Greedfall

Greedfall is a demanding Action RPG, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 produces a playable but heavily GPU-bound experience. The data indicates that this pairing is best suited for 1080p gameplay, where it can consistently deliver high frame rates, while 1440p remains viable at lower settings; 4K is largely out of reach for smooth performance beyond the Low preset. The benchmark results clearly show that the GTX 1070 is the limiting component in this configuration, with the i5-12600KF providing ample headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals that the GTX 1070 is the definitive bottleneck in this system. At 1080p High, the combo produces 89 FPS, but this drops to 62 FPS at 1440p High, a substantial 30% reduction in frame rate. Moving to 4K High, the average plummets to 37 FPS, which is a 58% decrease from the 1080p result. This steep and consistent decline with increasing pixel count is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario, where the graphics card’s rendering throughput is the primary constraint.

The pattern holds across all quality presets. At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 125 FPS at 1080p to 86 FPS at 1440p (a 31% drop) and then to 52 FPS at 4K (a 58% drop from 1080p). This consistency—a roughly 30% penalty moving to 1440p and an additional 40% penalty moving to 4K—underscores that the CPU is not a factor in these reductions. If the i5-12600KF were the limiting component, the frame rate would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU workload would stay constant. Instead, the data shows a direct correlation between resolution and performance loss, pointing squarely at the GTX 1070’s pixel-pushing capabilities.

The scaling also highlights the diminishing returns of lowering resolution. The difference between 4K and 1440p at High settings is 25 FPS (37 vs. 62), while the difference between 1440p and 1080p is 27 FPS (62 vs. 89). This indicates that the GPU is being saturated even at 1440p, and the extra pixel count at 4K causes a near-linear collapse in performance. For the user, this means that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination, and even then, only with adjustments to the quality settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for playing Greedfall with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently achieves high frame rates across all presets. At 1080p, average FPS ranges from 125 (Low) down to 57 (Ultra), ensuring a smooth experience. 1440p is playable but requires lower settings, while 4K is only viable on Low.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 perform at 4K in Greedfall?

A: The benchmark results indicate that 4K is not a practical target for this GPU. At 4K High, the average frame rate is 37 FPS, which dips to 23 FPS on Ultra. Even on Low settings, the average is only 52 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The card’s 8 GB of VRAM and bandwidth are insufficient for high-fidelity 4K rendering in this title.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF holding back the GTX 1070?

A: No. The resolution scaling data proves the opposite. As resolution increases, the frame rate drops significantly, which indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The i5-12600KF, with its high multi-core and single-core benchmark scores (e.g., 23391 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3302 in single-core), has more than enough processing power to feed the GTX 1070 at all tested settings.

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

A: The jump from High to Ultra at 2560x1440 is very costly. High settings yield 62 FPS, while Ultra drops to 39 FPS, a 37% performance penalty. This suggests that Ultra preset introduces significant graphical effects that heavily tax the GTX 1070, making High a much more reasonable target for 1440p gaming.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In the average benchmark score, the GTX 1070 is virtually tied with its nearest rivals. It is within 0.7% of the AMD Tesla C2070 and 0.6% of the NVIDIA Tesla M10, while being 0.2% behind the AMD FirePro W5000 and 0.5% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M. These are negligible differences, indicating that its raw computational power is on par with those cards.

Q: Given the performance data, what is the ideal settings preset for 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. It delivers 98 FPS on average with a minimum of 83 FPS, ensuring high frame rates without the steep performance cost of the Ultra preset, which drops to 57 FPS. High is also excellent at 89 FPS, but Medium provides a larger performance buffer for demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 plays the dominant role in determining this combo’s gaming performance. With 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card has a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. This is a critical specification for Greedfall, a game that appears to be sensitive to texture and memory throughput, as evidenced by the drastic frame rate drops at higher resolutions and settings. The card’s 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs are responsible for the pixel processing, and the data shows they are overwhelmed at 4K.

The GPU’s clock speeds, with a base of 1506 MHz and a boost of 1683 MHz, are typical for the Pascal architecture. The boost clock is where the card operates under load, and the benchmark results suggest that this clock speed is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, where the average FPS falls to 23 on Ultra. The card’s FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS provides a measure of its raw compute capability, but the game’s rendering pipeline seems more constrained by memory bandwidth and fill rate than by raw compute.

The GTX 1070’s percentile rank of 47 against all GPUs indicates it is a mid-range performer, and this is reflected in the gaming results. The synthetic benchmark scores for the GPU, such as the Passmark G3D score of 13498, provide a baseline, but the in-game data is more telling. The card’s nearest rivals in synthetic tests—the AMD FirePro W5000, NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, Tesla M10, and Tesla C2070—are all within 0.7% of its average score. This suggests that the GTX 1070 is a well-balanced card for its era, but it lacks the headroom needed for modern, high-fidelity titles at high resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM, while sufficient for 1080p, becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where texture data and frame buffers consume more memory.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of this hardware’s capabilities across different resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the combo is generally smooth. The Low preset yields the highest average at 125 FPS. Medium provides an average of 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS, indicating consistent performance. High follows closely with 89 FPS. The Ultra preset is the outlier, dropping to 57 FPS, which is still playable but shows a significant performance cost for the highest visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the demands on the GPU become apparent. The Low preset still manages a solid 86 FPS. Medium averages 68 FPS (min 58, max 78), which is acceptable for most players. High drops to 62 FPS, which is the threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset takes a severe hit, falling to 39 FPS, making it a poor choice for this resolution due to the substantial frame rate loss.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1070 struggles. The Low preset is the only one that approaches playability, with an average of 52 FPS. Medium averages 40 FPS (min 34, max 47), which is borderline. High drops to 37 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 23 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a viable resolution for this GPU in Greedfall, regardless of settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination ranks at 3062 out of 3703 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the lower percentile of all tested systems, indicating that while it can run the game, it does not offer high-end performance. This ranking is consistent with the GTX 1070 being the limiting component, as the CPU is a high-performing part. The i5-12600KF’s average benchmark score of 27799 places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, and it sits within 0.3% of rivals like the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D in synthetic tests.

The low combo ranking is driven entirely by the GPU’s performance, as the i5-12600KF provides more than adequate processing power. The rank suggests that the system’s overall performance in Greedfall is comparable to other setups with mid-range graphics cards. The GPU’s own percentile rank of 47 against all GPUs further confirms this, positioning the GTX 1070 as a card that is now firmly in the mid-range tier. For users with this combo, the ranking indicates that they are at the lower end of the performance spectrum for this specific game, and they will need to manage settings carefully to achieve a playable frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this hardware is found at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This configuration provides an average of 98 FPS and a minimum of 83 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay with a good balance of visual quality. The High preset at 1080p is also viable at 89 FPS, but the Medium preset offers a larger performance buffer, which is beneficial for maintaining frame rate stability in intense combat or crowded areas.

For users who prefer 1440p, the Low preset is the only recommended option, producing 86 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to an average of 68 FPS, which is still playable but will be more susceptible to frame dips. The High preset at 62 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 39 FPS should be avoided due to its significant impact on responsiveness. 4K should be avoided entirely for this title, as even the Low preset only achieves 52 FPS, which is insufficient for a consistently smooth experience.

The data suggests avoiding the Ultra preset at all resolutions. At 1080p, it incurs a 36% performance loss compared to High (57 vs. 89 FPS). At 1440p, the penalty is even steeper, a 37% drop (39 vs. 62 FPS). The visual upgrade from High to Ultra is not worth the substantial frame rate cost on this GPU. The sweet spot for this combination is clearly 1080p Medium or High, with 1440p Low as a secondary option for users prioritizing resolution over visual detail.