Greedfall

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in Greedfall, with performance scaling that clearly favors lower resolutions. The data shows a predictable drop in frame rates as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop reveals where this combo’s bottleneck lies.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second (FPS) across the three tested resolutions paint a clear picture of a system that is heavily influenced by pixel count. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 92 FPS, which is smooth and well above the threshold for comfortable play. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High preset, the average drops to 64 FPS, a reduction of roughly 30%. This is a significant hit, but the game remains playable, suggesting the hardware is still managing the workload effectively at this mid-range resolution.

The jump to 3840x2160 is where the performance ceiling becomes apparent. At 4K with High settings, the average FPS plummets to 38, which is a 59% decrease from the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the Intel Arc B570’s 10 GB of memory and 160-bit bus are being pushed to their limits, and the GPU is no longer able to keep up with the rendering demands. The difference between 1440p and 4K (64 FPS vs. 38 FPS) is a 41% drop, which is more severe than the 1080p to 1440p transition, confirming that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

Analyzing the Low settings row further emphasizes this point. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 130 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it drops to 90 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 54 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is a 58% reduction, nearly identical to the High settings drop. This consistency across presets suggests that the performance loss is tied to raw pixel throughput rather than specific graphical features. The data indicates a system where the CPU has enough headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the visual complexity.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested hardware combinations, this specific pairing of the Core i5-11400F and Arc B570 sits in the lower-middle tier. The combo rank is 2344 out of 2938 tested configurations, placing it in the 21st percentile. This means that roughly 79% of all tested combos deliver better average performance in Greedfall than this one. While this sounds low, it is important to contextualize that this rank includes configurations with much more powerful and expensive components.

The rank reflects the balanced but modest nature of this build. The CPU itself holds a percentile rank of 71 against all CPUs, indicating it is a solid mid-range processor. The GPU, however, has a percentile rank of 65 against all GPUs. The combination of two mid-tier parts results in a system that performs adequately for 1080p gaming but does not stand out in a database filled with high-end hardware. The data suggests that while this combo is not a top performer, it is not a bottom-tier pairing either; it is a workable combination that yields a playable experience at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 92 FPS average at 1080p High. The rank serves as a warning that users should not expect high-refresh-rate 4K gaming, but it also confirms that the hardware is far from obsolete for less demanding titles or lower resolution targets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. In Greedfall, an Action RPG that is not typically known for being extremely CPU-intensive, this processor provides a solid foundation. The benchmark results show that the CPU has substantial single-threaded capability, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024. This is crucial for game logic and physics, which often rely on a few fast cores.

The multi-threaded performance is also respectable for a 6-core part. The CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340, which is significant but not exceptional. In the context of this game, the 12 threads are more than sufficient to handle background tasks and the game’s AI, but the data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, which strongly suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck. For instance, at 1080p Low, the CPU can help push the frame rate to 130 FPS, but at 4K Low, the frame rate is nearly cut in half to 54 FPS, which is a GPU-side limitation, not a CPU one.

The processor’s memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel architecture, providing a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. This is standard for the platform and is not a bottleneck in this context. The CPU’s L3 cache is 12 MB shared, which is adequate for gaming workloads. The Core i5-11400F’s performance in synthetic benchmarks places it near rivals like the AMD EPYC 7H12 (deltaPct 0.3) and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (deltaPct 0.6), but those are enterprise or mobile parts, respectively, and not direct gaming comparisons. The data shows that this CPU provides enough computational power to avoid stuttering or frame pacing issues, but it is the GPU that dictates the final output, particularly at higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Greedfall with this hardware?*

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 provides the best balance of performance and quality. At High settings, the combo achieves an average of 92 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. While 2560x1440 is playable at 64 FPS on High, 4K drops to 38 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for a fluid experience.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to the CPU in terms of bottleneck?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 130 FPS, but dropping to 4K Low reduces the average to 54 FPS, a 58% decrease. This steep scaling with resolution shows that the GPU’s capabilities are limiting performance far more than the CPU, which maintains a strong 71st percentile rank.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F capable of keeping up with the Arc B570 in this game?

A: Yes, at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU appears to have enough headroom. The evidence is that frame rates scale directly with resolution and settings, meaning the CPU is not holding back the GPU. If the CPU were the limit, we would see similar frame rates across different resolutions, which is not the case.

Q: What can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 71 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS. This is a very playable experience, and the minimum FPS indicates that the game is unlikely to stutter or drop below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

Q: Is it worth using the Ultra preset at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p yields an average of 59 FPS. While this is technically playable, it is very close to the 60 FPS target. The High preset at 1080p achieves 92 FPS, providing a more comfortable margin for performance. The data suggests that the visual difference between High and Ultra may not justify the 36% performance loss.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance rank against other similar cards?

A: The Intel Arc B570 holds a percentile rank of 65 against all GPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer. Its average benchmark score places it very close to the Intel Arc A750, with a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the A750 is just 0.1% faster in synthetic tests. It also trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which is a laptop part.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the heart of this system’s graphical output, and its specifications directly correlate with the observed performance. Built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and TSMC’s 5 nm process, the card features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. It has a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, which is a high operating frequency. The GPU is equipped with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a key factor in the performance scaling, as the 160-bit bus is narrower than many high-end cards, limiting the data throughput at high resolutions.

The GPU’s raw compute power is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. In Greedfall, this power translates to strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, where the card achieves 92 and 64 FPS on High settings, respectively. The card’s 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient to handle the game’s visuals at these resolutions. However, at 4K, the demand on the ROPs and memory bandwidth increases exponentially, and the card’s limitations become clear, as evidenced by the 38 FPS average at High settings.

The GPU’s efficiency is also a factor. With a TDP of 150 W, the card is relatively power-efficient for its performance class. It supports PCIe 4.0 x8, which is sufficient for most gaming workloads, but it may not saturate the bus in all scenarios. The VRAM capacity of 10 GB is adequate for Greedfall at all tested settings, as the game is from 2019 and does not have massive texture requirements. However, the memory bus width is the more critical spec, as it limits the speed at which textures and frame data can be transferred. The data shows that the GPU’s performance is strong for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, making it a solid mid-range card that is best paired with a 1080p or 1440p monitor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a 1080p display, the High preset is the clear winner, delivering 92 FPS. This is a significant improvement over the Ultra preset, which drops to 59 FPS, while offering most of the visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 102 FPS is also viable, but High provides a better balance of image quality and speed. The Low preset at 130 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a high-refresh-rate monitor and prioritizes competitive performance over visuals, which is less common in an Action RPG.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is the best choice, as it achieves an average of 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, ensuring a stable experience. The High preset at 64 FPS is also playable, but it is closer to the edge of the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 41 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the smoothness threshold and may cause noticeable stuttering in combat. The Low preset at 90 FPS is very smooth, but the visual downgrade is substantial and detracts from the game’s atmosphere.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset is the only setting that provides a playable frame rate, with an average of 54 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 42 FPS, which is borderline, and High falls to 38 FPS. The Ultra preset at 24 FPS is unplayable. For 4K gaming, users should stick to Low settings and accept the visual compromises, or they should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience. The data clearly shows that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where the settings can be turned up for a more immersive experience, rather than at 4K where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.