 2560x1440 results show Low at 201 FPS, Medium at 158 FPS (134-181 FPS range), High at 143 FPS, and Ultra at 91 FPS. The 31% reduction from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (290 to 201 FPS) suggests the GPU begins to carry more load at this resolution, while the Ultra preset's 91 FPS indicates the GPU's rendering workload dominates at 1440p Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are 120 FPS for Low, 94 FPS for Medium (80-108 FPS range), 85 FPS for High, and 55 FPS for Ultra. The 4K Medium result's minimum of 80 FPS is notable — it represents the only 4K preset with documented frame variance, and the 28 FPS spread between minimum and maximum shows the GPU's workload fluctuating with scene complexity. The 4K Ultra figure of 55 FPS is the lowest measured average, confirming that Greedfall's Ultra preset at 4K is demanding even for the RX 7900 XTX.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Greedfall?

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At High settings, the system produces 143 FPS average, and at Medium it reaches 158 FPS with a minimum of 134 FPS. While 1080p delivers higher frame rates (up to 290 FPS at Low), the 1440p results provide smoother visual quality without sacrificing performance.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB VRAM affect Greedfall performance?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is far more than Greedfall requires, even at 4K Ultra. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (55 FPS) is limited by the GPU's compute resources, not memory capacity, as evidenced by the performance scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K (94 to 55 FPS).

Q: Is the Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RX 7900 XTX in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to limit maximum frame rates — the Low preset's 290 FPS versus the Ultra preset's 132 FPS suggests CPU overhead from higher settings reduces performance. However, at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary limiter, as shown by the consistent ~59% drop from 1080p to 4K across Low, Medium, and High presets.

Q: What frame rates can users expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows 94 FPS average, with a minimum of 80 FPS and maximum of 108 FPS. This represents the most consistent 4K experience among the tested presets, as the High preset's 85 FPS comes without documented min/max values.

Q: How does this combo's ranking compare to other configurations?

A: It ranks 562nd out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 15% of all configurations. This ranking is impressive given the CPU's 68th percentile and GPU's 64th percentile among their respective component categories.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset show such a large performance drop at 4K?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K produces 55 FPS, compared to 91 FPS at 1440p and 132 FPS at 1080p. This 58% reduction from 1080p to 4K indicates the Ultra preset's additional rendering effects (likely shadows, reflections, and post-processing) place significant load on the GPU, which is already handling four times the pixel count of 1080p.