Greedfall

# Greedfall with Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This combo lands at rank 3 out of 1,705 tested combinations for Greedfall, placing it in the top 0.2% of all systems measured. The pairing of a 10-core Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces extraordinarily high frame rates across all tested configurations, though the data reveals an interesting imbalance: the GPU is so powerful that CPU limitations become visible at lower resolutions. The measured results show a system that can push Greedfall well past 100 FPS at 4K Ultra, but the scaling patterns suggest the RTX 5090 is often waiting on the i5-13400F to feed it frames.

How This Combo Ranks

At rank 3 out of 1,705 combos, this configuration sits at the 99.8th percentile of all tested systems in Greedfall. Only two other combinations deliver higher average frame rates across the full test matrix. This is a remarkable position for a mid-range CPU paired with a flagship GPU, and it indicates that Greedfall's engine is not particularly demanding on the processor side. The RTX 5090's raw throughput dominates the equation here, with the i5-13400F providing sufficient single-thread performance to avoid becoming a severe bottleneck in most scenarios.

The CPU itself ranks in the 82nd percentile among all processors in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 25,236. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% behind), and the AMD EPYC 9474F (0.5% ahead). These deltas are tiny — within 0.5% — meaning the i5-13400F delivers essentially identical CPU performance to its closest competitors. Meanwhile, the RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 84,306, trailing the RTX 5090 D by just 0.1% and leading the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 by 1.3%. The GPU's dominance is far more pronounced than the CPU's, which explains why this combo ranks so highly despite the modest processor.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 brings 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 2017 MHz with a boost up to 2407 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These are enormous specifications for a 2019 title like Greedfall, which was released on 2019-09-09 and cannot come close to saturating this GPU's capabilities.

The measured FPS data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the RTX 5090 achieves 67 FPS — a very playable frame rate. At 4K Low, it reaches 152.2 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU has massive headroom. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is 85.2 FPS (from 152.2 down to 67), which represents a 56% performance drop when maxing out quality. This is a substantial penalty, but the absolute numbers remain high because the RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are overkill for Greedfall's visual complexity.

The GPU's passmark DirectX 11 score of 341 and DirectX 12 score of 185 suggest that the card's architectural strength lies in modern APIs, yet Greedfall still performs exceptionally well. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 further confirms the card's raw power, but in this game, the limiting factor is rarely the GPU itself — except at 4K Ultra, where the 67 FPS result shows the card finally encountering meaningful work.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It uses the Raptor Lake architecture on a 10 nm process, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. Its single-thread performance is strong — 3DMark single-thread score of 960, Cinebench R23 single-core of 3,004, and Geekbench single-core of 2,301 — which matters for Greedfall's typical game logic and physics workloads.

The multi-threaded scores tell a similar story: Cinebench R23 multi-core hits 21,279, and PassMark multi-thread reaches 25,032. However, the CPU's percentile rank of 82 versus the GPU's 94 highlights that this processor is average-to-good, not exceptional, among its peers. In Greedfall, the CPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution drops. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 363 FPS, which is likely near the engine's internal limits or the CPU's frame-pacing ceiling. The fact that 1080p Low (363 FPS) is only 43% faster than 4K Low (152.2 FPS) — despite the GPU having far less work at 1080p — strongly suggests the i5-13400F is the bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 363 FPS on Low, 286.8 FPS on Medium, 261.8 FPS on High, and 167.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 195.5 FPS, a 54% reduction. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the numbers become 251.1 FPS (Low), 199.4 FPS (Medium), 180.9 FPS (High), and 117.1 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p Low result is 31% lower than 1080p Low, indicating the GPU is now doing noticeably more work. At 3840x2160, the system achieves 152.2 FPS (Low), 120 FPS (Medium), 109.3 FPS (High), and 67 FPS (Ultra).

The pattern is consistent: Ultra settings impose a roughly 55-60% performance penalty compared to Low at every resolution. High settings sit between Medium and Ultra, typically about 9-10% slower than Medium. The absolute numbers remain impressive throughout — even the worst-case 4K Ultra result of 67 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo overkill for Greedfall?

A: The data suggests yes. Even at 4K Ultra, the system delivers 67 FPS, and at 1080p Low it reaches 363 FPS. Given that the RTX 5090 ranks in the 94th percentile of all GPUs and Greedfall is from 2019, the GPU is far more powerful than the game requires.

Q: Which component limits performance in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor — the jump from 1080p Low (363 FPS) to 4K Low (152.2 FPS) is only a 58% reduction, not the ~400% that pure GPU scaling would suggest. At 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the constraint, as evidenced by the sharp drop to 67 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-13400F compare to its closest rivals?

A: The CPU scores 25,236 on average, which is within 0.5% of the Intel Core i7-13620H, AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, AMD EPYC 9474F, and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340. Performance parity is essentially exact.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: If targeting 60+ FPS, all resolutions work. For 144 Hz displays, 1440p High (180.9 FPS) or 1440p Medium (199.4 FPS) are excellent choices. For 240 Hz displays, 1080p Medium (286.8 FPS) or High (261.8 FPS) are the sweet spots.

Q: Does the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM matter for Greedfall?

A: Not meaningfully. Greedfall is a 2019 title and cannot utilize anywhere near 32 GB of VRAM. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s and GDDR7 speed are also far beyond what this game requires, but they contribute to the high frame rates at 4K.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 3rd out of 1,705 combos, which places it in the top 0.2% of all configurations tested for Greedfall.

Settings Recommendations

The Ultra preset produces 167.5 FPS at 1080p, 117.1 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. These are all playable, but the 4K Ultra result leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. High settings offer the best balance: 261.8 FPS at 1080p, 180.9 FPS at 1440p, and 109.3 FPS at 4K. The High preset is only about 10% slower than Medium but provides substantially better visual quality, making it the recommended choice for most users.

For competitive play or maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p (363 FPS) or 1440p (251.1 FPS) is viable, but the visual compromise is significant. Medium at 1440p (199.4 FPS) or 4K (120 FPS) offers a strong middle ground. Given that even 4K Ultra hits 67 FPS, players with 60 Hz displays can safely use Ultra at any resolution. Those with 144 Hz monitors should prefer High at 1440p or below, while 240 Hz display owners will want High at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic bottleneck shift. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 363 FPS (1080p) to 251.1 FPS (1440p) to 152.2 FPS (4K). The 1080p-to-1440p reduction is 31%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 39%. If the GPU were the sole constraint, these drops would be much steeper given the pixel count increases. The relatively mild scaling at Low indicates the CPU is holding the system back at 1080p, where the i5-13400F's single-thread ceiling of roughly 360 FPS becomes apparent.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 167.5 FPS (1080p) → 117.1 FPS (1440p) → 67 FPS (4K). The 4K result is 60% lower than 1080p, showing the GPU is now the dominant limiting factor. The crossover point appears to be around 1440p High/Ultra, where both components share the load. This data implies that for Greedfall, the RTX 5090 is best paired with a stronger CPU if the goal is maximum frame rates at 1080p, but the i5-13400F is perfectly adequate for 1440p and 4K gaming, where the GPU's massive 104.8 TFLOPS compute and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth take over.