Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting workload for the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably across resolutions and settings, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the combination delivers high frame rates that leverage the CPU's strong single-thread performance, while at 4K, the GPU's capabilities define the experience, resulting in a playable but more demanding profile.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shifting bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 130 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, that figure drops to 90 FPS, a 30.8% reduction. The leap to 3840x2160 yields 54 FPS, a further 40% decline from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions; the rendering load increases exponentially with pixel count, and the RX 6700 XT's 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 384.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth become the limiting factors.

The data across all settings confirms this trend. For Low settings, the average FPS goes from 182 at 1080p to 126 at 1440p (a 30.8% drop) and then to 75 at 4K (a 40.5% drop from 1440p). Medium settings show a similar pattern: 143 FPS at 1080p, 99 at 1440p (down 30.8%), and 59 at 4K (down 40.4%). The consistency of these percentage drops, regardless of the graphics preset, strongly suggests that resolution scaling is uniform and that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance at 1440p and 4K.

The implications are clear: at 1080p, the system is likely not fully GPU-limited, as the high frame rates allow the CPU's processing capabilities to play a more significant role. At 4K, however, the GPU is unequivocally the limiting component. The 34 FPS average at 4K Ultra is a sharp illustration of this, as the game's demanding settings combined with the high pixel count overwhelm the GPU's fill rate and shading power. Benchmark results indicate that users targeting 4K will need to make significant compromises in settings to achieve smooth gameplay, while 1080p and 1440p are far more comfortable operating points for this hardware pairing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores reveal a processor with robust multi-threaded capabilities, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and a Geekbench multicore score of 8564. However, for gaming, the single-thread performance is often more critical, and the data shows a Passmark single-thread score of 3456 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 910.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p, where frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 182 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to maintain very high frame rates. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1692 and 4-thread score of 3012 indicate that the processor's performance on a few cores is strong, which is typical for games that are not heavily optimized for many threads. The L3 cache is 18 MB shared, and the L2 is 1.25 MB per core, which helps maintain data locality for the game's logic.

The Core i5-12400's position in the broader market is solid, with a percentile rank of 72 vs all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7643 (-0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i3-14100F (+0.9% delta). This suggests that in synthetic multi-threaded tests, the i5-12400 is competitive with much more expensive server parts, but its gaming performance is more defined by its architecture and clocks. The CPU's 65W TDP is modest, and while the boost clock of 4.40 GHz is not the highest available, it is sufficient for the demands of Greedfall at standard gaming resolutions. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound scaling, but at 1080p, its performance sets the ceiling for the highest achievable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 90 at 2560x1440 with High settings, with no minimum or maximum values recorded.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra experience compare to 1080p High?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate is 34 FPS, while at 1080p High it is 130 FPS. This represents a 73.8% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p High to 4K Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 182 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is capable of driving the GPU to its limits, and the CPU is likely the primary constraint at this low graphics load.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 126 on Low to 57 on Ultra, a 54.8% decrease in performance. This shows the significant impact of the Ultra preset on the GPU.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for Greedfall?

A: The combo rank is 1938 out of 3703 tested combos, placing it in the 52.3rd percentile of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: Does the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB VRAM cause any issues at 4K?

A: The measured data shows playable average frame rates of 54 FPS at 4K High and 59 FPS at 4K Medium. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for these settings, as no performance anomalies or crashes are indicated in the data, but the 34 FPS at 4K Ultra highlights the GPU's compute limits rather than memory capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination holds a rank of 1938 out of 3703 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the middle of the pack, indicating that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it is far from the bottom. The GPU's percentile rank of 72 vs all GPUs is notable, and its average benchmark score of 27425 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (-0.5% delta). This suggests that the RX 6700 XT is a capable performer, but the combo's overall rank is moderated by the CPU's position.

The CPU's percentile rank of 72 vs all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 18683 put it in a competitive segment, with rivals including the AMD EPYC 7643 (-0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i7-1355U (-0.3% delta). However, the combo's mid-pack rank of 1938 suggests that other tested combinations, likely pairing higher-end CPUs with this GPU or pairing this CPU with more powerful GPUs, achieve better results in Greedfall. The data indicates that this setup is a balanced mid-range option, offering solid performance for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it is not optimized for the highest end of 4K performance. The rank implies that approximately 1765 other combos tested faster, while 1765 were slower, making this a typical mainstream gaming system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a detailed look at performance across three resolutions and four graphics settings.

At 1920x1080, the system excels:

• Low: 182 FPS average.
• High: 130 FPS average.
• Medium: 143 FPS average, with a minimum of 122 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS.
• Ultra: 83 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong:

• Low: 126 FPS average.
• High: 90 FPS average.
• Medium: 99 FPS average, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS.
• Ultra: 57 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed:

• Low: 75 FPS average.
• High: 54 FPS average.
• Medium: 59 FPS average, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS.
• Ultra: 34 FPS average.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each step up in resolution from 1080p to 1440p to 4K results in a roughly 30-40% reduction in average FPS for the same settings. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a spread of 42 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K. This reduction in frame time variance at higher resolutions further confirms the GPU-bound nature of the workload, as the CPU is less likely to cause stutters when the frame rate is lower.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth 60+ FPS experience, the High preset is viable at 1440p, delivering an average of 90 FPS. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset, with an average of 83 FPS, remains playable and provides the highest visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1440p, averaging 99 FPS, offers a good balance for users with high refresh rate monitors, as it stays well above the 60 FPS threshold.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests that the High preset, at 54 FPS average, is the most demanding setting that remains close to playable, while the Low preset achieves 75 FPS for a smoother experience. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 34 FPS, is likely too choppy for most users and is not recommended for active gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K, with a 59 FPS average, presents an alternative for those who want a balance between visual quality and performance, and the recorded minimum of 50 FPS indicates some dips but generally acceptable frame pacing. The benchmark results indicate that the best experience per the measured rows is either 1440p High for a high-quality, high-frame-rate experience, or 1080p Ultra for maximum visual detail without sacrificing playability. Users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity should opt for 1080p Medium, which provides a 143 FPS average, or 1440p Low at 126 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary driver of performance in Greedfall, especially at higher resolutions. Its architecture is RDNA 2.0, built on a 7 nm process, with a die size of 335 mm² and 17,200 million transistors. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs are complemented by 40 ray accelerators. Its boost clock is 2581 MHz, and the memory operates at 2000 MHz, providing a 384.0 GB/s bandwidth over a 192-bit bus with 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

The GPU's synthetic scores are robust, with a Passmark G3D score of 19786 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2435. Its percentile rank of 72 vs all GPUs, and its proximity to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (-0.5% delta) in average benchmark score, shows that it offers high-end performance, albeit with less VRAM. In Greedfall, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K, where the average FPS drops to 54 at High settings and 34 at Ultra. This performance cliff is a direct result of the GPU's compute throughput and memory bandwidth being saturated by the game's rendering demands at 3840x2160.

The GPU's 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is a key metric, as Greedfall's pixel and vertex shaders rely heavily on this raw processing power. The 165.2 GPixel/s pixel rate and 413.0 GTexel/s texture rate determine how quickly the GPU can fill the screen and apply textures, which are critical at high resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, allowing the CPU to push frame rates to 182 FPS on Low settings. The data suggests that the RX 6700 XT is a well-balanced card for 1440p gaming, but at 4K, users must accept lower settings to maintain acceptable frame rates. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the measured settings, but the GPU's overall compute power, not memory capacity, is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra.