Greedfall

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 places this combo at rank 90 out of 3703 tested combinations in Greedfall. That puts it in the top 2.4% of all tested systems, a position driven by the CPU's strong multi-threaded throughput and the GPU's massive memory bandwidth. The combo's percentile ranking against all CPUs is 94, and against all GPUs it is 92, indicating that both components are performing near the top of their respective categories. In practical terms, this means the system is not leaving significant performance on the table; the data shows a balanced pairing where neither component is a glaring bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The 90th position out of 3703 combos is a strong result, but the nearest rival data for each component reveals something interesting about the balance of this pairing. The CPU's average benchmark score of 69355 is nearly identical to its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 9115, which scores 69288 (a delta of just 0.1%). It is also within 0.9% of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which scores 69996. This indicates that the i7-14700K is performing exactly where expected for a 20-core Raptor Lake Refresh part. On the GPU side, the RTX 5090's average score of 79842 is only 0.3% ahead of the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605) and 1.4% behind the Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80959). While those rival GPUs are not gaming parts, the data shows the GPU is not an outlier in synthetic benchmarks.

What matters for Greedfall specifically is the measured FPS, not synthetic scores. The combo's rank of 90 suggests that in this title, the system delivers frame rates that put it ahead of the vast majority of tested hardware. The gap between this combo and lower-ranked systems is likely substantial, as the RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide a significant advantage in texture-heavy scenes. However, the data also shows that the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are not fully utilized at lower resolutions; the FPS scaling from 1440p to 1080p at High settings is only 44% (from 178 to 256 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is the primary limiter even at 1080p in this title. This is a GPU-bound scenario, which is typical for a 2019 action RPG on modern hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to run this game at with this combo?

A: The data shows the system maintains an average of 106 FPS at 4K High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p High, the average jumps to 178 FPS, and at 1080p High it reaches 256 FPS. For a balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, 4K High is the sweet spot, as Ultra drops to 68 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's memory configuration affect Greedfall performance?

A: The GPU has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This is more than sufficient for Greedfall's textures, and the data shows no signs of memory-related stuttering. The minimum FPS of 99 at 4K Medium confirms that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays high.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 359 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to expose CPU limitations, but the i7-14700K's 5.60 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of L3 cache keep up. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and single-core score of 2160 suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: What settings preset should be avoided?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K yields only 68 FPS average, which is a significant drop from the 106 FPS at High. The 38 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K indicates that Ultra settings impose a heavy penalty that may not be worth the visual gains, especially when High already looks excellent.

Q: How consistent is the frame pacing at different settings?

A: The only min/max data available is for Medium settings. At 4K Medium, the average is 117 FPS with a minimum of 99 and maximum of 134, showing a tight 35 FPS range. At 1440p Medium, the average is 196 FPS with a range of 166 to 225. This suggests the game runs smoothly without major frame drops.

Q: Does this combo perform better at 1080p or 1440p for competitive play?

A: If you need maximum frame rates, 1080p Low delivers 359 FPS, while 1440p Low delivers 249 FPS. The data shows a 110 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low, which is a substantial difference. For competitive play where every frame counts, 1080p is superior, but 1440p still provides over 240 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the classic pattern of a GPU-bound title. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 256 at 1080p to 178 at 1440p (a 30% decrease), then to 106 at 4K (a 40% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed increasingly as pixel count rises. The RTX 5090's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are being pushed hard at 4K.

Looking at Low settings, the trend is even more pronounced. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 359 FPS, which drops to 249 at 1440p (a 31% drop) and then to 149 at 4K (a 40% drop from 1440p). The fact that 1080p Low produces 359 FPS suggests the CPU is capable of even higher frame rates, but the GPU's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor. The i7-14700K's single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 4472, is likely not the constraint here.

The scaling pattern across all settings shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at every resolution. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 68 is only 19% of the 1080p Low score of 359 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 5090's 32 GB of memory is not the bottleneck, as the game's VRAM usage would be well within that capacity. Instead, the GPU's compute throughput, rated at 104.8 TFLOPS FP32, is being fully utilized. The data suggests that lowering resolution provides diminishing returns beyond 1440p, as the CPU begins to play a larger role in frame generation.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings performance. At 4K, the High preset delivers 106 FPS, which is 38 FPS higher than Ultra (68 FPS) and only 11 FPS lower than Medium (117 FPS). This makes High the optimal choice for 4K gaming, as it offers a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a frame rate that is 108% higher than the 60 FPS baseline. The 49 FPS gap between High and Ultra at 4K is not justified by the visual improvements, which are typically subtle in a game like Greedfall.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 178 FPS, which is 65 FPS higher than Ultra (113 FPS) and 18 FPS lower than Medium (196 FPS). The data shows that 1440p High is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors, as it clears 165 Hz displays with ease. The Ultra preset at 1440p still provides 113 FPS, which is playable, but the 65 FPS penalty is significant. For 1080p, High settings yield 256 FPS, which is more than enough for any display, and Ultra still manages 164 FPS.

The recommendation is to use High settings at any resolution. At 4K, High provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, with 106 FPS being 56% higher than Ultra. At 1440p, High's 178 FPS is ideal for 144Hz and 165Hz monitors. At 1080p, High's 256 FPS is overkill for most displays but ensures no frame drops. The Medium preset offers diminishing returns, as the 11 FPS gain over High at 4K is negligible. Ultra should be avoided at 4K, as the 68 FPS average is below the 70 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay on some displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 359 FPS, while Medium yields 282 FPS (with a minimum of 240 and maximum of 325). High settings reduce the average to 256 FPS, and Ultra drops to 164 FPS. The 195 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p shows that Ultra settings impose a 54% performance penalty. The Medium setting's min/max range of 240 to 325 indicates a 35% variance, which is typical for a game with dynamic scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease but remain high. Low settings average 249 FPS, Medium averages 196 FPS (min 166, max 225), High averages 178 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 136 FPS, or 55%. The Medium setting's min/max range of 166 to 225 shows a 36% variance, similar to 1080p. The consistency of the variance suggests that the game's performance is stable across resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is pushed to its limits. Low settings average 149 FPS, Medium averages 117 FPS (min 99, max 134), High averages 106 FPS, and Ultra averages 68 FPS. The 81 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is a 54% penalty. The Medium setting's min/max range of 99 to 134 shows a 35% variance, matching the other resolutions. The minimum FPS of 99 at 4K Medium is critical, as it indicates the system never drops below 60 FPS even in demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with 33 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and single-core score of 2160 demonstrate strong performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4472 and multi-thread score of 52392 further confirm its capability.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 359 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to expose CPU limitations. However, the i7-14700K's boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks are handled quickly. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are more than sufficient for a game that was released in 2019, as Greedfall's engine is unlikely to utilize more than 8 threads effectively.

The CPU's benchmark scores indicate it is performing on par with its rivals. Its average benchmark score of 69355 is within 0.7% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515) and within 0.9% of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996). This means the i7-14700K is not a weak link in this combo. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions, as evidenced by the FPS scaling pattern. The CPU's 33 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for games that rely on rapid data access. Overall, the i7-14700K provides ample headroom for the RTX 5090, ensuring the GPU can perform to its full potential without being held back by the processor.