Greedfall

This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 in Greedfall, based on measured FPS data. The combination ranks 1422nd out of 1705 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-mid tier of configurations. The data reveals a system heavily constrained by its graphics card, where CPU headroom is abundant but the GPU's age shows at higher resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 91.1 FPS, which drops to 64.5 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 35.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 29% performance loss from 1080p to 1440p, and a 61% loss from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is steeper than ideal, indicating that the GTX 1070's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are becoming limiting factors as pixel count rises.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (127.2 FPS) and Ultra (60.1 FPS) is 67.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, that gap shrinks to 47.6 FPS (87.3 vs 39.7), and at 3840x2160 it narrows further to 30.4 FPS (54 vs 23.6). This compression at 4K suggests the GPU is saturating its compute resources regardless of settings, making resolution the dominant constraint rather than graphical fidelity options.

The 3840x2160 results are particularly telling. Even at Low settings, the system only manages 54 FPS, which is barely playable. At Ultra, it falls to 23.6 FPS, which is below acceptable thresholds for smooth gameplay. The 2560x1440 resolution offers a more balanced experience, with Medium settings hitting 68 FPS and High at 64.5 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS. The data strongly indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where even Ultra settings maintain 60.1 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is built on the Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process node from TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz, and memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). These specifications are modest by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect this.

The GTX 1070's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1082 and Passmark G3D score of 13498 place it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (0.7% higher), GTX 880M (1.3% lower), and GTX 1650 SUPER (1.4% lower). This positioning confirms the GPU is mid-range, and Greedfall's demands push it toward its limits at higher resolutions.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Greedfall's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but the 256.3 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at 4K. The measured FPS at 3840x2160 shows a steep drop even from Medium (38.3 FPS) to High (35.2 FPS), suggesting memory bandwidth saturation. The GPU's pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for smooth 4K output in this Action RPG, regardless of CPU capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 91.1 FPS, which is excellent for smooth gameplay, while Ultra still maintains 60.1 FPS. The Medium preset at 96.6 FPS offers a marginal improvement over High, but the visual quality difference likely justifies sticking with High or Ultra at this resolution.

For 2560x1440, the data supports Medium (68 FPS) or High (64.5 FPS) as the best choices. Both stay above 60 FPS, while Ultra drops to 39.7 FPS, which would introduce noticeable stutter in combat-heavy scenes typical of Action RPGs. The Low preset at 87.3 FPS is an option for competitive play, but the visual trade-off is significant for a single-player title like Greedfall.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. Low comes closest at 54 FPS, followed by Medium at 38.3 FPS and High at 35.2 FPS. Ultra is essentially unplayable at 23.6 FPS. For 4K users, the recommendation is to use Low settings or consider lowering the resolution entirely. The data suggests that this combo's sweet spot is 1080p with High or Ultra settings, or 1440p with Medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average FPS across settings: Low 127.2, Medium 96.6, High 91.1, Ultra 60.1. The progression from Low to Medium costs 30.6 FPS, from Medium to High costs 5.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 31 FPS. This non-linear pattern indicates that Ultra settings impose a disproportionately heavy load, likely due to advanced lighting or shadow effects that stress the GTX 1070's shading units.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 87.3, Medium 68, High 64.5, Ultra 39.7. The step from High to Ultra is again the largest drop at 24.8 FPS, confirming that Ultra settings are poorly optimized for this GPU tier. The gap between Low and Medium shrinks to 19.3 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from higher settings as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the numbers are: Low 54, Medium 38.3, High 35.2, Ultra 23.6. Here, the High to Ultra drop is 11.6 FPS, which is proportionally similar to lower resolutions. The overall range from Low to Ultra is 30.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution, with settings having less relative impact than at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1422 out of 1705 tested configurations places this system in the bottom 17% of all tested combos for Greedfall. This ranking is lower than what the individual component benchmarks might suggest, indicating that the GTX 1070 is a significant drag on the i5-14400F's capabilities. The CPU itself ranks in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, but the GPU's 51st percentile positioning drags the combined performance down.

In context, the i5-14400F's nearest CPU rivals are the Intel Core i7-12800H (0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2% delta), and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (-0.2% delta). These CPUs all perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks, but none of them would meaningfully change the gaming outcome here. The GTX 1070's nearest rivals include the Quadro K4200 (0.7% higher), GTX 880M (1.3% lower), and GTX 1650 SUPER (1.4% lower), all of which would produce similar Greedfall results.

The low combo rank is primarily attributable to the GPU's age. At 1080p, the system performs acceptably, but the ranking reflects performance across all tested resolutions and settings, where 4K results drag down the average. The data suggests that users with this combo should target 1080p or 1440p gaming to get reasonable performance, as the 4K results are below playable thresholds.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's TDP is 65 W, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3093 in single-core, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role appears minimal based on the measured FPS. The fact that performance scales so heavily with resolution and settings indicates the GPU is the bottleneck at all tested configurations. At 1080p Low, the system hits 127.2 FPS, which is well within the CPU's capability to feed the GPU. The processor's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for Greedfall's AI, physics, and game logic, which typically use only a few threads.

The i5-14400F's nearest rivals include the Core i7-12800H (0% delta) and Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2% delta), all of which would perform identically in this game given the same GPU. The data shows that upgrading the CPU alone would provide no measurable FPS improvement in Greedfall, as the GTX 1070 is the limiting factor. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (3093 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures it can handle frame pacing and draw calls without bottlenecks, but this advantage is wasted when the GPU cannot render frames fast enough.