Greedfall

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Greedfall, placing this pairing in the top tier of tested configurations. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still capable of extreme frame rates at 1080p, making it a versatile choice for high-refresh-rate displays and 4K gaming alike.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is built on the Arrow Lake architecture and manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This processor is positioned in the 97th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79102. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, scores 79240, making the 265K just 0.2% slower in aggregate benchmarks. The Intel Core i9-14900K is 0.9% faster, while the AMD EPYC 7413 leads by 1.2%, but these are marginal differences that do not translate into meaningful gameplay gaps.

In Greedfall, the CPU’s role becomes clear when examining frame rates across resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 352.6 FPS, a figure that far exceeds what the GPU alone would need to deliver if it were the sole bottleneck. This indicates the 265K’s 20 threads and high boost clock are more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4090, even at lower resolutions where CPU overhead typically matters most. The processor’s L3 cache is 30 MB shared, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, which helps maintain smooth data flow during combat-heavy scenes.

The single-core performance is equally strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4904. These figures suggest that Greedfall’s game logic and AI routines, which often rely on a few heavily loaded threads, are handled without introducing frame pacing issues. The 265K’s multi-core score of 50009 in Cinebench R23 also ensures that background tasks or streaming won’t compete for resources, though the game itself is not particularly demanding on core count. Overall, the CPU provides a stable foundation that allows the GPU to operate at its full potential, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. It has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and its memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This configuration places the RTX 4090 in the 91st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4, scores 66733, making the 4090 only 0.4% slower in raw compute tests, though the gaming performance difference is substantial due to driver optimizations and architectural advantages.

In Greedfall, the GPU’s 24 GB VRAM is more than adequate for even the Ultra preset at 4K, as the game is not VRAM-heavy by modern standards. The data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 63.9 FPS, while dropping to High settings raises this to 101.8 FPS. This sensitivity to settings suggests that the GPU’s shading units (16384) and texture units (512) are the primary drivers of performance, rather than memory capacity. The RTX 4090’s FP32 throughput of 82.58 TFLOPS provides ample compute for the game’s effects, and the 128 RT cores, while not heavily utilized in this title, are ready for any ray-traced enhancements.

The GPU’s performance scaling is most evident when comparing resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 352.6 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 63.9 FPS. This 82% reduction in frame rate highlights that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU remains underutilized. The GPU’s 176 ROPs and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for the game’s rendering demands, but the raw computational load at 4K Ultra pushes the card to its limits. For players targeting 4K, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, delivering nearly 102 FPS while maintaining visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 352.6 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Moving to 1440p Low, the frame rate drops to 240.5 FPS, a 32% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 145.9 FPS, another 39% drop from 1440p. This consistent decline indicates that the RTX 4090 is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU’s performance remains constant.

The Ultra preset shows a steeper decline. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 162 FPS, which drops to 108.7 FPS at 1440p (a 33% reduction) and further to 63.9 FPS at 4K (a 41% reduction from 1440p). This pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is being pushed to its limits by the higher pixel count and more demanding effects. The fact that the 1080p Ultra frame rate (162 FPS) is still well above 60 FPS suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor even at the highest settings; rather, the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated at 4K.

The data also shows that settings have a larger impact than resolution in some cases. For instance, at 4K, moving from Ultra to High increases the frame rate from 63.9 to 101.8 FPS, a 59% improvement. In contrast, moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings only reduces the frame rate by 41% (from 172.1 to 101.8 FPS). This indicates that the game’s Ultra preset introduces a significant computational burden, likely through advanced shading and post-processing effects, which disproportionately affects the GPU. The limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p is clearly the RTX 4090, as the CPU’s 20 threads are never fully taxed.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 62nd out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the top 3.6% of all configurations, which is a strong result given that the dataset includes both older and newer hardware. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU’s high single-thread performance and the GPU’s massive compute capability, but it also shows that there are 61 other combos that achieve higher average frame rates.

The rank is influenced by the fact that some combinations with newer GPUs or higher-clocked CPUs may edge out this pairing in specific scenarios. However, the delta between this combo and the top performers is likely small, as the RTX 4090 is still one of the fastest consumer GPUs available. The CPU’s 0.2% deficit to the Core Ultra 7 265KF in synthetic benchmarks does not materially affect gaming performance, as the game is not CPU-bound at most settings. The combo’s rank of 62 out of 1705 suggests that it is a top-tier choice for Greedfall, but not the absolute best, with the difference likely coming down to GPU clock speeds or driver optimizations in other configurations.

The percentile placement is more telling when combined with the measured FPS data. At 1080p Low, the combo’s 352.6 FPS is likely within a few percentage points of the best result, while at 4K Ultra, the 63.9 FPS may be slightly below the top 10 due to thermal or power limitations of the specific GPU model. Still, the overall ranking confirms that this pairing delivers a premium experience across all resolutions and settings, making it a reliable reference point for high-end gaming builds.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Greedfall?*

A: The data shows that 1440p High is the optimal balance, delivering 172.1 FPS, while 4K High still offers a smooth 101.8 FPS. For maximum frame rates, 1080p Low reaches 352.6 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K compare to its nearest rival?

A: The 265K scores 79102 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (79240) and 0.9% lower than the Intel Core i9-14900K (79824).

Q: Is the RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes, the 24 GB GDDR6X memory is more than enough, as even at 4K Ultra the game runs at 63.9 FPS, and the memory bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop is due to the GPU being the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 352.6 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 63.9 FPS, a 82% reduction as the RTX 4090’s compute is saturated.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 62nd out of 1705 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.6% of all systems for Greedfall.

Q: How does the Ultra preset impact performance compared to High?

A: At 4K, Ultra delivers 63.9 FPS while High reaches 101.8 FPS, a 59% improvement, indicating that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding on the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 352.6 FPS on Low, 276.4 FPS on Medium, 254.6 FPS on High, and 162 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 190.6 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy load on the GPU even at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 240.5 FPS on Low, 191.5 FPS on Medium, 172.1 FPS on High, and 108.7 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with Low falling by 112.1 FPS and Ultra falling by 53.3 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s pixel rate is the primary constraint, as the increase in resolution directly impacts fill rate.

At 3840x2160, the performance is 145.9 FPS on Low, 111.4 FPS on Medium, 101.8 FPS on High, and 63.9 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the dataset, but it remains playable. The scaling from Medium to High at 4K is only 9.6 FPS, indicating diminishing returns from that settings step. From High to Ultra, the drop is 37.9 FPS, which is the largest single-step penalty in the entire dataset. This highlights the Ultra preset’s use of computationally expensive effects that disproportionately impact the GPU at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 254.6 FPS, which is more than enough for any high-refresh-rate monitor, while 1440p High delivers 172.1 FPS, making it ideal for 144Hz displays. At 4K High, the 101.8 FPS result is smooth for most gaming scenarios, and it is a 59% improvement over the Ultra preset’s 63.9 FPS, with only a modest reduction in visual fidelity.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users who want higher frame rates without sacrificing too much quality. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 276.4 FPS, and at 1440p Medium, it reaches 191.5 FPS. However, the difference between Medium and High at 4K is only 9.6 FPS (111.4 vs. 101.8), so High is recommended for the better visuals at nearly the same performance. The Low preset is only useful for extreme frame rates, such as 352.6 FPS at 1080p, which is unnecessary for most displays.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this game, as the performance penalty is severe. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops below 70 FPS, which is below the threshold for high-refresh-rate gaming, and even at 1440p Ultra, the 108.7 FPS result is lower than what High achieves at 4K. For the best experience, users should select High settings, which provides a consistent frame rate above 100 FPS at 4K and above 170 FPS at 1440p, making it the clear winner in the measured data.