Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG, responds predictably to the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The dataset shows a clear progression where higher visual fidelity demands a significant frame rate toll, but the hardware provides ample headroom to prioritize image quality. The measured results across three resolutions and four presets indicate a system that is never truly strained, even at 4K, making the choice of settings more about display refresh rate than about achieving playability.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows for this combo offer a straightforward path to the optimal experience. At 1920x1080, the data shows an average of 225 FPS on High settings, which jumps to 248 FPS on Medium and a massive 316 FPS on Low. However, the Ultra preset still delivers a very high 144 FPS average. For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p displays, the High preset is the sweet spot, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while remaining above the 200 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset is the only option that dips below 200 FPS, but its 144 FPS average is still excellent for most monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset delivers a 156 FPS average, which is ideal for 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset offers 172 FPS, while Low reaches 219 FPS. The Ultra preset, with a 100 FPS average, is the only one that might require a compromise for users with 144Hz displays, though it remains perfectly smooth for 60Hz panels. The data indicates that High is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it balances the visual fidelity of the Ultra settings with a frame rate that is 56% higher than Ultra's 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more nuanced. The High preset achieves a 93 FPS average, which is ideal for a 90Hz or 120Hz display. The Medium preset offers 103 FPS, but the High preset's visual improvements are worth the 10 FPS difference. The Low preset reaches 131 FPS, but this comes at a significant cost to image quality. The Ultra preset drops to a 59 FPS average, which is still playable but represents a substantial 37% decrease from High. For the best overall experience at 4K, the High preset is the clear winner, providing a high frame rate without sacrificing the graphical details that define the game's atmosphere. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users who prioritize maximum visual quality over frame rate smoothness and have a 60Hz display.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, it can. The measured data shows a 59 FPS average at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset. This is technically playable, but it is the only configuration in the dataset that falls below the 60 FPS standard. For a smoother experience, the High preset at 4K yields a 93 FPS average.

Q: How much of a frame rate penalty does the Ultra preset incur compared to High?

A: The penalty varies by resolution. At 1080p, the drop from High to Ultra is 81 FPS (from 225 to 144). At 1440p, the drop is 56 FPS (from 156 to 100). At 4K, the drop is 34 FPS (from 93 to 59). The relative penalty increases with resolution, going from a 36% reduction at 1080p to a 37% reduction at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is still the primary constraint. At 1080p Low, the system reaches a 316 FPS average, which is substantial. However, the scaling from Low to Ultra shows a clear progression, indicating that the GPU is still doing the heavy lifting. The CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at these frame rates, as evidenced by the high scores in the Cinebench R23 multicore test (25,891).

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset is the best choice. It produces a 156 FPS average, which is above the 144Hz refresh rate. The Ultra preset falls short at 100 FPS, making High the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate for this display type.

Q: How does the system's performance at 4K High compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: The 4K High preset achieves a 93 FPS average, while 1080p Ultra achieves 144 FPS. This represents a 35% decrease in performance when moving from 1080p Ultra to 4K High, which is a modest cost for a significant resolution increase.

Q: Are the minimum FPS values consistent with the average scores?

A: For the Medium preset, the data includes min and max FPS values. At 1080p, the average is 248 FPS with a minimum of 211 FPS, showing a very stable frame time. At 1440p, the average is 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS. At 4K, the average is 103 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS. The consistency between average and minimum scores indicates a smooth experience without significant stutters.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination holds a rank of 223 out of 2,938 tested combos for Greedfall. This places the system in the top 8% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result given the game's age. The high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 4080 SUPER's raw compute power, which is reflected in its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its Passmark G3D score of 34,245.

The CPU also contributes to this ranking, with an 85th percentile placement among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 36,938. The CPU's nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, with a deltaPct of 0. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 also sits just ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (-0.2%) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (-0.4%). This indicates that the processor is performing exactly as expected for its class, providing a solid foundation for the GPU.

The combination's rank of 223 is impressive because it reflects a balanced pairing. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 34,245 is 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, but the overall combo rank shows that the synergy between this CPU and GPU is effective for Greedfall. The system is clearly capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and it handles 4K with ease on High settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers the highest frame rates. The Low preset reaches a 316 FPS average, which is the peak performance for this combo. The Medium preset achieves 248 FPS, with a minimum of 211 FPS and a maximum of 285 FPS, indicating a very stable experience. The High preset is close behind at 225 FPS, while the Ultra preset still manages a 144 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset delivers a 219 FPS average, which is still exceptionally high. The Medium preset achieves 172 FPS, with a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS. The High preset provides a 156 FPS average, which is ideal for 144Hz monitors. The Ultra preset drops to a 100 FPS average, which is the first sub-144 FPS result in this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its 4K capabilities. The Low preset reaches a 131 FPS average, which is remarkable for 4K gaming. The Medium preset achieves 103 FPS, with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 118 FPS. The High preset delivers a 93 FPS average, which is the recommended configuration for 4K. The Ultra preset falls to a 59 FPS average, which is the only result in the entire dataset that dips below 60 FPS.

The data consistently shows that the High preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality across all three resolutions. The Medium preset is a viable alternative for those seeking higher frame rates, while the Ultra preset is reserved for users who prioritize image quality above all else.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important characteristics about the system's bottleneck. At the High preset, the average frame rates are 225 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K. This represents a 31% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 59% decrease from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, but it follows the expected pattern for a GPU-bound scenario.

At the Low preset, the frame rates are 316 FPS at 1080p, 219 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 4K. The decrease from 1080p to 1440p is 31%, while the decrease from 1080p to 4K is 59%. The consistent percentage drops across all presets indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p would show a smaller decrease, as the CPU load would remain relatively constant while the GPU load increases.

The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the increased texture and geometry loads at 4K. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 80 RT cores ensure that even the most demanding scenes are rendered efficiently. The data shows that the system is never CPU-bound, as the 1080p Low preset reaches 316 FPS, which is a clear indicator that the CPU can feed the GPU at high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU has a 20 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. These specifications are well-suited for gaming, as the high boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame pipeline. The game is not heavily multithreaded, but the 10 cores provide ample headroom for background tasks and system processes. The CPU's Cinebench R23 scores of 25,891 (multicore) and 3,655 (singlecore) place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong performance relative to its peers. The Passmark single-thread score of 4,412 further confirms its capability in single-threaded workloads.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has a deltaPct of 0, meaning they perform identically in the benchmark database. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is also slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (-0.2%) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (-0.4%). This level of performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 SUPER in Greedfall, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p. The system's ability to reach 316 FPS at 1080p Low confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor, even at extreme frame rates.