Greedfall

Greedfall is a 2019 action RPG that remains demanding on modern hardware, and this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 produces a playable but scaling-sensitive experience. Benchmark results indicate a system that can handle the game at high refresh rates on 1080p, but which shows clear limits as resolution climbs. The data shows a predictable pattern where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps frame rates high at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rate data reveals a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution increases across all settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 128 FPS at 1920x1080 to 89 FPS at 2560x1440, a 30% reduction, and then to 53 FPS at 3840x2160, a 59% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern is typical of a system where the RTX 4060's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become the limiting factor at higher pixel counts, rather than the CPU's processing power.

The scaling behavior at Ultra settings is even more pronounced, with average frame rates dropping from 82 FPS at 1080p to 57 FPS at 1440p and finally to 34 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS is only 41% of the 1080p Ultra score, indicating that the combination of maximum graphical fidelity and high resolution overwhelms the GPU. This suggests that the Core Ultra 5 225, with its 10 cores and 20 MB of shared L3 cache, is not the constraint here; the data points to the RTX 4060's memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s being insufficient for 4K Ultra workloads.

At Low settings, the system shows its most significant resolution dependency, with frame rates of 180 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is 59% lower than 1080p Low, which is a larger percentage drop than seen at High settings between the same resolutions. This indicates that even when graphical effects are minimized, the pixel throughput requirement at 4K saturates the GPU's capabilities, making the RTX 4060 the definitive bottleneck in this configuration.

The Medium preset provides the only complete data set with minimum and maximum frame rates, showing 141 FPS average at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The minimum frame rates for this preset are 120 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K, which suggests that frame pacing remains stable even when the average drops. The gap between 1440p and 4K Medium results is 40 FPS, a 41% reduction, reinforcing that the transition to 4K has a disproportionate impact on this hardware combination.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 1080p, the data shows that High settings at 128 FPS average provides an excellent balance between visual quality and smoothness, with the 180 FPS Low result being unnecessary for most displays. The Ultra preset at 1080p still delivers 82 FPS average, which is playable, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 46 FPS, or 36% of the High score, making High the more efficient choice. The Medium preset at 141 FPS sits between the two but does not offer a substantial advantage over High in terms of perceived smoothness.

At 1440p, the High preset at 89 FPS average is the recommended choice, as it stays comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 57 FPS average is borderline, and while it is technically playable, the 32 FPS drop from High suggests that the additional graphical features are too costly for the RTX 4060. Low settings at 125 FPS are viable for competitive play but sacrifice too much visual detail for a game like Greedfall, which relies on atmospheric environments.

For 4K resolution, the data indicates that only the Low preset at 74 FPS average is fully playable, while Medium at 58 FPS is marginal and High at 53 FPS will experience noticeable stutter. The Ultra preset at 34 FPS average is effectively unplayable, and the 40 FPS difference between Low and Medium at 4K suggests that players should stick to Low settings for a consistent experience. The 50 FPS minimum frame rate at 4K Medium, compared to the 67 FPS maximum, shows that even the playable presets have significant variance.

The measured data supports a recommendation of High settings at 1080p and 1440p, and Low settings at 4K, as these presets provide the best balance of average frame rate and stability. The Medium preset at 1440p, with its 83 FPS minimum, is a viable alternative for players who want higher quality than Low but do not require the 89 FPS of High. At 4K, the 58 FPS Medium result is tempting, but the 50 FPS minimum indicates that demanding scenes will dip below 60 FPS, making Low the safer choice.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1555th out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the 47th percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking indicates that while the system is capable of running the game, there are many other hardware pairings that deliver higher frame rates. The ranking reflects the RTX 4060's limitations at higher resolutions, as the CPU's benchmark scores suggest it is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with an average score of 36945 and a delta of 0%, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018 with a delta of -0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 with a delta of -0.4%. These results indicate that the Core Ultra 5 225 is statistically equivalent to these competing processors in general workloads, with a maximum performance difference of less than 1%. This suggests that swapping the CPU for any of these rivals would not meaningfully change Greedfall frame rates when paired with the same RTX 4060.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database show a different story, with the AMD Radeon HD 7790 having an average score of 17666 and a delta of -0.2%, the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 with a delta of 0.3%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 with a delta of 0.5%. These deltas are also minimal, but they represent much older or integrated graphics solutions, which suggests that the RTX 4060's benchmark score does not fully capture its gaming performance advantages. The combo rank of 1555 out of 2938 is more informative for gaming purposes, as it directly reflects measured frame rates in this specific title.

The 47th percentile ranking means that 1383 tested combos perform worse and 1555 perform better, which is a balanced position for a mid-range configuration. This ranking is not surprising given that the RTX 4060 is positioned as a 1080p-oriented card, and Greedfall's 4K Ultra requirements clearly exceed its capabilities. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, however, confirms that the processor is a strong performer, and the bottleneck in this game is almost certainly the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a clear progression from Low to Ultra. The Low preset achieves 180 FPS average, which drops to 141 FPS at Medium, 128 FPS at High, and 82 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 120 FPS and a maximum of 163 FPS, indicating a 43 FPS range during gameplay. The 52 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is significant, representing a 41% performance penalty for the highest quality settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings produce 125 FPS average, Medium delivers 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 113 FPS, High achieves 89 FPS, and Ultra drops to 57 FPS. The 68 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is larger in absolute terms than at 1080p, showing that the higher resolution amplifies the performance gap between settings. The 31 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1440p is also notable, suggesting that Medium is a better value than High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the most constrained results. Low settings reach 74 FPS average, Medium falls to 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS, High drops to 53 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 34 FPS. The 40 FPS difference between Low and Medium at 4K is the largest proportional gap between any two consecutive presets at any resolution, indicating that the Medium preset's additional effects are particularly demanding at 4K. The 19 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K is smaller, suggesting that Ultra's marginal visual improvements come at a more moderate cost when the GPU is already heavily loaded.

The complete data set reveals that the RTX 4060 delivers playable frame rates (above 60 FPS) at 1080p and 1440p for all settings except 1440p Ultra, which hits 57 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings exceed 60 FPS, with Medium and High falling below that threshold. The 180 FPS result at 1080p Low is the highest measured frame rate in the entire data set, while the 34 FPS at 4K Ultra is the lowest, representing a 5.3x performance range across the tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs. These specifications explain the observed performance scaling, as the 8 GB memory capacity is likely a limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings, where texture data exceeds available VRAM. The 128-bit bus width also constrains memory bandwidth, which becomes critical at higher resolutions.

The GPU's boost clock of 2460 MHz is relatively high for a mid-range card, and the measured frame rates suggest that the core clock is not the bottleneck in Greedfall. Instead, the data points to memory bandwidth as the primary constraint, as evidenced by the steep performance drops when moving from 1440p to 4K. The 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results show that the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates when pixel throughput demands exceed this capability.

The RTX 4060's transistor count of 18,900 million on a 5 nm process node gives it a die size of 159 mm², which is relatively small. This efficiency is reflected in the 115 W TDP, which allows the card to run at high boost clocks without excessive power draw. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores suggest that the GPU is capable of ray tracing and DLSS workloads, but in Greedfall, the standard rasterization performance is what drives the measured frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 95057, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. These scores, combined with the measured FPS data, indicate that the RTX 4060 is a competent 1080p card that can handle 1440p with some settings compromises. The 4K results, however, demonstrate that the card is not designed for high-fidelity gaming at that resolution, which aligns with its positioning in the GeForce 40-series lineup.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most consistent frame rates, with High settings achieving 128 FPS average and even Ultra reaching 82 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings deliver 89 FPS, which is also playable, but 4K requires Low settings for 74 FPS to stay above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 128 FPS at 1080p to 53 FPS at 4K, a 59% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 180 FPS to 74 FPS, which is a 59% reduction as well. The most severe drop is at Ultra settings, where 82 FPS falls to 34 FPS, a 59% reduction.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The Core Ultra 5 225 has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 4060 ranks in the 61st percentile of GPUs. The steep frame rate drops with resolution point to the GPU's memory bandwidth as the constraint.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The measured 57 FPS average at 1440p Ultra is technically playable, but the 32 FPS drop from High settings suggests that the visual improvements are not worth the performance cost. High settings at 89 FPS provide a much smoother experience with minimal visual differences.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The data shows 141 FPS average with a minimum of 120 FPS and a maximum of 163 FPS. This is a very consistent performance envelope, making Medium a good choice for players who want high frame rates without the visual simplicity of Low settings.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 1555th out of 2938 tested combos, placing it in the 47th percentile. This means it performs better than 1383 combos and worse than 1555 combos, which is a mid-pack position consistent with the RTX 4060's mid-range market positioning.