Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 action RPG from Spiders, presents an interesting scaling profile when paired with the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. The measured data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but reveals strong CPU headroom at 1080p, making the overall experience highly dependent on the user's display target.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, clearly indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 165 FPS at 1920x1080 to 114 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 51 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 68 FPS, which is a 97 FPS decrease from the 1080p baseline. This pattern shows that the GPU’s rendering workload grows exponentially with resolution, outstripping the capabilities of the RDNA 2.0 architecture at 4K.

The scaling behavior is similar across all quality presets. At Low settings, the system produces 231 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 160 FPS at 1440p and then to 96 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic drop: 105 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and just 43 FPS at 4K. This 62 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K on Ultra demonstrates that the highest quality settings place an immense burden on the GPU, and the frame rate becomes nearly unplayable at the top resolution.

The data suggests that 1080p is where this combo shines, as the Core i7-12700K can feed the RX 6800 XT enough data to keep frame rates very high. At 1440p, the system still delivers excellent performance, with all presets except Ultra staying above 114 FPS. At 4K, however, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, and users must make significant compromises in visual quality to maintain a smooth experience. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 53 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the sole determinant of performance at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12th Gen Alder Lake processor with 12 cores and 20 threads, running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a single-thread score of 1043 in 3DMark and 1850.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core, demonstrating strong per-core performance. Its multi-threaded capabilities are equally robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 15790.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role appears minimal at higher resolutions, as the frame rates are clearly dictated by the GPU. However, at 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 231 FPS, which suggests the processor is capable of sustaining very high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 and the max-thread score of 9979 indicate that the CPU has ample headroom for heavily threaded workloads, though Greedfall's engine likely does not utilize all 20 threads efficiently.

The processor's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to frequently used data, which may help maintain consistent frame pacing in open-world environments. The i7-12700K sits in the 84th percentile against all CPUs, according to the benchmark data, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13600T, scores 35305, a negligible 0.1% difference, while the i7-12700KF is 0.2% behind. This places the i7-12700K in a strong position for gaming, though its performance in Greedfall is largely secondary to the GPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications dictate the game's performance envelope. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, with a game clock of 2015 MHz. Its 4608 shading units and 128 ROPs give it substantial raw compute power, rated at 20.74 TFLOPS FP32.

The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is a key asset for Greedfall at 4K, where texture-heavy scenes can consume significant memory. The measured data shows that at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the system achieves 75 FPS, while High settings yield 68 FPS. The difference between these presets is modest, suggesting that the GPU has enough memory bandwidth to handle the increased texture detail without a major performance hit. However, the jump to Ultra settings drops the frame rate to 43 FPS, indicating that the additional visual effects and shadow quality tax the GPU's compute units more than its memory subsystem.

The RX 6800 XT ranks in the 85th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48477. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, scores 47743, which is 1.5% lower, while the Intel Arc A550M is 2.5% behind. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 24980 and DirectX 12 score of 100 show solid DirectX 12 performance, which is relevant since Greedfall supports the API. The 128 ROPs are crucial for pixel fill rate at high resolutions, and the 288.0 GPixel/s pixel rate helps maintain reasonable frame rates at 4K, although the data shows it is not enough for Ultra settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The highest average frame rate in the measured data is 231 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system delivers an average of 43 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the dataset.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the GPU is the primary limiter, as indicated by the frame rate drop from 160 FPS at Low to 73 FPS at Ultra, a 87 FPS difference that scales with GPU workload.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between High and Medium settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High settings produce 165 FPS, while Medium settings produce 181 FPS, a difference of 16 FPS in favor of Medium.

Q: Does the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB VRAM help at 4K?

A: The 16 GB VRAM likely prevents texture-related stuttering, as the frame rate at 4K High (68 FPS) is only 7 FPS lower than Medium (75 FPS), suggesting memory capacity is not a limiting factor.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The i7-12700K scores 1043 in 3DMark single-thread and 9276 in 16-thread tests, indicating strong scaling, with the multi-thread score being roughly 8.9 times higher.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is viable, as the average of 105 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. However, the Medium preset provides 181 FPS, which is a 72% improvement over Ultra and may be preferable for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Low preset at 231 FPS is only recommended for competitive play or if the user prioritizes maximum frame rate over visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the High preset offers an excellent balance, with 114 FPS providing a smooth experience without the significant visual downgrade of Low (160 FPS) or the performance hit of Ultra (73 FPS). The Medium preset at 126 FPS is also a strong choice, offering a 12 FPS advantage over High with only minor visual compromises. The Ultra preset is not recommended at this resolution, as the 73 FPS average may result in noticeable frame drops in demanding scenes.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more complicated. The High preset at 68 FPS is barely playable, but the Medium preset at 75 FPS provides a safer margin above 60 FPS. The Low preset at 96 FPS is the only option that offers consistently smooth performance, but it sacrifices most of the game's visual detail. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended for any playthrough, as it falls below the playability threshold. Given the data, the Medium preset at 4K is the best compromise, providing a 7 FPS improvement over High while maintaining acceptable visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 231 FPS, which drops to 181 FPS at Medium, 165 FPS at High, and 105 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset has recorded min and max values of 154 and 209 FPS, respectively, indicating a 55 FPS variance during gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 160 FPS for Low, 126 FPS for Medium, 114 FPS for High, and 73 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min of 107 FPS and a max of 145 FPS, a 38 FPS variance that suggests more consistent frame pacing than the 1080p Medium result. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 87 FPS, demonstrating the GPU's sensitivity to quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 96 FPS for Low, 75 FPS for Medium, 68 FPS for High, and 43 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max values, at 64 and 86 FPS respectively, a 22 FPS variance that indicates a relatively stable experience. The 25 FPS difference between Medium and Low at 4K is larger than the 7 FPS difference between Medium and High, suggesting that the Low preset removes significant GPU workload, while High adds moderate overhead compared to Medium.

The overall combo rank for this CPU and GPU pairing in Greedfall is 1177 out of 3703 tested combinations, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, with the 4K results being the weakest aspect of the package.