Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a distinct performance profile when paired with the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The benchmark data indicates that this combination ranks 523rd out of 3703 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all system configurations. This is a high-performing pairing, but its behavior across resolutions and settings reveals a system where the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates, with the CPU providing sufficient but not unlimited headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. This processor is a desktop part with a 58 W TDP and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i3-12100F demonstrates a profile that is strong in single-threaded tasks but limited in multi-threaded scaling. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 11860, while its single-core score is 1674. The Geekbench results show a multi-core score of 7252 and a single-core score of 1932. Notably, its 3DMark scores reveal the ceiling of its multi-threading: it scores 4051 in the 16-thread test, 2859 in the 4-thread test, and 4026 in the 8-thread test. The proximity of the 8-thread (4026) and 16-thread (4051) scores indicates that the 4-core, 8-thread design is fully utilized, and additional threads would not yield performance gains.

The processor's percentile vs all CPUs is 68, meaning it outperforms 68% of all processors in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score is 13494. Compared to its nearest rivals, it sits in a tightly contested group. The Intel Core 3 N355 has an average score of 13492, a 0% delta, making it a statistical tie. The Core i5-9500 scores 13452, a 0.3% delta, meaning the i3-12100F is slightly faster. On the other side, the Core 5 120UL scores 13594, a -0.7% delta, and the Core i7-1250U scores 13351, a 1.1% delta. This places the i3-12100F in a narrow band of mid-range desktop and mobile processors.

For Greedfall, this CPU's role is to feed the GPU. At lower resolutions, where frame rates are high, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant. The 4-core design may present a bottleneck in scenes with heavy AI or physics calculations, but the benchmark results suggest that for this specific game, the CPU is not the limiting factor at most settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, specifically the AD104 chip, manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It packs 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, 80 ROPs, 60 ray tracing cores, and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz. It is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s.

The RTX 4070 Ti's synthetic performance is impressive. It scores 5024 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, 176953 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 213808 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark scores include 31624 in G3D and 18396 in GPU Compute. The GPU's percentile vs all GPUs is 84, placing it above 84% of all graphics cards. Its average benchmark score is 44795.

Its nearest rivals in the database are a mixed group. The GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile scores 45152, a -0.8% delta, meaning the RTX 4070 Ti is slightly slower. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 45384, a -1.3% delta, also placing the RTX 4070 Ti behind. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 44075, a 1.6% delta, meaning the RTX 4070 Ti is faster. The Intel Arc A730M scores 45592, a -1.7% delta. This places the RTX 4070 Ti in a competitive position, though not at the absolute top of the range.

In Greedfall, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and high bandwidth are more than sufficient for the game's demands. The data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra settings is significant, indicating that the GPU is being pushed harder as visual fidelity increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 523 out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall. This places the system in the 85.9th percentile of all tested configurations. This is a strong result, indicating that the pairing is well-balanced for this game.

The rank is more indicative of the GPU's strength than the CPU's, as the RTX 4070 Ti's high percentile (84) and average benchmark score (44795) contribute significantly more to the overall performance than the i3-12100F's lower percentile (68) and average score (13494). The CPU's 4-core, 8-thread configuration is adequate for the game, but the GPU provides the bulk of the rendering power.

The performance gap to the top-ranked combos is likely due to the CPU's limited multi-core capabilities. While the i3-12100F performs admirably in single-threaded tasks, its 4-core design may hold back the RTX 4070 Ti in scenarios where the game engine can utilize more threads. However, the measured results suggest that this is not a major issue in Greedfall, as the frame rates are high across the board.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Greedfall shows a clear pattern of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 291 FPS on Low settings, 229 FPS on Medium, 208 FPS on High, and 133 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting has a recorded min FPS of 194 and a max FPS of 263, indicating a stable frame delivery.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 202 on Low, 159 on Medium, 144 on High, and 92 on Ultra. The Medium setting again shows a min FPS of 135 and a max FPS of 182. This represents a significant drop from 1080p, but the frame rates remain high.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 120 on Low, 95 on Medium, 86 on High, and 55 on Ultra. The Medium setting has a min FPS of 80 and a max FPS of 109. This is the only resolution where the frame rates approach the lower end of playability, particularly on Ultra settings.

The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is capable of delivering playable frame rates at all resolutions, but the Ultra preset at 4K is the most demanding scenario. The gap between Low and Ultra settings is substantial, with a difference of 158 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU is the primary component being stressed as settings increase.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component in this system. At 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high, with the Low preset hitting 291 FPS and the High preset at 208 FPS. The jump to 1440p reduces these numbers by approximately 30-35%, and the jump to 4K reduces them further by another 40-45%.

Specifically, the High preset drops from 208 FPS at 1080p to 144 FPS at 1440p, a 30.8% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 144 FPS to 86 FPS, a 40.3% decrease. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend: 133 FPS at 1080p, 92 FPS at 1440p (a 30.8% decrease), and 55 FPS at 4K (a 40.2% decrease).

This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound system. As resolution increases, the pixel count grows, placing more demand on the GPU's shading units, texture rate, and memory bandwidth. The RTX 4070 Ti's specifications—40.09 TFLOPS FP32, 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate, and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth—are being fully utilized at higher resolutions.

The CPU's role becomes less significant at higher resolutions, as the frame rate drops reduce the number of draw calls and physics calculations the CPU must process per second. The i3-12100F's 4-core, 8-thread design is sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output at 4K, as evidenced by the stable frame rates. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, especially at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 55.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the optimal settings for this system depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For the best visual experience with high frame rates, the High preset is the recommended choice.

At 1080p, the High preset delivers 208 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors. Even the Ultra preset, at 133 FPS, provides a smooth experience for high-refresh displays. The Low preset, at 291 FPS, offers no visual benefit and is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rates are paramount.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 144 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset, at 92 FPS, is still playable but may not be ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset, at 159 FPS, offers a good balance between visual quality and performance.

At 4K, the High preset delivers 86 FPS, which is playable but not optimal for high-refresh displays. The Medium preset, at 95 FPS, is a slightly better option for smoother gameplay. The Ultra preset, at 55 FPS, should be avoided for any action-heavy sequences, as it approaches the lower limits of playability.

Overall, the High preset provides the best combination of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions. The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing higher frame rates, while the Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 60 Hz displays at 4K. The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is best utilized with the High preset, as it provides a significant performance headroom while maintaining high visual quality.