Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

This combination delivers exceptional performance in Greedfall, placing 127th out of 2,938 tested combos — a top 5% result that ensures smooth gameplay across all resolution and settings tiers. The pairing of Intel's Core Ultra 5 235 with the RTX 4090 produces frame rates that range from a playable 66 FPS at 4K Ultra to a staggering 351 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrating that this system is never bottlenecked by any single component. The data reveals a well-balanced platform where both CPU and GPU contribute meaningfully to the final experience, though the scaling patterns suggest the graphics card becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions while the processor carries more weight at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound progression. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 250 at 1920x1080 to 174 at 2560x1440 — a 30% reduction — and then to 104 at 3840x2160, another 40% decline. This steep slope indicates that pixel throughput is the dominant factor, with the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth being pushed harder as resolution increases. The 4K High result of 104 FPS is still far above playable thresholds, but the magnitude of the drop — 58% from 1080p — confirms that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting at higher pixel counts.

Low settings exhibit an even more dramatic scaling curve. The 351 FPS at 1080p drops to 243 FPS at 1440p and then to 145 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K decrease of 59% closely mirrors the High preset's 58% decline, suggesting that resolution scaling is consistent regardless of graphical complexity. Interestingly, the 4K Low score of 145 FPS is actually higher than the 4K High score of 104 FPS, which is expected given the reduced shading load, but the relative drop patterns remain uniform.

Medium settings show the most linear progression, with 276 FPS at 1080p, 191 FPS at 1440p, and 114 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p reduction of 31% and the 1440p-to-4K reduction of 40% indicate that the GPU's fill rate — 443.5 GPixel/s — becomes increasingly taxed as resolution climbs. Ultra settings produce the largest absolute drops, from 160 FPS at 1080p to 111 FPS at 1440p and finally 66 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is the lowest recorded in the entire dataset, yet it remains playable, which speaks to the raw horsepower available.

What the scaling patterns suggest is that Greedfall is not particularly demanding on CPU resources at higher resolutions. The consistent ~30-40% FPS reductions per resolution step point to a graphics-bound workload, where the RTX 4090's 16,384 shading units and 176 ROPs are the limiting factor. At 1080p, however, the CPU's role becomes more apparent, as evidenced by the CPU section below.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 brings 14 cores and 14 threads running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz with a 5.00 GHz boost. This Arrow Lake processor, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC, delivers strong single-thread performance with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,085 and multi-core score of 14,769. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for Greedfall's game logic and asset streaming.

The CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 250 FPS. At these high frame rates, the processor must feed the GPU with draw calls and game state updates quickly enough. The 1080p Low result of 351 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can sustain very high throughput, though the PassMark single-thread score of 4,516 and multithread score of 37,816 indicate balanced capabilities. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 46,062, places it just 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX, showing it is competitively positioned.

At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes because frame rates drop to 66-145 FPS, giving the processor ample time between frames. The 4K Ultra score of 66 FPS is not CPU-limited; rather, it reflects the GPU's workload at maximum settings. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 351 FPS — more than five times the 4K Ultra result — suggests the CPU can handle even the most demanding frame rate scenarios without becoming a bottleneck. The 14 threads are sufficient for Greedfall's multi-threaded rendering pipeline, though the game likely does not scale perfectly across all cores given its 2019 release date.

Benchmark results reinforce the CPU's strong single-core performance relative to its multi-core output. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 210 and R20 score of 875 indicate excellent per-thread efficiency, which matters for games that rely on a few primary threads. The PassMark physics score of 2,570 and integer math score of 87,948 further confirm the CPU's ability to handle real-time simulation tasks without impeding GPU performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the Greedfall experience. At 4K, High settings deliver 104 FPS average, which is a strong balance between visual fidelity and smoothness. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 66 FPS — still playable but with a 37% performance penalty compared to High. Medium at 4K yields 114 FPS, only 10 FPS higher than High, making High the superior choice for 4K users who want better visuals without meaningful frame rate loss.

At 1440p, High settings produce 174 FPS, while Medium achieves 191 FPS and Low reaches 243 FPS. The gap between High and Medium is just 17 FPS, but High's visual improvements likely justify the modest cost. Ultra at 1440p drops to 111 FPS, a 36% reduction from High, which may not be worth the graphical upgrade for competitive or high-refresh-rate displays. The 1440p Medium minimum of 163 FPS and maximum of 220 FPS suggest consistent frame pacing.

At 1080p, all settings produce extremely high frame rates, from 160 FPS at Ultra to 351 FPS at Low. The 1080p High result of 250 FPS and Medium result of 276 FPS are both excellent, but the Ultra setting's 160 FPS — while still smooth — represents a 36% drop from High. For 1080p users with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors, High or Medium settings are recommended to maintain consistently high frame rates. Low at 351 FPS exceeds even the fastest displays.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1440p High, which offers 174 FPS average — well above the 144Hz refresh rate threshold — while retaining substantial visual quality. For 4K users, High settings at 104 FPS provide the best balance, as the jump to Ultra costs 38 FPS for marginal visual gains. The data indicates that High is the sweet spot across all resolutions, delivering 250 FPS at 1080p, 174 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 127th out of 2,938 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 4.3% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the strength of both components: the CPU's 89th percentile standing and the GPU's 88th percentile standing among their respective categories. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60,347 puts it just 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 and 2.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO V710, though those comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks rather than gaming performance.

The rank suggests that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems tested for Greedfall, with only 126 combos achieving higher frame rates. The RTX 4090, despite being end-of-life and succeeded by the GeForce 50 series, remains a top-tier GPU with a PassMark G3D score of 38,194 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223. Its 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its elite status, even as newer products enter the market.

The CPU-GPU pairing is well matched for this game. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus width provide ample bandwidth for high-resolution textures, while the Core Ultra 5 235's 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions do not hold back the GPU. The combo's top-5% ranking indicates that neither component is a weak link in Greedfall, a game that benefits from both strong single-thread performance and massive graphics throughput.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant force in this configuration, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. Built on the AD102 chip with 76,300 million transistors on a 5 nm process, the GPU features 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz drive the 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute throughput, while the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are directly relevant to Greedfall's rendering workload. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS, while the lowest in the dataset, still represents a playable experience, and the 4K High score of 104 FPS is smooth. These numbers align with the GPU's 88th percentile ranking and its PassMark G3D score of 38,194, which places it near the top of the performance hierarchy.

The RTX 4090's 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores provide additional capabilities, though Greedfall — released in 2019 — likely does not utilize these features extensively. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures compatibility with modern rendering techniques, but the game's age means traditional rasterization performance is the primary factor. The 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth is particularly important at 4K, where high-resolution textures demand substantial data throughput.

The GPU's thermal and power characteristics — a 450 W TDP with a suggested 850 W PSU — reflect its high-performance design. The triple-slot form factor and 1x 16-pin power connector are notable physical requirements, but the benchmark data shows these specifications translate into real-world gaming performance. The GPU's average benchmark score of 60,347 and its position just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Arc Pro A60 in synthetic tests underscore its competitive standing, though gaming results like the 351 FPS at 1080p Low demonstrate far greater practical capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo in Greedfall is as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the performance ranges from 66 FPS at Ultra settings to 145 FPS at Low settings. High settings produce 104 FPS, while Medium settings deliver 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS. The 4K Medium result shows the only recorded minimum and maximum values in the dataset, indicating consistent frame delivery.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), Ultra settings achieve 111 FPS, High settings reach 174 FPS, Medium settings produce 191 FPS (minimum 163, maximum 220), and Low settings hit 243 FPS. The 1440p results show a clear progression where each settings tier adds approximately 30-60 FPS over the previous tier.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), Ultra settings deliver 160 FPS, High settings achieve 250 FPS, Medium settings reach 276 FPS (minimum 234, maximum 317), and Low settings top out at 351 FPS. The 1080p Medium minimum of 234 FPS exceeds the 4K Ultra average of 66 FPS by a factor of 3.5, illustrating the dramatic impact of resolution on performance.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier at a given resolution yields roughly 15-40% more performance than the tier above it, while each resolution step down from 4K to 1440p and then to 1080p adds approximately 40-70% more FPS depending on the settings. The RTX 4090's dominance is evident in the 4K High score of 104 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold considered essential for smooth gameplay, and the 1080p Low result of 351 FPS showcases the absolute ceiling of this configuration.