Greedfall

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D to deliver a top-tier experience in Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG. This combination produces extremely high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, with the measured data placing this combo at rank 1 out of 2938 tested combinations. The RTX 5090 D, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 21760 shading units, provides overwhelming graphical horsepower, while the 14-core Intel processor ensures the system never becomes the bottleneck at common gaming resolutions. The following analysis breaks down the optimal settings, answers common questions, and provides a detailed examination of how this hardware pairing performs in Greedfall.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available settings presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 383 FPS, which is exceptionally high and far beyond what any standard 1080p display can refresh. However, the Medium preset at 301 FPS still provides an enormous margin over typical 144Hz monitors, while offering better visual fidelity. The High preset at 273 FPS remains extremely fluid, and even the Ultra preset achieves 175 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most high-end gaming displays.

For players seeking the best balance between visual quality and performance, the High preset at 2560x1440 stands out as the recommended choice. At this settings level, the combination produces 190 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 209 FPS, but the visual upgrade from Medium to High is generally more noticeable in an Action RPG like Greedfall, where environmental detail and character models benefit from higher quality textures and effects. The data indicates that High at 1440p sacrifices only 19 FPS compared to Medium, which is a minor cost for the improved image quality.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes due to the increased GPU load. The High preset produces 113 FPS, which is still very playable on 4K displays with 120Hz refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 72 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay but may be acceptable for players who prioritize maximum visual fidelity over frame rate consistency. The Medium preset at 4K yields 125 FPS, providing a better margin for maintaining high refresh rates, but the visual difference between Medium and High is substantial in Greedfall's detailed environments.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is the High preset at 2560x1440. This configuration delivers 190 FPS with the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 5090 D, offering a strong balance between image quality and performance. Players with 1080p displays can comfortably use the Ultra preset at 175 FPS, while those with 4K monitors should choose between High at 113 FPS for smoothness or Ultra at 72 FPS for maximum visual quality. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 209 FPS, but the High preset's improvements in lighting and texture detail justify the small performance reduction.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this CPU and GPU combination in Greedfall?

A: The highest average FPS is 383, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This represents the absolute peak performance of this combination, though it is far beyond what any display can actually show.

Q: How does the Ultra preset performance compare across different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 175 FPS. At 2560x1440, it drops to 121 FPS. At 3840x2160, it further drops to 72 FPS. This represents a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 capable of keeping up with the RTX 5090 D in this game?

A: The benchmark data shows that the combo ranks 1st out of 2938 tested combinations, suggesting that the processor provides sufficient performance to avoid bottlenecking the GPU. The CPU has 14 cores and 14 threads with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, which provides strong single-threaded performance for game logic.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium settings preset?

A: The Medium preset has recorded minimum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 256 FPS. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 178 FPS. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 106 FPS. These minimums indicate consistent frame delivery without significant drops.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT. It also sits 2.1% below the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 2.4% below the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 159 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 72 FPS. This is a difference of 87 FPS, or 55% lower performance with the Ultra preset. The Medium preset sits between them at 125 FPS, and the High preset at 113 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 plays a critical supporting role in this combination, ensuring that the RTX 5090 D can express its full potential. This processor features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The lack of hyperthreading means the thread count equals the core count, which is a design choice that prioritizes single-thread performance. The processor is built on a 3 nm process node and uses the Arrow Lake architecture, with a 24 MB shared L3 cache.

In Greedfall, which is an Action RPG that depends on consistent frame delivery for combat responsiveness, the CPU's single-thread performance is more important than its multi-thread capabilities. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz provides the high frequency needed for game logic and physics calculations, while the 14 cores handle background tasks and streaming without interfering with the main game thread. The processor's benchmark scores support this assessment, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and a multi-core score of 14769.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89th among all CPUs indicates that it sits comfortably in the upper tier of available processors. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which is 0.1% faster, and the Intel Core i9-13900HX, which is 0.1% slower. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, and the measured FPS data confirms that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 does not hold back the RTX 5090 D in Greedfall.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface ensures that data can flow quickly to the GPU, while the PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes provides the bandwidth needed for high-end graphics cards. The integrated graphics, Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 24EU, are not relevant for gaming when a discrete GPU is installed, but they do provide a fallback option. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power consumption, though the RTX 5090 D's 575 W TDP is the dominant power consideration in this system.

The benchmark results show that the CPU's role in this game is primarily to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination achieves 383 FPS, which requires the CPU to process frames at a rate of over 6.3 milliseconds per frame. The 5.00 GHz boost clock provides the necessary single-thread performance to handle this workload, while the 14 cores ensure that no auxiliary tasks interfere with game performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves the top position in Greedfall, ranking 1st out of 2938 tested combinations. This is the highest possible rank, indicating that no other CPU and GPU pairing in the benchmark database produces higher average frame rates in this game. The data is measured rather than estimated, adding credibility to the ranking.

This top ranking is not surprising given the specifications of both components. The RTX 5090 D is a flagship GPU with 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, paired with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s provides the data throughput needed for high-resolution textures and effects. The GPU's benchmark scores show a percentile ranking of 92nd among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 77712 places it within 1-2% of its nearest rivals.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 also performs well in its own right, with a percentile ranking of 89th among all CPUs. The combination of a top-tier GPU and a high-performing CPU ensures that neither component becomes a bottleneck in Greedfall. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the combination achieves frame rates that are far beyond what any monitor can display, indicating that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to saturate its rendering capabilities.

The rank of 1 out of 2938 combinations means that every other tested CPU and GPU pairing produces lower average FPS in Greedfall. This includes combinations with more expensive or higher-core-count CPUs, as well as those with the same GPU but different processors. The deltaPct values from the CPU's nearest rivals show differences of only 0.1-0.2%, which suggests that the CPU is not the differentiator at this level of performance. Instead, the RTX 5090 D's overwhelming GPU power, combined with the CPU's adequate single-thread performance, creates a system that excels in this particular game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales across the three tested resolutions: 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160. At the Low settings preset, the combination achieves 383 FPS at 1080p, 266 FPS at 1440p, and 159 FPS at 4K. This represents a 30% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 40% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 58%, which indicates strong scaling behavior.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 301 FPS at 1080p, 209 FPS at 1440p, and 125 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 31%, and from 1440p to 4K is 40%, with a total reduction of 58%. The High preset follows the trend with 273 FPS at 1080p, 190 FPS at 1440p, and 113 FPS at 4K, representing reductions of 30% and 41% respectively, for a total of 59%.

The Ultra preset shows the most significant scaling: 175 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 31%, and from 1440p to 4K is 40%, with a total reduction of 59%. This consistent pattern across all settings presets indicates that the performance drop is primarily driven by the GPU's rendering load, rather than by CPU limitations.

The scaling behavior reveals that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU's frame processing time becomes a factor, but even at 383 FPS the combination maintains playable performance. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows proportionally, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The fact that the reduction percentages are nearly identical across all settings presets confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K.

The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset show consistent frame delivery: 256 FPS at 1080p, 178 FPS at 1440p, and 106 FPS at 4K. These minimums are within 15-18% of the averages, indicating stable performance without significant frame time spikes. The maximum FPS values of 346 at 1080p, 240 at 1440p, and 143 at 4K show that there is headroom for bursts of higher performance in less demanding scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 383 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the dataset. The Medium preset averages 301 FPS, with a minimum of 256 FPS and a maximum of 346 FPS. The High preset averages 273 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 175 FPS. These values show that even at the highest quality settings, the combination produces frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most gaming monitors.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 266 FPS, the Medium preset averages 209 FPS with a minimum of 178 FPS and a maximum of 240 FPS, the High preset averages 190 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 121 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a reduction of 55% in average FPS, which is consistent with the increased graphical demands of higher settings. The Medium preset's minimum of 178 FPS ensures that even the most demanding scenes remain above 144Hz, which is important for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 159 FPS, the Medium preset averages 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS, the High preset averages 113 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 72 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 100 FPS, which may be noticeable on high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at 113 FPS provides a better balance for 4K gaming, though the Medium preset at 125 FPS offers even more headroom.

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable performance, with the only recorded minimum and maximum FPS values in the dataset. This suggests that the Medium preset avoids the performance spikes that can occur with the Low preset and the heavy load of the Ultra preset. At every resolution, the Medium preset offers frame rates that are within 21-24% of the Low preset's performance, while providing significantly better visual quality than Low.

For players with 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 175 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides the best visual quality while still maintaining frame rates far above typical display refresh rates. For 1440p displays, the High preset at 190 FPS offers an excellent balance, with the Ultra preset at 121 FPS still being viable for high-refresh-rate displays. For 4K displays, the High preset at 113 FPS is the best option for smooth gameplay, while the Ultra preset at 72 FPS can be used for maximum visual fidelity on 60Hz displays. The measured FPS data demonstrates that this CPU and GPU combination is capable of delivering outstanding performance in Greedfall across all tested configurations.