Greedfall

The pairing of Intel’s Core i7-14700K with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1070 presents a stark contrast in generational capability. The CPU is a modern 20-core flagship, while the GPU is an end-of-life Pascal part from 2016. Benchmark results for Greedfall reveal a system where the graphics card is the decisive factor, with the processor rarely breaking a sweat. The data shows a clear story of GPU-bound performance across all tested resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS figures show a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 122.3 FPS, but this drops to 89.1 FPS at 1440p and further to 49.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 60% performance drop from 1080p to 4K at the lowest settings, indicating that the GTX 1070’s rendering pipeline is being saturated as pixel count grows.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling at higher settings. Moving from 1080p High (88.7 FPS) to 1440p High (62.7 FPS) results in a 29% reduction, while the jump to 4K High (36 FPS) represents a further 43% loss. This non-linear decline suggests that the GTX 1070’s 256-bit memory bus and 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth are struggling to feed the increasing data demands of higher resolutions, particularly with the game’s texture and shading workloads.

At Ultra settings, the bottleneck is unmistakable. The 4K Ultra result of 24.6 FPS is barely playable, and even 1440p Ultra (39.3 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The 1080p Ultra score of 55.5 FPS shows that this GPU simply lacks the raw fillrate and shader throughput—its 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 performance—to handle maximum quality presets at playable frame rates. The data implies that the Core i7-14700K’s 5.60 GHz boost clock is largely irrelevant here; the GTX 1070 is the limiting component in every configuration tested.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested combinations for Greedfall, this pairing ranks 1443 out of 1705 combos. This places it in the bottom 15% of systems, a low position that reflects the GPU’s age rather than any deficiency in the processor. The GTX 1070’s percentile ranking among all GPUs is 51, meaning it sits near the median of all graphics cards, but its performance in this specific game is clearly hampered by the demanding nature of the title.

The combo’s low rank is particularly striking given the CPU’s strength. The Core i7-14700K ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074. This disparity—a top-tier processor paired with a mid-tier GPU—creates a system where the CPU’s potential is almost entirely untapped in Greedfall. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a deltaPct of 0 and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at -0.5%, would likely perform identically in this game, as the bottleneck is not the processor.

The ranking data suggests that for Greedfall specifically, this combo is more representative of a GTX 1070 system than an i7-14700K system. The 1705 tested combos include many with weaker CPUs and stronger GPUs that would outperform this pairing, underscoring that the graphics card is the primary determinant of in-game performance here.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K brings substantial processing power to the table, with 20 cores and 28 threads operating at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, providing ample headroom for any game logic or AI computations.

However, the benchmark data for Greedfall indicates that the CPU is not a performance limiter. The 1080p Low result of 122.3 FPS is the highest measured score, and the fact that it drops to 49.2 FPS at 4K Low—a 60% reduction—points entirely to GPU limitations. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau across resolutions, but they do not. The processor’s multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 score of 44534, are simply not stressed by this game’s engine.

The CPU’s single-thread performance is also more than adequate, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2932 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4472. These figures suggest that even the most demanding single-threaded game logic would be handled with ease. The data implies that the i7-14700K is running at a fraction of its capacity, with the GTX 1070 holding back what could otherwise be a high-refresh-rate experience at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so significantly from 1080p to 4K?

A: The measured data shows a 60% reduction at Low settings (122.3 to 49.2 FPS) and a 59% reduction at High settings (88.7 to 36 FPS). This decline is caused by the GTX 1070’s limited pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s, which cannot keep up with the increased pixel count at 4K.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700K holding back the GTX 1070 in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads, along with a 5.60 GHz boost clock, provide far more processing power than Greedfall requires. The consistent FPS drops across resolutions indicate the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

Q: What is the best resolution for playable performance with this combo?

A: At 1080p, all settings except Ultra exceed 88 FPS (88.7 at High, 96.4 at Medium, 122.3 at Low). At 1440p, only Low (89.1 FPS) and Medium (70.7 FPS) maintain smooth gameplay, while High drops to 62.7 FPS and Ultra falls to 39.3 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331, placing it just 0.7% above the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241) and 1.3% below the GeForce GTX 880M (12490). These small deltas show it sits in a tight performance cluster.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: The data shows no. The best Ultra result is 55.5 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 39.3 FPS at 1440p and 24.6 FPS at 4K. These figures fall below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

Q: What does the combo rank of 1443 out of 1705 indicate?

A: It places this system in the bottom 15% of all tested combos for Greedfall. This low rank is due to the GTX 1070’s 51st percentile GPU standing, while the CPU’s 96th percentile ranking is not enough to compensate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the clear bottleneck in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is insufficient for Greedfall’s high-resolution texture demands. The GPU’s 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs, operating at a boost clock of 1683 MHz, deliver a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s, but these figures are simply too low for modern action RPG titles.

The VRAM capacity is particularly telling. At 4K Ultra, the game’s memory requirements exceed what the GTX 1070 can efficiently manage, resulting in the 24.6 FPS average. The 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for 1080p, where the 55.5 FPS Ultra score suggests the GPU is still working hard, but at higher resolutions, the combination of bandwidth and capacity limits becomes critical. The measured FPS data shows that even at Low settings, 4K performance (49.2 FPS) is below the 1080p Low result (122.3 FPS) by more than half, confirming that the GPU’s rendering pipeline is overwhelmed.

The GTX 1070’s benchmark scores further contextualize its performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 13498 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1082 show it is a mid-range part by modern standards, and its nearest rivals—the Quadro K4200, GTX 880M, and GTX 1650 SUPER—all cluster within 1.7% of its average score of 12331. This places the GPU in the 51st percentile of all graphics cards, meaning half of all GPUs tested outperform it. In a demanding game like Greedfall, this mid-pack positioning translates directly to the sub-60 FPS results seen at 1440p High and above.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience balances visual quality with playable frame rates. At 1080p, Medium settings (96.4 FPS) offer a significant improvement over High (88.7 FPS) while remaining far above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the best choice for smooth gameplay. Low settings (122.3 FPS) are only necessary for high-refresh-rate monitors, as the jump from Medium to Low yields diminishing returns.

For 1440p, Medium settings (70.7 FPS) are the highest quality preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High settings (62.7 FPS) are playable but leave little headroom for demanding scenes, while Low (89.1 FPS) sacrifices too much visual fidelity for performance that the GPU can readily provide. At 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS, with Low (49.2 FPS) being the only option that approaches playability, though Medium (40.1 FPS) and High (36 FPS) are borderline.

Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. The 1080p Ultra result of 55.5 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, and the 24.6 FPS at 4K Ultra is unplayable. The data suggests that this combo is best suited to 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium, where the GTX 1070 can deliver consistent performance without the CPU being underutilized.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset reveals a consistent pattern across all 12 measured configurations. At 1920x1080, the results range from 122.3 FPS at Low settings to 55.5 FPS at Ultra, with Medium at 96.4 FPS and High at 88.7 FPS. These figures show that the GTX 1070 can handle 1080p with ease at lower presets, but Ultra settings push it below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings produce 89.1 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium falls to 70.7 FPS, High to 62.7 FPS, and Ultra to 39.3 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that this resolution is the practical limit for this combo, with only Low and Medium providing consistently playable frame rates.

The 3840x2160 results are the most demanding, with every preset falling below 60 FPS. Low settings achieve 49.2 FPS, Medium 40.1 FPS, High 36 FPS, and Ultra 24.6 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K at the same settings is substantial—for example, High settings drop from 62.7 FPS to 36 FPS, a 43% reduction—confirming that the GTX 1070’s memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are insufficient for 4K gaming in Greedfall. These measured values provide a definitive guide to what users can expect, with the data clearly showing that the GPU, not the CPU, dictates the experience.