Greedfall

Greedfall on the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 presents a classic case of a mature GPU holding back a high-end modern CPU. The measured data across three resolutions shows a system that is capable of smooth gameplay at 1080p but quickly loses its footing as pixel count rises. The benchmark results indicate that the GTX 1070 is the primary limiting component in this pairing, with the Core i7-12700KF offering substantial headroom that is never fully exploited in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 clearly illustrates where the bottleneck resides. At 1080p High settings, the combo achieves an average of 87.3 FPS, which is a strong result for an Action RPG. Moving to 2560x1440 High, the average drops to 61.5 FPS, a 29.6% reduction. The jump to 3840x2160 High yields just 37.5 FPS, a further 39% decline from the 1440p figure. This steep and consistent degradation with resolution is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

The data across all settings reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 124.1 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond what the graphics card can render at higher loads. However, the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a dramatic collapse: from 124.1 FPS down to 54.3 FPS. This 56.2% performance penalty for enabling Ultra settings points directly at the GTX 1070's limited shader and texture throughput. At 4K, the situation worsens; the gap between Low (49.8 FPS) and Ultra (26.2 FPS) is nearly 50%, confirming that the GPU is saturated regardless of CPU capability.

Interestingly, the scaling between Medium and High at each resolution is relatively modest compared to the jump to Ultra. At 1440p, Medium yields 69.2 FPS and High yields 61.5 FPS, a difference of 11.1%. But High to Ultra at 1440p drops from 61.5 to 39.6 FPS, a 35.6% loss. This non-linear response suggests that Ultra settings enable specific effects that are disproportionately expensive on this Pascal architecture GPU. The Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is not the constraint here; its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979 and Geekbench multicore score of 13596 indicate a processor that could drive far more demanding workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this particular pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 1446 out of 1705 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the bottom 15.2% of all system configurations tested for this game. The low percentile position is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU itself sits in the 89th percentile against all processors. This discrepancy between component capability and in-game performance underscores the imbalance of this configuration.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks highlight that the processor is not the weak link. The Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, sitting just 0.1% above the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336) and 0.2% above the Intel Core i9-12900HX (35289). These are marginal differences, well within measurement noise. The GPU, however, shows a different story. The GTX 1070's average score of 12331 places it just 0.7% above the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241) and 1.4% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (12504). In Greedfall, this GPU is performing exactly as its hardware class suggests, which is insufficient for high refresh rate gaming at higher resolutions.

The rank of 1446 out of 1705 strongly suggests that most other tested combos feature more modern GPUs. The data implies that users with this specific CPU would achieve far better results by pairing it with a more recent graphics card. The CPU's headroom is vast; it achieves a 3DMark max threads score of 9983 and a Passmark multithread score of 34092, meaning it could comfortably support a GPU with significantly higher throughput. The bottleneck is so pronounced that even at 1080p Low, where the system produces 124.1 FPS, the CPU's potential is nowhere near exhausted.

FAQ

Q: Is this CPU-GPU combo balanced for Greedfall?

A: No. The data shows the GTX 1070 is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile across all processors, but the combo ranks 1446 out of 1705 for this game. The GPU's performance ceiling is reached far before the CPU's capabilities are stressed.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 87.3 FPS. This is a playable level for most users. However, dropping to Medium settings yields 96.8 FPS, and Low settings produce 124.1 FPS, showing that the GPU has limited headroom but the CPU does not.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The benchmark data shows the GTX 1070's average score is 0.7% above the Quadro K4200 and 1.4% below the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER. Its performance in Greedfall aligns with this, placing it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Greedfall?

A: Not at acceptable levels. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is just 26.2. Even at Low settings, it only reaches 49.8 FPS. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: What is the impact of lowering settings from Ultra to High?

A: The effect is substantial. At 1080p, Ultra yields 54.3 FPS while High yields 87.3 FPS, a 60.8% improvement. At 1440p, the gain is 55.3% (39.6 to 61.5 FPS). At 4K, the gain is 43.1% (26.2 to 37.5 FPS). This suggests High settings are the sweet spot for this hardware.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700KF being fully utilized in this game?

A: No. The CPU's synthetic benchmarks, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979, are far above what Greedfall requires. The frame rates are constrained by the GPU, meaning the CPU is likely idle waiting for graphics work to complete.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 124.1 FPS, Medium settings yield 96.8 FPS, High settings reach 87.3 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 54.3 FPS. The progression is smooth and predictable, with each settings tier reducing performance by a significant but manageable margin. The gap between Medium and High is 9.5 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 33 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings introduce a disproportionately heavy load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance envelope shrinks considerably. Low settings average 86.5 FPS, which is still respectable, but Medium drops to 69.2 FPS and High to 61.5 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 39.6 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays. The data shows that 1440p requires a careful selection of settings; High is playable at 61.5 FPS, but Ultra is not recommended.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1070 is clearly overmatched. Low settings average 49.8 FPS, which is borderline, but Medium (37.7 FPS), High (37.5 FPS), and Ultra (26.2 FPS) all fall below acceptable playability thresholds. The near-identical performance between Medium and High at 4K (37.7 vs 37.5 FPS) suggests that the GPU is completely saturated and additional settings changes have minimal impact. The data indicates that this resolution is only viable at Low settings for this combo, and even then, the frame rate is not ideal.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the definitive limiting component in this configuration. Its specifications are modest by modern standards: 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, a 256-bit bus, and 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz, and its 1920 shading units deliver 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In Greedfall, these figures translate to the frame rates measured, which are consistently below what the CPU could support.

The GPU's 8 GB frame buffer is a critical factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the memory capacity and bandwidth become strained, as evidenced by the steep drop from 49.8 FPS at Low to 26.2 FPS at Ultra. This suggests that texture data exceeds the available memory bandwidth at higher settings, causing the GPU to fall back on slower memory access patterns. The 256.3 GB/s bandwidth is simply not sufficient for 3840x2160 with high-detail textures.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 51 against all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack, and its nearest rivals confirm its position. The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 12331 is 0.7% higher than the Quadro K4200 and 1.4% lower than the GTX 1650 SUPER. In Greedfall, this translates to a system that can handle 1080p High settings (87.3 FPS) but struggles with any resolution above that. The card's 16 nm Pascal architecture, while efficient for its time, lacks the raw throughput of newer generations.

The VRAM usage pattern, while not directly measured, can be inferred from the performance scaling. At 1080p, the card performs adequately, but the performance collapse at 4K Ultra (26.2 FPS) compared to 1080p Ultra (54.3 FPS) indicates that the memory subsystem is overwhelmed. The GPU's texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s are insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in this title. The data makes it clear that the GTX 1070 is the component that must be upgraded to improve Greedfall performance, as the Core i7-12700KF is more than capable of supporting a significantly faster GPU.