Greedfall

# Greedfall — Intel Core i5-14600KF + AMD Radeon RX 9060

This analysis examines the measured frame rates for Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, when driven by the Intel Core i5-14600KF processor paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 graphics card. The data, derived from direct measurement, covers three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a complete picture of how this combination handles the game's engine. The results show a system that is clearly capable at 1080p and 1440p, but which encounters significant strain at 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 119 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same preset drops the average to 83 FPS, a reduction of 30%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 High yields only 49 FPS, which is 59% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count increases dramatically while the CPU workload per frame remains relatively constant.

The Low preset shows the most extreme scaling behavior. At 1080p Low, the system produces 167 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still manages 116 FPS, but at 4K Low, the average falls to 69 FPS. Notably, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 41%. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the sheer pixel throughput required at 4K overwhelms the RX 9060's capabilities. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are likely contributors to this bottleneck at 4K.

The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 131 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS measurements for Medium settings also illustrate the scaling's impact on frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 112 FPS, which is still highly playable. At 1440p Medium, the minimum drops to 77 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it falls to 46 FPS. These minimums indicate that while average frame rates remain acceptable at 1440p, the 4K experience begins to show noticeable dips.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic resolution scaling. The 1080p Ultra average is 76 FPS, which drops to 53 FPS at 1440p and collapses to 31 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Ultra is 30%, but the gap between 1440p and 4K Ultra is 42%. This non-linear scaling at the highest preset underscores that the RX 9060's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs are insufficient for 4K Ultra workloads in this title. The data clearly shows that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 69 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, operates with a base clock of 1700 MHz and a boost clock of 2990 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. These frequencies allow the card to deliver strong performance at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 167 FPS result at 1080p Low. However, the card's memory configuration — 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth — becomes a constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

The benchmark data shows that the RX 9060's raw compute capabilities, rated at 21.43 TFLOPS FP32, are sufficient for Greedfall's demands at 1080p and 1440p. The GPU's percentile ranking of 59 among all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, and its average benchmark score of 16014 is competitive with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129 (a 0.7% difference). This near-parity explains why the card handles 1440p High at 83 FPS — a solid result — but struggles at 4K where memory bandwidth and capacity become critical.

The 4K Ultra result of 31 FPS is particularly telling. This setting likely demands more than 8 GB of VRAM for textures and geometry, forcing the GPU to rely on system memory through the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, which severely impacts performance. Even at 4K High, the 49 FPS average suggests the card is memory-limited rather than compute-limited. The ROP count of 64 and pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s are moderate for a modern GPU, and at 4K, the pixel fill rate becomes a bottleneck when combined with high-quality shading.

The RX 9060's nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti, shows a delta of -0.7%, meaning the RX 9060 is slightly slower on average. This context is useful: gamers expecting RTX 3060 Ti-like performance will find it at 1080p and 1440p, but should not expect 4K capabilities beyond Low or Medium settings. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility align well with Greedfall's engine, which uses modern graphics APIs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 119 FPS, which is both visually rich and well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 76 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 36% performance cost over High for diminishing returns in visual fidelity. For competitive or fast-paced play, the Medium preset at 131 FPS offers the highest frame rate while maintaining acceptable visuals.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 83 FPS is the clear recommendation. It provides smooth gameplay with good detail, and the 91 FPS Medium preset is only slightly faster, making High the better choice for visual quality. The Ultra preset at 53 FPS is borderline; it will feel less fluid during combat, but for slower exploration, it may be acceptable. The Low preset at 116 FPS is unnecessarily fast for a single-player Action RPG and sacrifices too much visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 69 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 54 FPS is playable but will show dips to 46 FPS, which can be noticeable during intense scenes. The High preset at 49 FPS and Ultra at 31 FPS are not recommended for a smooth experience. For 4K users, the data suggests accepting Low or Medium settings, or alternatively, reducing the resolution to 1440p to unlock High settings.

The measured minimum FPS values for Medium settings provide additional guidance. At 1080p Medium, the 112 FPS minimum ensures no stutter. At 1440p Medium, the 77 FPS minimum still maintains smoothness. At 4K Medium, the 46 FPS minimum indicates potential frametime spikes, making this preset a risky choice for action-heavy sequences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings was measured. Low produced the highest average at 167 FPS, followed by Medium at 131 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS and maximum of 151 FPS. High averaged 119 FPS, while Ultra dropped to 76 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 91 FPS, demonstrating that Greedfall's settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages were 116 FPS for Low, 91 FPS for Medium (with a minimum of 77 FPS and maximum of 105 FPS), 83 FPS for High, and 53 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 63 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the results were 69 FPS for Low, 54 FPS for Medium (with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS), 49 FPS for High, and 31 FPS for Ultra. The spread here is only 38 FPS, meaning that even the most aggressive settings reductions cannot fully compensate for the pixel count at 4K. The Ultra preset at 31 FPS is essentially unplayable for most users, while the Low preset at 69 FPS is the only viable option for 4K gaming with this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Greedfall, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 9060 achieves a rank of 1672 out of 2938 total combos. This places it in the 57th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of systems but sits below the upper tier. Given the mid-range positioning of the RX 9060 (59th percentile among GPUs) and the high-end positioning of the i5-14600KF (90th percentile among CPUs), this rank is broadly consistent with expectations.

The combo's rank suggests that while the CPU is more than capable, the GPU holds the system back from top-tier performance in Greedfall. The 4K Ultra score of 31 FPS is the primary drag on the overall ranking, as many competing combos with stronger GPUs achieve better performance at that extreme setting. At 1080p and 1440p, the combo's performance is competitive, but the database ranking weighs all resolution/settings combinations equally, and the 4K results penalize the overall position.

Relative to other combos with similar GPUs, the i5-14600KF provides a solid foundation. The CPU's high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594) ensures that Greedfall's game logic and physics calculations are not a bottleneck at any resolution. This is reflected in the fact that the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p is primarily GPU-driven, whereas the CPU could handle even higher frame rates if the GPU allowed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF features 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficiency cores) with 20 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This processor, part of the Raptor Lake refresh architecture on a 10 nm process, delivers exceptional single-threaded performance that is crucial for Greedfall's engine. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594 and Geekbench single-core score of 2445 place it among the top CPUs for gaming workloads.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample fast memory for game assets and instructions. The 125 W TDP is manageable for most cooling solutions, and the CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a top-tier performer. In Greedfall, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and process game logic. The data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the system achieves 167 FPS, which is respectable but not limited by the CPU.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-14600KF's average benchmark score of 49394 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228 (a 0.3% difference). The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% behind), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49796 (0.8% ahead). This tight grouping suggests that for Greedfall, the CPU choice among these top processors would yield minimal performance differences. The i5-14600KF's strength lies in its high boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which benefits the single-threaded nature of many game engines.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, as shown by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544, ensure that background tasks and the game's parallel workloads are handled without issue. However, Greedfall does not appear to be a heavily multi-threaded title, as the frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p are consistent with GPU-bound scaling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect similar frame rates across resolutions, which is not the case.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Greedfall with this combo?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 with High settings provides 83 FPS, offering the best balance of visual quality and smooth performance. At 1920x1080, High delivers 119 FPS, while 4K only reaches 69 FPS at Low settings.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Greedfall?

A: At 4K, the combo achieves 69 FPS on Low, 54 FPS on Medium, 49 FPS on High, and 31 FPS on Ultra. Only the Low preset consistently exceeds 60 FPS, so 4K is technically playable but requires significant settings compromises.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's score of 16129, indicating nearly identical overall performance. The Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700 are 1% behind, while the Radeon Pro W5500 is 2.1% behind.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600KF a bottleneck for the RX 9060?

A: The CPU's 90th percentile ranking and high single-thread performance (4594 in Cinebench R23 single-core) suggest it is not a bottleneck. The frame rate scaling between resolutions indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, especially at 4K.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking for Greedfall?

A: This combo ranks 1672 out of 2938 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all systems. The ranking is dragged down by poor 4K Ultra performance (31 FPS) but is solid at 1080p and 1440p.

Q: Which settings preset should I avoid with this hardware?

A: The 4K Ultra preset at 31 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below playable thresholds. The 1440p Ultra preset at 53 FPS is also borderline, while 1080p Ultra at 76 FPS is acceptable for those prioritizing visual quality over frame rate.