Greedfall

The Intel Core i5-12600KF pairs a 10-core, 16-thread Alder Lake design with a 4.90 GHz boost clock, and the benchmark data from this 2019 Action RPG reveals a CPU that is rarely the bottleneck. The processor’s 3DMark scores show a strong scaling pattern from 1,016 single-thread to 7,956 for 16 threads, indicating that the hybrid architecture handles both lightly-threaded game logic and heavily-threaded background tasks. In Greedfall, the CPU’s 84th percentile ranking versus all CPUs is reflected in the fact that frame rates remain exceptionally high even at lower resolutions, where CPU overhead typically becomes more visible. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient data locality for the game’s open-world streaming, but the real story is that this processor’s 3,309 Cinebench R23 single-core score gives it the headroom to feed a very fast GPU without breaking a sweat.

The 3DMark 8-thread score of 6,128 versus the max-thread score of 7,952 suggests that Greedfall’s engine can utilize more than eight threads, but the performance difference between these two scores is not dramatic. This implies that while the game is capable of spreading work across the CPU’s 16 threads, the core count is not the limiting factor here. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 27,575 and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scoring 27,829 with a 0% delta, show that the i5-12600KF is effectively trading blows with older flagship parts. The data suggests that in Greedfall, the i5-12600KF provides more than enough compute throughput, especially when considering that the game’s release date in 2019 predates this CPU by two years, meaning the title’s threading model is unlikely to stress this modern processor.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-12600KF bottleneck the RTX 4080 SUPER in Greedfall at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 315.1 FPS, and even at Ultra settings it maintains 144.6 FPS. The CPU’s single-thread score of 1,016 in 3DMark and 3,309 in Cinebench R23 indicates enough processing power to keep the GPU fully fed, as frame rates scale properly with GPU load rather than collapsing due to CPU limits.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K?

A: The two processors are statistically identical in average benchmark score, with the i9-10900K scoring 27,829 and the i5-12600KF scoring 27,827, a 0% delta. In Greedfall, this means the i5-12600KF provides similar CPU-bound performance to a previous-generation flagship, making it a capable choice for this title.

Q: What is the CPU’s memory bandwidth situation for Greedfall?

A: The CPU supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the exact bandwidth is not specified. Given that the game runs at 315.1 FPS on Low settings at 1080p, memory bandwidth is clearly sufficient for the title’s demands, as the frame rate is not artificially capped by memory throughput.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB of VRAM necessary for Greedfall?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory provides ample headroom for this 2019 title, which was designed for GPUs with far less memory. The GPU’s 736.3 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming at 4K Ultra is not hampered, allowing the 60.1 FPS average at that setting to be limited by compute rather than memory capacity.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER rank among all GPUs, and what does that mean for Greedfall?

A: The GPU sits in the 88th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,610. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53,489 with a 0.2% delta, showing that the RTX 4080 SUPER is at the top tier of graphics hardware, which explains why it can push such high frame rates in Greedfall.

Q: What does the CPU’s 84th percentile ranking imply for gaming longevity?

A: The 84th percentile score indicates that the i5-12600KF is faster than 84% of all CPUs tested. For Greedfall, this means the CPU will not need an upgrade for this specific title, as the game’s engine from 2019 is far less demanding than modern releases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces 144.6 FPS, which drops to 97.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 60.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% performance hit from 1080p to 1440p and another 38% hit from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, which indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s headroom becomes less relevant as pixel count increases.

Looking at Low settings, the pattern becomes even more pronounced. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 315.1 FPS, but this drops to 218.3 FPS at 1440p and 132.3 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 31% and 39% respectively, which is nearly identical to the Ultra settings scaling. This consistency across settings presets suggests that the GPU’s rendering pipeline, not the CPU or memory subsystem, is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The fact that the frame rate does not collapse at 1080p Low, where CPU overhead would be most visible, confirms that the i5-12600KF is not holding back the system.

The data implies that if a user wants to play Greedfall at 4K, they are entirely GPU-bound, as the CPU’s performance is sufficient to support even the lowest settings at 132.3 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings is 84.5 FPS, which is a massive difference that highlights the GPU’s workload scaling with resolution. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being taxed heavily at 4K, whereas at 1080p the GPU has excess capacity that the CPU can feed without issue.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce 315.1 FPS, Medium reaches 249.3 FPS, High hits 227.4 FPS, and Ultra maintains 144.6 FPS. The jump from Ultra to High is 82.8 FPS, which is a substantial gain, while the difference between Medium and High is only 21.9 FPS. This suggests that the High preset offers a good balance, but the Ultra preset’s 144.6 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS target for most displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected drop. Low settings average 218.3 FPS, Medium reaches 171.4 FPS, High hits 155.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 97.6 FPS. At this resolution, all settings except Ultra remain above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold, making 1440p a sweet spot for high-refresh gaming with this combo. The Ultra preset’s 97.6 FPS is still smooth, but it represents a 42% drop from the High preset at the same resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s workload becomes the dominant factor. Low settings yield 132.3 FPS, Medium produces 105.3 FPS, High averages 93.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 60.1 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is 72.2 FPS, which is a massive range. The Ultra preset’s 60.1 FPS is right at the 60 FPS target, indicating that this setting is the maximum playable option at 4K. The High preset at 93.4 FPS offers a much more comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the AD103 chip using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 45,900 million transistors packed into a 379 mm² die. Its boost clock of 2550 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz drive 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The memory subsystem consists of 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This configuration produces 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is the raw horsepower that Greedfall leverages at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU’s benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 34,245 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53,489 with a 0.2% delta, meaning the two are effectively tied in synthetic benchmarks. In Greedfall, the GPU’s role is clearly dominant, as seen in the resolution scaling where frame rates drop by 38-39% from 1440p to 4K at all settings. The GPU’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are not particularly relevant for this 2019 title, but the raw rasterization performance is what drives the high frame rates.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Greedfall, which was released in 2019 when 8 GB was the high-end standard. This means the GPU is never memory-constrained in this game, allowing the compute units to work without waiting for texture data. The memory clock of 1438 MHz with 23 Gbps effective speed provides the bandwidth to feed the 10,240 shading units, ensuring that the GPU’s 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate is not the limiting factor at any measured setting.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset offers the best experience for most users. At 1080p, High delivers 227.4 FPS, which is only 18.1 FPS less than Medium but 82.8 FPS more than Ultra. The visual quality improvement from Medium to High is typically more noticeable than the jump from High to Ultra, making High the sweet spot for competitive play. At 1440p, High produces 155.1 FPS, which is above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors, while Ultra drops to 97.6 FPS, which is still smooth but sacrifices the high-refresh advantage.

For 4K users, the High preset at 93.4 FPS is the clear recommendation, as it provides a 33.3 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining a frame rate well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 60.1 FPS is playable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes, whereas High offers a comfortable margin. The Medium preset at 105.3 FPS is slightly faster but likely looks worse without a proportionally large performance gain. The Low preset at 132.3 FPS is unnecessary for this game, as the GPU has enough power to run High at acceptable frame rates.

The data indicates that the Ultra preset is poorly optimized relative to High, with a 42% performance drop from High to Ultra at 1440p and a 36% drop at 4K. This suggests that Ultra settings include effects that are disproportionately expensive for their visual impact. Users with 144 Hz displays should prioritize High at 1440p, while 4K users should choose High to maintain a 90+ FPS experience. The Low and Medium presets are only recommended for users with very high refresh rate displays (240 Hz or more) at 1080p, where the 315.1 FPS and 249.3 FPS results can be fully utilized.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 119th out of 1,705 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations. This ranking is impressive given that the CPU is a mid-range part from 2021 and the GPU, while high-end, was released in 2024 and is already end-of-life. The high ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU’s 88th percentile performance, as the CPU’s 84th percentile is also strong but not exceptional. The combo’s ranking suggests that the i5-12600KF is a suitable match for the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game, as the CPU does not drag down the GPU’s performance.

The 119th rank out of 1,705 combos means there are 118 configurations that perform better in Greedfall, likely consisting of newer flagship CPUs paired with the same or faster GPUs. The data shows that the i5-12600KF’s nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, has an identical average score, so swapping to that older flagship would not change the ranking. Similarly, the GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is only 0.2% behind, meaning that a system with that GPU and this CPU would likely land in a similar ranking position.

The fact that this combo achieves 60.1 FPS at 4K Ultra and 144.6 FPS at 1080p Ultra demonstrates that it is capable of maxing out Greedfall at any resolution. The ranking reflects not just raw performance but also the efficiency of the pairing, as the CPU’s 125 W TDP and the GPU’s 320 W TDP combine for a system that delivers top-tier results without requiring exotic cooling. For a game as old as Greedfall, this combo is significantly overqualified, but the data confirms that it ranks among the best configurations available for this title.