Greedfall

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a distinctive performance profile in Greedfall, one that is heavily dictated by the graphics settings and resolution selected. The data shows a combo that can deliver high frame rates at lower presets but experiences a significant performance cliff when moving to Ultra settings, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to illustrate where this pairing excels and where its limitations become apparent.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Greedfall?

A: The combo ranks 199th out of 3703 tested combinations, placing it in the top 5.4% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's memory capacity influence Greedfall's performance?

A: The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This large memory pool and high bandwidth prevent any VRAM-related bottlenecks from becoming a limiting factor for the frame rates observed in the data.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 243 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 111 FPS. This represents a 132 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset more than halves the performance of the Low setting.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any specific resolution or settings?

A: The data suggests a CPU limit becomes noticeable at 1080p with Low settings, where the average FPS is 282. This is a relatively modest increase over the 250 FPS seen at High settings, indicating that the CPU's capability, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is nearing its limit for pushing frames beyond this point.

Q: How does the GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance relate to the measured frame rates?

A: The RTX 4090's raw compute power, measured at 82.58 TFLOPS, is more than sufficient to handle Greedfall at most settings. However, the significant drop in FPS at the Ultra preset indicates that this particular game's Ultra settings impose a workload that even this level of compute power cannot fully overcome at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for the CPU and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185. Its closest rival, the Intel Xeon 6756E, scores 14163, which is a delta of 0.2%, meaning the i5 is slightly ahead. Another rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, scores 14277, which is 0.6% higher than the i5.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 199 out of 3703 tested combinations in Greedfall. This places the pairing in the top tier of all tested systems, indicating a strong overall capability for this game. The high rank confirms the sheer power of the RTX 4090, which compensates for the more modest performance of the i5-10400F. The GPU's strength is evident in its average benchmark score of 60347, which is contextually far higher than the CPU's score of 14185.

However, the rank alone does not tell the whole story. The data reveals that this ranking is not uniform across all settings and resolutions. While the combo performs exceptionally well on Low and Medium presets, its rank would likely be lower at the Ultra preset, where the average FPS drops dramatically. For instance, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 66, which is only slightly above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This suggests that while the overall rank is high, the user experience at maximum settings requires a compromise on resolution or a tolerance for lower frame rates. The performance is robust, but it is not a universal high-refresh-rate champion at Ultra settings across all resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear pattern of how the performance scales with resolution, which in turn reveals the primary limiting component in different scenarios. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, and then to 3840x2160, the average FPS drops significantly, but the degree of the drop is highly dependent on the settings preset.

At the Low preset, the scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a reduction from 282 FPS to 145 FPS, a 48.6% decrease. This substantial drop indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is doing more work at higher resolutions. Conversely, at the Ultra preset, the scaling is from 160 FPS at 1080p down to 66 FPS at 4K, a 58.8% decrease. The fact that the Ultra preset sees a larger relative drop than the Low preset suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at these high settings.

The most telling data point for the CPU's role comes from the 1080p Low and High presets. The difference between 282 FPS (Low) and 250 FPS (High) is only 32 FPS. This relatively small gain from lowering the settings indicates that the CPU, with its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, is starting to hit its limit. The GPU is strong enough to render the frames, but the CPU cannot feed it data fast enough to go much beyond 282 FPS. This is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck at 1080p with low graphical loads. As resolution increases, the load shifts to the GPU, and the CPU becomes less of a limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the performance for each resolution and settings combination.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: The average FPS is 282, with no min or max FPS recorded.
• Medium: The average FPS is 259, with a minimum of 220 and a maximum of 297.
• High: The average FPS is 250, with no min or max FPS recorded.
• Ultra: The average FPS drops significantly to 160, with no min or max FPS recorded.

At 2560x1440, the results show a similar trend:

• Low: The average FPS is 243.
• Medium: The average FPS is 191, with a minimum of 163 and a maximum of 220.
• High: The average FPS is 174.
• Ultra: The average FPS falls to 111.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further:

• Low: The average FPS is 145.
• Medium: The average FPS is 114, with a minimum of 97 and a maximum of 131.
• High: The average FPS is 104.
• Ultra: The average FPS is only 66.

The data reveals a consistent pattern. The gap between Low and High settings is relatively small at all resolutions, but the Ultra preset causes a disproportionate drop in performance. For example, at 1440p, there is a 69 FPS difference between Low (243 FPS) and High (174 FPS), but an additional 63 FPS drop to reach Ultra (111 FPS). This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces a significant graphical workload that the RTX 4090 struggles to maintain at high frame rates, particularly as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain much of the measured performance. The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process and features 16,384 shading units. Its boost clock is listed at 2520 MHz, and it has a substantial 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This memory configuration is far beyond the requirements of Greedfall, ensuring that VRAM capacity is never a limiting factor.

The GPU's raw compute power is immense, with an FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. This is reflected in its benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and a Passmark G3D score of 38194. Despite this power, the data shows that the Ultra preset in Greedfall is a significant challenge. The drop from High to Ultra at 1080p is from 250 FPS to 160 FPS, a 36% decline. At 4K, the drop is from 104 FPS to 66 FPS, a 36.5% decline. This suggests that the Ultra preset employs effects or rendering techniques that are particularly taxing on the GPU, causing it to operate at a performance level that is lower than its theoretical maximum.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals also provides context. Its average benchmark score of 60347 is closely matched by the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a score of 60326 and a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, which is 2.5% higher. These close scores in synthetic benchmarks, however, do not translate to similar in-game performance, as the RTX 4090's driver optimization and feature set likely give it an edge in a real-world title like Greedfall.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the user's target resolution and desired frame rate. For a standard 60 FPS experience, even the most demanding preset is achievable, but the margin for error varies.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 66 FPS, which is playable but does not provide much headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset offers a more comfortable 104 FPS, which is a significant improvement for a smoother experience. The Medium preset at 114 FPS is also a strong choice, providing excellent performance with minimal visual compromise over High. For high-refresh-rate 4K displays, the Low preset at 145 FPS is the only option. It is recommended to use the High or Medium preset at 4K for the best balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset at 111 FPS is a solid option for 1440p high-refresh-rate monitors. It offers a good balance of quality and speed. The High preset at 174 FPS is ideal for 144Hz displays, providing a very smooth experience. The Medium preset at 191 FPS is also excellent. The Low preset at 243 FPS is likely unnecessary unless the user has a 240Hz monitor and prioritizes frame rate above all else. For most users, Ultra or High at 1440p will provide the best experience.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 160 FPS is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming. The High preset at 250 FPS is more than sufficient for any 240Hz monitor. The Low and Medium presets offer diminishing returns, as the CPU appears to become a limiting factor around 250-280 FPS. Since the jump from High to Ultra only costs 90 FPS at 1080p, and the jump from High to Low only gains 32 FPS, the Ultra preset is highly recommended for its visual benefits without a major performance penalty relative to lower settings. The data suggests that for most users, High or Ultra at 1080p is the best choice, as the CPU will bottleneck before the GPU can push much beyond 282 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. With an L3 cache of 12 MB shared, it provides a solid foundation for gaming, but its role in this pairing is clearly secondary to the GPU. Its average benchmark score is 14185, and its percentile rank is 68, meaning it performs better than 68% of all CPUs in the database.

The CPU's influence on Greedfall's performance is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. The data at 1920x1080 shows that the average FPS plateaus around 250-282 FPS. The difference between the Low preset (282 FPS) and the High preset (250 FPS) is only 32 FPS. This small margin indicates that the CPU is nearing its limit in feeding the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The CPU's single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451, is adequate but not exceptional, which explains this bottleneck.

As the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and the CPU's limitations become less pronounced. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is from 250 FPS to 174 FPS, which is a 30.4% decrease. This is more attributable to the GPU's increased workload than the CPU. The CPU's multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283, is sufficient for the game's logic, but it is not a powerhouse. In synthetic benchmarks, it is closely matched with its rivals; for instance, the Intel Xeon 6756E has a delta of 0.2%, and the AMD EPYC 7552 has a delta of 0.5%. This shows that the i5-10400F is a middling performer in its class, but it does not hold back the RTX 4090 in this title except at the very highest frame rates at 1080p. The data confirms that for a game like Greedfall, the i5-10400F provides enough processing power for a high-end GPU to perform well at 1440p and 4K, with only a minor CPU bottleneck at 1080p on the lowest settings.