Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 5 135H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

This combination of Intel's Core Ultra 5 135H mobile processor and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU delivers a playable but uneven Greedfall experience, with performance that scales predictably across resolutions but shows clear GPU-bound behavior at 4K Ultra settings. The data indicates this combo sits in the 60th percentile of tested configurations (rank 1765 out of 2938 combos), meaning a majority of systems outperform it in this specific title, though the measured frame rates remain respectable for a mobile platform.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that becomes progressively GPU-limited as pixel count rises, with the most dramatic collapse occurring at Ultra settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 160 FPS average; stepping up to 1440p Low reduces this to 111 FPS (a 30.6% decrease), and 4K Low further drops to 66 FPS (a 40.5% decrease from 1440p). This scaling pattern—roughly halving performance from 1080p to 4K at Low settings—indicates the RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are handling the geometry load but the pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck.

The High preset tells a similar story but with steeper cliffs. From 114 FPS at 1080p High, the average falls to 79 FPS at 1440p (down 30.7%) and then to 47 FPS at 4K (down 40.5% from 1440p). The Medium preset shows the most consistent relative scaling: 126 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p (minus 31%), and 52 FPS at 4K (minus 40.2%). This consistency across Low, High, and Medium suggests the limiting factor shifts uniformly with resolution, typical of GPU fill-rate constraints rather than CPU threading issues.

Ultra settings, however, expose a different dynamic. The 73 FPS at 1080p Ultra drops to 51 FPS at 1440p (a 30.1% reduction) and then plummets to 30 FPS at 4K (a 41.2% reduction from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below the 30 FPS threshold, indicating that the combination of maximum settings and 4K resolution exceeds what this mobile GPU can sustain. The gap between 4K Medium (52 FPS) and 4K Ultra (30 FPS) is a 42.3% performance penalty, suggesting Ultra enables effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs.

The data shows that resolution scaling is remarkably linear across presets—each step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K costs roughly 30% then 40% performance respectively. This consistent pattern confirms the RTX 4060 is the limiting component at all settings above 1080p Low, where the Core Ultra 5 135H's 14 cores and 18 threads provide sufficient headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 1765 out of 2938 tested combinations, this system places in the 60th percentile for Greedfall performance. This means 60% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this title, placing this mobile combo in the lower-middle tier of the benchmark database. The ranking reflects the mobile nature of both components—the RTX 4060 laptop GPU carries a 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs (average benchmark score 17639), while the Core Ultra 5 135H sits at the 81st percentile among CPUs (average benchmark score 29093).

The CPU's percentile ranking is notably higher than the GPU's, indicating the processor is comparatively stronger relative to its peers than the graphics card is relative to its own competition. This disparity suggests the combo's overall rank in Greedfall is dragged down by the GPU, which aligns with the resolution scaling analysis showing GPU-bound behavior at higher settings. The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (average score 29123, delta -0.1%), Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (29245, -0.5%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28940, +0.5%), and Intel Core i5-13500HX (29270, -0.6%). All four rivals sit within 0.6% of the Core Ultra 5's average score, making CPU performance essentially interchangeable with these desktop and mobile parts.

The GPU's nearest rivals are notably weaker: AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, -0.2%), AMD Radeon 780M (17588, +0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, +0.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17509, +0.7%). The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 is within 0.7% of all four, meaning the GPU's performance class is tightly clustered. However, the fact that the RTX 4060's nearest rival includes the HD 7790—a much older architecture—highlights that raw benchmark averages don't capture modern feature support like the 24 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate API present in this NVIDIA chip.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H brings 14 cores and 18 threads from its Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost up to 4.60 GHz. This mobile processor, released in December 2023 with a launch MSRP of $342, carries an 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs, placing it well above average for processor performance. The 18 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for Greedfall's open-world environments.

Benchmark results show the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities: Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11875.5 and single-core of 1700, with PassMark multithread score of 22422 and single-thread of 3521. The 14-core design with 18 threads (indicating a mix of performance and efficiency cores) delivers strong parallel compute, as evidenced by the Cinebench R20 multicore score of 7834 versus single-core of 1105. The PassMark physics score of 1482 and floating point math score of 54867 suggest the CPU can handle game physics and simulation workloads without becoming a bottleneck.

In Greedfall specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. At 1080p Low, the 160 FPS average indicates the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. Even at 1080p Ultra with 73 FPS, there's no evidence of CPU limitation—the frame rate is governed by the GPU's rendering load. The 4K results reinforce this: all 4K presets show performance consistent with GPU constraints rather than CPU stalls. The data suggests the Core Ultra 5 135H's 18 threads are more than sufficient for Greedfall's engine, which is a 2019 title that doesn't heavily utilize multi-core processors. The processor's 28 W TDP and mobile BGA 2049 socket indicate this is a power-efficient chip designed for laptops, yet its performance rivals desktop parts like the Ryzen 7 5800X (within 0.1% in average score).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all presets. Low settings produce 160 FPS average, Medium 126 FPS (with min 107 and max 145), High 114 FPS, and Ultra 73 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 34 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 41 FPS—indicating that Ultra preset introduces significantly more GPU work than High. The 1080p Medium frame time variance (107-145 FPS range) shows acceptable consistency, with no dips below the 100 FPS mark.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but drops noticeably. Low settings average 111 FPS, Medium 87 FPS (min 74, max 100), High 79 FPS, and Ultra 51 FPS. The 1440p Medium range of 74-100 FPS shows a 26 FPS spread, which is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is becoming more consistently loaded. The 1440p Ultra result of 51 FPS is still playable but approaches the threshold where fast-paced combat might feel less responsive. The drop from 1080p Ultra (73 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (51 FPS) represents a 30.1% reduction, consistent with the pixel count increase.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 66 FPS, Medium 52 FPS (min 44, max 60), High 47 FPS, and Ultra 30 FPS. The 4K Medium range of 44-60 FPS shows a 16 FPS spread, indicating the GPU is operating near its limits with occasional dips below 45 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is exactly at the borderline of playability—some players may find this acceptable for a story-driven RPG, but action sequences could suffer. The 4K High result of 47 FPS is marginally better than Medium's 52 FPS might suggest, but the ordering is logical: Medium (52) > High (47) > Low (66) is an anomaly, with Low outperforming High by 19 FPS and Medium by 14 FPS.

The data reveals that Low settings at 4K (66 FPS) provide a dramatically better experience than Ultra at 4K (30 FPS)—a 120% improvement—while the visual difference between these presets in Greedfall may not justify the 36 FPS cost for many users.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low (66 FPS) or Medium (52 FPS) settings. High settings drop to 47 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30 FPS, which is borderline for playability. For a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, Low settings are required.

Q: What is the best resolution for 60+ FPS with this hardware?

A: At 1440p, all presets except Ultra exceed 60 FPS (Low 111, Medium 87, High 79). At 1080p, every preset including Ultra delivers 73 FPS or higher. For maximum visual quality at 60+ FPS, 1440p High is the highest preset that maintains this threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 135H scores 29093 on average, which is within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29123, -0.1%), Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (29245, -0.5%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28940, +0.5%), and Intel Core i5-13500HX (29270, -0.6%). These differences are negligible for gaming performance.

Q: Why does 4K Low outperform 4K High by such a large margin?

A: The 4K Low average of 66 FPS versus 4K High's 47 FPS represents a 40.4% improvement. This gap indicates that High preset enables rendering features that heavily tax the RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus at 4K resolution, where memory bandwidth becomes critical.

Q: Is this GPU comparable to newer integrated graphics?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 is within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon 780M (17588), which is an integrated GPU. However, the RTX 4060 offers dedicated 8 GB memory, 24 RT cores, and 3072 shading units, giving it advantages in sustained gaming workloads that integrated solutions may not match.

Q: What settings should be avoided entirely?

A: The 4K Ultra preset (30 FPS) should be avoided, as it falls below the 30 FPS threshold for playable performance. Additionally, 1440p Ultra (51 FPS) and 4K High (47 FPS) are borderline and may cause noticeable stuttering during combat sequences.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the 1440p High preset is the recommended configuration for this combo. It delivers 79 FPS average—well above the 60 FPS target—while maintaining the visual fidelity that Greedfall's action RPG combat benefits from. The 1440p Medium preset at 87 FPS offers more headroom for demanding scenes, but High's 79 FPS is sufficient for smooth gameplay without compromising the game's atmospheric lighting and texture detail.

Players prioritizing frame rate stability should consider 1080p Ultra at 73 FPS, which is the highest preset that maintains 70+ FPS at 1080p. The 1080p Medium preset at 126 FPS provides a 53 FPS advantage over Ultra while still looking significantly better than Low, making it the best choice for high-refresh-rate displays. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (126 FPS) and High (114 FPS) is only 12 FPS, so choosing High over Medium costs little performance while improving visual quality.

For 4K users, the choice is between Low (66 FPS) and Medium (52 FPS). The Medium preset's minimum of 44 FPS suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable during particle-heavy fights, whereas Low maintains a more consistent 66 FPS. Given that 4K Low outperforms 4K High by 19 FPS and 4K Medium by 14 FPS, players who value smoothness at 4K should select Low settings. The 4K Ultra preset at 30 FPS is not recommended, as the measured average sits exactly at the playability threshold, and any demanding scene could push it below 30 FPS. The data clearly indicates that this combo's sweet spot is 1440p with High settings, offering the best compromise between the CPU's 81st percentile processing power and the GPU's 61st percentile rendering capability.