Greedfall

The data for Greedfall with the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti reveals a classic case of a powerful processor paired with a mid-range graphics card. The measured FPS across resolutions and settings tells a story of GPU dependency, where the 20-core CPU is rarely the limiting factor. This combination ranks 1169th out of 1705 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations, which suggests that while the hardware is capable, it is not optimized for maximum performance in this specific Action RPG.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 dramatically impacts frame rates, confirming that the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 108.6 FPS, which drops to 74.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 44.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 59% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that is characteristic of a GPU struggling with pixel throughput rather than a CPU limitation. The scaling pattern is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 30.2 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 33.9 FPS, indicating that the card's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 256-bit bus are being saturated at higher resolutions.

The data shows that Low settings mitigate the resolution penalty somewhat. At 4K Low, the system produces 65.3 FPS, which is 47% higher than 4K High, suggesting that the game's engine is highly sensitive to graphical fidelity settings. However, even at 4K Low, the frame rate is below the 70 FPS threshold often considered smooth, implying that 4K gaming is only viable with significant visual compromises. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory likely becomes a constraint at 4K Ultra, where the 30.5 FPS result indicates severe pressure on both the frame buffer and the shader units.

GPU Role

The RTX 3060 Ti's specifications directly explain its performance ceiling. With a boost clock of 1665 MHz and 4864 shading units, the card delivers 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is respectable but not sufficient for high-fidelity 4K in Greedfall. The 80 ROPs and 152 TMUs handle rasterization at a rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and 253.1 GTexel/s, respectively, yet these figures do not translate into smooth 4K Ultra gameplay, as evidenced by the 30.5 FPS average. The memory configuration—8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth—is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result suggests that texture loading and memory allocation become problematic at that resolution.

The GPU's benchmark scores align with its in-game performance. The Passmark G3D score of 20349 places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, which is a modest ranking. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 with a deltaPct of -0.5% and the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP with a deltaPct of -0.7%, indicating that the 3060 Ti is only marginally ahead of these older or lower-tier cards. This competitive landscape explains why the combo ranks so low: the GPU is not a top-tier performer, and Greedfall appears to demand more than what the card can offer at higher settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience balances frame rate and visual quality at 1080p or 1440p. At 1920x1080, the High preset yields 108.6 FPS, which is smooth and visually acceptable, while Medium produces 118.8 FPS, a 9% improvement with likely minor visual degradation. Ultra at 1080p drops to 69.1 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat. For a 60 FPS target, 1440p High is the sweet spot at 74.7 FPS, offering a significant resolution upgrade over 1080p with only a 33.9 FPS penalty compared to 1080p High.

At 4K, the data recommends avoiding Ultra entirely, as the 30.5 FPS result is below the threshold for acceptable gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K produces 50.2 FPS, which is borderline, while Low at 4K achieves 65.3 FPS, making it the only 4K option that approaches smoothness. The best experience per the measured data is 1440p High, which provides a balance of resolution, detail, and frame rate without overburdening the GPU. For players prioritizing frame rate over resolution, 1080p Medium at 118.8 FPS is the most responsive configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1169 out of 1705 places it in the 68.5th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly 31.5% of combos but is surpassed by the majority. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU's 69th percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU's 96th percentile ranking indicates that the processor is not the limiting factor. The pairing of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU creates an imbalance, where the i7-14700K's potential is unrealized in this GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's nearest rivals—the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a deltaPct of 0% and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X with a deltaPct of -0.5%—show that the processor is competitive with the best available, yet the combo rank suffers due to the GPU's relative weakness.

The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield significant improvements, as the CPU has ample headroom. The i7-14700K's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 demonstrate its capability, but these scores do not translate into higher frame rates when the GPU is saturated. The 3060 Ti's Passmark G3D score of 20349 is only slightly above its nearest rivals, suggesting that a more powerful GPU would push this combo much higher in the rankings.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Greedfall at 4K smoothly?*

A: No, at 4K Ultra the average FPS is 30.5, and even at 4K Low it is only 65.3 FPS. The GPU is not powerful enough for consistent 4K gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for 60+ FPS?

A: 1440p High delivers 74.7 FPS, and 1080p High delivers 108.6 FPS. Both exceed the 60 FPS threshold comfortably.

Q: How much faster is the CPU compared to its nearest rival?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 70074, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core i7-14700KF at 70104 (deltaPct 0%) and slightly higher than the AMD EPYC 9115 at 69887 (deltaPct 0.3%).

Q: Does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM cause issues?

A: The data shows a sharp drop from 4K Medium (50.2 FPS) to 4K Ultra (30.5 FPS), suggesting that memory capacity and bandwidth are strained at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile, while the GPU ranks in the 69th percentile, and FPS scales inversely with resolution, indicating GPU limitation.

Q: What is the combo's overall standing?

A: It ranks 1169th out of 1705 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces 150.4 FPS on Low, 118.8 FPS on Medium, 108.6 FPS on High, and 69.1 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 81.3 FPS, showing a wide performance range. At 2560x1440, the results are 107.3 FPS on Low, 85.4 FPS on Medium, 74.7 FPS on High, and 49.6 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Ultra result is notably lower than 1080p Ultra by 19.5 FPS, indicating a significant resolution penalty. At 3840x2160, the data shows 65.3 FPS on Low, 50.2 FPS on Medium, 44.5 FPS on High, and 30.5 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is less than half of the 1080p Low result, highlighting the extreme demands of 4K rendering on this GPU.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution reveals consistent diminishing returns. At 1080p, Medium is 31.6 FPS faster than High, but High is 39.5 FPS faster than Ultra. At 1440p, Medium is 21.9 FPS faster than High, and High is 25.1 FPS faster than Ultra. At 4K, Medium is 14.8 FPS faster than High, and High is 14.0 FPS faster than Ultra. These patterns suggest that the Ultra preset is disproportionately expensive in terms of performance, likely due to advanced lighting and shadow effects that stress the GPU's 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, though the game does not explicitly use ray tracing in the measured data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This configuration delivers exceptional multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44534 and Passmark multithread score of 52392. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic and AI, but in Greedfall, these resources are largely underutilized. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its top-tier status, yet the measured FPS does not reflect this superiority because the GPU is the limiting factor.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. From 1080p Low (150.4 FPS) to 4K Low (65.3 FPS), the frame rate drops consistently with resolution, which is a GPU-driven pattern. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see a plateau at lower resolutions, but the 1080p Low result of 150.4 FPS shows no such ceiling. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a deltaPct of 0% and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X with a deltaPct of -0.5%, indicating that this processor is competitive with the absolute best. The 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory give it flexibility, but in this pairing, the CPU's power is wasted on a GPU that cannot keep up.