Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical presets. For the combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, the measured data reveals a system capable of smooth 1080p play at high settings, but one that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions or with maximum graphical fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this CPU-GPU pairing shows a clear trade-off between visual quality and frame rate. The most balanced experience is achieved at the Medium preset across all tested resolutions, as it provides the only settings level where minimum frame rate data is recorded, indicating a stable frame pacing that the other presets do not demonstrate. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS, placing it well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This suggests that for most users, Medium offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance headroom.

For users prioritizing maximum smoothness over visual detail, the Low preset delivers the highest frame rates at every resolution. At 1080p, Low achieves an average of 117 FPS, which is 34% faster than the High preset and 121% faster than Ultra. This setting is recommended for competitive play or for users with high-refresh-rate monitors, as it ensures the frame rate never becomes a limiting factor for the CPU-GPU combination. However, the visual downgrade from Medium is substantial, and the data shows that Low is not necessary to achieve playable performance at 1080p.

The High preset represents a reasonable middle ground for 1080p displays, delivering an average of 83 FPS. This is 10% slower than Medium, but the visual improvements are often noticeable in an Action RPG like Greedfall, which features detailed environments and character models. While the average frame rate is still above 60 FPS, the lack of minimum frame rate data for this preset means stability is less certain than with Medium. For 1440p displays, the High preset drops to an average of 58 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, making Medium a safer choice at that resolution.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this hardware combination at any resolution. At 1080p, it averages only 53 FPS, and at 1440p, it falls to 37 FPS. At 4K, Ultra is effectively unplayable with an average of 22 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra over High is steep, with a 36% reduction in average frame rate at 1080p, indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER is not equipped to handle the maximum settings of this game. The data suggests that Medium at 1080p is the optimal choice for a consistently smooth experience, with High being acceptable for those who prioritize visuals and can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured performance of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination places it at rank 3167 out of 3703 tested combos for Greedfall. This percentile result, which falls in the lower 15% of all tested systems, indicates that this pairing is on the weaker end of the spectrum for this specific game. The rank is a holistic measure that incorporates all tested resolutions and settings, and it reflects the system's overall inability to push high frame rates at demanding configurations, particularly at 4K Ultra where it averages only 22 FPS.

This ranking is consistent with the hardware's individual benchmark positions. The CPU sits at the 68th percentile among all tested processors, while the GPU is at the 53rd percentile. While the CPU is a relatively strong performer in synthetic tests, the GPU is only average, and Greedfall's engine appears to place a heavy load on the graphics card, especially at higher resolutions. The combination of an average GPU with a better-than-average CPU does not translate into a high combo rank, suggesting that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

When compared to other tested configurations, this combo is clearly positioned for 1080p gaming. The data shows that it can handle 1080p High with an average of 83 FPS, but it falls short of the performance needed for a high refresh-rate experience at that resolution or for a smooth 1440p experience at higher presets. The rank of 3167 serves as a warning that users should not expect this system to excel in Greedfall, but rather to deliver a competent, mid-range experience. It is a configuration that will require careful settings management to achieve the desired balance between visuals and performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the defining component for Greedfall's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 6 GB capacity becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the game's texture and geometry data can exceed this amount, leading to the significant performance drop observed in the measured data. The GPU's 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs are responsible for the pixel and texture processing, and the measured pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are moderate figures that align with its mid-range positioning.

The clock speeds of the GTX 1660 SUPER are a base of 1530 MHz and a boost of 1785 MHz. These clocks allow the GPU to achieve a FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS, which is a key indicator of its raw compute power. The benchmark results show that the GPU is the limiting factor when comparing the 1080p and 1440p results. At 1080p Medium, the average is 92 FPS, while at 1440p Medium, it drops to 64 FPS, a 30% reduction. This scaling is more severe than what would be expected from a purely CPU-bound scenario, confirming that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed by the increased resolution.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks reinforces this analysis. Its PassMark G3D score of 12699 places it just 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 580 and 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. This indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is a solid, but not exceptional, performer for its generation. In Greedfall, this translates to a card that can deliver playable frame rates at 1080p with medium to high settings, but it does not have the headroom to handle the game's Ultra preset or to maintain high frame rates at 1440p. The data clearly shows that the GPU is the primary component to watch when adjusting settings for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combination provide a complete picture of its performance across different settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. The Low preset achieves an average of 117 FPS, making it the only setting at any resolution to exceed 100 FPS. The Medium preset averages 92 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS, indicating a stable performance window. The High preset drops to an average of 83 FPS, while the Ultra preset falls to an average of 53 FPS. This shows a clear and consistent scaling from Low to Ultra, with a 45% performance penalty for using the highest settings over the lowest.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance impact is significant. The Low preset remains playable with an average of 81 FPS, but this is a 31% drop from the 1080p result. The Medium preset averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. This is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but the minimum frame rate suggests there are moments of noticeable slowdown. The High preset averages 58 FPS, which is just below the ideal smoothness threshold, and the Ultra preset drops to an average of 37 FPS, making it unsuitable for consistent gameplay. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p is a 54% reduction in performance.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly out of its depth. The Low preset is the only playable option, averaging 48 FPS. The Medium preset averages 38 FPS, with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 44 FPS, indicating a consistently sub-60 FPS experience. The High preset averages 35 FPS, and the Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at an average of 22 FPS. The data shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER is unable to provide a smooth experience at 4K, even at the lowest settings. The minimum FPS of 32 at 4K Medium highlights the GPU's struggle to maintain consistent frame times under heavy load.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the nature of the system's bottleneck. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 92 FPS at 1080p to 64 FPS at 1440p, a 30% decrease, and then to 38 FPS at 4K, a further 41% decrease. This scaling is nearly linear with the pixel count, suggesting that the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB of VRAM and 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are not sufficient to maintain performance as the resolution increases, and the GPU's compute units are overwhelmed by the increased workload.

The scaling is even more pronounced at High settings. The average frame rate drops from 83 FPS at 1080p to 58 FPS at 1440p, a 30% decrease, and then to 35 FPS at 4K, a 40% decrease. This pattern holds across all settings, indicating that the resolution is the dominant variable in determining performance. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal; the Intel Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but as the GPU becomes more stressed, the frame rate is dictated by the graphics card's limits.

This scaling behavior confirms that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the bottleneck for this system in Greedfall. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674, is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Instead, the GPU's inability to process the increased pixel count and texture data is what causes the frame rate to plummet. Users targeting 1440p or 4K would need to significantly reduce settings, as the data shows that even the Low preset at 4K cannot reach 60 FPS, and the Medium preset at 1440p is the highest playable configuration for a smooth experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing sufficient processing power to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions. With 4 cores and 8 threads, running at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, this CPU is a modern, efficient part. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory help ensure that it does not become a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios. The CPU's benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674, placing it above the 68th percentile of all CPUs.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is most evident when examining the frame rate differences between the Low and Medium presets at a fixed resolution. For example, at 1080p, the Low preset averages 117 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 92 FPS. This 25 FPS difference is primarily due to the increased GPU workload, not CPU limitations. However, the fact that the Low preset can exceed 100 FPS shows that the i3-12100F is capable of supporting high frame rates without bottlenecking the GTX 1660 SUPER. The CPU's performance is also reflected in its 3DMark scores, with a 16-thread score of 4051 and a single-thread score of 893, which are strong for a budget quad-core.

The CPU's nearest rival in the benchmark database is the Intel Core i5-9500, which scores 0.3% higher, and the Intel Core 3 N355, which scores identically. This indicates that the i3-12100F is a competitive performer in its class. For Greedfall, this means that the CPU is not the reason for the system's low combo rank; rather, it is the GPU that holds the system back. At 1080p, the CPU is able to deliver frame rates that exceed 100 FPS, and the system's overall performance is limited by the graphics card's ability to render the scene. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield a significant performance increase, while upgrading the CPU would have a minimal impact on this game's frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1920x1080?

A: The Medium preset is the recommended choice. It achieves an average of 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS, providing a stable experience well above the 60 FPS target. The High preset also averages 83 FPS, but the lack of minimum frame rate data makes Medium the safer choice.

Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution in Greedfall?

A: No, the data shows that the system cannot provide a playable experience at 3840x2160. Even at the Low preset, the average frame rate is only 48 FPS, and at Medium, it drops to 38 FPS. The Ultra preset is unplayable at an average of 22 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the main bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, with a 59% drop at Medium settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's performance is sufficient, as evidenced by its ability to support over 100 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has a PassMark G3D score of 12699. This is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 580 and 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, indicating it is a solid mid-range performer.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The High preset averages 83 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 53 FPS. This represents a 36% performance reduction for the Ultra preset, making it a poor trade-off for the visual gains.

Q: What is the lowest recorded average frame rate for this system?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 22 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset. This is the only measurement that falls below 30 FPS, confirming that 4K gaming is not viable with this hardware.