Greedfall

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Greedfall, with the data showing a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combination achieves frame rates well beyond 144Hz on most presets, indicating that the CPU is doing the heavy lifting to feed the GPU. However, the performance curve flattens dramatically at 4K, where the GPU’s architectural limits become the primary constraint, particularly under the Ultra preset where the average frame rate dips below 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 179.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings. This is a strong result, indicating the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37283, which places it just 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5300M. It also trails the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A by 1.9% and the RTX 4080 Mobile by 2.2%.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking among all tested combinations for Greedfall?

A: The combo ranks 455th out of 1705 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 26.7% of all configurations. This percentile position reflects a balanced pairing that performs well in this specific title.

Q: What is the boost clock of the Intel Core i5-12400?

A: The processor has a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz, and it features 6 cores with 12 threads, which is relevant for the game’s multi-threaded workload.

Q: What is the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth and size?

A: The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration supports the texture-heavy environments typical of an Action RPG like Greedfall.

Q: What is the average frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 169.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 76.5 FPS. This represents a 93.1 FPS drop, showing the significant cost of enabling the highest visual fidelity options.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, is the primary driver of visual fidelity in this pairing. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is substantial, and the data suggests this capacity is sufficient for Greedfall’s demands, even at 4K where the High preset still averages 70.9 FPS. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz provide the raw throughput needed for the game’s rendering pipeline.

The synthetic benchmark data positions the GPU at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 37283. This score is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which is a mere 0.6% faster, indicating the RTX 4070 is a solid mid-to-high-end performer. However, the game’s performance scaling highlights a critical aspect: the GPU’s FP32 compute of 29.15 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s are taxed heavily by the Ultra preset at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that moving from High to Ultra at 4K causes a 23.7 FPS drop (from 70.9 to 47.2), suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces effects that saturate the GPU’s shading units and ROPs.

The GPU’s 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs are the physical resources that process the game’s lighting and post-processing effects. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 is well-matched for High settings at 4K, but the Ultra preset’s additional geometric and texture complexity pushes the GPU to its limits, resulting in sub-60 FPS averages. This is not a reflection of a weak GPU, but rather a sign that Greedfall’s Ultra preset is exceptionally demanding, possibly leveraging the DirectX 12 Ultimate API features that the GPU supports.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet informative scaling pattern. At 1080p, the combo is clearly CPU-bound in most scenarios, with the Low preset hitting 247.8 FPS and the High preset at 179.3 FPS. The jump to 1440p sees a moderate decline, with High settings dropping from 179.3 to 120.8 FPS, a 32.6% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is becoming more involved, but the CPU still has headroom to push high frame rates.

The transition from 1440p to 4K is where the bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 120.8 to 70.9, a 41.3% drop. This steeper decline suggests that the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s and pixel fill rate are now the limiting factors. The Ultra preset at 4K yields only 47.2 FPS, which is a 38.3% reduction from the 76.5 FPS seen at 1440p Ultra.

This scaling behavior implies that the i5-12400, with its 6 cores and 18 MB of L3 cache, is sufficient to keep the GPU fed up to 1440p High. However, at 4K, the GPU’s raw compute power becomes the absolute bottleneck. The data suggests that for players targeting 4K, the RTX 4070 is best paired with High settings, as the difference between Medium (82.1 FPS) and High (70.9 FPS) is significant, while Ultra is not playable at a consistent smooth frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for this combo is achieved at 1440p with High settings, which yields 120.8 FPS. This provides a high level of visual detail while maintaining a frame rate that is smooth on most displays. At 4K, the High preset is the optimal choice, averaging 70.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p. At 1080p, it averages 115.5 FPS, which is excellent, but the visual uplift over High is marginal compared to the performance cost. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra drops to 76.5 and 47.2 FPS respectively, making it a poor trade-off for consistency. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates, with 247.8 FPS at 1080p and 104.8 FPS at 4K, but it sacrifices the game’s immersive atmosphere.

The data shows that the Medium preset provides a good balance, but High offers 47% more performance than Ultra at 1440p (120.8 vs 76.5 FPS) with only a modest visual difference. For the best experience, players should prioritize High settings at 1440p, as it offers a 71% performance advantage over Ultra while still delivering a high-quality visual presentation. At 4K, High is the only sensible choice for maintaining frame rates above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset averages 247.8 FPS, while Medium hits 197.7 FPS. High settings still manage 179.3 FPS, and even the demanding Ultra preset achieves 115.5 FPS. These results show that at 1080p, the i5-12400 is the limiting factor, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the GPU taking on more work. Low averages 169.6 FPS, Medium drops to 136.1 FPS, and High settles at 120.8 FPS. Ultra is the first preset to fall below 100 FPS, averaging 76.5 FPS. This pattern indicates a healthy balance, where the CPU can still push high frame rates, but the GPU is beginning to show its workload.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 104.8 FPS, which is still very playable, but Medium drops to 82.1 FPS and High to 70.9 FPS. Ultra is the only preset that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, averaging just 47.2 FPS. This breakdown suggests that the RTX 4070 is not powerful enough to handle the Ultra preset at 4K, but it performs admirably at High settings, providing a playable experience for most gamers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a crucial role in this combo’s performance. The synthetic benchmarks show a single-thread score of 3456 in PassMark and a multi-thread score of 18747, indicating strong per-core performance. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz is essential for the game’s main thread, which often handles game logic and physics.

The 3DMark scores are revealing: 910 for single-thread and 5890 for max threads. This shows a significant scaling from 2 threads (1692) to 8 threads (4745), suggesting that Greedfall benefits from the CPU’s multi-threading capabilities. However, the jump from 8 threads to 16 threads is minimal (4745 to 5873), implying that the game does not effectively utilize more than 8 threads. The i5-12400’s 12 threads are more than sufficient, and the data suggests that additional cores would not significantly improve performance.

The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are adequate for this game. The benchmark results place the i5-12400 at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 19850. This is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700, which is only 0.1% faster, and the i7-8700, which is 0.2% faster. This indicates that the i5-12400 is a competent processor that does not bottleneck the RTX 4070 until the resolution and settings drop the frame rate below the CPU’s output capability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 455th out of 1705 tested combinations for Greedfall, placing it in the top 26.7% of all configurations. This is a strong showing, indicating that the pairing of the i5-12400 and RTX 4070 is well-suited for this title. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU’s strong single-thread performance and the GPU’s substantial compute resources.

The data suggests that this combo is better suited for 1440p gaming than 4K, given the frame rate drop at higher resolutions. The 455th rank out of 1705 implies that there are many more powerful configurations, likely featuring higher-end CPUs and GPUs, but this combo still offers excellent performance for the vast majority of players. The fact that it achieves over 120 FPS at 1440p High and over 70 FPS at 4K High shows that it handles the game’s demands with ease, making it a versatile choice for gamers who play at multiple resolutions.

The ranking also suggests that the RTX 4070 is the more critical component in this pairing. While the i5-12400 is a strong CPU, its benchmark scores are only marginally different from older i7 models, indicating that the GPU is what separates this combo from lower-ranked configurations. For players looking to upgrade, the data implies that improving the GPU would yield more significant gains than upgrading the CPU, especially for those targeting higher resolutions and settings.