Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 mobile combination. The measured data shows a system that is clearly capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p but becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution climbs to 1440p and 4K. The performance scaling across the four tested presets indicates that the RTX 4070 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the Core Ultra 5 125H provides sufficient headroom to drive very high frame rates at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance drop as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 128 FPS, but this falls to 89 FPS at 1440p and 53 FPS at 4K. This represents a 30.5% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 40.4% decrease from 1440p to 4K, highlighting a substantial load increase on the GPU. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are taxed heavily at 3840x2160, where even the High preset drops below the 60 FPS threshold.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when looking at the Low preset. Here, the system produces 180 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 30.6% and 40.8% respectively, which is nearly identical to the High preset scaling. This consistency suggests that the frame rate limiting factor is the GPU at all resolutions, even when graphical load is reduced. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 18 threads, does not appear to be a limiting factor at any resolution tested, as the frame rates scale predictably with pixel count.

The Medium preset data shows a similar trend, with 141 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop is 40.8%, matching the other presets. This uniform scaling across presets indicates that Greedfall's engine is heavily dependent on fill rate and memory bandwidth, both of which are properties of the RTX 4070. The GPU's 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the key specifications driving these results, as they directly influence resolution-dependent performance.

The Ultra preset provides the clearest evidence of GPU saturation. At 4K, the system manages only 34 FPS, which is a 58.5% drop from the High preset's 53 FPS at the same resolution. This indicates that Ultra settings introduce rendering features that heavily tax the GPU's 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs. The direct comparison between Low and Ultra at 4K shows a 54.1% performance gap (74 FPS vs 34 FPS), which is a much larger spread than at 1080p where the gap is 54.4% (180 FPS vs 82 FPS). This consistency suggests that the additional GPU work at Ultra settings scales with resolution, further confirming the GPU as the bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a Meteor Lake processor with 14 cores and 18 threads, a configuration that provides substantial multi-threaded capability for a mobile part. Its benchmark scores reinforce this, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12804.5 and a single-core score of 1647.5. In Greedfall, this CPU performance translates to a system that never appears to be the limiting factor in the measured scenarios. Even at 1080p with the Low preset, where the GPU is less stressed, the system achieves 180 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at high frame rates.

The processor's PassMark multi-thread score of 21100 and average benchmark score of 27507 place it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and Intel Core i5-12600K, with deltaPct values of -0.1% and -0.3% respectively. This means the Core Ultra 5 125H performs nearly identically to those desktop-class processors in general benchmarks, though Greedfall's specific workload may not fully utilize all 14 cores. The game's engine appears to scale well with the available threads, as evidenced by the high minimum FPS values recorded in the Medium preset data.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game's asset streaming. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz are moderate for a mobile chip, but the measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking. The 1080p Low preset result of 180 FPS is particularly telling, as it demonstrates that even in a lightly GPU-bound scenario, the CPU can maintain very high frame rates without becoming a constraint.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this configuration for Greedfall performance. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, it has substantial resources for 4K gaming. The GPU's benchmark results, including a PassMark G3D score of 26927 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 174152, place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 with a deltaPct of 0.4% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile with a deltaPct of -1.3%, showing this mobile RTX 4070 performs competitively with its desktop counterparts.

The measured FPS data clearly shows the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K resolution. At 4K High settings, the system delivers 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 34 FPS, a level that is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. This performance is directly related to the GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability and 184 TMUs, which are stressed by the game's rendering demands at high resolutions. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz helps maintain performance, but the raw pixel and texture throughput becomes the deciding factor.

The RTX 4070's memory subsystem is particularly important for Greedfall at high resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the tested presets, as no out-of-memory issues are indicated in the data. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is a critical specification, as the game's texture streaming and frame buffer operations at 4K require high memory throughput. The measured 4K Medium preset shows 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS, indicating some frame time variance that could be attributed to memory bandwidth limitations during complex scenes.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Greedfall at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured data shows 74 FPS at 4K Low, 58 FPS at 4K Medium, and 53 FPS at 4K High. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 34 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination in Greedfall?

A: The 1440p resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with 89 FPS at High settings and 98 FPS at Medium settings. This provides a smooth experience above 60 FPS while still maintaining high graphical fidelity.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 5 125H compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 27507 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535, -0.1% delta) and Intel Core i5-12600K (27578, -0.3% delta). It performs slightly better than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G (27382, +0.5% delta).

Q: Is the RTX 4070 a bottleneck at 1080p in Greedfall?

A: No, the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1080p. The system achieves 180 FPS at Low settings and 128 FPS at High settings, indicating that the CPU and GPU work well together at this resolution without significant performance limitations.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and Ultra settings?

A: The gap varies by resolution. At 1080p, Medium delivers 141 FPS while Ultra delivers 82 FPS, a 41.8% difference. At 4K, Medium delivers 58 FPS while Ultra delivers 34 FPS, a 41.4% difference. The consistent percentage gap indicates the extra GPU work scales uniformly across resolutions.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combination ranks 1555 out of 2938 tested combos for Greedfall, placing it in the upper half of all configurations. This rank reflects its strong 1080p and 1440p performance, with 4K Ultra being the weakest area.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset provides the best overall experience for this hardware configuration. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 FPS and maximum of 163 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without any noticeable frame drops. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS, which still maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 4K Medium, the system achieves 58 FPS, which is close to the ideal 60 FPS target and represents the highest playable setting at that resolution.

The High preset offers a marginal visual improvement over Medium but with a measurable performance cost. At 1080p High, the system delivers 128 FPS, which is only 9.2% lower than Medium. At 1440p High, the average is 89 FPS, a 9.2% decrease from Medium. However, at 4K High, the performance drops to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and represents a 8.6% decrease from Medium's 58 FPS. This makes High a viable alternative at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this hardware. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 82 FPS, which is playable but represents a 41.8% performance penalty over Medium. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. At 4K Ultra, the system only manages 34 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The Low preset, while achieving 180 FPS at 1080p, sacrifices too much visual quality for the performance gain, as the Medium preset already provides excellent frame rates.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Medium preset at 1440p is the sweet spot, offering 98 FPS average with a minimum of 83 FPS. For users with 1080p displays, the Medium preset at 141 FPS provides a high refresh rate experience that fully utilizes the system's capabilities. The measured data does not show any clear benefit to using the High preset over Medium, as the performance difference is minimal at lower resolutions but becomes problematic at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance ceiling. The Low preset achieves 180 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. The Medium preset delivers 141 FPS with a narrow frame time distribution (minimum 120 FPS, maximum 163 FPS). The High preset produces 128 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 82 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each settings tier reduces performance by a consistent margin.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally with the increased pixel count. The Low preset achieves 125 FPS, a 30.6% reduction from 1080p. The Medium preset delivers 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 113 FPS, maintaining a stable frame rate. The High preset produces 89 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS. Notably, the Ultra preset at 1440p performs worse than the High preset at 4K (57 FPS vs 53 FPS), highlighting the heavy cost of Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly GPU-bound. The Low preset achieves 74 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset delivers 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS, showing some variability in frame times. The High preset produces 53 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 34 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming is only viable with the Low or Medium presets for this hardware combination. The complete dataset reveals that the performance scaling is consistent across all resolutions and settings, with the GPU being the dominant factor in determining frame rates.