Greedfall

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a dominant performance profile in Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG. The benchmark data indicates that this combination is capable of obliterating standard refresh rate targets at nearly every resolution and setting tier, with the only meaningful compromise appearing at the highest fidelity settings in 4K. The measured frame rates position this combo as a high-end solution that prioritizes fluidity, making it an excellent choice for players who favor high-refresh-rate displays.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest possible visual fidelity without sacrificing competitive or perceptible smoothness, the data suggests that High settings at 1440p present the optimal balance. The measured average frame rate at 2560x1440 with High settings is 157 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern gaming monitors. While the Ultra preset at this resolution yields a still-respectable 100 FPS average, the substantial leap in fluidity from 100 FPS to 157 FPS is generally more perceptible to the human eye than the incremental visual gains from High to Ultra in a game of this era. This represents a 57% performance uplift for a step down in preset quality, a trade-off that strongly favors High settings for a smoother experience.

At 1080p, the High preset is the unequivocal choice for esports-level responsiveness. The combo achieves a 226 FPS average, which is only exceeded by the Low preset's 318 FPS. However, the difference between Low and High is visually significant in terms of texture detail and draw distance, while the jump from High to Low provides diminishing returns for most users unless they are using a 360 Hz or faster display. The Medium preset at 1080p, with a 249 FPS average, could be considered a middle ground, but the 23 FPS gain over High is minimal compared to the visual cost.

The Ultra preset is the only setting where the system shows significant strain, and its viability depends entirely on the player's resolution priority. At 1920x1080, Ultra produces a playable 145 FPS average, making it viable for 144 Hz monitors. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to a 100 FPS average, which is still smooth for most single-player titles but may feel less fluid to competitive players. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages just 60 FPS, which is playable but represents a significant compromise in fluidity. For 4K users, High settings are strongly recommended, as the data shows a 94 FPS average, a 34 FPS improvement over Ultra that restores the gameplay to a fluid state. The Medium preset at 4K offers a 103 FPS average, but again, the visual fidelity loss is likely not worth the 9 FPS gain over High. Ultimately, the data indicates that High settings across all resolutions provide the most consistent high-refresh-rate experience, with Ultra reserved for players who prioritize visuals over frame rate at 1080p and 1440p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary engine driving these exceptional frame rates. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for Greedfall's textures and assets at any resolution tested. The data shows no indication of memory capacity or bandwidth bottlenecks, as frame rates scale predictably with resolution rather than collapsing due to texture swapping. The GPU's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are present, though Greedfall's rendering workload appears to rely primarily on the 9,728 shading units, given the high raw FPS numbers.

The GPU's clock behavior is critical to its performance. With a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, the RTX 4080 sustains high frequencies under load. The measured FPS deltas between settings presets (e.g., 131 FPS at 4K Low versus 60 FPS at 4K Ultra) demonstrate that the GPU has significant headroom to spare at lower presets, allowing it to maintain high boost clocks and deliver massive frame rates. The architecture's efficiency, built on a 5 nm TSMC process, allows it to achieve these results while keeping the 320 W TDP in check. In Greedfall, the GPU is clearly the dominant performance factor, as evidenced by the fact that 1080p Low yields 318 FPS, which is likely near the engine's internal simulation or draw-call limit rather than a GPU compute limit.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested hardware combinations for Greedfall, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 holds a combo rank of 254 out of 3,703 tested combos. This places it in the top 6.9% of all systems tested for this game, a position that underscores its high-end status. The rank reflects the combined capability of the CPU and GPU to feed the game's engine, and the data indicates that this system is significantly faster than the vast majority of configurations that users have submitted.

The percentile standing of the individual components corroborates this ranking. The RTX 4080 is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 5 225 is in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. This alignment of high-performing components ensures that neither part is a significant bottleneck in Greedfall, allowing the system to achieve its full potential. The rank of 254 is particularly impressive considering the GPU is listed as end-of-life, meaning it is competing against newer, potentially faster cards (like the RTX 4080 SUPER, which ranks as a near rival with a 0.1% performance delta). The fact that this older flagship still holds a top-300 position in a specific game benchmark indicates that Greedfall is not particularly demanding on the latest hardware features, but rather rewards raw rasterization throughput and high CPU single-thread performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern across the three resolutions and four settings tiers. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across the board. The Low preset leads with an average of 318 FPS, followed by Medium at 249 FPS (minimum 212, maximum 287), High at 226 FPS, and Ultra at 145 FPS. The 57% drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution shows the significant cost of the highest fidelity effects, but even the Ultra preset remains highly fluid.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains outstanding. The Low preset averages 220 FPS, Medium averages 173 FPS (minimum 147, maximum 199), High averages 157 FPS, and Ultra averages 100 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent ~30% reduction in frame rate across all presets, which is a typical cost for a resolution increase of this magnitude. The minimum FPS recorded at Medium (147) shows that the system maintains high frame times even under load.

At 3840x2160, the system finally begins to show its limits. Low settings yield a 131 FPS average, which is still excellent for 4K. Medium produces 103 FPS (minimum 88, maximum 119), and High yields 94 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, drops to an average of 60 FPS. This represents a 36% reduction in performance compared to High settings at the same resolution, demonstrating that the Ultra preset's added effects (likely including advanced shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion) are exceptionally taxing on the GPU at 4K pixel counts. The 88 FPS minimum recorded at 4K Medium is the lowest 1% low in the dataset, but it still remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Greedfall at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset is exactly 60 FPS. This is playable, but any demanding scene may cause noticeable frame drops, as there is no recorded minimum FPS data for this preset to confirm stability.

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

A: The data strongly supports 2560x1440 with High settings. This configuration produces a 157 FPS average, which exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate and ensures the monitor is fully utilized. At 1920x1080, the High preset even offers 226 FPS, which is beneficial for 240 Hz displays.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 318 FPS, while Ultra averages 145 FPS. This represents a 173 FPS difference, or approximately 119% higher performance with Low settings.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 a bottleneck for the Core Ultra 5 225 in this game?

A: The data does not suggest a significant bottleneck. The system holds a combo rank of 254 out of 3703, and the CPU's performance aligns closely with the GPU's. The highest FPS numbers (318 at 1080p Low) may indicate a CPU or engine limit, but at more demanding settings, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 157 FPS, while Ultra averages 100 FPS. The Ultra preset is 57% slower, making High the recommended preset for a smoother experience, as the visual upgrade to Ultra is typically modest in this title.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM of the RTX 4080 matter for this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than sufficient. The frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, with no evidence of texture pop-in or stuttering that would indicate a VRAM capacity shortfall at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a crucial supporting role in achieving these high frame rates. With 10 cores and 10 threads running at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, the CPU provides substantial single-thread performance that is critical for game logic and draw call submission in Greedfall. The benchmark data for the CPU shows a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655, which is a strong indicator of its ability to handle the per-frame work that games like Greedfall require. The high boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures that the processor can react quickly to the game's demands, preventing the CPU from becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions where the GPU is not saturated.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, while not the primary factor in this game, are also robust. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 shows that the processor can handle background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems without issue. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data locality, and the 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support is adequate for feeding the GPU. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 318 FPS, which is likely approaching the limit of what the game engine can process per second, suggesting that the CPU's single-thread performance is a key enabler for these high refresh rates. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 225 is statistically tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0% delta) and slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (-0.2% delta), indicating that its computational capabilities are competitive with other mid-range desktop processors, but its real-world game performance is enhanced by the high boost clock and modern architecture.