Greedfall

Greedfall is an action RPG from 2019 that responds predictably to hardware, and the Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience. The measured data shows that the choice of settings matters more than resolution for this combo, as the gap between Low and Ultra presets is substantial at every resolution tested. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to show where this combo excels and where it struggles, focusing strictly on the numbers provided.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo makes the ideal preset choice clear. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 126 FPS average, which is only 34 FPS below the Low preset's 160 FPS but a massive 53 FPS above the Ultra preset's 73 FPS. The High preset sits at 114 FPS, which is closer to Medium than to Low. The sweet spot is Medium, as it provides a 126 FPS average with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without the steep performance penalty of Ultra. The minimum FPS of 107 at Medium is well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the most balanced choice for consistent frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. Medium produces 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High drops to 79 FPS, and Low jumps to 111 FPS. Ultra falls to 50 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth. Medium remains the recommended preset here because it maintains a 74 FPS minimum, keeping the experience fluid. The 87 FPS average at 1440p Medium is close enough to the 79 FPS of High that the visual upgrade from Medium to High is not worth the 8 FPS loss, especially since the minimum FPS at High is not recorded in the data. Medium offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance consistency.

At 3840x2160, the story changes dramatically. Medium yields 52 FPS average with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. High drops to 47 FPS, and Low rises to 66 FPS. Ultra falls to 30 FPS, which is barely playable. At 4K, Low becomes the only sensible choice if you want to avoid dipping below 60 FPS, as it delivers 66 FPS average. However, if you can tolerate the 44 FPS minimum, Medium at 52 FPS average is the best visual compromise. The data suggests that this combo is not ideal for 4K Ultra, but Low or Medium can work for less demanding play. For the best overall experience across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point, as it consistently provides the best balance of average FPS and minimum FPS headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, based on Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The CPU's benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055. Geekbench results show a multicore score of 11268 and a single-core score of 2058. These numbers place the CPU in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms most processors on the market. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and the Intel Core i9-11900, with delta percentages of 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, indicating near-identical average benchmark scores.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is evident when examining the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 160 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. The drop to 114 FPS at 1080p High and 73 FPS at 1080p Ultra indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase. The CPU's 16 threads and 20 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample headroom for the game's AI and physics calculations, as evidenced by the high minimum FPS values at 1080p Medium (107 FPS). The 4.70 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for single-threaded game logic, which Greedfall relies on. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, as the FPS scales inversely with graphical settings, a classic sign of GPU limitation. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes further, with FPS drops driven almost entirely by the GPU's rendering load. This suggests that the i5-14400F is more than sufficient for this game, and future upgrades to the GPU would yield better returns than a CPU upgrade.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. It has a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with 2560 shading units and 32 ROPs. The GPU's benchmark scores include a Passmark G3D score of 17326 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502. It sits in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, showing delta percentages of -0.6% and 1.6%, respectively. The 8 GB VRAM is a key factor in Greedfall's performance, especially at higher settings and resolutions.

The GPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the FPS scaling. At 1080p, the combo achieves 160 FPS at Low, but this drops to 126 FPS at Medium and 114 FPS at High, showing a 46 FPS difference between Low and High. The 8 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for 1080p, as the minimum FPS at Medium is 107, which is healthy. At 1440p, the FPS drops further, with Low at 111 FPS and Medium at 87 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM may start to feel constrained at 1440p Ultra, which only manages 50 FPS. At 4K, the GPU struggles more visibly. Low produces 66 FPS, but Medium falls to 52 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling, as the 30 FPS average suggests the GPU is heavily VRAM-limited or compute-bound. The 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is a bottleneck at 4K, as the GPU cannot feed the high-resolution textures fast enough. The data indicates that the RTX 5050 is a capable 1080p and 1440p GPU for Greedfall, but 4K requires significant settings reductions to maintain playable frame rates. The 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are the primary constraints at higher resolutions, not the core clock speed.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combo ranks 1776 out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all possible pairings. This rank is surprising given the individual component benchmarks, as the CPU is in the 83rd percentile and the GPU is in the 66th percentile. The combo's ranking suggests that Greedfall is more demanding on the GPU than the CPU, and the RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and limited bandwidth hold back the overall performance. The combo's measured FPS data shows it can hit 160 FPS at 1080p Low, which is impressive, but the rank of 1776 indicates that many other combos achieve higher average FPS across all settings and resolutions. The rank is likely dragged down by the 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, have similar benchmark scores, but they may be paired with stronger GPUs in other combos. The GPU's nearest rivals, like the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, show that the RTX 5050 is competitive in raw compute, but its memory subsystem is a weakness. The combo's rank of 1776 out of 2938 means it outperforms roughly 40% of tested combos, which is a middle-of-the-road result. For a 1080p-focused gamer, this rank is acceptable, but for 4K enthusiasts, the combo falls short. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can leverage its CPU strength to maintain high frame rates, but it is not a top-tier pairing for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation. At Low settings, the combo delivers 160 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. This represents a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 41% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 126 at 1080p to 87 at 1440p and 52 at 4K, showing a 31% drop and a 40% drop, respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter, as the CPU's frame time does not change significantly with resolution. At High settings, the FPS drops from 114 at 1080p to 79 at 1440p and 47 at 4K, with drops of 31% and 41%. At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 73 at 1080p to 50 at 1440p and 30 at 4K, with drops of 32% and 40%. The fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical across all settings (around 59-60% reduction) strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at all settings. The CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 160 FPS at Low, but the GPU's rendering capabilities cap the performance at higher resolutions.

The scaling also highlights the VRAM pressure. At 4K Ultra, the 30 FPS average is far below the 47 FPS at 4K High, a 36% drop that is larger than the 41% drop seen from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra. This suggests that the 8 GB VRAM is exhausted at 4K Ultra, causing a more severe performance hit than the raw pixel count would predict. At 1080p, the difference between Medium and High is 12 FPS (126 vs 114), while at 4K, the difference is only 5 FPS (52 vs 47). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is hitting a hard limit, likely memory bandwidth, as the 320.0 GB/s is insufficient for 4K textures. The data clearly shows that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, with 1440p being viable at Medium settings, and 4K being playable only at Low settings. The limiting component is the GPU, specifically its memory subsystem, rather than the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces a wide range of results. Low settings deliver an average of 160 FPS, which is the highest measured value for this combo. Medium settings produce 126 FPS average, with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS. High settings yield 114 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 73 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra is 87 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of settings on performance. The minimum FPS of 107 at Medium is notably high, indicating consistent frame delivery.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down. Low settings achieve 111 FPS average, which is 49 FPS lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings produce 87 FPS average, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High settings deliver 79 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 50 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 61 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p. The minimum FPS of 74 at Medium is still above 60, making 1440p Medium a viable option for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low settings achieve 66 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings produce 52 FPS average, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. High settings deliver 47 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 30 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 36 FPS, the smallest gap of any resolution, indicating that the GPU is reaching its limits. The minimum FPS of 44 at Medium is below 60, which may result in noticeable stutters. The data shows that 4K Low is the only setting that consistently stays above 60 FPS, while 4K Medium is borderline. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown confirms that this combo is best used at 1080p with Medium to High settings, or at 1440p with Medium settings, for a balanced experience.