Greedfall

# Greedfall with Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

The measured frame rates for this combination reveal a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the RTX 3060 Ti acting as the primary performance governor while the Core i9-14900K provides ample headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 188.5 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 33 FPS — a gap that clearly defines where the GPU saturates. The data shows a classic mid-range GPU paired with a flagship CPU, resulting in performance that is smooth at lower resolutions but increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent with a GPU-limited scenario. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p (188.5 FPS) to 1440p (131.5 FPS) represents a 30.2% reduction, while moving to 4K (78.6 FPS) cuts the frame rate by another 40.2% relative to 1440p. This linear degradation pattern suggests the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component — the CPU is not holding back performance at any resolution, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Low, the system still delivers nearly 79 FPS.

High settings tell a similar story. At 1080p, the combo achieves 132.3 FPS; at 1440p, it falls to 92.6 FPS (a 30% drop); and at 4K, it reaches 58 FPS (a 37.4% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that resolution scaling is uniform, with no sudden cliff that would suggest a CPU bottleneck. Ultra settings, however, reveal a sharper decline: 86.6 FPS at 1080p, 60.2 FPS at 1440p, and just 33 FPS at 4K — a 61.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is more pronounced than the Low settings scaling and points to the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute limits being fully exercised.

The implication is clear: this system is not CPU-limited in Greedfall, even at 1080p Low where the frame rate exceeds 180 FPS. The Core i9-14900K's 32 threads and 6.00 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to feed the GPU, and the bottleneck shifts entirely to the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K brings 24 cores and 32 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost of 6.00 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 places it in the 97th percentile among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 79824 sits within 0.9% of its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (79102, deltaPct 0.9). This is a processor with substantial headroom for any game, and the Greedfall data confirms that it does not become a limiting factor.

At 1080p Low, where CPU overhead is typically highest, the system still delivers 188.5 FPS. This is a strong indicator that the game's engine is not heavily threaded or that the i9-14900K's single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040) is sufficient to handle the game's logic without throttling the GPU. The PassMark single-thread score of 4697 reinforces this — the i9-14900K is among the fastest single-threaded processors available, which matters for games like Greedfall that may rely on a few primary threads.

Interestingly, the CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks shows it trading blows with the AMD EPYC 7413 (avgScore 80041, deltaPct -0.3) and sitting just ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79245, deltaPct 0.7). This indicates that the i9-14900K is a top-tier processor, but in Greedfall, its role is secondary — the data shows the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions, and the CPU's 125W TDP and 36 MB of shared L3 cache are more than adequate for this game's demands.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 869th out of 1705 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems, which is somewhat surprising given the CPU's flagship status. The ranking reflects that while the i9-14900K is in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, the RTX 3060 Ti sits in only the 69th percentile of all GPUs, and the GPU's performance is what predominantly determines game frame rates.

The combo's rank of 869 out of 1705 means that roughly half of all tested systems outperform it in Greedfall. This is consistent with the GPU's position — the RTX 3060 Ti's average benchmark score of 25120 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235, deltaPct -0.5) and the AMD Radeon 890M (25246, deltaPct -0.5). The deltaPct values are all within 0.7% of the RTX 3060 Ti, indicating that many GPUs in this performance class will produce similar results.

What this ranking suggests is that for Greedfall specifically, the CPU choice has minimal impact on overall ranking. A system with a weaker CPU but a stronger GPU would likely rank higher, as the game's frame rates are so heavily GPU-dependent. The i9-14900K is effectively wasted potential in this pairing for this particular title, though it does ensure that there is zero CPU-induced stuttering or frame pacing issues.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so significantly from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows a 61.9% reduction in FPS from 1080p Ultra (86.6 FPS) to 4K Ultra (33 FPS). This indicates the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component, as its 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, particularly at higher settings.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K bottlenecking the RTX 3060 Ti in Greedfall?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 188.5 FPS, which suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor. The i9-14900K's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 and 97th percentile ranking indicate it has far more performance headroom than this game requires.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 869th out of 1705 combos. This places it in the middle of the pack, which is consistent with the GPU's 69th percentile ranking. The CPU's high performance does not boost the rank because Greedfall is GPU-bound.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: At 1440p High, the system achieves 92.6 FPS, while 1440p Medium delivers 105.1 FPS. Both are playable, but High offers a better visual quality to performance ratio, as the drop from Medium to High is only 11.9%.

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

A: Barely. At 4K High, it achieves 58 FPS, which is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 33 FPS, which is not smooth. For 4K, Low settings (78.6 FPS) or Medium (62.4 FPS) are the viable options.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti's performance compare to its rivals?

A: Its average benchmark score of 25120 is within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235) and 0.5% of the AMD Radeon 890M (25246). This indicates nearly identical performance among these GPUs in synthetic tests.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the defining component in this system's Greedfall performance. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, this GPU is built for 1080p and 1440p gaming, not 4K. Its GA104 chip, based on the Ampere architecture, contains 4864 shading units and 152 texture mapping units, with a boost clock of 1665 MHz and a base of 1410 MHz.

The measured data shows that the RTX 3060 Ti's performance in Greedfall is consistent with its synthetic benchmarks. Its PassMark G3D score of 20349 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2626 reflect a GPU that is competent but not exceptional — it sits in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (avgScore 25180, deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235, deltaPct -0.5), show that this GPU is firmly in the mid-range tier.

The 8 GB VRAM is a critical limitation at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate collapses to 33 FPS. This is likely due to memory capacity and bandwidth constraints, as Greedfall's high-resolution textures and effects demand more than 8 GB at Ultra settings. At 4K Low (78.6 FPS) and 4K Medium (62.4 FPS), the GPU manages to stay playable, but the steep drop to 33 FPS at Ultra indicates that the memory subsystem is the bottleneck.

The RTX 3060 Ti's 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 133.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the card delivers excellent results. At 1080p Ultra, it hits 86.6 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra, it achieves 60.2 FPS. These numbers suggest that the GPU is well-matched for high-refresh 1080p gaming and solid 60 FPS 1440p gaming, but 4K is beyond its comfort zone.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and frame rate. At 1080p, the system is capable of high frame rates across all presets. The Low preset achieves 188.5 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or high-refresh monitors, but the visual quality sacrifice is significant. The High preset at 132.3 FPS offers a strong balance between visuals and performance, while Ultra at 86.6 FPS is still smooth and provides the best image quality.

For 1440p, the recommendation shifts. The Medium preset at 105.1 FPS is excellent for high-refresh displays, but the High preset at 92.6 FPS is the sweet spot for most users — it delivers near-100 FPS with better visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 60.2 FPS is playable but on the edge of smoothness; if you prefer consistent 60+ FPS, High is the better choice.

At 4K, the data suggests that Ultra is not viable at 33 FPS. The Medium preset at 62.4 FPS is the minimum for a playable experience, while High at 58 FPS is close but slightly below the 60 FPS threshold. For the best 4K experience, the Low preset at 78.6 FPS provides the highest frame rate, but the visual downgrade is substantial. Given the options, Medium at 4K (62.4 FPS) is the recommended preset — it maintains playable frame rates while preserving more of the game's visual detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average FPS: Low 188.5, Medium 148.3, High 132.3, and Ultra 86.6. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 54.1% reduction in performance, which is steep but expected given the GPU's mid-range positioning. The 40.2 FPS difference between Medium and High is notable, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 45.7 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 131.5, Medium 105.1, High 92.6, and Ultra 60.2. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with Low losing 30.2% of its frame rate, Medium losing 29.1%, High losing 30.0%, and Ultra losing 30.5%. This uniformity reinforces that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the resolution scaling is proportional across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates fall to: Low 78.6, Medium 62.4, High 58, and Ultra 33. The 4K Ultra result of 33 FPS is the lowest measured value in the set, and it represents a 61.9% drop from 1080p Ultra. Notably, the difference between High (58 FPS) and Medium (62.4 FPS) at 4K is only 4.4 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is near its limits and further reducing settings yields diminishing returns. The gap between Medium and Low at 4K is 16.2 FPS, indicating that Low settings provide a more substantial performance boost.