Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG from 2019, responds dramatically to the settings and resolution you choose, and the data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows a system that is overwhelmingly powerful for this title. The RTX 4090, with its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and massive compute resources, is the clear driver of frame rates here, though the i5-14600K proves more than capable of keeping up. This combination ranks at 147 out of 3703 tested combos, placing it in the top tier of configurations for this game. The following analysis breaks down exactly how these components perform across the measured settings.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, but the margins are surprisingly tight until you hit the Ultra preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 351 FPS at 1920x1080 to 145 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 59%. This steep drop indicates that even at Low settings, the sheer pixel count at 4K is starting to demand more from the graphics card, though the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling shows a similar trend. The 1080p average of 276 FPS falls to 191 FPS at 1440p, and then down to 114 FPS at 4K. This represents a 59% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is consistent with the Low preset. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is recorded at 97, which is still perfectly playable, while the maximum hits 131. This consistency between Low and Medium suggests that the game's rendering pipeline is well-optimized for resolution scaling, with the RTX 4090's bandwidth being the primary factor.

High settings follow the expected pattern, with a 250 FPS average at 1080p, 174 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K here is 58%, nearly identical to the lower presets. This is a strong indicator that the limiting component is the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth, not the CPU or any other system bottleneck. The i5-14600K, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, is not holding back the RTX 4090 at any resolution, as the frame rate scaling is purely a function of resolution.

The Ultra preset, however, tells a different and more demanding story. At 1080p, Ultra yields 160 FPS, which drops to 111 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 66 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K here is 59%, but the absolute cost is much higher. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS is the only sub-100 FPS average in the entire dataset, highlighting how the Ultra preset's extra graphical effects—likely including more demanding shadows, ambient occlusion, and draw distances—severely tax the GPU. This is where the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is pushed hardest.

The data indicates that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. The consistent percentage drops across resolutions and settings point to a GPU-bound scenario. For a 4K experience, the High preset offers a smooth 104 FPS average, while Medium provides a slightly lower but still excellent 114 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 66 FPS, is the only point where the system dips below the 100 FPS threshold, making High the sensible ceiling for 4K gaming with this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed workhorse in this configuration. Its specifications are formidable: 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a massive 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The card is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, and it features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. These raw resources directly translate to the high frame rates observed in Greedfall.

The memory configuration is particularly relevant for a game like Greedfall, which features large open environments. The 24 GB frame buffer ensures that even at 4K with Ultra settings, the game never comes close to exhausting VRAM, eliminating any potential stuttering or texture pop-in. The 21 Gbps effective memory speed and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are crucial for maintaining high fill rates at 4K, where the pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s is put to the test.

Clock speeds are also a factor. The RTX 4090 has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. These high frequencies, combined with the 128 RT cores and 512 Tensor cores, allow for efficient execution of the game's rendering tasks. In benchmark results, the GPU scores 38,194 in Passmark G3D and 92,23 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 60,347.

However, the nearest rival data is interesting. The RTX 4090's average score of 60,347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, a 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, a 0.3% delta). This suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the field is close, but in the real-world Greedfall tests, the RTX 4090's gaming-specific optimizations and driver maturity push it to the top. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores higher at 61,896 (a -2.5% delta), but this does not translate to superior gaming performance in this title.

The GPU's performance is so robust that the bottleneck in this system is clearly the game engine's ability to feed it work. At 1080p Low, the 351 FPS average is likely near the engine's maximum frame rate ceiling. The RTX 4090 is so powerful that it can brute-force its way through Greedfall, making the experience smooth regardless of the resolution, provided you stick to High settings or below at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this system in Greedfall?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings provides an excellent balance, yielding a 174 FPS average. For 4K, High settings at 104 FPS is the optimal choice, as Ultra drops to 66 FPS.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: No. At 4K, Ultra averages 66 FPS, which is 38 FPS slower than High. Even at 1440p, Ultra (111 FPS) is 63 FPS slower than High (174 FPS). The visual uplift is not worth such a significant frame rate penalty.

Q: How much faster is the system at 1080p compared to 4K?

A: At High settings, the 1080p average of 250 FPS is more than double the 4K average of 104 FPS. At Low settings, the gap is even wider, with 351 FPS at 1080p versus 145 FPS at 4K.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The Intel Core i5-14600K's 14 cores and 20 threads are sufficient. The consistent frame rate scaling across resolutions indicates a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU one. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24,491 shows it is a high-performance part.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate at 4K Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a minimum of 97 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, with an average of 114 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60,347, which is 0% different from the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326). It is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140) but 2.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896).

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings optimization. The goal is to maximize visual quality while maintaining a consistently high frame rate. For this system, the High preset emerges as the sweet spot across all resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers a 250 FPS average. This is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, so it's a waste of potential. However, it shows the headroom available. The Medium preset at 276 FPS doesn't offer a meaningful advantage over High, and the visual downgrade is not worth it. The Ultra preset at 160 FPS is still excellent, but the drop from High is noticeable.

At 2560x1440, the High preset's 174 FPS average is ideal for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. It provides a smooth, responsive experience. Medium at 191 FPS is slightly faster, but High offers better visual fidelity. Ultra at 111 FPS is playable, but the drop from High is a 36% reduction, which is a significant performance hit for marginal visual gains.

At 3840x2160, the High preset's 104 FPS average is the clear recommendation. It is the only preset that combines high visual quality with a triple-digit frame rate. Medium at 114 FPS is a viable alternative if you prefer maximum smoothness, but the difference is only 10 FPS. Ultra at 66 FPS is not recommended, as it dips below the 60 FPS threshold for demanding scenes and feels less fluid.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset in Greedfall is poorly optimized for the high-end hardware, as it incurs a massive performance penalty. The High preset likely offers 90% of the visual quality for a 37% performance increase at 4K (104 vs 66 FPS). For the best experience, use High settings at any resolution. If you have a 120Hz or 144Hz 4K display, Medium settings at 114 FPS will be the smoothest option.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete breakdown of measured average frame rates for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination in Greedfall.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows. Low settings produce an average of 351 FPS. Medium settings yield 276 FPS, with a minimum of 234 FPS and a maximum of 317 FPS. High settings deliver 250 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 160 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 243 FPS. Medium settings average 191 FPS, with a minimum of 163 FPS and a maximum of 220 FPS. High settings average 174 FPS. Ultra settings average 111 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 145 FPS. Medium settings average 114 FPS, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS. High settings average 104 FPS. Ultra settings average 66 FPS.

The data reveals a clear pattern: the gap between Low and High settings is moderate, while the jump to Ultra is disproportionately expensive. At 1080p, the difference between Low (351 FPS) and High (250 FPS) is 101 FPS, but the difference between High (250 FPS) and Ultra (160 FPS) is 90 FPS. This indicates that Ultra applies a significant amount of additional GPU load that is not present in High.

At 4K, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers. The difference between Low (145 FPS) and High (104 FPS) is 41 FPS, while the difference between High (104 FPS) and Ultra (66 FPS) is 38 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset's effects are resolution-dependent, costing progressively more as pixel count increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh generation, running on the Intel Socket 1700 platform. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 24 MB of L3 cache. This configuration is more than sufficient for Greedfall.

The benchmark data shows the CPU's strengths. It scores 24,491 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,064 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 16,673 multi-core and 2,491 single-core. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 38,682, and its single-thread score is 4,270. These scores place the CPU in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48,618.

In the context of Greedfall, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured frame rates show that the i5-14600K is not a bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the CPU is able to push the GPU to 351 FPS, which is a very high frame rate for an RPG. The fact that the frame rate scales down with resolution indicates that the workload shifts to the GPU as pixel count increases, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario.

The nearest rivals to the i5-14600K in terms of average benchmark score are the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698, -0.2% delta), the AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470, 0.3% delta), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287, 0.7% delta), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48,995, -0.8% delta). These rivals are all within 1% of the i5-14600K's score, indicating that the CPU is in a very tight performance band.

For Greedfall, the CPU's high single-thread performance is the key factor. The 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures that the game's main thread is processed with minimal latency. The 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and any threading the game does use. The data confirms that the i5-14600K is an excellent match for the RTX 4090 in this game, as it never limits the GPU's output. The CPU's 125W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible choice for a high-end gaming system.