Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress test for the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 mobile combo. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is capable but clearly bound by different hardware limits depending on the workload. The data indicates a strong pairing for 1080p gaming, but the demands of higher resolutions and maximum settings expose the GPU's constraints.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent drop in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 94 FPS at 1080p to 65 FPS at 1440p, and then further to 39 FPS at 4K. This represents a 58.5% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not perfectly linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K is a 40% performance hit, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p is a 30.9% hit. This suggests that the GPU is being progressively saturated as pixel count increases, with the most severe impact occurring at the highest resolution.

This pattern strongly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit memory bus, which provide a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s, are likely being stressed at 4K, particularly with textures and shaders demanding more memory and bandwidth. The game is not being held back by the CPU at these resolutions; instead, the GPU's raw throughput, rated at 13.17 TFLOPS for FP32, becomes the bottleneck. The data suggests that 4K gaming is not a realistic target for this combo in Greedfall, as even the Low preset only manages an average of 55 FPS, which is playable but not smooth by modern standards.

At 1080p, the scaling tells a different story. The difference between Low (132 FPS) and Ultra (60 FPS) is a 54.5% performance drop, which is a substantial cost for the visual upgrade. The fact that the average FPS at 1080p Low is more than double that of 4K Ultra suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates when the GPU isn't overwhelmed. The 14-core, 18-thread Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, with a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, appears to provide sufficient headroom at 1080p, as the frame rates scale with the GPU's workload.

The data implies that the sweet spot for this hardware combination is firmly in the 1080p and 1440p range. The drop from Medium to High at 1440p is only a 9.7% performance difference (72 to 65 FPS), suggesting that High settings are a reasonable choice without a massive performance penalty. However, the jump to Ultra at 1440p causes a 35.4% drop from High (65 to 42 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset's demands are disproportionately heavy for the GPU. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with no preset breaking the 60 FPS threshold, cementing the RTX 5050 as a 1080p/1440p class GPU for this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and RTX 5050 combo in Greedfall?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the most suitable resolution. At this resolution, the combo achieves a 94 FPS average on High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 2560x1440 resolution is also viable, with a 65 FPS average on High, but the performance margin is thinner.

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

A: The data shows that 4K gaming is not a smooth experience with this combo. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 55 on Low settings. High settings yield only 39 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25 FPS. These results are below the 60 FPS target and indicate that the RTX 5050 is not powerful enough for a comfortable 4K experience in this game.

Q: How demanding is the Ultra preset compared to High?

A: The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding. At 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 94 on High to 60 on Ultra, a 36.2% decrease. At 2560x1440, the drop is even more pronounced, falling from 65 to 42 FPS, a 35.4% decrease. This indicates that the Ultra preset's visual enhancements come at a steep performance cost.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and High settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 132 FPS, while High produces 94 FPS. This represents a 28.8% reduction in frame rate for the upgrade from Low to High. The performance headroom on Low suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 5050's 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for Greedfall?

A: The measured data does not show a direct VRAM limitation, as no errors or crashes are reported. However, the significant performance drop at 4K (e.g., 39 FPS on High) suggests that the combination of VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth may be a constraint at that resolution. The 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is likely a limiting factor when loading high-resolution textures.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035. This is 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713. It is also 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153) and 1.6% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379). This places it in a competitive mid-range tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the central component determining the playability of Greedfall at higher settings. The data shows that its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus, yielding a 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, are adequate for 1080p but are stretched at 1440p and overwhelmed at 4K. The boost clock of 2572 MHz and base clock of 2317 MHz are relatively high, but the GPU's overall throughput, measured at 13.17 TFLOPS for FP32, is the limiting factor.

The GPU's percentile rank of 66 indicates that it performs better than 66% of all GPUs in the benchmark database. However, its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, are very close in terms of average benchmark score (21035 vs 20713), suggesting that the 5050's gaming performance is in line with a mid-range desktop GPU from a previous generation. In Greedfall, this translates to the observed frame rates: excellent at 1080p, good at 1440p with settings compromises, and poor at 4K.

The 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores are part of the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, but Greedfall, being a 2019 title, does not likely utilize these features heavily. The game's DirectX 12 support is present, but the performance data suggests that traditional rasterization is the primary workload. The 32 ROPs and 80 TMUs provide the pixel and texture fill rates of 82.30 GPixel/s and 205.8 GTexel/s, respectively, which are the key specs for this game's engine. The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (60 FPS) shows that the GPU is just barely able to keep up with the game's most demanding preset at the most common resolution, leaving little headroom for future driver improvements or more demanding scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2967 out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the bottom 20% of all combinations tested, which is a surprisingly low ranking given the individual components' positions. The CPU has a percentile rank of 79 (better than 79% of all CPUs), and the GPU has a percentile rank of 66. The combo's low rank suggests that while each component is mid-range or better, their pairing is not optimized for Greedfall's specific engine requirements, or that the mobile form factor limits performance compared to desktop parts.

The rank of 2967 out of 3703 indicates that a vast majority of other tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this game. This is likely due to the RTX 5050 being a mobile GPU, which, despite having the same name as a potential desktop part, is constrained by its 130 W TDP. In contrast, many of the other 3702 combos likely feature desktop-class GPUs with higher power budgets and faster memory subsystems. The combo's ranking suggests that while it can play Greedfall, it does so at frame rates that are lower than what many other systems achieve, particularly at higher resolutions.

The data implies that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it ranks competitively, but falls behind at 1440p and 4K. The 2967th rank is a general indicator of average performance across all tested settings and resolutions. A user with this system would likely need to lower settings to achieve frame rates comparable to other combos at the same resolution. The proximity of the GPU's benchmark score to its rivals (within 1.6%) does not translate to a high in-game rank, highlighting that synthetic benchmarks do not always predict real-world game performance accurately.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of performance across nine different settings configurations. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 132 on Low to 60 on Ultra. The Medium preset averages 104 FPS, with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 120. High settings average 94 FPS. This shows a smooth scaling curve where each preset tier costs a roughly 10-15% performance hit, except for the jump from High to Ultra, which is a 36.2% drop.

At 2560x1440, the averages are lower across the board. Low settings yield 92 FPS, while Medium averages 72 FPS (min 61, max 83). High settings average 65 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. The performance gap between Low and High is 29.3%, which is consistent with the 1080p scaling. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the most demanding configuration that remains playable, but the 42 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the performance is severely limited. Low settings average 55 FPS, Medium averages 43 FPS (min 37, max 49), High averages 39 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. No configuration at 4K reaches 60 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is a 54.5% performance drop, which is similar to the 1080p scaling but from a much lower starting point. The minimum FPS of 37 at 4K Medium indicates that the system can experience noticeable stutters, particularly in demanding scenes.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with High settings, which produces an average of 94 FPS. This provides a smooth, responsive experience that is well above the 60 FPS threshold, while still offering high visual quality. For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p (132 FPS) is excellent for competitive play or if the user has a high refresh rate display.

At 2560x1440, the High preset (65 FPS) is recommended for a balanced experience, as it maintains a playable frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality. The Medium preset (72 FPS) is a safer choice for users who want to ensure a more stable frame rate, as the minimum of 61 FPS provides a good buffer. The Ultra preset at 1440p (42 FPS) is not recommended, as the visual gains do not justify the significant performance drop.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset should be avoided entirely with this combo. At 1080p, it only achieves 60 FPS (a 36% drop from High), and at 1440p, it falls to 42 FPS. The 4K resolution is also not recommended, as even the Low preset (55 FPS) is below the 60 FPS target, and the Medium preset's minimum of 37 FPS indicates potential stuttering. The best experience is clearly at 1080p High, or 1440p Medium/High, depending on the user's preference for resolution versus frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H plays a supporting role in Greedfall, providing enough processing power to avoid being the primary bottleneck at 1080p. With 14 cores and 18 threads, a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, and 18 MB of L3 cache, the CPU is well-equipped for modern games. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12804.5 and single-core score of 1647.5 place it in a strong position, and its average benchmark score of 27507 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, which scores 27535 (a 0.1% difference).

The CPU's performance is highlighted by the fact that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 132 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to reach well beyond the 60 FPS threshold. If the CPU were a significant bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at a lower value regardless of the GPU's workload. The fact that frame rates scale down as settings and resolution increase confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios.

However, the CPU's 28 W TDP and mobile form factor (Intel BGA 2049 socket) mean its sustained performance may be lower than desktop counterparts. The PassMark multi-thread score of 21100 and physics score of 1439 suggest that the CPU is capable, but the data in Greedfall does not show any scenario where the CPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 indicates it is a solid performer, but its role in this game is to ensure the RTX 5050 is not starved of data, which it does successfully at all tested resolutions. The data shows no evidence of CPU-related frame drops, as the minimum FPS recorded (37 FPS at 4K Medium) is consistent with GPU-bound performance.