Greedfall

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable but uneven experience in Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG. The data shows a combination that is heavily skewed toward 1080p gaming, where it can hit high refresh rates, but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher settings. This pairing sits in the lower half of tested configurations, ranked 1504 out of 1705 combos, indicating that while it is functional, it is not a high-performance match for this title.

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

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. It has a 25 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU is a strong performer, scoring 9979 in 3dmark_max_threads and 29241 in cinebench_r23_multicore. Its single-thread performance is equally solid, with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043 and a geekbench_singlecore score of 2561. The CPU's percentile ranking is 89, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of all CPUs tested. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700K is statistically tied: it is 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i5-14500HX, while leading the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.8%. In Greedfall, this level of CPU power is more than sufficient to feed the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 117.4 FPS, and even at 1080p Ultra it maintains 55.2 FPS. These numbers suggest that the CPU is never the bottleneck in this pairing; the i7-12700K can easily handle the game's logic and draw calls, leaving the GPU as the limiting factor. The CPU's high multi-thread score of 34404 in passmark_multithread further confirms it has ample headroom for this game's workload.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a Turing architecture card with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz. The GPU has 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs, delivering 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In terms of benchmarks, it scores 12699 in passmark_g3d and 1278 in 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12, with a percentile ranking of 55, placing it just above average. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (which is 0.2% ahead), the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (0.2% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (0.7% ahead). The GTX 1660 SUPER is a capable 1080p card, as evidenced by the measured FPS, but its 6 GB VRAM and moderate compute power become significant constraints at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p, the GPU can push frame rates above 80 FPS on High settings (83.6 FPS), but at 4K, it drops to 33.4 FPS on High, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. This is a classic case where the GPU's memory bandwidth and raw throughput are insufficient for the pixel count at 4K, making the GTX 1660 SUPER the primary limiter in this combo.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 83.6 FPS, which drops to 60.8 FPS at 1440p High, a 27% reduction. Moving from 1440p High to 4K High, the frame rate falls to 33.4 FPS, a further 45% drop. This pattern is consistent across all settings. For example, at Low settings, the frame rates go from 117.4 FPS at 1080p to 79.7 FPS at 1440p (a 32% drop) and then to 49.2 FPS at 4K (a 38% drop from 1440p). The scaling is not linear; the drop from 1440p to 4K is always more severe than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth at 4K. This is a clear sign that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component. The CPU's performance is strong enough that it does not bottleneck at any resolution, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at lower resolutions, but instead they continue to climb, reaching 117.4 FPS at 1080p Low, which is well beyond what a CPU-limited scenario would show. The conclusion is straightforward: this is a GPU-bound configuration, and the i7-12700K has significant headroom even at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1504 out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, which is a poor showing for a CPU that is in the top 11% of all CPUs. The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile (89) and the combo's low rank highlights the GPU's role as the weak link. The i7-12700K is a top-tier processor, but the GTX 1660 SUPER is a mid-range card from 2019, and the data confirms that this pairing is not well balanced for this game. The combo's rank suggests that many other pairings with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs will outperform it in Greedfall's heavy GPU workloads. For instance, a system with a lower-end CPU but a GPU with more VRAM or higher compute throughput would likely rank higher. The benchmark results indicate that the i7-12700K's power is largely wasted in this configuration, as it cannot push the GTX 1660 SUPER to its limits at higher resolutions. This is a classic case of CPU overkill relative to GPU capability, resulting in a combo that is effective only at 1080p.

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

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results: 117.4 FPS on Low, 93.9 FPS on Medium, 83.6 FPS on High, and 55.2 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that 1080p is the sweet spot for this pairing, with all settings except Ultra achieving well above 60 FPS. Even Ultra, at 55.2 FPS, is playable for most users. Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably: 79.7 FPS on Low, 61.5 FPS on Medium, 60.8 FPS on High, and 35.9 FPS on Ultra. Here, Low, Medium, and High are all above 60 FPS, but Ultra falls below the playable threshold. At 3840x2160, the combo struggles: 49.2 FPS on Low, 37.1 FPS on Medium, 33.4 FPS on High, and 24.7 FPS on Ultra. Only Low settings at 4K come close to 50 FPS, and every other setting is well below 40 FPS, making 4K gaming largely impractical with this hardware. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is fully playable, 1440p is playable with settings up to High, and 4K is only viable on Low settings, and even then, it is not smooth.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Given the measured data, the best experience for this combo is at 1080p with High settings. This yields 83.6 FPS, which is smooth and visually detailed, and it is the highest quality setting that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. For users with a 1080p monitor, High is the recommended preset. If a higher frame rate is preferred, dropping to Medium at 1080p gives 93.9 FPS with only a slight visual downgrade, while Low at 1080p offers the highest frame rate at 117.4 FPS but with noticeably reduced visual fidelity. For 1440p, the data suggests that High settings at 60.8 FPS are the best option, as they provide a balanced experience with acceptable performance. Medium at 1440p is also viable at 61.5 FPS, but High offers better visuals for essentially the same frame rate. Ultra settings should be avoided at 1440p, as the 35.9 FPS result is too low for smooth gameplay. At 4K, the data shows that only Low settings are worth considering, with 49.2 FPS, but even this is not ideal. Users with a 4K display should either lower the resolution or accept the visual compromises of Low settings, as Medium (37.1 FPS), High (33.4 FPS), and Ultra (24.7 FPS) are all too slow. In summary, the optimal experience is 1080p High, with 1440p High as a secondary option for users with larger monitors, and 4K should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.