Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG from 2019, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with image quality and resolution. Using the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, the measured results reveal a configuration capable of very high frame rates at mainstream resolutions but one that is heavily taxed by the game's Ultra preset. This analysis breaks down the performance data, focusing on the roles of the GPU and CPU, and provides a resolution-by-resolution breakdown of the measured FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and highly dependent on the chosen quality preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 sees the average frame rate fall from 313.9 FPS to 127.5 FPS, a reduction of roughly 59%. This indicates that even at the lowest settings, the jump in pixel count from 1080p to 4K quadruples the GPU's fill-rate demand, which is a massive load for any graphics card. The data shows a similar, though less severe, pattern at High settings, where the average FPS drops from 228.8 at 1080p to 94.2 at 4K, a 59% decrease as well.

However, the most dramatic scaling is reserved for the Ultra preset. At 1080p, the Ultra setting yields 144.2 FPS, but this plummets to 57.5 FPS at 4K, a 60% reduction that pushes the experience below the 60 FPS threshold. The shape of this curve suggests that at 1080p, the system is less GPU-bound, allowing the CPU to flex its capabilities, but as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the unmitigated bottleneck. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is stark: 127.5 FPS versus 57.5 FPS, a gap of 70 FPS. This demonstrates that Greedfall's Ultra preset imposes a rendering cost that is disproportionately high relative to the other settings, making it the primary factor in the system's inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this configuration. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, the card has ample resources for high-resolution textures. Its core configuration includes 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores, running at a boost clock of 2550 MHz. These specifications translate to a raw compute throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS, which is reflected in its benchmark scores. The GPU's percentile rank against all GPUs is 88, and its average benchmark score of 53610 places it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M in the nearest rival data.

The GPU's role becomes clear when examining the frame rates. At 1440p High, the system produces 156.1 FPS, but at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 99 FPS. This 57 FPS drop shows that the Ultra settings are likely invoking heavy use of the GPU's shading and memory subsystems. The card’s 16 GB VRAM capacity is likely a key factor in preventing texture-related stutters at 4K, allowing the average FPS to remain at 94.2 on High. However, the Ultra preset at 4K (57.5 FPS) reveals that even a GPU in the 88th percentile can be overwhelmed by this game's most demanding visual configuration, as the Greedfall engine appears to scale its effects heavily with the Ultra preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F serves as the supporting component, and its performance is sufficient to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions. With 10 cores and 16 threads, it offers a strong multi-threaded foundation, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279. Its boost clock of 4.60 GHz on the performance cores contributes to a strong single-threaded score of 3004 in the same test. The CPU's average benchmark score is 25236, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. It is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% faster) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% slower) according to the nearest rival data.

The CPU's limiting role is most evident at 1080p. At Low settings, the system reaches 313.9 FPS, a figure that is unlikely to be constrained by the GPU. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is successfully managing the game's logic and draw calls. However, the fact that the 1080p Ultra score (144.2 FPS) is lower than the 1440p High score (156.1 FPS) is an anomaly. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces a CPU-side bottleneck as well, as the increased complexity of the scene (more objects, effects) requires more CPU work before the GPU can render it. While the CPU is not the main bottleneck at 4K, its performance at 1080p shows it is capable of driving frame rates well beyond 200 FPS, proving it is a capable partner for the RTX 4080 SUPER, though it can be a limiting factor when frame rates exceed 300 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a precise picture of the system's performance across three resolutions and four quality settings.

• 1920x1080: At Low settings, the system achieves an average of 313.9 FPS. Medium settings yield 248.9 FPS, and High settings produce 228.8 FPS. The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding, reducing the average to 144.2 FPS. This represents a 54% performance drop from Low to Ultra, indicating that the Ultra preset is exceptionally taxing even at 1080p.

• 2560x1440: Moving to 1440p, the Low preset delivers 220 FPS. Medium settings follow at 172.9 FPS, and High settings produce 156.1 FPS. The Ultra preset again sees the largest drop, settling at 99 FPS. This is the first resolution where the Ultra preset falls below the 100 FPS mark, showing a 55% reduction from Low to Ultra.

• 3840x2160: At 4K, the scale of performance is drastically different. Low settings yield 127.5 FPS, Medium settings produce 102.9 FPS, and High settings are close behind at 94.2 FPS. The Ultra preset cannot maintain a playable 60 FPS, with an average of just 57.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 70 FPS, confirming that 4K Ultra is beyond the sustainable limits of this configuration.

The data also shows a consistent pattern: the difference between Low and Medium is smaller than the difference between High and Ultra. For example, at 1440p, the jump from Low to Medium is 47.1 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is 57.1 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset includes a set of effects that are disproportionately more expensive than the incremental improvements from Low to High, likely involving volumetric lighting or advanced post-processing.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this CPU/GPU combo in Greedfall?

A: The highest recorded average is 313.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Can this system run Greedfall at 4K with the Ultra preset?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, the average frame rate is 57.5 FPS, which falls below the standard 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 228.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 94.2 FPS at 3840x2160, a decrease of 134.6 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system produces 172.9 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the GPU is still the main limiting factor, as the CPU is capable of higher frame rates, as seen at 1080p.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in this context?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, indicating a marginal performance lead over its direct competitors.

Q: At what resolution does the Ultra preset become unplayable?

A: The Ultra preset becomes unplayable at 3840x2160, where the average frame rate falls to 57.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset still manages a playable 99 FPS average.