Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG released in 2019, presents a demanding workload for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB when paired with the Intel Core i7-14700K. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system where the GPU is the decisive bottleneck, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis walks through the data to show how the combination scales, where it ranks, and what settings offer the most practical experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the RTX 3050 4 GB is the limiting component in this pairing. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 79.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 53.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 32%. Moving up to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 31.3 FPS, which is about 61% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern points directly at the GPU's rendering limits rather than any CPU constraint, as the i7-14700K has ample headroom for this workload.

The scaling is less linear at lower settings, which further confirms the GPU-bound nature. At Low settings, the average FPS at 1080p is 107.2, but this falls to 74.0 at 1440p and then to 46.3 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 31%, and from 1440p to 4K is about 37%. The fact that the relative drops are similar across Low and High settings suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated, regardless of the visual complexity. The 4K Low result of 46.3 FPS is still lower than the 1440p High result of 53.7 FPS, showing that resolution has a larger impact on performance than the preset level.

Ultra settings create an unplayable scenario at 4K, with an average of just 21.7 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K costs nearly 10 FPS, a 31% hit, which is a significant penalty for the additional visual fidelity. At 1440p, the Ultra preset averages 34.3 FPS, which is marginally playable but not smooth. The data suggests that Greedfall is heavily dependent on the GPU's raw throughput, and the 4 GB VRAM capacity likely contributes to the severe frame rate collapse at 4K Ultra, where texture data exceeds the available memory.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB ranks 1544 out of 1705 tested combos for Greedfall. This places the system in the bottom percentile of configurations, highlighting that the GPU is severely underpowered relative to the CPU in this title. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capability, but rather a direct consequence of the RTX 3050 4 GB's limited performance envelope.

The CPU itself performs in the 96th percentile when compared to all processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 70074. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a score of 70104 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X with a score of 70420 (-0.5% delta). This confirms the i7-14700K is a top-tier processor that is not the source of the low ranking. The bottleneck is entirely on the graphics side, as the combo rank of 1544 suggests that most other tested configurations, even those with weaker CPUs, achieve better frame rates because they use more capable graphics cards.

The data shows a clear mismatch. A CPU scoring in the 96th percentile is paired with a GPU that sits in the 50th percentile among all GPUs. For Greedfall, the average frame rates at 1080p High (79.5 FPS) are respectable, but the system's overall rank is dragged down by the inability to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions. This ranking is a cautionary tale about pairing a high-end CPU with an entry-level GPU for a demanding title.

Settings Recommendations

For a playable experience, the data suggests that 1920x1080 is the target resolution. At this resolution, the Medium preset delivers an average of 86.2 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. The High preset at 1080p yields 79.5 FPS, offering a better visual experience with only a modest performance cost. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 107.2 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is usually not worth the extra frames for a story-driven RPG.

At 2560x1440, the options become more constrained. The Low preset produces an average of 74.0 FPS, which is playable, while the Medium preset drops to 56.8 FPS, which is borderline. The High preset at 1440p averages 53.7 FPS, which may be acceptable for some players, but the frame pacing is likely inconsistent. The Ultra preset at 1440p is not recommended, as the 34.3 FPS average falls below the threshold for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset offers a playable result, with an average of 46.3 FPS. All other presets at 4K are below 35 FPS, and the Ultra preset at 21.7 FPS is a slideshow. Therefore, the best experience according to the measured rows is the High preset at 1080p, which balances visual fidelity with a strong frame rate. For players prioritizing smoothness above all, the Medium preset at 1080p is the safer choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured results shows a consistent hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 107.2 FPS, Medium averages 86.2 FPS, High averages 79.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 46.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is substantial, a 41% drop, indicating that the Ultra preset includes effects that heavily tax the GPU. The 1080p results are all playable except for a marginal Ultra score.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 74.0 FPS for Low, 56.8 FPS for Medium, 53.7 FPS for High, and 34.3 FPS for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, around 30-35%, which is expected for a resolution increase. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first configuration that becomes unplayable, as the average drops below 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are 46.3 FPS for Low, 33.4 FPS for Medium, 31.3 FPS for High, and 21.7 FPS for Ultra. The Low preset is the only one that breaks the 30 FPS barrier, and even that is not smooth. The difference between Medium and High at 4K is almost negligible (33.4 vs 31.3 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is so saturated that the settings changes have little impact on the frame rate. The Ultra preset at 21.7 FPS is the lowest measured value, confirming that the 4K resolution is beyond the card's capability for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA107 chip, fabricated on an 8nm process from Samsung. It has 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, along with 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. The memory configuration is a 4 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. The base clock is 1545 MHz with a boost clock of 1740 MHz, and the memory runs at 1500 MHz with a 12 Gbps effective rate.

In Greedfall, the GPU's role is the primary performance limiter. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor, especially at 4K resolution where the Ultra preset likely exceeds the memory buffer, causing severe stutters and frame rate drops. The measured 4K Ultra average of 21.7 FPS is a clear sign of memory pressure, as the card struggles to hold textures and geometry. The 192.0 GB/s bandwidth also becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the GPU cannot fetch data fast enough to feed the rendering pipeline.

The pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s are modest figures that align with the observed performance. The FP32 performance of 7.127 TFLOPS is adequate for 1080p gaming but insufficient for 4K in a demanding title like Greedfall. The card's 90 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for the entry-level segment, but they do not compensate for the lack of raw compute and memory capacity. The data shows that the GPU's clocks and memory configuration are simply not enough to drive high resolutions smoothly.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets except Ultra are comfortably playable. At 1080p, the High preset achieves 79.5 FPS, while the Medium preset reaches 86.2 FPS. Higher resolutions produce sub-60 FPS averages for most presets.

Q: How does the Ultra preset affect performance compared to High?

A: The Ultra preset causes a significant frame rate penalty. At 1080p, the average drops from 79.5 FPS (High) to 46.9 FPS (Ultra), a 41% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 53.7 FPS to 34.3 FPS, and at 4K, it falls from 31.3 FPS to 21.7 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The i7-14700K ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 70074. The system ranks 1544 out of 1705 combos for Greedfall, indicating that the GPU is the cause of the low performance.

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

A: Only with the Low preset, which averages 46.3 FPS. The Medium and High presets at 4K produce averages of 33.4 FPS and 31.3 FPS, respectively, while the Ultra preset is unplayable at 21.7 FPS. The 4 GB VRAM is insufficient for higher settings at this resolution.

Q: What settings should be used for a smooth experience at 1440p?

A: The Low preset is the only option that provides a frame rate above 60 FPS, averaging 74.0 FPS. The Medium preset averages 56.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p average 53.7 FPS and 34.3 FPS, respectively, which are not recommended.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth relate to the measured results?

A: The RTX 3050 4 GB has a memory bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s on a 128-bit bus. The steep performance drops at 4K, particularly the 31% reduction from High to Ultra, reflect the card's inability to manage the larger texture and geometry data, leading to severe bandwidth and capacity limits.