Greedfall

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination delivers a playable but demanding experience in Greedfall, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows a system that excels at 1080p, remains competent at 1440p, but struggles to maintain smooth framerates at 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance gradient as resolution increases, a classic indicator of GPU-bound rendering. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 108 FPS average, which drops to 75 FPS at 2560x1440, and further declines to 45 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 58.3% reduction in framerate from 1080p to 4K at the same High preset, demonstrating that the rendering load scales aggressively with pixel count.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 152 FPS, which falls to 105 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 63 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K drop of 89 FPS (58.6%) mirrors the High preset's percentage decline, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading throughput are the limiting factors rather than any specific settings-dependent feature.

Medium settings tell a similar story with more granular data available. The transition from 1080p Medium (119 FPS average, 101 min, 137 max) to 1440p Medium (83 FPS average, 70 min, 95 max) results in a 36 FPS loss. Moving to 4K Medium yields 49 FPS average with a 42 FPS minimum and 57 FPS maximum. The consistency of the minimum-to-maximum spread at each resolution indicates that the frame pacing remains stable even as the overall throughput diminishes.

The Ultra preset presents the steepest cliff. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 69 FPS, which is already below the 75 FPS High preset achieves at 1440p. Ultra at 1440p drops to 48 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, performance collapses to 29 FPS. This 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 30 FPS, making it functionally unplayable for smooth action sequences.

The resolution scaling analysis points squarely at the RTX 2060 SUPER as the limiting component. The CPU's performance headroom, evidenced by the large FPS gains when lowering resolution at any given preset, means the graphics card's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to feed the display pipeline at 4K without significant compromise.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data supports a clear hierarchy of playable configurations for this hardware combo. At 1920x1080, High settings at 108 FPS average provide an excellent experience, but Medium at 119 FPS offers a 10.2% improvement with only a modest visual downgrade. The 101 FPS minimum at 1080p Medium ensures that even demanding scenes remain fluid, making this the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at this resolution.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 75 FPS average represent the sweet spot. The Medium preset at 83 FPS offers a 10.7% gain over High, but the High preset's visual quality improvements are worth the trade-off given that 75 FPS remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Ultra at 1440p drops to 48 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter in fast-paced combat, making it a poor choice despite the visual gains.

At 3840x2160, the options become severely constrained. Low settings at 63 FPS average provide the only configuration that maintains playable framerates, while Medium at 49 FPS and High at 45 FPS both dip below the 60 FPS ideal. Ultra at 29 FPS should be avoided entirely. For 4K users, the data suggests either accepting Low settings or dropping to 1440p High for a superior experience.

The measured rows indicate that the Medium preset at 1080p (119 FPS average, 101 min, 137 max) delivers the highest minimum framerate among all tested configurations, making it the most consistent performer. The Ultra preset at 1080p (69 FPS) provides a visual upgrade but costs 50 FPS compared to Medium, a 42% reduction that most players would find excessive given the modest visual differences in Greedfall's environments.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 brings substantial processing power to this pairing, with 10 cores and 10 threads running at a 3.30 GHz base clock and 4.90 GHz boost clock. This Arrow Lake-S architecture chip, built on a 3 nm TSMC process, demonstrates strong synthetic performance that suggests it is not the limiting factor in Greedfall's frame delivery. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and single-core score of 3,655 position this CPU well above the threshold needed for modern game physics and AI workloads.

The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 3 MB provide ample data locality for the game's streaming assets. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without creating a starvation scenario. The PassMark multi-thread score of 30,459 and single-thread score of 4,412 reinforce the processor's capability to handle Greedfall's single-threaded game logic while leaving headroom for background tasks.

The core configuration of 10 cores and 10 threads, without hyperthreading, is worth noting. While this limits parallel thread execution compared to competitors with simultaneous multithreading, the high boost clock of 4.90 GHz compensates in lightly-threaded workloads. The PassMark physics score of 2,342 indicates solid computational throughput for the game's collision detection and environmental interactions.

Benchmark comparisons show the Core Ultra 5 225 sits at the 85th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36,938. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36,945 (a 0% delta), while the Ryzen 5 5500X3D trails by -0.2% at 37,018. These near-identical scores confirm that the CPU is performing at expected levels for its class, and the performance differences between these processors would be imperceptible in Greedfall gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this specific CPU-GPU combination at rank 2,074 out of 2,938 tested combos in Greedfall, positioning it in the 29.4th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the RTX 2060 SUPER's age and performance tier rather than any deficiency in the Core Ultra 5 225, as the GPU's 62nd percentile ranking versus all GPUs drags the overall combo ranking downward.

The combo's rank relative to its component parts reveals an interesting imbalance. The CPU performs at the 85th percentile, but the GPU's 62nd percentile creates a system that is disproportionately limited by graphics processing. This suggests that pairing this CPU with a higher-tier GPU would yield substantially better Greedfall performance, while upgrading the CPU alone would produce minimal gains.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking analysis. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 108 FPS, which is respectable but far from the top-tier results that 85th-percentile CPUs typically enable when paired with flagship GPUs. The 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS highlights the GPU's inability to drive high pixel counts with advanced settings, a limitation that dominates the combo's overall performance profile.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks include the RTX 3060 Mobile (18,159 avg score, -0.4% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18,189, -0.5%), AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373, -1.5%), and Intel Arc A770M (18,383, -1.6%). These tight margins indicate that the 2060 SUPER performs near the median of its peer group, and the combo's rank reflects this mid-pack GPU performance rather than any unusual pairing issue.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, based on the TU106 chip with Turing architecture, provides the graphical foundation for this system. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a constraint at 4K. The 2,176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs provide the raw compute necessary for Greedfall's rendering demands.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a 1,470 MHz base clock boosting to 1,650 MHz, with memory running at 1,750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These clocks produce a 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate, figures that align with the measured performance deltas between resolution tiers. The 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the critical limitation at 4K, where the increased pixel count demands significantly more fill rate.

The PassMark G3D score of 16,462 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,011 quantify the GPU's DirectX 12 performance, which Greedfall leverages for its rendering pipeline. The DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) API support ensures compatibility with modern rendering features, though the GPU's 12 nm process node limits efficiency compared to newer architectures. The 175 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU requirement are modest for the performance delivered.

The 62nd percentile ranking versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18,093, places the RTX 2060 SUPER in the upper-midrange of graphics cards. The GPU's OpenCL score of 76,957 and Vulkan score of 77,402 indicate strong compute capabilities that benefit the game's particle effects and lighting calculations. However, the 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes a practical limitation at 4K Ultra, where texture streaming demands exceed available memory, contributing to the 29 FPS result.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the RTX 3060 Mobile (-0.4%), Radeon Pro 5700 (-0.5%), Radeon RX 460 (-1.5%), and Arc A770M (-1.6%). These small deltas confirm that the 2060 SUPER performs within 1.6% of its closest competitors, validating that the measured Greedfall results are representative of its performance class rather than anomalous.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Greedfall?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Medium settings provides the best experience, achieving 119 FPS average with a 101 FPS minimum. At 2560x1440, High settings at 75 FPS average is the recommended balance, while 3840x2160 should be avoided except at Low settings (63 FPS).

*Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER affect 4K performance in Greedfall?*

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU delivers 45 FPS on High, 49 FPS on Medium, and only 29 FPS on Ultra settings. Only the Low preset (63 FPS) achieves playable framerates, indicating the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-quality 4K rendering.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 holding back the RTX 2060 SUPER?

A: No. The CPU ranks at the 85th percentile versus all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 36,938, while the GPU ranks at the 62nd percentile. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows the GPU as the bottleneck, as framerates drop proportionally with resolution increases.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2,074 out of 2,938 tested in Greedfall, placing it in the 29.4th percentile. This ranking is primarily constrained by the GPU's mid-pack performance, as the CPU is capable of supporting higher-tier graphics cards.

Q: What settings provide the highest minimum FPS?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset delivers a 101 FPS minimum, the highest among all tested configurations. This makes it the most consistent performer, with the 1440p Medium preset (70 FPS minimum) as the next best option.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18,093 places it within 1.6% of its closest competitors (RTX 3060 Mobile, Radeon Pro 5700, Radeon RX 460, and Arc A770M). This tight grouping confirms the GPU performs at expected levels for its class.