Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination delivers a playable but uneven experience in Greedfall, an Action RPG released in 2019. The measured data shows a system that excels at 1080p, becomes strained at 1440p, and struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The GTX 1660 SUPER, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, proves to be the primary limiter as resolution increases, while the 16-core i7-13700K provides ample headroom. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data across resolutions and settings, examines the GPU and CPU roles, and provides practical recommendations based strictly on the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 84.2 at 1920x1080 to 55.9 at 2560x1440, then to 33.5 at 3840x2160. This represents a 33.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 40.1% reduction from 1440p to 4K, for a total 60.2% drop from 1080p to 4K. The pattern strongly indicates a GPU-bound scenario: the GTX 1660 SUPER's 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are simply insufficient to feed the 8.3 million pixels at 4K.

The scaling is even more telling at Low settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 118.8 FPS, which drops to 81.8 at 1440p and 45.4 at 4K. The 4K result at Low settings is barely higher than the 1080p result at Ultra (50.7 FPS), demonstrating that even minimal graphical load cannot overcome the pixel count at 4K. This behavior is characteristic of a GPU that has hit its memory bandwidth ceiling, as the 6 GB frame buffer and 192-bit interface become the limiting factor regardless of shading complexity.

The scaling pattern suggests that the 16-core i7-13700K is not the bottleneck at any resolution. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see smaller frame rate differences between resolutions, as the GPU would be waiting on the CPU to issue draw calls. Instead, the consistent 50-60% FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings points to the GPU being saturated. The i7-13700K's 3dmark_max_threads score of 12412 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000 indicate far more processing capability than this 2019 title requires, even at its most demanding moments.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets remain above 50 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (81.8 FPS) and Medium (66.7 FPS) stay above 60 FPS, while High (55.9 FPS) and Ultra (38.9 FPS) fall below. At 4K, even Low settings only reach 45.4 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this analysis?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314), 0.2% behind the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315), 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352), and 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389). These margins are negligible in real-world gaming terms.

Q: Does the i7-13700K bottleneck the GTX 1660 SUPER in Greedfall?

A: No. The CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 10717 and PassMark multithread score of 45887 far exceed what this game demands. The measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a GPU-bound pattern, with frame rates dropping by 60% or more as resolution increases, indicating the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 118.8 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 50.7 FPS. This is a 68.1 FPS difference, meaning Ultra delivers only 42.7% of the frame rate of Low. The gap narrows at higher resolutions: at 4K, Low (45.4 FPS) versus Ultra (21.4 FPS) shows a 24 FPS difference.

Q: Why does the 4K Ultra preset perform so poorly?

A: The 21.4 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is the lowest measured result. This combines the highest pixel count with the most demanding graphical settings, overwhelming the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU's 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate is insufficient for 4K Ultra workloads.

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

A: This CPU/GPU combination ranks 1518 out of 1705 tested combos for Greedfall, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. This low rank reflects the GPU's age (released 2019) and its 55th percentile standing among all GPUs, despite the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the decisive component in this configuration. Built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, it features 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. Its 1530 MHz base clock boosts to 1785 MHz, while memory operates at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed across a 192-bit bus. This provides 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth — figures that explain the GPU's performance ceiling in Greedfall.

At 1080p, the GPU's capabilities are sufficient to maintain playable frame rates across all presets. The 118.8 FPS at Low settings shows the GPU can handle the game's basic geometry and shading requirements at this resolution. However, the drop to 50.7 FPS at Ultra reveals the GPU's limits when texture filtering, shadow quality, and post-processing effects are maxed out. The 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while respectable for 2019, cannot sustain high frame rates with Ultra settings.

The 4K results illustrate the GPU's memory bandwidth bottleneck. The 33.5 FPS at High and 21.4 FPS at Ultra show that the 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for the 8.3 million pixels at 3840x2160. The GPU's 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate theoretically supports 4K at 60 FPS (requiring 497 megapixels per second), but real-world performance falls far short due to memory constraints. The PassMark G3D score of 12699 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278 confirm the GPU's mid-range positioning.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 55 places it in the middle of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 14286 is within 0.7% of its nearest rivals. This tight clustering with the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389) and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315) suggests that swapping to any of these alternatives would yield nearly identical results in Greedfall. The GPU's 6 GB memory capacity, while adequate for 1080p, becomes a liability at 1440p and 4K where texture sets exceed this capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration delivers its best results. Low settings achieve 118.8 FPS, which is more than double the 50.7 FPS seen at Ultra. Medium settings produce 91.8 FPS, while High settings reach 84.2 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows diminishing returns in visual quality relative to frame rate cost: the step from Medium to High costs 7.6 FPS (91.8 to 84.2), while the step from High to Ultra costs 33.5 FPS (84.2 to 50.7). This indicates that Ultra settings introduce disproportionately expensive effects that the GTX 1660 SUPER cannot efficiently process.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably. Low settings produce 81.8 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings yield 66.7 FPS, still playable but with less headroom. High settings fall to 55.9 FPS, below the 60 FPS target, while Ultra settings plummet to 38.9 FPS. The 1440p results show a similar pattern to 1080p, with Ultra costing 42.9 FPS compared to Low. This represents a 52.4% reduction, slightly less severe than the 57.3% reduction at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck regardless of settings.

At 3840x2160, the configuration struggles across all presets. Low settings achieve 45.4 FPS, which is marginally playable but below the 60 FPS standard. Medium settings drop to 38.3 FPS, High settings to 33.5 FPS, and Ultra settings to 21.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 24 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at lower resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are saturated even at Low settings, and additional graphical effects have less relative impact because the GPU is already overwhelmed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates at a 3.40 GHz base clock and boosts to 5.40 GHz, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. Its PassMark multithread score of 45887 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000 place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47282.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is minimal due to the game's 2019 release date and its GPU-bound nature at all tested resolutions. The i7-13700K's nearest rivals — the Core i7-13700KF (47334, 0.1% faster), AMD EPYC 4364P (47131, 0.3% slower), Core i9-12900F (47081, 0.4% slower), and AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 (47527, 0.5% slower) — all show negligible performance differences, confirming that CPU choice has virtually no impact on this game's frame rates.

The single-thread performance is equally strong, with a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1136 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5505. This is relevant because Greedfall, like most Action RPGs, has a main game thread that cannot be fully parallelized. However, even this single-thread performance vastly exceeds what the game requires, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops across resolutions that track GPU load rather than CPU load.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility, but these factors do not influence the measured results. The 16 cores and 24 threads are far more than Greedfall can utilize, as the game's engine was designed for the 2019 hardware era. The PassMark physics score of 2716 and data compression score of 595292 further demonstrate the CPU's capability, but these are irrelevant to the gaming performance measured here.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. For 1920x1080, High settings (84.2 FPS) provide the best balance of visual quality and performance. The step from High to Ultra costs 33.5 FPS (from 84.2 to 50.7), which is a 39.8% reduction for what is typically a marginal visual improvement. Medium settings (91.8 FPS) are recommended if a higher frame rate is preferred, but High offers a better visual experience while remaining well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings (66.7 FPS) are the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS. High settings (55.9 FPS) are playable but fall below the 60 FPS target, and the 10.8 FPS difference between Medium and High is less severe than the 27.8 FPS difference between High and Ultra (55.9 to 38.9). For users who prioritize frame rate, Low settings (81.8 FPS) provide a smooth experience, but Medium offers a significantly better visual presentation while staying above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. Low settings (45.4 FPS) are the most playable, followed by Medium (38.3 FPS) and High (33.5 FPS). Ultra (21.4 FPS) is not recommended as it falls below 30 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for playable gaming. For 4K users, Low settings provide the best experience, but the frame rate remains below the ideal threshold. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this GPU requires significant graphical compromises, and users should consider 1440p Medium as the best overall experience for this configuration.

The combo rank of 1518 out of 1705 indicates that this configuration is better suited for 1080p gaming. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1080p High settings, which deliver 84.2 FPS. This represents the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering smooth gameplay without the performance penalties of higher resolutions or Ultra settings.