Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG released in 2019, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both CPU and GPU capabilities. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, using benchmark data to interpret how this combination handles the game across various resolutions and settings. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at high resolutions, but which reveals the CPU's limitations at lower settings, creating a complex performance profile.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor accesses a shared 9 MB L3 cache and relies on dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, placing it at the 50th percentile among all tested CPUs.

In the context of Greedfall, the i5-9400's performance is adequate but not exceptional. The data indicates that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 248.2 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames well above typical display refresh rates. However, the CPU's position relative to its rivals is telling; its average benchmark score of 2305 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 2300 (a deltaPct of 0.2). This proximity to a lower-tier part indicates that the six threads are a limiting factor in highly threaded scenarios, though they suffice for Greedfall's engine at lower graphical loads.

The architecture's lack of hyper-threading means that the six physical cores must handle all game logic, physics, and draw calls. Benchmark results show that the CPU's performance in multi-core tests (Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 3346) is modest compared to modern parts, but in this game, the bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution and settings increase. The processor’s 50th percentile ranking against all CPUs highlights that it is a mid-range part, and while it does not cripple the RTX 3080 Ti at 4K, it prevents the system from achieving maximum frame rates at 1080p, where the GPU has less work to do.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is a high-end Ampere architecture GPU, built on Samsung's 8 nm process with a massive 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory running at an effective 19 Gbps. With 10,240 shading units, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores, the card delivers 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

This GPU is a powerhouse, and its benchmark results reflect that. It achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 and a Passmark G3D score of 26896, placing it at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 41224 is very close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 41441 (a deltaPct of -0.5). This indicates that the 3080 Ti is nearly as fast as the top-tier RTX 3090, making it an exceptional choice for high-resolution gaming.

In Greedfall, the GPU's role is dominant. The data shows that at 4K Ultra settings, the system averages 46.2 FPS, which is a playable but not smooth experience. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM is ample for this title, even at 4K, where texture and geometry demands are highest. The card’s memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s ensures that data can be fed to the processing cores efficiently, which is critical for maintaining frame rates in a game with dense environments. The GPU's performance scaling from High to Ultra settings at 4K (71.5 to 46.2 FPS) shows that the most demanding presets heavily tax the card, but it remains the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that identifies the bottleneck at each level. At 1080p High settings, the system achieves 175.6 FPS, but at 1440p, this drops to 121.8 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 71.5 FPS. This represents a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 41% drop from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline indicates a GPU-bound scenario; as the pixel count increases, the RTX 3080 Ti's workload grows, and the CPU has enough headroom to keep up.

However, the story changes at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 248.2 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it drops to 170.1 FPS, and at 4K Low, it descends to 104.3 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 58%, which is less severe than the 59% drop at High settings, but the absolute frame rates are much higher. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU becomes a more significant limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU is not stressed enough to be the sole bottleneck.

The data indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the definitive limiting component across all settings. Even at Low settings, the 104.3 FPS result is far below the 248.2 FPS at 1080p, showing that the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities are the primary constraints. At 1080p, the CPU's 6 threads and 4.10 GHz boost clock are sufficient to drive high frame rates, but they cannot push beyond the 248.2 FPS ceiling observed, which suggests a CPU limitation. This analysis shows a system that is well-balanced for 1440p and 4K gaming, but which leaves performance on the table at lower resolutions due to the processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how this combination performs across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 248.2 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this config. Medium settings reduce this to 195 FPS, High settings to 175.6 FPS, and Ultra settings to 111.5 FPS. This scaling shows that the GPU is not the bottleneck at 1080p, as the frame rates are extremely high even at Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show GPU dependency. Low settings yield 170.1 FPS, Medium settings deliver 135.6 FPS, High settings produce 121.8 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 79.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 53%, which is narrower than at 1080p (55%), indicating that the GPU is starting to play a larger role in determining performance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor. Low settings achieve 104.3 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium settings drop to 78.5 FPS. High settings deliver 71.5 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 46.2 FPS. This last figure is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, suggesting that users must reduce settings to High for a consistent experience at 4K. The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 3080 Ti provides excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, but at 4K, only Low and Medium settings offer frame rates above 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Greedfall, this setup of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti holds a rank of 500 out of 1705 total tested combos. This places it in the 71st percentile of all configurations tested, which is a strong result given that the CPU is a mid-range part from 2018. The ranking suggests that while the GPU is a top-tier component, the CPU's performance drags the overall combo down slightly from what a more modern processor could achieve.

The rank of 500 out of 1705 means that there are 499 other combos that perform better in this game, likely featuring more powerful CPUs that can better feed the RTX 3080 Ti at lower resolutions. However, the data shows that this combo still outperforms the majority of tested systems, as it is in the top 30% of all configurations. The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs is significantly higher than the combo's overall rank, which quantifies the impact of the CPU bottleneck. In games where the GPU is the primary constraint, such as at 4K Ultra, this combo would rank much higher, but the CPU's limitations at 1080p prevent it from reaching the top tiers of the database. This result indicates that users with this CPU should prioritize higher resolutions to maximize the value of the RTX 3080 Ti, as the GPU's power is most effectively utilized when the resolution is high enough to shift the bottleneck away from the processor.