Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 action RPG, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is capable but has clear performance boundaries, particularly when pushed to the highest visual fidelity. The data suggests this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and smooth 1440p gameplay, while 4K demands careful setting adjustments to maintain playability.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K in Greedfall is sharp and telling. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 133 FPS at 1920x1080 to 92 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 55 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 31% decrease when moving from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 40% decrease when moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the rendering load on the RTX 3060 Ti increases exponentially.

The Low settings preset shows a similar trajectory, with 187 FPS at 1080p dropping to 130 FPS at 1440p and 77 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 30% and 41% respectively, indicating that even at the lowest graphical load, the GPU remains the primary constraint as pixel count rises. The fact that the relative performance drop between resolutions is nearly identical across High and Low settings suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, not CPU-side game logic or draw call processing.

At Medium settings, the average FPS declines from 147 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p and 61 at 4K. The 4K figure includes a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS, showing a wider variance than the 1080p medium result, which has a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS. This increased frame time variance at 4K points to the GPU struggling to maintain consistent output under heavier load.

The most extreme drop appears at Ultra settings, where the average FPS plummets from 85 at 1080p to 59 at 1440p and 35 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 40 FPS, indicating that this preset is not viable for smooth gameplay at that resolution with this hardware. The data implies that the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed by the combination of high-resolution textures and the most demanding shading effects in Greedfall.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Greedfall?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most comfortable experience, with average FPS ranging from 85 at Ultra to 187 at Low. At 2560x1440, the average FPS stays above 59 FPS across all settings, making it a viable option for most presets. The 3840x2160 resolution is only playable at Low or Medium settings, with average FPS of 77 and 61 respectively.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate decreases from 133 FPS at 1920x1080 to 55 FPS at 3840x2160. This is a 59% reduction in average FPS, showing that 4K resolution more than halves the performance achieved at 1080p.

Q: Is the Ultra preset usable at any resolution?

A: The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1920x1080, where it averages 85 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 59 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 35 FPS, which is below the threshold for a generally playable experience.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 4K?

A: At 4K Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 52 and the maximum is 70, showing a wide 18 FPS spread. This is notably less consistent than the 1080p Medium result, which shows a 44 FPS spread (from 125 to 169). The tighter variance at 1080p suggests the GPU is less stressed and can deliver more stable frame pacing.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in Greedfall?

A: The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1413 out of 2938 tested combos for this game. This places it in the upper half of all configurations, though not at the top tier. The data indicates that while this system is competent, better-performing combos exist.

Q: Which settings preset offers the most balanced experience at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset offers an average of 92 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target, while the Ultra preset averages 59 FPS. The Medium preset averages 102 FPS. Given the data, High appears to be the sweet spot, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a comfortable frame rate advantage over Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the dominant factor in Greedfall's performance, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is likely the critical resource for Greedfall's world streaming, as the game's environments are dense with assets. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra, which averages only 35 FPS, suggests that the memory subsystem is saturated, causing the GPU to stall.

With a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, the RTX 3060 Ti delivers a raw compute capability of 16.20 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This level of compute power is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as shown by the 133 FPS and 92 FPS averages at High settings, respectively. However, at 4K, the sheer number of pixels to process overwhelms the GPU's 4864 shading units, resulting in the 55 FPS average at High settings.

The GPU's 152 texture mapping units and 80 render output units contribute to a texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s. These rates are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum settings, as evidenced by the Ultra preset result of 35 FPS. The 38 ray tracing cores are present but appear to have no impact on this game's standard rendering path, as the performance scaling is consistent with a traditional rasterization workload.

The RTX 3060 Ti's percentile ranking of 59 compared to all GPUs indicates it sits in the mid-range of the performance spectrum. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which is 0.7% faster in average benchmark score, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, which is 1.4% faster. This close grouping suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti's performance is well-known and that its capabilities in Greedfall are representative of its overall standing.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 3060 Ti combination achieves a rank of 1413 out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the 48th percentile, meaning that roughly 52% of tested configurations perform better. While this is not a top-tier result, it is a respectable mid-table finish that indicates the system can handle the game at reasonable settings.

The rank reflects a balance between the CPU and GPU capabilities. The Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is a high-end processor that ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Its multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Passmark multithread score of 49682, is far beyond what Greedfall requires. In contrast, the RTX 3060 Ti ranks in the 59th percentile among GPUs, making it the weaker link in this pairing.

This dynamic is confirmed by the measured FPS data, which shows GPU-bound behavior at all resolutions. The fact that the combo rank is not higher suggests that the GPU is holding back the system's overall potential. A more powerful GPU would likely push this combo significantly higher in the rankings, as the CPU has ample headroom to support higher frame rates.

The nearest rival combos for the CPU alone include the AMD EPYC 4464P, which has an average score 0.3% lower, and the AMD EPYC 9124, which is 0.7% higher. These differences are negligible and indicate that the Core Ultra 7 265's performance is consistent with other high-end server and desktop parts. However, in gaming, the GPU is the determining factor, and the RTX 3060 Ti's mid-range standing is what ultimately defines this combo's rank.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver an average of 133 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 92 FPS, still comfortably above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Even at 4K, High settings maintain an average of 55 FPS, which is playable for those who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates.

The Medium preset is the recommended choice for users with 4K displays or those seeking more consistent frame times. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS, providing a more stable experience than High at that resolution. The difference in average FPS between Medium and High at 4K is only 6 FPS (61 vs 55), but the Medium preset's lower variance suggests better frame pacing. At 1080p and 1440p, Medium offers higher frame rates than High, with 147 FPS and 102 FPS respectively, but the visual trade-off may not be worth it for users with capable displays.

The Low preset is only recommended for users with very high refresh rate 1080p monitors, as it achieves 187 FPS at that resolution. At 1440p, Low yields 130 FPS, and at 4K, it reaches 77 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as it averages only 59 FPS at 1440p and 35 FPS at 4K. For 1080p users, Ultra can be considered if 85 FPS is acceptable, as it provides the highest visual quality the game offers.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across all settings shows a clear hierarchy. The Low preset achieves the highest average at 187 FPS, followed by Medium at 147 FPS, High at 133 FPS, and Ultra at 85 FPS. The Medium preset has the most detailed data, with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS, indicating a 44 FPS spread. This suggests that even at 1080p, the system experiences some frame time variation under load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly. Low still leads with 130 FPS, but Medium trails at 102 FPS, High at 92 FPS, and Ultra at 59 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS, representing a 30 FPS spread. This tighter variance compared to 1080p indicates that the GPU is working closer to its limits, resulting in more consistent frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope narrows considerably. Low averages 77 FPS, Medium averages 61 FPS, High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 35 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has the only complete set of min/max data, showing a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. This 18 FPS spread is the smallest of all measured configurations, suggesting that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that it cannot produce significant frame rate spikes, but it also struggles to maintain a high average.

The data reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution decreases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 102 FPS (187 vs 85). At 1440p, this gap narrows to 71 FPS (130 vs 59). At 4K, the gap is just 42 FPS (77 vs 35). This trend underscores that at higher resolutions, the GPU's pixel processing limits become the dominant factor, reducing the impact of in-game settings on overall performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache. This hardware profile is far more powerful than what Greedfall requires, as the game is a 2019 title with relatively modest CPU demands. The processor's Passmark single-thread score of 4689 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 indicate excellent single-core performance, which is crucial for gaming.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are extensive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a Passmark multithread score of 49682. These scores place the Core Ultra 7 265 in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is a top-tier processor for compute-heavy workloads. However, in Greedfall, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions, meaning the CPU's performance headroom is largely untapped.

The data suggests that the Core Ultra 7 265 does not bottleneck the RTX 3060 Ti in this game. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the average FPS is 187, which is below the CPU's theoretical maximum frame delivery capability. The fact that the FPS scales consistently with resolution changes indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to keep it busy. This is supported by the CPU's nearest rival scores, which show a difference of less than 1% compared to the AMD EPYC 4464P and AMD EPYC 9124, confirming that the 265's performance is not a limiting factor in real-world gaming scenarios.

The CPU's 20 threads are more than sufficient for Greedfall's game logic and physics calculations. The game likely uses only a fraction of the available threads, and the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks are handled with minimal latency. The 65 W TDP of the Core Ultra 7 265 makes it an efficient choice, but this efficiency does not translate into gaming performance advantages, as the GPU's role dominates the frame rate equation.