Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG from Spiders, presents an interesting case study when paired with the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050. The measured data reveals a configuration that is heavily influenced by graphical settings and resolution, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, scaling characteristics, and component roles based strictly on the measured FPS and benchmark data provided.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and clearly illustrates where the system's limits lie. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 114 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same High preset drops the average to 79 FPS, a reduction of 35 FPS. Stepping up to 2160p (4K) at High settings yields only 47 FPS, which represents a 67 FPS loss compared to 1080p. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, a classic sign of GPU-bound performance.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 160 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all configurations. At 1440p Low, this drops to 111 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 66 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is roughly 59%, which is substantial but slightly less severe than the drop at High settings, where the 4K figure is only 41% of the 1080p number. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the pixel throughput at 4K overwhelms the RTX 5050's capabilities.

The data points to the GPU as the limiting component across all resolutions. The Intel Core i7-13700K, with its high multi-threaded performance, is not the constraint here. The fact that FPS scales so dramatically with resolution—from 160 FPS at 1080p Low to 66 FPS at 4K Low—indicates that the rendering pipeline is saturated by the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity. The RTX 5050's 32 ROPs and 80 TMUs, combined with its 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, are simply insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU's headroom. This is a textbook example of a mid-range GPU being paired with a high-end CPU, resulting in a system where the graphics card dictates the playable settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is found at 1080p with High settings. This configuration delivers an average of 114 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 126 FPS, but the 12 FPS gain over High comes at a visible cost to graphical fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 73 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 41 FPS penalty compared to High, a significant sacrifice for marginal visual improvements.

At 1440p, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering 79 FPS. This is acceptable for most players, though it is noticeably lower than the 1080p High figure. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 87 FPS, but the improvement over High (8 FPS) is modest. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 50 FPS, falls below the desired 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided for a consistently smooth experience.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests that only the Low preset is viable, producing 66 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K yields 52 FPS, which is borderline, while High drops to 47 FPS and Ultra falls to a stutter-prone 30 FPS. The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p High, offering a strong combination of frame rate and visual detail. If a player prioritizes higher resolutions, 1440p High is the most sensible compromise, while 4K should only be attempted with the Low preset to maintain a playable frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the central performance driver in this configuration, and its specifications directly correlate with the observed results. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the higher resolution demands more memory throughput and capacity. The 8 GB capacity is also a concern for Ultra settings at higher resolutions, as the data shows a significant FPS drop when moving from High to Ultra at any resolution.

Clock speeds play a crucial role in the performance scaling. The RTX 5050 has a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz. These clocks are relatively high, which helps maintain decent performance at 1080p, where the GPU is not fully saturated. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's shader units (2560) and texture units (80) are pushed to their limits. The FP32 performance of 13.17 TFLOPS is respectable for a card in this class, but it is insufficient for the demanding pixel shading required at 4K.

The measured benchmark scores for the RTX 5050 further contextualize its role. The Passmark G3D score of 17326 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 indicate a GPU that sits in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% higher score) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% lower score), are similarly positioned in the performance hierarchy. The data shows that the RTX 5050 is a capable 1080p card, but its 4K performance is hampered by its memory bandwidth and shading capacity, as evidenced by the 30 FPS average at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. Low settings produce an average of 160 FPS, Medium delivers 126 FPS (with a min of 107 and max of 144), High achieves 114 FPS, and Ultra drops to 73 FPS. The spread from Low to High is 46 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, even with higher settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance is still respectable but begins to show strain. Low settings average 111 FPS, Medium delivers 87 FPS (min 74, max 100), High produces 79 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50 FPS. The drop from 1080p High to 1440p High is 35 FPS, a substantial reduction that highlights the resolution's impact on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5050 struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 66 FPS, Medium delivers 52 FPS (min 44, max 60), High produces 47 FPS, and Ultra drops to a barely playable 30 FPS. The 4K Medium setting has the only recorded min/max values at this resolution, with a min of 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The data clearly shows that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 66 FPS average is only marginally acceptable.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1776 out of 2938 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations tested for this game. The rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions, despite the CPU's strong performance.

The CPU itself is a high performer, ranking in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 46881 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, which scores 46971 (a 0.2% difference). However, the GPU, ranking in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, drags down the combo's overall standing. The RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 is closely matched by the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, 0.6% higher) and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, 1% higher), indicating that the GPU is not a top-tier part.

The combo rank of 1776 out of 2938 suggests that there are many other configurations that can achieve better performance in Greedfall, primarily by pairing a more powerful GPU with a similar or even weaker CPU. The data implies that the i7-13700K is overkill for this GPU at 1080p, but the bottleneck becomes apparent at 1440p and especially 4K, where the GPU's performance ceiling is reached. This ranking is a reflection of the system's overall balance, which is heavily skewed toward the CPU side.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 19429 and single-core score of 2529. The Passmark multi-thread score of 45887 further underscores its computational strength.

In the context of Greedfall, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough data to keep it busy. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 160 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI calculations with ease. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is severely constrained at 30 FPS, the CPU is likely still not the limiting factor, as the frame rate is dictated by the GPU's rendering capabilities.

The CPU's high single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 4333) is particularly relevant for Greedfall, which is an Action RPG that likely relies on a single main thread for game logic. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2262 and 4-thread score of 4469 indicate strong performance in lightly threaded workloads, which would prevent any CPU-related stuttering or frame drops. The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample memory for game data, further reducing any potential CPU-side delays.

The data shows that the i7-13700K is more than capable of supporting the RTX 5050 in Greedfall. The CPU's performance is such that it would not bottleneck even a much more powerful GPU, as evidenced by its high percentile ranking (89th) and its competitive standing against rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (0.5% higher score) and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (0.5% higher score). In this configuration, the CPU is the system's strength, while the GPU is the clear limiting factor for achieving higher frame rates at higher resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The best experience is at 1080p with High settings, which delivers an average of 114 FPS. For higher resolutions, 1440p High is recommended at 79 FPS, while 4K should only be used with Low settings to maintain 66 FPS.

Q: How does the performance drop from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 114 at 1080p to 79 at 1440p, and then to 47 at 4K. This represents a 67 FPS loss from 1080p to 4K, indicating a strong GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the RTX 5050 capable of 4K gaming in Greedfall?

A: The data shows that 4K is only viable at Low settings, where the average FPS is 66. At Medium, High, and Ultra settings, the averages are 52, 47, and 30 FPS, respectively, which are generally below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, 0.2% higher) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, 0.3% higher). It is slightly faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, 0.5% lower).

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in the benchmark database?

A: This specific combination ranks 1776 out of 2938 tested combos for Greedfall. The ranking is driven by the GPU's mid-range performance, which is in the 66th percentile, while the CPU is in the 89th percentile.

Q: What are the GPU's key specifications that affect Greedfall's performance?

A: The RTX 5050 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, a 128-bit bus, and a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2572 MHz, and it has 2560 shading units and 32 ROPs. These specs limit its performance at 4K, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops at that resolution.