Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting scaling challenge for the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination. The benchmark data indicates that the most balanced experience, balancing visual fidelity with frame rate stability, is achieved at 1440p with High settings. While 1080p offers higher frame rates, the 1440p High preset provides a 113 FPS average, which is a significant step up in image quality from 1080p without the harsh performance penalty seen at 4K Ultra. The data suggests that High settings are the sweet spot for this GPU, as the jump to Ultra yields a massive performance drop that is not justified by the marginal visual gains in this title. For players prioritizing smoothness above all else, 1080p Medium at 179 FPS is the recommended fallback, as it maintains a high refresh rate experience with a more stable frame time than the Low preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination reveals a clear hierarchy in settings presets. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers a 43 FPS average, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience on many displays. Dropping to High at 4K raises the average to 67 FPS, but this still represents a significant compromise in resolution to maintain playability. The Medium preset at 4K provides 74 FPS, with a minimum of 63 FPS, making it a viable option for players with 4K displays who are willing to sacrifice some visual details for a more consistent frame rate. However, the data strongly indicates that the optimal experience is at 2560x1440, where the High preset achieves 113 FPS and the Medium preset reaches 124 FPS.

The 1080p results are exceptionally high, with the Low preset hitting 228 FPS and High reaching 163 FPS. These numbers suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, allowing the RTX 4080 to operate at its full potential. However, the performance difference between 1080p High and 1440p High is only 50 FPS, which is a modest gain for a significant resolution reduction. The most compelling argument for the 1440p High setting is the balance it strikes; it offers a 46 FPS improvement over the 4K High preset while maintaining a frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. The Ultra preset at any resolution is difficult to recommend. The drop from High to Ultra at 1440p is from 113 FPS to 72 FPS, a 36% reduction, which is a severe penalty for what is typically a marginal increase in shadow and draw distance quality. The data supports that High settings provide the best performance-per-frame-rate ratio for this hardware configuration in Greedfall.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, proves to be the dominant component in this pairing for most of the tested configurations. The GPU’s raw compute power, derived from its 9728 shading units and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance, is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 228 FPS, which is a clear indication that the GPU is not being constrained by the CPU at this setting. The boost clock of 2505 MHz allows the card to sustain high performance under load, as evidenced by the 163 FPS average at 1080p High.

However, the GPU’s role becomes more nuanced at higher resolutions. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, with the Ultra preset falling to 43 FPS. This is a direct consequence of the increased pixel count, which demands more from the GPU’s memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Greedfall’s textures, even at 4K, so the performance drop is not due to memory capacity limitations. Instead, it is the sheer computational load of rendering at 3840x2160 that taxes the GPU. The 4K Medium preset at 74 FPS shows that the card can handle 4K when settings are moderated, but the delta between 1440p High and 4K High (113 to 67 FPS) highlights the GPU’s scaling curve. This data suggests that the RTX 4080 is a high-refresh-rate 1440p card and a capable 4K card only when settings are lowered. The GPU’s performance is consistent with its percentile ranking of 86, placing it well above the average, but the demanding nature of 4K resolution in Greedfall exposes its limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H, a 14-core, 18-thread mobile processor with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, serves as a capable partner to the RTX 4080, but its influence on the frame rates is most apparent at lower resolutions. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 and a single-core score of 1700, indicate solid performance for a mobile chip. In Greedfall, the CPU’s single-thread performance is critical for game logic and draw calls. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 228 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for frame generation in this title. This is a strong indicator that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution and settings combination.

At 1080p High, the frame rate drops to 163 FPS, which is a substantial decrease from Low. This suggests that while the GPU is becoming more involved, the CPU is still able to feed it frames effectively. The trend continues at 1440p, where the High preset yields 113 FPS. Here, the GPU is increasingly the bottleneck, as the resolution increase places more strain on the rasterization units. The CPU’s role is less pronounced at 4K, where the frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU’s pixel throughput. The fact that the 135H’s average benchmark score of 29093 places it near the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with a deltaPct of -0.1, reinforces that this is a mid-range to upper-mid-range CPU. It is not a top-tier desktop processor, but it is sufficient to avoid severe bottlenecks for most gaming scenarios, though the 1080p Low result suggests it is the ceiling for ultra-high refresh rate gaming in this specific title.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Greedfall, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is ranked 1219 out of 3703 combos. This places it in the top third of all tested systems, which is a respectable position given that the CPU is a mobile part. The combo rank is a holistic measure that considers both components’ performance across all tested resolutions and settings. The RTX 4080’s high percentile ranking of 86 among all GPUs significantly boosts this combo’s standing. However, the CPU’s percentile rank of 81, while good, does not match the GPU’s relative strength.

This discrepancy is a key takeaway from the rank. The data suggests that with a more powerful desktop CPU, this same GPU could achieve an even higher combo rank, as the 1080p results indicate that the CPU is capping the maximum frame rate. The combo’s rank of 1219 means that there are 1218 other combinations that deliver better overall performance in Greedfall. These are likely systems with higher-tier desktop CPUs paired with similar or better GPUs. Conversely, the combo outperforms 2484 other tested combinations, which includes systems with weaker GPUs or CPUs. The rank confirms the RTX 4080’s power, as it is able to carry the combo to a strong position despite the mobile CPU’s limitations. The performance delta between this combo and the top-ranked systems is most pronounced at 1080p, where the CPU bottleneck prevents the GPU from fully stretching its legs.

Resolution Scaling

Analyzing the frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K provides critical insight into which component is limiting performance. Starting with the High preset, the average FPS at 1080p is 163. Moving to 1440p, this drops to 113, a 30.7% reduction. Scaling further to 4K, the frame rate falls to 67, which is a 58.9% reduction from 1080p. This pattern of decreasing returns indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The 1440p to 4K drop is particularly steep, showing that the RTX 4080’s compute units are overwhelmed by the 4K pixel count.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more revealing. At 1080p Low, the system hits 228 FPS. At 1440p Low, this drops to 158 FPS, a 30.7% reduction. However, at 4K Low, the frame rate is 94 FPS, which is a 58.8% drop from 1080p. The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings is a strong signal that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller percentage drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p, as the CPU load would remain constant. The fact that the frame rate scales almost perfectly with the pixel count (1080p to 1440p is a 1.78x pixel increase, and the FPS drops by roughly 0.69x) confirms that the RTX 4080 is being fully utilized.

The Ultra preset shows a slightly different pattern. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 104 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 72 FPS (a 30.8% drop), and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 43 FPS (a 58.7% drop from 1080p). This consistency across all presets is remarkable and points to a GPU-bound scenario in all measured configurations. The data strongly suggests that the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is not a limiting factor at any resolution above 1080p Low. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to keep it busy, but the GPU’s raw performance is the primary determinant of the final frame rate. This is a classic example of a balanced pairing, where the GPU is the performance ceiling, but the CPU is sufficient to avoid causing stutters or frame drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following breakdown details the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 228 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo, indicating a CPU-limited scenario where the GPU has ample headroom.
• Medium: 179 FPS average, with a minimum of 152 FPS and a maximum of 206 FPS. This shows a solid frame time consistency, suitable for high refresh rate displays.
• High: 163 FPS average. A significant drop from Medium, but still an excellent result for a High preset.
• Ultra: 104 FPS average. The jump to Ultra incurs a 36% performance penalty compared to High, making it a demanding setting even at 1080p.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 158 FPS average. The performance is still very high, but the CPU is no longer the primary bottleneck as the GPU load increases.
• Medium: 124 FPS average, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. This is a strong result for 1440p, offering a smooth experience on most monitors.
• High: 113 FPS average. This is the recommended setting for a balance of quality and performance, as it remains well above 60 FPS.
• Ultra: 72 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 1440p is playable but shows a steep drop from High, indicating that the GPU is struggling with the extra effects.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 94 FPS average. A surprisingly high result for 4K, showing that the RTX 4080 has enough power for 4K at lower settings.
• Medium: 74 FPS average, with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 85 FPS. This is a playable 4K experience, but the minimum frame rate is close to the edge of comfort.
• High: 67 FPS average. This is a bare minimum for a smooth experience, and the drop from Medium is noticeable.
• Ultra: 43 FPS average. This is not a playable experience for most users, as the frame rate is too low for consistent motion. The data shows that 4K Ultra is beyond the capability of this combo in Greedfall.