Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that exposes the balance between the Intel Core i7-14700KF and the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT. The measured data reveals a configuration that is consistently capable at mainstream resolutions but struggles to maintain fluidity when the visual load is maxed out at 4K. The benchmark results indicate a system where the GPU is the primary constraint across most settings, while the CPU provides ample headroom that prevents it from becoming a bottleneck in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows for this combination show a clear hierarchy in visual presets, with the difference between each tier being significant. For users prioritizing a smooth experience, the High preset stands out as the most balanced choice across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, High delivers an average of 110.6 FPS, which is a substantial 40.2 FPS drop from the Low preset's 156.5 FPS, but it offers a much more visually rich experience while still maintaining a very high frame rate. The jump to Ultra at 1080p is punishing, reducing the average to 70.4 FPS, a 40.2 FPS loss from High, which suggests the Ultra preset is poorly optimized or overly demanding for the hardware.

At 2560x1440, the High preset still holds up well with an average of 76 FPS. This is a playable and smooth frame rate, and it represents a better visual fidelity per frame than the Medium preset's 87.4 FPS, which only offers a 11.4 FPS advantage. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 52.6 FPS, which is starting to border on the edge of what is acceptable for a fast-paced action game. The 4K resolution is where the settings recommendations become critical. Here, the High preset yields 49.8 FPS, and Medium is not far behind at 52.1 FPS. The Low preset at 4K is the only option that crosses the 60 FPS threshold, hitting 66 FPS. However, the visual sacrifice is immense. The data suggests that for the best overall experience, High is the target preset for 1080p and 1440p, while users at 4K must either accept the Low preset for smoothness or the High preset for visual quality at a lower frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the performance anchor in this system, and the data shows its capabilities and limitations are directly tied to its memory and clock specifications. The GPU features a boost clock of 2635 MHz and a game clock of 2410 MHz, which explains its strong showing at lower resolutions. However, the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, appears to be a critical limiting factor as resolution and settings increase.

This is most evident in the 4K results. The drop from High (49.8 FPS) to Ultra (28.1 FPS) is a massive 21.7 FPS decline. This is not a linear scaling; it indicates that the Ultra preset is likely exceeding the GPU's memory capacity or bandwidth, causing a severe performance collapse. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 29024 place it as a mid-range performer. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, has a nearly identical average score (29011) with a 0% delta, suggesting that this desktop card performs on par with that mobile solution in synthetic tests. In Greedfall, the GPU's 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra results clearly demonstrate that the card is overextended, likely due to the memory subsystem being saturated.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound performance. At 1080p High, the system averages 110.6 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 76 FPS, a 34.6 FPS reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 49.8 FPS, another 26.2 FPS loss. This consistent and significant drop at each higher resolution strongly indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the limiting component; the render resolution is directly straining the GPU's processing and memory capabilities.

The data for the Low preset reinforces this. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 156.5 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 108.1 FPS, and at 4K Low, it hits 66 FPS. Even at the lowest settings, the 4K resolution still commands a hefty performance cost. The difference in FPS between the Low and High presets also grows with resolution. At 1080p, the gap is 45.9 FPS; at 1440p, it is 32.1 FPS; and at 4K, it narrows to 16.2 FPS. This narrowing gap suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU is becoming so saturated that the difference in shading load between presets has a relatively smaller impact on the final frame rate, as the memory bandwidth becomes the primary bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Greedfall at 4K smoothly?

A: Only at the Low preset, which achieves an average of 66 FPS. The High and Medium presets at 4K yield 49.8 FPS and 52.1 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset is not viable at 4K, producing only 28.1 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at for a high refresh rate experience?

A: The 1920x1080 resolution with the High preset is the best option for high refresh rates, delivering an average of 110.6 FPS. The Low preset can push this to 156.5 FPS, but the visual quality is significantly reduced.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the High preset at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 averages 52.6 FPS, which is 23.4 FPS lower than the High preset's 76 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra is substantial.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor. The sharp FPS drops as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K are characteristic of a GPU bottleneck, while the CPU's high performance metrics suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: Is there a large performance difference between the Medium and High presets?

A: At 1080p, the difference is 15.8 FPS (126.4 vs 110.6). At 1440p, the difference is 11.4 FPS (87.4 vs 76). At 4K, the difference narrows to 2.3 FPS (52.1 vs 49.8), showing the GPU's limits are reached.

Q: How does the GPU's performance in this game compare to its synthetic benchmark score?

A: The GPU has a Passmark G3D score of 17166. While this is a strong synthetic result, the in-game data shows that Greedfall's Ultra preset can cause a severe performance drop, suggesting the game is more demanding than the synthetic score alone would imply.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a high-end processor that is unlikely to be the bottleneck in Greedfall. With 20 cores and 28 threads, it possesses immense multi-threaded capability, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 52425. Its single-thread performance is also excellent, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2972 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290. These figures place the CPU in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, indicating top-tier processing power.

In the context of Greedfall, the game's engine appears to be well-served by this CPU. The fact that the FPS scales so predictably and significantly with resolution points away from the CPU being a constraint. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between resolutions, as the CPU would be struggling to feed frames regardless of the render resolution. The data shows the opposite, confirming that the CPU is providing more than enough processing power. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, shows a 0% delta in average score, indicating the KF variant is effectively identical in performance for this workload. The CPU's high clock speeds, boosting up to 5.60 GHz, ensure it can quickly process game logic and draw calls, leaving the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT as the sole arbiter of frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is strong across the board, with a clear hierarchy. The Low preset averages 156.5 FPS, which is the highest measured. Medium follows at 126.4 FPS, and High at 110.6 FPS. The Ultra preset is the outlier, dropping to 70.4 FPS, which is a significant 40.2 FPS decrease from High. This suggests Ultra is a substantial step up in rendering complexity.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still respectable. The Low preset achieves 108.1 FPS, which is a solid result. Medium averages 87.4 FPS, and High is just behind at 76 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 52.6 FPS, which is a 23.4 FPS drop from High, making it the least desirable choice at this resolution for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations are fully exposed. The Low preset is the only one to break past 60 FPS, averaging 66 FPS. Medium and High are close together, at 52.1 FPS and 49.8 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset produces a nearly unplayable 28.1 FPS, which is 21.7 FPS lower than High. This severe drop at 4K Ultra is the most telling data point, showing the hardware is overwhelmed by the highest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is ranked 1104 out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is somewhat surprising given the high percentile ranking of the CPU. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance tier. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, with its 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, anchors the system's overall gaming performance.

The combo rank of 1104 suggests that while the CPU is an elite performer, the GPU holds the system back in this specific title, especially at higher resolutions. The data implies that for Greedfall, the GPU is the determining factor for the overall experience. A system with a less powerful CPU but a more powerful GPU would likely rank higher in this game's specific benchmark. The large discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile (96) and the combo's lower rank (1104) is a clear indication that the pairing is unbalanced for this workload. The benchmark results show that the system is capable of excellent frame rates at 1080p, but the 4K Ultra result of 28.1 FPS highlights the practical limits of this combination.