Greedfall

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a playable experience in Greedfall, but the data reveals a significant performance cliff when moving from 1440p to 4K. This combination ranks 1776th out of 2938 tested combos, placing it in the lower half of the database. The RTX 5050, with its 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus, appears to be the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the 14-core CPU provides ample headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic drop in performance as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 114 FPS, which is a very smooth experience. Moving to 1440p High, the average FPS falls to 79, a 30.7% decrease. The jump to 4K High is the most punishing, as the average FPS plummets to 47, representing another 40.5% decrease from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. With Low settings, the frame rate goes from 160 FPS at 1080p to 111 FPS at 1440p, and then to 66 FPS at 4K. At Ultra settings, the degradation is even more severe, with the average FPS falling from 73 at 1080p to 50 at 1440p and finally to 30 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is barely playable and indicates that this resolution and preset combination is not viable for this hardware.

What is particularly telling is the performance delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 87 FPS (160 vs 73), showing the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased visual load. At 1440p, this gap narrows to 61 FPS (111 vs 50), and at 4K, it shrinks to 36 FPS (66 vs 30). This narrowing gap indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is becoming saturated, and the impact of graphical settings is diminished because the fill rate and memory bandwidth are already maxed out.

The data implies that for a consistent 60 FPS experience, this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming. At 4K, only the Low preset comes close to 60 FPS with a 66 FPS average, but this requires sacrificing most visual fidelity. The RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely the culprits, as Greedfall's open-world environments and texture-heavy assets demand more memory bandwidth at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Greedfall at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that at 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS is 52, which is borderline playable. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 47 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 30 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K achieves an average above 60 FPS, at 66 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware to maintain a smooth 60+ FPS experience?

A: At 1080p, all settings presets except Ultra (73 FPS) achieve an average above 100 FPS. At 1440p, the Low preset (111 FPS) and High preset (79 FPS) both surpass the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium (87 FPS) also does. 4K is the only resolution where some presets fall below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035, which puts it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL with a score of 21153, a difference of -0.6%. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is slightly ahead at 21379, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT trails at 20713.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The resolution scaling data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The frame rate drops by roughly 30-40% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and then another 40% from 1440p to 4K. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, as the CPU's performance would not degrade as significantly with resolution changes.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 160 FPS while Ultra achieves 73 FPS. This is a difference of 87 FPS, or a 54.4% reduction in performance when using Ultra settings. The Medium preset (126 FPS) offers a middle ground, while High (114 FPS) is closer to Medium.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in the database for this game?

A: This Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination ranks 1776th out of 2938 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it in the bottom 40% of all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB207 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2317 MHz and can boost up to 2572 MHz. Its memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Greedfall, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM appears to be a limiting factor at 4K. The measured FPS at 4K High (47 FPS) compared to 1440p High (79 FPS) shows a 40.5% drop, which is substantial. The RTX 5050's 128-bit memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards, which likely explains why the performance scales poorly with resolution. At 4K, the GPU simply cannot feed the render pipeline fast enough to maintain high frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark scores support its mid-range positioning. It scores 17326 in Passmark G3D and 90334 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its passmark DirectX 11 score of 150 and DirectX 12 score of 66 indicate it handles modern APIs reasonably well, though these numbers are not exceptional. The GPU's percentile ranking of 66 places it above the median but far from top-tier performance.

The RTX 5050's FP32 performance is rated at 13.17 TFLOPS, and its texture rate is 205.8 GTexel/s. In Greedfall, a game that features dense environments and particle effects, these metrics translate to solid but not outstanding performance. The data suggests that for this game, the GPU is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles at 4K, especially with higher settings presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 160 FPS, making it extremely fluid. Medium settings reduce the average to 126 FPS, with a minimum frame rate of 107 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS. High settings yield 114 FPS, while Ultra drops to 73 FPS. All presets at 1080p are comfortably playable, with even the most demanding Ultra preset staying above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance is still respectable but shows the GPU's limitations starting to appear. The Low preset averages 111 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium settings average 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High settings produce 79 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom. Ultra settings dip to 50 FPS, which may feel less smooth in action-heavy scenes.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 66 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. High settings average 47 FPS, and Ultra settings average only 30 FPS. This resolution is only recommended with Low settings for a consistent experience, as the Medium preset shows frame drops down to 44 FPS.

The data also reveals the scaling efficiency between presets. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 34 FPS, while Medium to High costs 12 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 41 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding than High. At 4K, the scaling is more linear, with each preset step costing roughly 14-15 FPS, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck rather than any specific setting.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU features 24 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus. Its TDP is rated at 65 W.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, as the frame rate scales primarily with resolution. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085 indicate strong processing power. Its Passmark multithread score of 37816 and single-thread score of 4516 further confirm its capability.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i9-13900HX with a score of 46098, a difference of -0.1%. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46030, a 0.1% difference, while the AMD EPYC 4364P scores 45970, a 0.2% difference.

Given the resolution scaling data, the CPU is not a bottleneck in this game. At 1080p, where the CPU's role is typically more pronounced, the frame rates are high across all settings, indicating the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. Even at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, the CPU shows no signs of struggling. The 14 cores and 5.00 GHz boost clock provide ample performance for Greedfall's AI, physics, and world-streaming demands.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a 60 FPS experience, the High preset at 1440p (79 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. This provides a significant visual upgrade over the Medium preset (87 FPS) while still maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1080p, the High preset (114 FPS) is the recommended choice for most users, as it offers near-Maximum visual fidelity with a high refresh rate. The Ultra preset (73 FPS) sacrifices 41 FPS for what is likely a marginal visual improvement, making it less desirable for competitive or fast-paced gameplay. The Medium preset (126 FPS) is suitable for those prioritizing frame rate over visual detail.

For 4K, the data suggests that only the Low preset (66 FPS) is viable for a smooth experience. The Medium preset (52 FPS) may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration, but the minimum frame rate of 44 FPS indicates potential stuttering during intense combat sequences. The High and Ultra presets at 4K should be avoided, as they fall below 50 FPS and 30 FPS respectively.

The data also shows that the Medium preset at 1080p (126 FPS) performs better than the Low preset at 1440p (111 FPS), suggesting that resolution is more impactful than settings for this combo. If given the choice between higher resolution and higher settings, the data implies that staying at 1080p with Medium or High settings provides a better experience than dropping to Medium at 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1776th out of 2938 tested combos for Greedfall. This ranking places it in the bottom 40% of all configurations, indicating that there are many more capable setups for this game. However, the ranking does not tell the full story, as the combo's performance is highly dependent on resolution and settings.

The CPU's high percentile ranking (89th) versus the GPU's lower percentile (66th) suggests that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing. This is confirmed by the resolution scaling data, which shows the GPU struggling at 4K. If the CPU were paired with a more powerful GPU, the overall ranking would likely improve significantly.

The combo's rank of 1776 out of 2938 means it outperforms 1162 other tested combinations. While this is not a top-tier result, it does indicate that the combo is capable of running Greedfall at acceptable frame rates for most users, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. The data suggests that this setup is best suited for 1080p gaming with High settings, or 1440p gaming with Medium settings, where it provides a smooth and enjoyable experience.