Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG, responds predictably to the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing, with the measured data showing a clear progression from GPU-bound at high resolutions to CPU-constrained at lower ones. The combination’s 367th place out of 3703 tested combos places it in the top 10% of configurations, a result driven by the RTX 4080’s raw throughput rather than the six-core CPU’s muscle. Across the measured FPS table, the pattern is consistent: 1080p delivers the highest averages, 1440p remains highly playable, and 4K settles into a range that favors High settings over Ultra, as the frame rate drops by more than a third when moving from High to Ultra at that resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a steep, predictable decline as resolution climbs, but the shape of that curve reveals where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p with High settings, the average sits at 226 FPS; at 1440p High it falls to 157 FPS, a 30.5% reduction; and at 4K High it reaches 94 FPS, a further 40.1% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern—where each resolution step costs roughly a third to two-fifths of the remaining performance—indicates that the RTX 4080 is the dominant factor at 1440p and 4K, while the Ryzen 5 3600 begins to assert itself at 1080p.

The low-settings runs amplify this. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo hits 284 FPS, which is only 25.7% higher than the High preset’s 226 FPS despite the dramatic reduction in graphical load. Compare that to 4K, where Low produces 131 FPS versus High’s 94 FPS—a 39.4% gain—and the difference is stark. At 1080p, the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads are the limiting factor; the GPU has headroom that the processor cannot feed. At 4K, the GPU’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth become the ceiling, and lowering settings yields a proportionally larger return.

The medium preset offers the clearest look at this dynamic. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 119, while at 2560x1440 Medium it jumps to 173 FPS (min 147, max 199) and at 1920x1080 Medium it reaches 249 FPS (min 212, max 287). The frame-time variance, as indicated by the min-max spread, grows wider at lower resolutions—1080p Medium spans 75 FPS between min and max, whereas 4K Medium spans only 31 FPS. This tighter range at 4K underscores a GPU-bound scenario where frame pacing is more consistent, while the wider spread at 1080p reflects CPU-side jitter from the Zen 2 architecture’s 3.60 GHz base and 4.20 GHz boost clocks being pushed to their limits.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, carries the bulk of the workload in Greedfall, and its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for this game’s demands. The GPU’s base clock of 2205 MHz and boost clock of 2505 MHz, combined with 9728 shading units and 112 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s, which translate directly into the high frame rates observed at 1440p and 1080p.

At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 60 FPS average, the lowest measured figure in the entire table. This represents a 36.2% drop from 4K High’s 94 FPS and a 41.2% drop from 4K Medium’s 103 FPS. The Ultra preset in Greedfall clearly imposes a heavy load that even the RTX 4080’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute cannot overcome at this resolution. The GPU’s 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, places it just 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) and 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828), but in this game, the measured data shows the 4080 hitting a wall at 4K Ultra that is not present at lower settings.

The memory subsystem deserves attention. With 16 GB of GDDR6X, the RTX 4080 never approaches capacity in Greedfall, a title from 2019 that was designed for far less VRAM. The 256-bit bus and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for the texture-heavy environments, which explains why the scaling from Medium to High at each resolution remains modest—typically 8-10%—rather than the steep cliff seen when moving to Ultra. The GPU’s 304 TMUs and 304 tensor cores are not heavily utilized by this engine, but they contribute to the overall 34457 passmark G3D score and 20671 passmark GPU compute score, both of which rank in the 86th percentile.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, a 7 nm Zen 2 part with six cores and twelve threads, is the secondary partner in this combo, and its influence is most visible at 1080p. With a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz, the CPU produces a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124. The 3DMark results show a similar pattern: 4605 in the 16-thread test, 3844 in the 8-thread test, and 2579 in the 4-thread test, indicating that scaling beyond eight threads yields diminishing returns—a characteristic that Greedfall’s engine, which rarely uses more than a handful of cores, does not punish.

At 1080p Low, the 284 FPS average is the highest measured for this combo, but the jump from Low to Medium (249 FPS) is only 14.1%, and from Medium to High (226 FPS) another 10.2%. The CPU’s 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at these settings, but the 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs (with an average benchmark score of 17035) shows it is not a top-tier part. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1260P (17007, deltaPct 0.2%) and Intel Core i5-11400 (17067, deltaPct -0.2%), both of which would likely perform similarly in this game.

The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth are adequate for Greedfall’s streaming needs, but the 3.60 GHz base clock means that single-threaded performance—represented by the 3DMark single-thread score of 696 and Geekbench single-core score of 1536—becomes the ceiling when the GPU is not the limiter. This is why the 1080p Ultra result of 145 FPS is only 35.8% higher than the 4K Ultra result of 60 FPS, whereas the 1080p Low result of 284 FPS is 116.8% higher than the 4K Low result of 131 FPS. The gap narrows as settings rise because the GPU load increases, masking the CPU’s limitations.

FAQ

Q: Why does 4K Ultra drop to 60 FPS when 4K High manages 94 FPS?

A: The Ultra preset in Greedfall imposes a disproportionately heavy load on the RTX 4080. At 3840x2160, the measured average falls from 94 FPS on High to 60 FPS on Ultra, a 36.2% reduction, while the step from Medium (103 FPS) to High (94 FPS) is only 8.7%. The GPU’s 112 ROPs and 48.74 TFLOPS are insufficient to maintain higher frame rates under the Ultra preset’s demands at this resolution.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 3600 holding back the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: At 1080p, yes. The 284 FPS Low result versus 226 FPS High shows only a 25.7% gain from dropping settings, indicating the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads at 3.60 GHz base / 4.20 GHz boost are the limiting factor. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as evidenced by the larger proportional gains from lowering settings (e.g., 4K Low at 131 FPS vs 4K High at 94 FPS, a 39.4% gain).

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo for Greedfall?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset at 157 FPS offers the best balance of image quality and frame rate. It is 67.0% higher than 4K High’s 94 FPS and only 30.5% lower than 1080p High’s 226 FPS, with the GPU still firmly in control. For maximum smoothness, 1080p Medium (249 FPS) or Low (284 FPS) are options, but the CPU bottleneck becomes more pronounced.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in the GPU benchmark data?

A: The RTX 4080’s average benchmark score of 54247 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) and 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828). In Greedfall specifically, the measured FPS data shows no direct rival comparison, but the GPU’s 86th percentile ranking indicates it is a top-tier part.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM matter for Greedfall?

A: No. Greedfall launched in 2019 and does not require anywhere near 16 GB of VRAM. The RTX 4080’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth has no impact on this game’s performance; the limiting factors are the GPU’s compute throughput (48.74 TFLOPS) and the CPU’s single-thread speed.

Q: Why is the 1080p Medium min FPS (212) so much lower than the average (249)?

A: The 37 FPS gap between minimum and average at 1080p Medium reflects CPU-induced frame pacing issues. The Ryzen 5 3600’s 12 threads are taxed by the game’s simulation logic at higher frame rates, causing occasional dips. In contrast, 4K Medium shows a smaller 15 FPS gap (88 min vs 103 avg), because the GPU-bound workload smooths out CPU variability.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 367th out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 9.9% of all configurations. This rank is a reflection of the GPU’s dominance; the RTX 4080’s 86th percentile standing among all GPUs (average benchmark score 54247) far outweighs the CPU’s 71st percentile (average benchmark score 17035). The rank is not surprising given that Greedfall is a GPU-heavy title, and the data shows that the combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, though it trails the highest-tier pairings that would include faster CPUs.

The deltaPct values for the GPU’s nearest rivals are telling: the RTX 4080 is 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) and 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, deltaPct -2.6%). These are small margins, meaning the 4080’s rank is not materially different from its closest peers. On the CPU side, the Ryzen 5 3600 is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-1260P (0.2% delta) and Intel Core i5-11400 (-0.2% delta), so the processor choice has minimal impact on the combo’s overall rank.

In practical terms, the 367th rank out of 3703 means that roughly 90% of tested systems deliver lower or equal performance in Greedfall, but the top 10% of combinations—likely those with higher-end CPUs like the Ryzen 7 or Core i7 series paired with the RTX 4080—would achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 1080p where the CPU is the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS table for this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with 12 data points total. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 284 FPS, Medium 249 FPS (min 212, max 287), High 226 FPS, and Ultra 145 FPS. This represents a 48.9% drop from Low to Ultra, with the most significant single-step decline occurring between High and Ultra (81 FPS, a 35.8% reduction).

At 2560x1440, the numbers tighten: Low 220 FPS, Medium 173 FPS (min 147, max 199), High 157 FPS, and Ultra 100 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra drop is 54.5%, larger than at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is taking on more work. The Medium preset’s min-max spread of 52 FPS is narrower than at 1080p’s 75 FPS, indicating improved frame consistency.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 131 FPS, Medium 103 FPS (min 88, max 119), High 94 FPS, and Ultra 60 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra decline is 54.2%, nearly identical to 1440p, but the absolute numbers are far lower. The Medium preset’s min-max spread shrinks to 31 FPS, the tightest of any resolution, confirming that 4K is purely GPU-bound. The High-to-Ultra drop at 4K is 34 FPS (36.2%), the largest single-step penalty in the entire table, making Ultra at 4K the least viable configuration for smooth gameplay.