Greedfall

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a strong 1080p experience in Greedfall, with the data showing playable frame rates even at 4K on medium settings. This combo ranks in the 54th percentile of tested configurations for this title, placing it slightly above the median performer. The most balanced experience is found at 1440p, where the hardware keeps frame rates well above 60 FPS across most presets.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific combination, the measured data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot for most users. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset yields an average of 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 FPS, providing a smooth and consistent experience that exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. The jump from Medium to High at this resolution costs 13 FPS on average (128 vs 141), while the leap to Ultra drops the average to 82 FPS — a substantial 59 FPS penalty from Medium.

At 2560x1440, Medium again proves to be the most sensible choice. The average of 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS keeps gameplay fluid even during demanding scenes. High settings at this resolution drop to 89 FPS average, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns for the visual upgrade. Ultra at 1440p falls to 57 FPS average, which introduces noticeable stutter on standard 60 Hz displays.

For users with 4K displays, the data suggests Medium is the highest viable preset. The 3840x2160 Medium row shows an average of 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, which is borderline but workable for slower-paced action RPG combat. High at 4K averages 53 FPS, while Ultra drops to 34 FPS — too low for comfortable gameplay. Low settings at 4K push the average to 74 FPS, but the visual compromise in a game like Greedfall is likely not worth the extra smoothness.

The practical advice is clear: run Medium at 1080p or 1440p for the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. If you prioritize frame rate above all else, Low at 1440p delivers 125 FPS average, but the graphical downgrade is significant. Ultra is only recommended for screenshot purposes or for players who can tolerate sub-60 FPS gameplay.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 carries the primary workload in this pairing, as evidenced by the scaling pattern across resolutions. The GPU features 3072 shading units and 96 texture mapping units, with a boost clock of 2460 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for Greedfall at all tested settings and resolutions.

The memory configuration is worth noting. With 8 GB of VRAM, the card does not appear to hit capacity limits in the measured rows, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution. If VRAM were a bottleneck, we would expect to see disproportionate drops at 4K Ultra — the data shows a drop from 57 FPS at 1440p Ultra to 34 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is a 40% reduction. This is consistent with a compute-bound scenario rather than a memory capacity issue.

The 128-bit memory bus limits raw bandwidth compared to wider implementations, but the measured results show this does not cripple performance in Greedfall. The game's art style and rendering demands appear to fit within the card's capabilities. The RTX 4060's FP32 throughput of 15.11 TFLOPS provides ample compute power for this title, which launched in 2019 and does not heavily utilize ray tracing or advanced DX12 Ultimate features.

The GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards indicates it sits comfortably in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7790, scores nearly identically in aggregate benchmarks with a delta of -0.2%, which is statistically insignificant. This suggests the RTX 4060 is a well-balanced card for its class, and the measured Greedfall results confirm that it does not struggle with the game's engine.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2006 out of 3703 tested combinations for Greedfall, placing it in the 54.2nd percentile. This means roughly 54% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings perform worse in this game, while 46% perform better. This is a respectable position, though not outstanding — it reflects the mid-range nature of both components.

The CPU, the Intel Core i5-9400, has a percentile rank of 47 among all processors and an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (score 2259, delta -0.2%) and the Intel Core i7-10710U (score 2248, delta 0.3%). These are all closely matched, indicating the i5-9400 is a solid but not exceptional processor. Its 6 cores and 6 threads with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide adequate single-threaded performance for gaming, though the lack of hyperthreading can be a limitation in heavily threaded scenarios.

The GPU's 61st percentile ranking is notably higher than the CPU's 47th percentile. This imbalance suggests the RTX 4060 is the stronger component in this pairing. In Greedfall, which is not particularly CPU-intensive, this works in the combo's favor — the GPU can stretch its legs without being held back significantly by the processor. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 180 FPS average, which is high enough to indicate the CPU is not imposing a hard ceiling on performance.

However, the combo rank of 2006 indicates that many other pairings deliver better results in this specific game. This is expected given the i5-9400's age (released in late 2018) and mid-range positioning. The RTX 4060, released in 2023, is the more modern component and likely drives most of the performance in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings shows a clear hierarchy. Low settings produce an average of 180 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. Medium drops to 141 FPS average with a minimum of 120 FPS and a maximum of 163 FPS. High settings average 128 FPS, and Ultra falls to 82 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 39 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is just 13 FPS. The largest single drop occurs between High and Ultra, a 46 FPS difference.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 125 FPS, Medium averages 98 FPS (minimum 83, maximum 113), High averages 89 FPS, and Ultra averages 57 FPS. The percentage drop from Low to Ultra here is 54.4%, compared to 54.4% at 1080p — indicating consistent scaling behavior. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the best compromise for high-refresh monitors, while Ultra requires a 120 Hz capable display to be fully utilized.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low averages 74 FPS, Medium averages 58 FPS (minimum 50, maximum 67), High averages 53 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only configuration that maintains an average above 60 FPS, and even it dips to 50 FPS at the minimum. High at 4K is borderline playable, while Ultra is effectively a slideshow at 34 FPS.

The data shows that the i5-9400 + RTX 4060 combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p, even Ultra settings maintain an average above 60 FPS. At 1440p, Medium and High both exceed 60 FPS averages. At 4K, only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS averages, with Medium being the recommended choice for visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound scenario. At Medium settings, the progression is: 141 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. This represents a 30.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 40.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 58.9%.

For Low settings, the progression is: 180 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. This is a 30.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 40.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings presets strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor — the CPU is not introducing variable bottlenecks at different resolutions.

For High settings: 128 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. This shows drops of 30.5% and 40.4% respectively. For Ultra settings: 82 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. This represents drops of 30.5% and 40.4%.

The uniformity of these scaling percentages (all around 30% for the 1080p-to-1440p step and 40% for the 1440p-to-4K step) is a classic sign of pixel-bound rendering. The GPU is filling more pixels at higher resolutions, and the frame rate drops accordingly. The CPU's role remains consistent regardless of resolution, confirming that the RTX 4060 is the primary performance driver in this configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo for a 60 Hz monitor?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average of 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS, comfortably exceeding 60 Hz. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, which does not consistently hit 60 FPS. For a 60 Hz display, 1440p Medium is the safest choice.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows an average of 82 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is above 60 FPS but not by a large margin. Players sensitive to frame drops may prefer High settings, which average 128 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its closest competitor, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259, a delta of -0.2%. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a delta of 0.4%. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data does not show any VRAM-related stutters or anomalies. Frame rates scale predictably with resolution, indicating that 8 GB is sufficient for Greedfall at all tested settings, including 4K Ultra.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with the lowest settings?

A: The measured average at 3840x2160 with Low settings is 74 FPS. This is above 60 FPS and playable, though the visual quality will be noticeably reduced compared to Medium settings.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Greedfall?*

A: It ranks 2006 out of 3703 tested combos, placing it in the 54th percentile. This means it performs better than about 54% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings for this specific game.