Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination. The measured data reveals a system capable of extreme performance, yet the scaling between settings and resolutions tells a nuanced story about where the bottlenecks lie. This analysis examines the FPS measurements to determine the optimal configuration and to understand the roles of the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo in Greedfall strongly suggests that the High preset offers the most balanced experience, particularly for high-refresh-rate displays. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 273 FPS, which is a substantial 98 FPS increase over the Ultra preset's 175 FPS. While the Ultra preset provides the maximum visual fidelity, the performance cost is steep, representing a 36% reduction in average frame rate compared to High.

Moving up to 2560x1440, the High preset maintains an impressive 190 FPS average, making it ideal for 144Hz and even 165Hz monitors. The Medium preset, at 209 FPS, is also viable, but the visual jump to High is generally worth the 19 FPS difference for a game like this. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 121 FPS, which is still playable but begins to sacrifice the smoothness that the other settings offer.

At 3840x2160, the High preset's 113 FPS average is the sweet spot for a 4K experience. The Medium preset, with an average of 125 FPS and a minimum of 106 FPS, is also a strong contender if you want to guarantee frame times stay above 100 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K sees a significant performance hit, averaging just 72 FPS, which makes it less suitable for fast-paced action despite the visual upgrade. The Low preset, while providing the highest frame rates at all resolutions, does so at the cost of the game's atmosphere and is not recommended for a first playthrough. The data indicates that High is the superior choice, offering a large performance headroom over Ultra while providing significantly better visuals than Medium or Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a powerhouse, and its role in Greedfall is primarily defined by its massive memory pool and high bandwidth. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is far beyond what Greedfall requires, meaning memory capacity is never a limiting factor, even at 4K with the Ultra preset. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not cause hitches or stutters.

The GPU's core clocks, with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz, are the primary drivers of the high frame rates seen in the benchmarks. The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the average FPS drops, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck. For instance, at 1080p High, the combo achieves 273 FPS, but at 4K High, it drops to 113 FPS. This scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

The RTX 5090 D's performance percentile of 92 puts it in the top tier of all GPUs, and its benchmark scores, such as the 44,065 in Passmark G3D, confirm its raw power. Interestingly, its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are mobile GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and data center cards like the Tesla P100, with performance deltas of -1.6% and -2.1% respectively. This shows that while the 5090 D is exceptionally fast, its closest measured peers in synthetic tests are not the typical desktop flagships, highlighting its unique position in the market. In Greedfall, the GPU's power is fully utilized at higher resolutions and settings, where its compute capabilities are needed to render the game world.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combo for a 144Hz monitor?

A: For a 144Hz display, the 2560x1440 High preset is the ideal match, delivering an average of 190 FPS. This provides enough headroom to prevent drops below the refresh rate. Even the 2560x1440 Ultra preset, at 121 FPS, would be suitable for a 120Hz display.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Greedfall?

A: Yes, it excels at 4K. The 3840x2160 High preset averages 113 FPS, which is very smooth. For a more stable experience above 100 FPS, the Medium preset averages 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost by using the Ultra preset instead of High?

A: The performance cost is significant. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 273 on High to 175 on Ultra, a 36% reduction. At 1440p, it drops from 190 to 121 FPS, and at 4K, it drops from 113 to 72 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter. This is evident from the consistent frame rate drop as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU enough frames to reach 383 FPS on Low settings, but the GPU's workload at 4K reduces performance significantly.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded in the data?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 72 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra settings. The minimum FPS recorded for any setting is 106 FPS, which was measured at 3840x2160 with Medium settings.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks first out of 2,938 tested combos in Greedfall, making it the top-performing configuration in the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptionally high. The Low preset achieves an average of 383 FPS, showcasing the CPU's ability to push frames. 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. The difference between Low and Ultra is a massive 208 FPS, indicating that the visual enhancements at this resolution come at a high computational cost.

At 2560x1440, we see a typical scaling pattern. The Low preset averages 266 FPS, which is a 31% drop from its 1080p counterpart. The Medium preset averages 209 FPS (min 178, max 240), and the High preset averages 190 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages 121 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra remains consistent, with a 69 FPS difference.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily loaded. The Low preset still manages a very playable 159 FPS. The Medium preset averages 125 FPS (min 106, max 143), which is a good result for 4K. The High preset averages 113 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 72 FPS. This resolution shows the most significant scaling, with the Ultra preset being less than half the speed of the Low preset. The data here shows that the RTX 5090 D, while powerful, still faces a significant challenge running Greedfall at maximum settings in 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The data shows that the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination is the top performer for Greedfall, securing the rank 1 position out of 2,938 tested combos. This is a remarkable achievement, placing this specific hardware pairing above all other CPU and GPU combinations in the database for this game.

This top ranking is a result of both components being at the upper echelon of their respective categories. The RTX 5090 D, with its high benchmark scores and 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, provides the raw graphical horsepower needed to drive high frame rates at demanding resolutions. The Core Ultra 7 265, with its 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, ensures that the system is not bottlenecked by processor performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed.

The synthetic benchmarks support this. The CPU's average benchmark score of 64,640 places it in close competition with server-class processors like the AMD EPYC 4464P (deltaPct -0.3%) and the AMD EPYC 9124 (deltaPct -0.7%). The GPU's average benchmark score of 77,712 puts it slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (deltaPct -1.6%) and the Tesla P100 (deltaPct -2.1%). This combination of top-tier CPU and GPU performance explains why this combo sits alone at the top of the rankings for Greedfall.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265's role in this system is to provide enough processing power to avoid being a bottleneck. With 20 cores and 20 threads, it is a highly capable processor. Its performance is demonstrated by its benchmark scores, such as 42,216 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 5,960 in single-core, which place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Greedfall, the CPU's importance is most evident at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 383 FPS. This high frame rate is only possible if the CPU can process the game's logic and prepare draw calls quickly enough. The 20-core processor, with its boost clock of 5.30 GHz, provides the single-thread performance necessary for this task.

However, as the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The average FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant. This indicates that the Core Ultra 7 265 is more than sufficient for Greedfall, and its power is only fully taxed in scenarios designed to maximize frame rates, such as 1080p with Low settings. The data suggests that this CPU will not hold back the RTX 5090 D in this game, even in the most CPU-intensive scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the changing bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS is 273 at 1920x1080, 190 at 2560x1440, and 113 at 3840x2160. This represents a 30% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 41% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total performance loss from 1080p to 4K is 59%.

This scaling pattern is a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU has to do a similar amount of work regardless of resolution, but the GPU's rendering load increases exponentially with the number of pixels. The RTX 5090 D, despite its immense power, cannot maintain the 273 FPS seen at 1080p when rendering four times the pixels at 4K.

The scaling is even more dramatic on the Ultra preset. The average FPS is 175 at 1080p, 121 at 1440p, and 72 at 4K. This is a 59% drop from 1080p to 4K. The increased complexity of the Ultra settings, likely including higher-quality shadows, textures, and post-processing effects, places an even greater burden on the GPU. The fact that the frame rate at 4K Ultra is below 100 FPS confirms that this is a very demanding configuration. The data from the Medium preset, which shows a minimum FPS of 106 at 4K, suggests that it is the highest preset that can reliably maintain frame times above 100 FPS at that resolution. This analysis of resolution scaling confirms that the RTX 5090 D, while top-tier, is still the primary factor limiting performance in Greedfall at higher resolutions and settings.