Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER pairing. The benchmark data shows a configuration that scales predictably with resolution, but the relationship between settings and frame rate is non-linear, revealing the increasing burden of the game's Ultra preset. The data indicates a system that is overwhelmingly capable at 1080p and 1440p, but which faces a significant challenge when pushed to 4K with maximum settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates where the bottleneck lies for this combination. At 1080p Low, the system produces 273.8 FPS, but by 1440p Low, this drops to 192.1 FPS, a reduction of approximately 30%. Moving to 4K Low, the average falls further to 115.6 FPS, which is 58% below the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when examining the High preset. The 1080p High result of 195.4 FPS drops to 137.1 FPS at 1440p, a 30% decrease, and then plummets to 83 FPS at 4K, which is 57% lower than the 1080p baseline. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions suggests the game is heavily GPU-bound at High settings, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a constraint.

The Ultra preset reveals a more severe scaling penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 128.7 FPS, which is already 34% lower than the High preset at the same resolution. Moving to 1440p Ultra yields 87.2 FPS (32% drop), and 4K Ultra collapses to 54.4 FPS, a 58% reduction from 1080p Ultra. This disproportionate decline at 4K Ultra indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The system produces 273.8 FPS at 1080p Low and 128.7 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This represents a 53% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: How does the 1440p High preset compare to the 4K High preset?

A: At 1440p High, the average frame rate is 137.1 FPS, while at 4K High it drops to 83 FPS. The 4K resolution results in a 39% lower frame rate compared to 1440p at the same settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting component. The Intel Core i5-14400F has a high average benchmark score of 32508, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. The RTX 4070 SUPER, while also strong with an average score of 42576 (84th percentile), shows significant frame rate drops as resolution increases, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, it achieves 115.6 FPS, and at 4K High, it maintains 83 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 54.4 FPS, which may be below the target for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset delivers 149.2 FPS, while High delivers 137.1 FPS at 1440p. The jump from Medium to High costs approximately 8% of the average frame rate.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 304th out of 1705 tested combinations in Greedfall, placing it in the top 18% of all tested systems.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 304 out of 1705 tested combinations places this system firmly in the upper echelon of configurations for Greedfall. This ranking is consistent with the individual component performance data. The Intel Core i5-14400F achieves an average benchmark score of 32508, which places it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, 0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446, 0.2% delta), AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584, -0.2% delta), and Intel Core i7-13705H (32586, -0.2% delta). This grouping shows that the i5-14400F is essentially tied with these competitors in synthetic benchmarks.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves an average benchmark score of 42576, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653, -0.2% delta), AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723, -0.3% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 580X (41991, 1.4% delta), and NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897, 1.6% delta). The synthetic benchmark parity between these GPUs suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER's real-world advantage in Greedfall comes from its specific architectural features rather than raw compute dominance.

The rank of 304 out of 1705 combos indicates that while this system is not at the absolute top of the performance hierarchy, it outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. Given that the data shows the system achieving over 200 FPS at 1080p Medium and over 190 FPS at 1440p Low, the ranking likely reflects the diminishing returns of higher-end components in a game from 2019.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset yields 273.8 FPS, Medium produces 221.1 FPS, High delivers 195.4 FPS, and Ultra achieves 128.7 FPS. This progression shows a 53% reduction from Low to Ultra, with the most significant single-step drop occurring between High and Ultra (66.7 FPS difference).

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable. Low settings produce 192.1 FPS, while Medium delivers 149.2 FPS. The High preset maintains 137.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 87.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 104.9 FPS, representing a 55% reduction. Notably, the gap between Medium and High at 1440p is only 12.1 FPS, suggesting that the visual upgrade to High is relatively inexpensive in performance terms.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates for most presets. Low achieves 115.6 FPS, Medium produces 88.4 FPS, and High maintains 83 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 54.4 FPS, which is the only sub-60 FPS result in the entire dataset. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows consistent reductions across all settings, with Low dropping 66% (192.1 to 115.6), Medium dropping 41% (149.2 to 88.4), High dropping 39% (137.1 to 83), and Ultra dropping 38% (87.2 to 54.4).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER plays the dominant role in determining Greedfall's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, while the GPU core operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz and boosts to 2475 MHz.

The 4K Ultra result of 54.4 FPS strongly suggests that the 12 GB VRAM capacity is being stressed by the combination of maximum settings and 3840x2160 resolution. The steep drop from High (83 FPS) to Ultra (54.4 FPS) at 4K represents a 34% reduction, which is far more severe than the 12% drop observed between the same settings at 1440p (137.1 to 87.2). This disproportionate penalty indicates that the Ultra preset introduces graphical features that push the GPU's memory subsystem and compute resources to their limits.

The GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224 texture mapping units provide ample raw power for Greedfall's rendering demands at lower presets. However, the game's Ultra settings appear to activate additional effects that disproportionately impact performance. The 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are present in the AD104 chip, but Greedfall's 2019 release date means it likely does not leverage ray tracing or DLSS features that would utilize these specialized units.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that falls below this threshold, achieving 54.4 FPS. Every other tested combination exceeds 60 FPS, including 4K High at 83 FPS. For 4K displays, the High preset represents the optimal balance, delivering 83 FPS while maintaining substantial visual fidelity over the Medium preset's 88.4 FPS (which is only 6% faster but likely has noticeably reduced visual quality).

At 1440p, the High preset at 137.1 FPS is the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate monitors. The jump from Medium (149.2 FPS) to High costs only 8% performance while presumably providing meaningful visual improvements. The Ultra preset at 87.2 FPS remains playable and could be considered for players who prioritize image quality over frame rate, particularly on 144Hz displays.

For 1080p, the system is so powerful that even Ultra settings at 128.7 FPS exceed the refresh rate of most standard monitors. Players with 144Hz displays can comfortably use Ultra settings, while those with 240Hz or higher refresh rates may prefer the High preset at 195.4 FPS. The Low preset at 273.8 FPS serves only esports-style play or extreme refresh rate scenarios, as the visual compromises are substantial for the marginal frame rate gain over Medium's 221.1 FPS.

The benchmark data consistently shows that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions, with frame rates of 195.4, 137.1, and 83 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. This preset avoids the steep performance cliff associated with Ultra settings while providing a substantial upgrade over Medium.