Greedfall

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a dominant performance profile in Greedfall, ranking in the 99.6th percentile of all tested combinations. The data confirms this pairing is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded capabilities ensure frame rates remain exceptionally high even in the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the most significant drop occurring at 4K Ultra settings. At 1080p Low, the combination produces 365.6 FPS, which falls to 253.4 FPS at 1440p Low, and further to 149.7 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that while the RTX 5090 is powerful, the resolution load still impacts performance substantially.

The scaling behavior shifts dramatically when moving to Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 166.9 FPS, dropping to 117.6 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and then to 67.7 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling—it is less than half the 1080p Low score, suggesting that the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity creates a bottleneck that neither the CPU nor GPU can fully overcome. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution: at 1080p the difference is 198.7 FPS, at 1440p it is 135.8 FPS, and at 4K it narrows to 82 FPS, showing that resolution scaling compresses the settings-based performance spread.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's specifications directly explain its behavior in Greedfall. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for even the most demanding scenes. The boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz provide the raw throughput needed for the high frame rates observed, while the 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs handle the game's rendering workload efficiently.

The GPU's memory configuration proves particularly relevant at 4K Ultra, where the 67.7 FPS result suggests the game is pushing against the card's computational limits rather than memory capacity. The 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are exceptional figures, yet Greedfall's Ultra preset still manages to reduce performance to sub-70 FPS at 4K. The benchmark results indicate the RTX 5090 is never memory-limited in this title—even at 4K Ultra with 32 GB of VRAM available, the constraint appears to be raw shader and ROP throughput rather than bandwidth or capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves rank 7 out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall. This top-tier placement reflects both components' strengths, though the GPU's contribution is more pronounced given the game's scaling patterns. The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 among all processors and the GPU's percentile of 94 among all graphics cards combine to place this pairing in the top 0.4% of all tested systems.

The ranking is particularly impressive considering the CPU's nearest rivals show minimal performance differences. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 scores 0.3% higher on average, while the Intel Core i7-13700T is 0.6% lower and the Intel Core i5-14500HX trails by 0.7%. These sub-1% differences suggest the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's high rank—the RTX 5090's overwhelming GPU advantage drives the placement. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, is only 0.1% faster on average, confirming this card sits at the absolute top of the performance stack.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system delivers exceptional results across all settings. Low produces 365.6 FPS, Medium reaches 286.9 FPS, High achieves 258.2 FPS, and Ultra maintains 166.9 FPS. These numbers indicate that at this resolution, the combination has substantial headroom—even Ultra settings exceed 160 FPS, making high-refresh-rate displays fully usable.

Moving to 1440p, performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction. Low hits 253.4 FPS, Medium delivers 198.8 FPS, High reaches 180.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 117.6 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result remains above 100 FPS, which is notable for a game with demanding graphical options. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows an average reduction of approximately 30% across settings, consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 4K, the results separate more clearly by settings tier. Low produces 149.7 FPS, Medium achieves 119.4 FPS, High delivers 107.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 67.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure is the only measured result below 100 FPS, and it represents the system's performance floor in this title. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 40.1 FPS, the largest settings-based difference at any resolution, indicating that Ultra's additional effects take a disproportionate toll at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K's specifications provide context for its role in these results. With 12 cores and 20 threads based on Alder Lake architecture, the processor delivers strong multi-threaded performance that prevents it from becoming a bottleneck in Greedfall. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz and base clock of 3.60 GHz, combined with 25 MB of shared L3 cache, give the CPU enough single-threaded horsepower for the game's primary logic and physics.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce this assessment. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 and single-core score of 4128 indicate robust performance, while the 3DMark max-threads score of 9979 shows the processor scales well across its 20 threads. The PassMark multi-thread score of 34404 and single-thread score of 4013 further confirm that this CPU can feed the RTX 5090 effectively. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 365.6 FPS—a frame rate that would expose CPU limitations in many titles—demonstrates that the i7-12700K has sufficient headroom to avoid constraining the GPU in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Greedfall?

A: The data shows 1440p Ultra delivers 117.6 FPS, which remains above 100 FPS while providing enhanced visual quality. 4K Ultra drops to 67.7 FPS, which may be acceptable but represents the system's lowest measured performance.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's memory configuration impact results?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures the card never runs out of memory capacity or bandwidth in Greedfall, even at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p Low result of 365.6 FPS and 1080p Ultra result of 166.9 FPS demonstrate the i7-12700K provides ample processing power to keep the RTX 5090 fully utilized even at lower resolutions.

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

A: This pairing ranks 7 out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 0.4% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low produces 149.7 FPS while Ultra produces 67.7 FPS, a difference of 82 FPS. This indicates Ultra settings impose a significant performance cost at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-12700K's average benchmark score of 35684 is within 1% of its nearest rivals, with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 scoring 0.3% higher and the Intel Core i7-13800H scoring 0.8% higher.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 365.6 FPS, which is far beyond what any display can currently show. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 198.8 FPS, offering a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. The High preset at 1440p achieves 180.6 FPS, representing the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming with enhanced visuals.

For 4K displays, the High preset at 107.8 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains triple-digit performance while providing substantial visual improvements over Medium. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 67.7 FPS, which—while playable—represents the only measured configuration below 100 FPS. The data suggests that 1440p High, with its 180.6 FPS result, offers the best overall experience by combining high visual quality with frame rates that exceed most high-refresh monitors' capabilities. For users with 4K displays who demand maximum visual fidelity, the High preset provides 40.1 FPS more than Ultra at the same resolution, making it the more practical choice.