Greedfall

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER produces a telling performance profile in Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG. The measured frame rates across three resolutions reveal a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck, yet the CPU’s substantial headroom ensures that even the most demanding settings remain playable at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured data to show exactly where this combination excels and where it struggles.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a classic GPU-bound curve. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 119 FPS, but this drops to 83 FPS at 1440p and further to 49 FPS at 4K. This represents a 59% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that points directly at the RTX 2070 SUPER’s rendering limits rather than any CPU constraint.

The scaling pattern becomes even clearer when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 167 FPS, which falls to 116 FPS at 1440p and 69 FPS at 4K. The fact that even the lowest settings cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K indicates that the GPU’s raw throughput is the limiting factor. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are simply insufficient to feed the 3840x2160 pixel count at high rates.

Comparing the Medium preset across resolutions provides additional insight. The 1080p Medium average of 131 FPS drops to 91 FPS at 1440p, a 30.5% decline, and then to 54 FPS at 4K, a further 40.7% decline from 1440p. This non-linear scaling suggests that memory bandwidth and fill-rate become progressively more critical as resolution increases. The GPU’s 256-bit memory bus and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are adequate for 1080p but struggle to maintain proportionally at 4K.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story with more severe consequences. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 76 FPS, dropping to 53 FPS at 1440p and a marginal 31 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling: the system cannot maintain a playable frame rate, confirming that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the definitive constraint at this resolution. The CPU’s role becomes negligible here, as the i9-14900K’s 24 cores and 32 threads are far beyond what Greedfall requires to feed the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves?

A: The maximum measured average is 167 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 69 FPS. Medium averages 54 FPS, High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra drops to 31 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097, which is 0.3% below the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79371) and 1.7% above the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (77740).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High averages 83 FPS while Ultra averages 53 FPS, a reduction of 30 FPS or approximately 36%.

Q: Is the GPU’s performance consistent with its market position?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with its average benchmark score of 20282 placing it 1.5% below the Intel Arc A750 (20582).

Q: What is the best frame time consistency at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 shows a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS, indicating a narrow 39 FPS range that suggests stable frame pacing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K provides an enormous amount of computational headroom for Greedfall. With 24 cores, 32 threads, and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and single-core score of 2262.5 place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, a position that indicates far more processing power than a 2019 Action RPG requires.

The architecture details reinforce this conclusion. The Raptor Lake-R design, built on a 10 nm process, includes 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. This cache hierarchy, combined with the 6.00 GHz boost clock, ensures that the CPU can feed draw calls and game logic to the GPU without stalling. The dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 further reduces any potential latency bottlenecks.

The measured FPS data confirms the CPU’s non-issue status. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the dramatic drops from 1080p to 4K—such as the 119 to 49 FPS decline at High settings—prove that the GPU is doing all the heavy lifting. The CPU’s 125 W TDP and Gen 5 PCIe interface with 16 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the RTX 2070 SUPER’s PCIe 3.0 x16 connection.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i9-14900K’s 79097 average benchmark score is essentially tied with the Core i9-14900KF (79371, -0.3%) and slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (77740, +1.7%). This positions the CPU as a top-tier component, but one whose performance is largely wasted in Greedfall at 4K, where the GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the decisive factors.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the i9-14900K and RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 2150 out of 3703 combinations for Greedfall. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, which is somewhat surprising given the CPU’s top-tier status. The ranking reflects the reality that the GPU holds the combo back, as the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 65th percentile standing among GPUs drags down the overall result.

The combo’s rank of 2150 out of 3703 means that approximately 58% of tested combinations achieve better performance in Greedfall. This is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limitations. While the i9-14900K excels in synthetic benchmarks—its 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs is outstanding—the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 20282 average benchmark score is only 1.5% below the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 1.2% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534). These modest deltas indicate that the GPU is competitive with mid-range offerings but cannot compete with higher-end cards that would better pair with the i9-14900K.

The ranking also highlights the imbalance of this configuration. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041, -1.2%) and Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79574, -0.6%), all score similarly to the i9-14900K, yet none of them would overcome the GPU bottleneck in Greedfall. This suggests that the combo rank is primarily determined by GPU performance, and the CPU choice has minimal impact on the final standing.

For context, the combo’s performance in Greedfall is likely representative of its behavior in other GPU-bound titles. The measured data shows that the system is capable of excellent 1080p performance—with 167 FPS at Low and 119 FPS at High—but falls below the 60 FPS threshold at 4K Ultra (31 FPS). Users seeking higher 4K performance would need to consider a more powerful GPU, as the CPU is not the constraint in this pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset averages 167 FPS, providing a high-refresh-rate experience for competitive play. Medium settings reduce this to 131 FPS on average, with a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS, indicating stable performance. High settings further reduce the average to 119 FPS, while Ultra drops to 76 FPS. All 1080p presets exceed the 60 FPS threshold, making this resolution the sweet spot for this configuration.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades predictably. Low settings still achieve a robust 116 FPS average, while Medium averages 91 FPS with a range of 77 to 105 FPS. High settings fall to 83 FPS, which remains smooth, but Ultra drops to 53 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS target. This suggests that 1440p Ultra is a borderline experience, suitable for those who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate stability.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations become pronounced. Low settings average 69 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS, indicating noticeable frame rate variance. High settings average 49 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Ultra averages only 31 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The 4K results clearly show that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain high frame rates.

The data also reveals the impact of settings on performance at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 91 FPS (167 to 76), a 54.5% reduction. At 1440p, the difference is 63 FPS (116 to 53), a 54.3% reduction. At 4K, the difference is 38 FPS (69 to 31), a 55.1% reduction. This consistent percentage drop suggests that the settings presets scale uniformly across resolutions, with each tier adding a similar computational load.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 1920x1080, the High preset is the optimal choice. It averages 119 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual quality difference from Ultra is likely minimal in Greedfall. The Medium preset at 131 FPS is also viable for those who prefer extra headroom, but High offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, Ultra is acceptable at 76 FPS, but the additional load may not justify the visual gains.

For 2560x1440, the High preset is recommended as the best experience. It maintains an 83 FPS average, which is smooth, while Medium at 91 FPS provides a slight performance boost at the cost of some visual quality. The Ultra preset at 53 FPS falls below 60 FPS and may suffer from visible stutters, so it is not recommended for consistent gameplay. Low settings at 116 FPS are unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the recommendations are more constrained. The Low preset at 69 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the default choice for 4K gameplay. Medium at 54 FPS is playable but may exhibit occasional dips, as indicated by the 46 FPS minimum. High at 49 FPS and Ultra at 31 FPS are not recommended for smooth play. Users who want to play at 4K should accept lower settings or consider a GPU upgrade.

Overall, the data suggests that the best experience is achieved at 1080p with High settings, which combines a high frame rate with good visual quality. For 1440p users, High is again the sweet spot, while 4K users should stick to Low to maintain playable frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while sufficient for Greedfall, is paired with a 256-bit memory bus that provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K, where the higher pixel count demands more memory throughput. The GPU’s 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is similarly limited, as evidenced by the 31 FPS average at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s clock speeds—a base of 1605 MHz and a boost of 1770 MHz—are moderate by modern standards. This, combined with its 215 W TDP, positions the RTX 2070 SUPER as a mid-range card from the Turing generation. Its 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines are sufficient for 1080p gaming but struggle with the demands of 4K. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s further illustrate the GPU’s limitations at high resolutions.

The GPU’s benchmark scores confirm its mid-range status. Its average benchmark score of 20282 places it at the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, scoring 20480 (-1%). The Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3%) and Arc A750 (20582, -1.5%) are also close, indicating that the RTX 2070 SUPER is competitive with modern mid-range offerings. However, the 1.5% delta to the Arc A750 shows that the GPU is slightly behind current mid-range cards, which is reflected in its 4K performance.

The GPU’s memory type and capacity are also relevant. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory is below the 10-12 GB found in newer cards, which can lead to texture thrashing in memory-intensive games at 4K. While Greedfall does not appear to exceed this limit, the 69 FPS at 4K Low suggests that the GPU is bandwidth-bound rather than capacity-bound. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed is standard for the era, but it cannot compensate for the 256-bit bus width at 4K.

In summary, the RTX 2070 SUPER provides a solid 1080p and 1440p experience but fails to deliver playable frame rates at 4K Ultra. Its performance is consistent with its 65th percentile ranking, and users seeking better 4K performance would need a GPU with higher memory bandwidth and computational throughput. The CPU, by contrast, provides ample headroom and is not a factor in the measured results.