Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with resolution. Benchmark data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 reveals a configuration that is capable at 1080p and 1440p but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K Ultra settings. The measured results indicate that while the CPU provides ample headroom, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution and graphical fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, highlighting the GPU-bound nature of this title at higher resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 128 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average falls to 89 FPS, a 30% reduction. At 4K High, the average plummets to 53 FPS, which is a 59% decrease from the 1080p result. This steep decline points directly to the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface as the limiting factors.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when comparing the lowest and highest settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 180 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to just 34 FPS. This represents a massive 81% performance loss. The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions, indicating that pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints rather than raw compute. At 1080p, the CPU's 24 cores and 36 MB of L3 cache are sufficient to feed the GPU, but at 4K, the GPU's 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is overwhelmed.

The medium preset at 4K yields 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, which is borderline playable. However, the jump to Ultra at 4K (34 FPS) is a 41% drop, showing that Ultra settings introduce effects that the RTX 4060 cannot handle at this resolution. The results clearly indicate that for a consistent 60 FPS experience, users must stay at 1440p or below, as the 4K Ultra setting falls far outside the playable range.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1555th out of 2938 combos for Greedfall. This places it in the 47th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly half of all system pairings perform better in this specific game. The rank is a reflection of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is a top-tier performer.

The CPU itself is a powerhouse, sitting in the 96th percentile of all processors. Its average benchmark score of 84003 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83807. It also edges out the AMD EPYC 4584PX, which scores 83090 (a 1.1% delta), and the AMD EPYC 9135, which scores 82980 (a 1.2% delta). The only rival in its immediate class that outperforms it is the AMD EPYC 7F72, which scores 85072, a 1.3% advantage for the EPYC part. This shows that the Ultra 9 290K Plus is not the bottleneck in this system.

The GPU, however, is a different story. The RTX 4060 sits in the 61st percentile of all GPUs and has an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, a 0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon 780M (17588, a 0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, a 0.5% delta). This places the RTX 4060 in a performance tier that is clearly below what is needed to push Greedfall at 4K Ultra. The high CPU rank combined with the mid-range GPU rank explains the middling combo position, showing that the system is held back by the graphics card in this title.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Greedfall at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that at 4K Medium, the average FPS is 58 with a minimum of 50 FPS, which is playable. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 53 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 34 FPS, which is not considered smooth for an action RPG.

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

A: Based on the measured results, 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the system achieves 89 FPS, and at 1440p Medium, it hits 98 FPS. These frame rates offer a good balance between visual quality and responsiveness.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its direct rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 84003 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%, which scores 85072.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: Yes, the benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 61st percentile. The steep FPS drops at higher resolutions confirm that the graphics card cannot keep pace with the CPU's capability.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 180. At 1080p Ultra, it drops to 82 FPS. This is a 54% performance decrease, showing that Ultra settings are significantly more demanding even at the lowest resolution.

Q: Does the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM affect performance at 4K?

A: The data strongly suggests it does. The average FPS at 4K High (53 FPS) is far below the 1440p High result (89 FPS), and the 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS indicates that the memory capacity and bandwidth are insufficient for the highest resolution preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system is clearly CPU-bound, as even the Ultra preset achieves 82 FPS. The Low preset hits 180 FPS, Medium reaches 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 and a maximum of 163, and High delivers 128 FPS. This resolution is well within the capability of the RTX 4060, and the high frame rates suggest that the GPU is not stressed.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but begin to show the GPU's limits. Low settings produce 125 FPS, High delivers 89 FPS, and Medium achieves 98 FPS (with a min of 83 and max of 113). The Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS, which is the first sign of significant strain. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is 36%, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects are costly.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully saturated. Low settings yield 74 FPS, Medium produces 58 FPS (min 50, max 67), and High drops to 53 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 34 FPS, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is playable at all settings, 1440p is playable up to High, and 4K is only playable at Medium or lower. The minimum FPS data, only available for Medium settings, shows that 4K Medium has a minimum of 50 FPS, which is just above the 48 FPS threshold for stuttering in many titles, while 1440p and 1080p Medium have minimums of 83 and 120 FPS respectively.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the defining component in this system's Greedfall performance, and its specifications explain the observed results. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a modest amount for a modern GPU, and Greedfall's textures and effects at 4K Ultra clearly exceed this capacity. The base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and it features 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but insufficient for 4K Ultra.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. It has a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 95057. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon 780M (17588) and the Radeon Pro 560 (17551), are integrated or older discrete parts, which shows that while the RTX 4060 is competent, it is not a high-end card. The percentile ranking of 61% for all GPUs confirms that it is a mid-tier performer. In Greedfall, the GPU's role is to render the game's environments and characters, and the data shows that at 4K, the card's pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s is not enough to maintain high frame rates with Ultra settings. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present for ray tracing and DLSS, but the measured FPS data does not include any ray tracing results, so their impact on this game is not quantified.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's resolution and frame rate target. For a 60 FPS target, the data shows that 1440p High (89 FPS) or 4K Medium (58 FPS) are the best choices. 4K Medium is the highest setting that maintains an average above 55 FPS, making it the recommended preset for 4K displays, though it has a minimum of 50 FPS which may cause occasional dips.

For users with 1080p monitors, the Ultra preset is viable at 82 FPS, offering the best visual fidelity. However, the High preset at 128 FPS is smoother, and the Medium preset at 141 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset at 180 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitor and prioritizes competitive play over visuals.

At 1440p, the High preset (89 FPS) is the recommended balance for visual quality and smoothness. The Medium preset (98 FPS) offers slightly better performance with a minimal visual sacrifice, and the Ultra preset (57 FPS) is playable but may feel less fluid. The data suggests that the jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 36% of the performance, so users should only select Ultra if they have a G-Sync or FreeSync display that can handle the lower frame rate. For the best overall experience, the benchmark results point to 1440p with High settings as the sweet spot, delivering 89 FPS, which is smooth and responsive for an action RPG.