Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG from 2019, presents a demanding workload for the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is capable of high refresh rates at standard resolutions but begins to strain under the weight of maximum settings and 4K output. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics to determine the optimal settings and what the numbers imply about the hardware pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combo shows a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the most common gaming resolution, the differences are stark. The Low preset delivers an average of 156 FPS, which is exceptionally high. Moving to Medium reduces the average to 122 FPS, a significant but expected drop for increased visual fidelity. High settings further lower the average to 111 FPS, while the Ultra preset brings the average down to 71 FPS.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is not the optimal choice for this pairing. While 71 FPS is playable, the drop from High to Ultra is a substantial 40 FPS (from 111 to 71). This indicates that the Ultra preset's demands are disproportionately high relative to the visual improvement it likely offers. The High preset, with its 111 FPS average, provides a much smoother experience and is the best balance of performance and graphical quality at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds. The Low preset averages 108 FPS, which is excellent. Medium and High follow at 85 and 77 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset again takes a severe hit, dropping to an average of 49 FPS. This reinforces the conclusion that Ultra is a performance sink. For a consistent and responsive experience at 1440p, the High preset at 77 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a solid frame rate while avoiding the sub-60 FPS territory of Ultra.

The situation at 3840x2160 is more constrained. The best result is on Low settings with an average of 64 FPS. Medium manages 51 FPS, High drops to 46 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS, which is not a smooth experience. Given these numbers, the Low preset is the only one that achieves a comfortable frame rate for 4K gaming on this hardware. The gap between Low and Medium is 13 FPS, suggesting that even a modest increase in graphical load significantly impacts performance at this high resolution. Therefore, the recommendation is to use High settings for 1080p and 1440p, and Low settings for 2160p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the central component in this gaming analysis. Its performance characteristics are directly reflected in the measured FPS. The GPU has a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a critical factor in Greedfall's performance, especially at higher resolutions.

The data shows a clear GPU bottleneck when moving from 1440p to 4K. The performance drop is not linear; it is a steep cliff. For example, on High settings, the average FPS falls from 77 at 1440p to 46 at 4K. This 40% reduction in performance indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being heavily taxed. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is likely a limiting factor at 4K, especially with higher texture and detail settings, which can consume more than 8 GB of video memory, leading to texture swapping and reduced frame rates.

The RTX 5060's compute capabilities, as shown by its 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 299.6 GTexel/s texture rate, are substantial. However, the data suggests that these capabilities are not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with high settings. The GPU is powerful for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it excels, but it is not designed for high-refresh 4K gaming. The benchmark results for the GPU place it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a solid mid-to-high-end performer, but the 4K results show its limitations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic scaling pattern that highlights the role of the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, the system is likely partially CPU-bound or at least not fully GPU-bound, as evidenced by the high frame rates. For instance, on Low settings, the average FPS is 156. When we move to 1440p, the average drops to 108 FPS. This is a 30% decrease in performance. Moving from 1440p to 4K on the same Low settings results in a further drop from 108 FPS to 64 FPS, another 40% reduction.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K on Low settings (156 to 64 FPS) shows a total reduction of 59%. On High settings, the drop is from 111 FPS to 46 FPS, a 58.5% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across different settings strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 18 threads, has enough headroom to keep up with the GPU's rendering demands even at lower resolutions, but the GPU's workload increases dramatically with pixel count.

The data implies that the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is not the bottleneck in this system. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions, particularly at 1080p. Instead, the FPS scales down consistently as resolution increases, a clear sign that the RTX 5060 is working at its maximum capacity. This means that for players with high-refresh monitors, dropping the resolution to 1080p is the only way to unlock the full potential of this CPU-GPU pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to use for a smooth 4K experience?

A: According to the data, the Low preset is the only option for a playable 4K experience, with an average FPS of 64. The Medium preset drops to 51 FPS, and High falls to 46 FPS, which are less desirable for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 5060 powerful enough for 1080p gaming?

A: Yes, the benchmark results show it is more than capable. At 1080p, it achieves an average of 156 FPS on Low, 122 FPS on Medium, and 111 FPS on High settings, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Why is the Ultra preset so much slower than the High preset?

A: The data shows a significant performance cost for Ultra. At 1440p, the average FPS drops from 77 on High to 49 on Ultra. This large gap suggests that the Ultra preset includes effects that are particularly demanding on the GPU's resources, making it an inefficient choice for this hardware.

Q: What resolution is best for a 144Hz monitor?

A: To consistently hit 144 FPS, 1080p with Low settings is the only option, averaging 156 FPS. For 1440p, the maximum refresh rate you can expect is around 108 FPS on Low settings, so a 144Hz monitor would not be fully utilized at that resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 26331. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 860M, has a score of 26401, which is 0.3% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 scores 26421, also 0.3% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT scores 26011, which is 1.2% lower. This shows it is in a very tight performance cluster.

Q: Does the CPU hold back the GPU in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck. The FPS scales down as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU's multi-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 score of 11875.5, is likely sufficient to feed the GPU at most settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a mobile processor with 14 cores and 18 threads, based on the Meteor Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz and it can boost up to 4.60 GHz. With an 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs, it is a capable performer. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 and single-core score of 1700 indicate strong processing power.

In the context of Greedfall, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI, while the GPU renders the image. The data from the resolution scaling analysis strongly suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p, where the CPU's workload is relatively higher compared to the GPU's, the system achieves very high frame rates, up to 156 FPS on Low settings. This indicates that the CPU can handle the game's demands at high frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has an average benchmark score of 29123, which is only 0.1% higher than the 135H's score of 29093. This places them in the same performance tier. The Intel Core i5-13500HX is also a close rival, with a score of 29270, which is 0.6% higher. This shows that the 135H is a competitive mid-range mobile CPU. For this specific game, the CPU's performance is more than adequate to support the RTX 5060, ensuring that the GPU's capabilities are fully utilized.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data for this combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the performance is high across the board. The Low setting yields an average of 156 FPS. The Medium setting provides an average of 122 FPS, with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 141 FPS. The High setting averages 111 FPS. The Ultra setting is the slowest, averaging 71 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance is still strong but drops significantly. The Low setting averages 108 FPS. The Medium setting averages 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS. The High setting averages 77 FPS. The Ultra setting averages 49 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. The Low setting is the most playable, averaging 64 FPS. The Medium setting averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS. The High setting averages 46 FPS. The Ultra setting is the most demanding, averaging only 29 FPS.

This data shows a consistent performance hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra is particularly notable, indicating that Ultra settings are not optimized for this hardware. The 4K results are the most telling, showing that even Low settings barely achieve a 60 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is ranked 2454 out of 3703 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the 66th percentile of all systems tested for this game. This rank indicates that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it is a solidly performing combination that sits above the median of all tested systems.

The ranking is likely influenced by the bottleneck at 4K resolution. While the combo excels at 1080p and is very good at 1440p, its inability to handle 4K with high settings pulls its overall rank down. Many other combos in the database may feature more powerful GPUs that can achieve higher frame rates at 4K, pushing the 5060 combo lower in the rankings.

However, the data suggests that for the target audience of a mid-range gaming laptop, this is a very respectable rank. The performance is excellent for the most common gaming scenarios (1080p and 1440p). The 2454th rank out of 3703 combos shows that this is a well-balanced system for its intended purpose, with the CPU and GPU working together effectively to deliver strong performance in Greedfall, except for the most extreme settings.