Greedfall

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a highly playable experience in Greedfall, though the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy that scales predictably with resolution and graphical presets. This pairing appears well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K demands compromises in settings to maintain smooth frame rates. The benchmark results show a distinct pattern: performance is heavily influenced by resolution, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates classic GPU-bound scaling behavior. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 128 FPS, which drops to 89 FPS at 1440p and further to 53 FPS at 4K. This represents a 31% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system has substantial headroom, while at 4K, the RTX 4060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width become constraining factors.

The Low preset illustrates the same trend even more dramatically. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 180 FPS, which falls to 125 FPS at 1440p and 74 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 31% and 59% respectively, mirroring the High preset scaling almost exactly. This consistency indicates that the resolution scaling factor is relatively uniform across different settings, pointing to a GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions rather than a CPU limitation.

Medium settings show a slightly different pattern. The 1080p Medium result of 141 FPS drops to 98 FPS at 1440p (a 30% reduction) and 58 FPS at 4K (a 59% reduction). The 4K Medium result includes measured minimum and maximum values of 50 and 67 FPS respectively, providing a frame time variance of 17 FPS. This variance is notably larger than the 1440p Medium range, which spans from 83 to 113 FPS (a 30 FPS spread), suggesting that 4K Medium produces less stable frame pacing.

Ultra settings reveal the most significant performance penalty. The 1080p Ultra result of 82 FPS drops to 57 FPS at 1440p (a 30% reduction) and 34 FPS at 4K (a 59% reduction). The 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS is below the commonly accepted threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that Ultra settings at 4K are not viable with this hardware combination.

The data suggests that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, where even Ultra produces 82 FPS, the CPU likely has more influence on the final frame rate. However, at 4K, where even Low settings only reach 74 FPS, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 272.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth appear insufficient to fully saturate the pixel throughput required at 4K resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. For 1080p gaming, High settings at 128 FPS provide an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The jump from High to Ultra costs 46 FPS (a 36% reduction) while likely offering diminishing visual returns. Medium settings at 141 FPS offer a 13 FPS improvement over High, but the visual quality reduction may not justify the modest performance gain.

At 1440p, High settings at 89 FPS represent the sweet spot for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 98 FPS provides a 9 FPS improvement, but the 1440p High result already exceeds the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. Ultra settings at 57 FPS fall just below the 60 FPS target, making it a marginal choice for players who prioritize visual fidelity over framerate stability.

For 4K, the recommendation becomes more constrained. High settings at 53 FPS are technically playable but may exhibit noticeable stutter in demanding scenes. Medium settings at 58 FPS provide a slightly better experience, though the measured minimum of 50 FPS indicates potential frame drops. Low settings at 74 FPS offer the most consistent 4K experience, sacrificing visual quality for acceptable performance. Ultra at 34 FPS is not recommended for any gameplay scenario.

The data reveals an interesting anomaly: the gap between Medium and High settings is relatively small compared to the gap between High and Ultra. At 1080p, Medium produces 141 FPS versus 128 FPS for High (a 9% difference), but High versus Ultra shows a 36% difference (128 FPS to 82 FPS). This pattern repeats at 1440p (98 to 89 FPS for Medium to High, 89 to 57 FPS for High to Ultra) and 4K (58 to 53 FPS for Medium to High, 53 to 34 FPS for High to Ultra). This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately heavy rendering effects that strain the RTX 4060's 48 ROPs and 96 TMUs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 brings 14 cores and 14 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture processor, built on a 3 nm TSMC process, demonstrates strong synthetic performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide substantial on-die storage for game assets.

In Greedfall, an Action RPG, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions but becomes more relevant at 1080p. The fact that 1080p Ultra still achieves 82 FPS suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even under demanding visual conditions. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 4394 and multi-thread score of 38706 indicate balanced performance across both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, scores 49196 in the average benchmark, a delta of -0.4% compared to the Core Ultra 5 245's 48995. This near-parity suggests that the Intel processor's performance is competitive with its direct competitors. The Intel Core i5-14600K sits 0.8% higher at 48618, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 is 0.5% higher at 49228. These small deltas indicate that CPU performance is unlikely to be the differentiator in Greedfall's frame rates.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and support for DDR5 memory with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate memory throughput for the game's data streaming needs. The processor's ECC memory support and PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes offer future-proofing, though Greedfall's 2019 release date predates these technologies. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 180 FPS suggests that the CPU can handle high frame rate scenarios without becoming a bottleneck, though this could change in more CPU-intensive scenes with many NPCs or complex AI routines.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks at position 1555 out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall. This places the pairing in the 53rd percentile of all combinations tested, indicating a slightly above-average performance profile. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 90th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 61st percentile among all graphics cards.

The RTX 4060's performance relative to its rivals shows some interesting characteristics. The GPU scores 19545 in PassMark G3D, placing it just 0.2% below the AMD Radeon HD 7790's 17666 score. More notably, the RTX 4060 sits only 0.3% above the AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics solution, suggesting that the discrete GPU's advantage over high-end integrated graphics is minimal in synthetic benchmarks. The Radeon Pro 560 and Pro 460 trail by 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.

Given the combo's mid-pack ranking, the data suggests that this pairing is competent but not exceptional for Greedfall. The 53rd percentile ranking indicates that roughly half of all tested combinations perform better, but the absolute frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are solid for most gaming scenarios. The ranking also suggests that players with this hardware will need to make settings compromises at 4K, but can expect smooth performance at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 128 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, providing a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: At 4K, the best results come from Low settings at 74 FPS average. Medium settings achieve 58 FPS, while High drops to 53 FPS. Ultra settings at 34 FPS are not recommended for playable frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In average benchmark scores, the RTX 4060 scores 17639, which is 0.2% below the AMD Radeon HD 7790 and 0.3% above the AMD Radeon 780M. This places it in a competitive position among mid-range GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to its competitors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 in average benchmarks, sitting 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and 0.5% below the AMD Ryzen 9 7900. It also trails the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8%.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: High settings at 1440p produce 89 FPS average, making it the recommended balance. Medium settings provide 98 FPS, while Ultra drops to 57 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: Across all settings, the frame rate drops by approximately 59% when moving from 1080p to 4K. For example, High settings go from 128 FPS to 53 FPS, and Low settings go from 180 FPS to 74 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for this combination in Greedfall is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 180 FPS. Medium settings produce 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 FPS and maximum of 163 FPS. High settings achieve 128 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 82 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 125 FPS average. Medium settings achieve 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 113 FPS. High settings deliver 89 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 57 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 74 FPS average. Medium settings achieve 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS. High settings deliver 53 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 34 FPS.

The data shows consistent scaling across all resolution and settings combinations. The RTX 4060's 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus width create a clear ceiling at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock provide sufficient headroom for the game's computational demands. The combination ranks 1555th out of 2938 tested in Greedfall, placing it in the middle of the performance distribution.