Greedfall

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is an extreme generational mismatch, pitting a 2019 mainstream six-core processor against a 2025 flagship graphics card. The measured results in Greedfall reveal a system that is almost entirely GPU-bound at higher resolutions but shows clear signs of CPU limitation at 1080p. The data shows a performance curve that scales predictably with resolution, yet the CPU's older architecture prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential in lighter loads.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and indicates where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 284 FPS, but at 4K with the same settings, it drops to 159 FPS—a reduction of 125 FPS, or roughly 44%. This steep decline demonstrates that at 1080p, the CPU is struggling to feed the GPU, capping performance before the graphics card can fully engage. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less severe: Low settings go from 284 to 252 FPS, a 32 FPS drop, while High settings fall from 252 to 190 FPS, a 62 FPS decrease. This suggests the GPU is beginning to take over the workload at 1440p, though the CPU still imposes a ceiling.

The transition from 1440p to 4K shows the most dramatic scaling, particularly on High settings, which fall from 190 FPS to 113 FPS—a 77 FPS loss. This 40.5% reduction closely mirrors the pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K (3.7 million to 8.3 million pixels), indicating that at 4K, the RTX 5090 D is the primary limiting factor. For Ultra settings, the trend is similar but with a lower starting point: 121 FPS at 1440p drops to 72 FPS at 4K, a 49 FPS decline. The pattern is consistent—as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint, while at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 3600's six cores and Zen 2 architecture prevent the system from reaching frame rates that the RTX 5090 D could otherwise deliver.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 3600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, built on a 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, and it features 32 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 4605 in 3DMark with 16 threads and 696 in 3DMark single-thread, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124. These numbers place the CPU in the 71st percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 17035.

The CPU's single-thread performance is directly relevant to Greedfall, an Action RPG that relies heavily on game logic and AI. At 1080p Low, the system hits 284 FPS, which suggests the CPU is still managing to keep up, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (284 vs 175 FPS) reveals that the GPU is not the bottleneck at lower settings. The CPU's 3DMark 2-thread score of 1361 and 4-thread score of 2579 indicate modest multi-thread scaling, which aligns with the game's likely reliance on fewer, faster cores rather than many slower ones. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 3600 is nearly identical in average score to the Intel Core i7-1260P (deltaPct 0.2%) and the Intel Core i5-11400 (deltaPct -0.2%), meaning its CPU-bound performance in this game should be comparable to those parts.

At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes. The 4K High result of 113 FPS versus the 4K Low result of 159 FPS shows that the GPU is doing heavy lifting, but the 46 FPS gap between these settings suggests the CPU can still influence minimum frame pacing. The 4K Medium result includes a min FPS of 106, which is only 7 FPS below the 4K High average, indicating that the CPU can cause occasional dips even when the GPU has spare capacity. The data supports the conclusion that the Ryzen 5 3600 is adequate for 4K gaming with this GPU, but it leaves performance on the table at 1080p and 1440p where the RTX 5090 D could otherwise run much faster.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2407 MHz, and it contains 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The GPU's synthetic scores are impressive: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326, Geekbench OpenCL score of 310674, and Passmark G3D score of 44065. It ranks in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 77712.

In Greedfall, the RTX 5090 D's role becomes evident when examining the scaling across settings at a fixed resolution. At 4K, moving from Low (159 FPS) to Medium (125 FPS) to High (113 FPS) to Ultra (72 FPS) shows a clear progression of GPU workload. The Ultra preset at 4K cuts performance by more than half compared to Low, which indicates that Ultra settings impose heavy rendering demands that this GPU can handle but not trivialize. The GPU's 32 GB VRAM is likely not a limiting factor in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 72 FPS, suggesting memory capacity is sufficient.

The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz is relevant when comparing results across resolutions. At 1080p, the system consistently exceeds 250 FPS on most settings, which means the GPU is running at high utilization but the CPU is likely preventing it from reaching its maximum frame output. At 1440p, the GPU becomes more engaged, with High settings hitting 190 FPS and Ultra hitting 121 FPS. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is more than adequate for Greedfall's texture-heavy environments, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1440p to 4K. The GPU's nearest rivals show a deltaPct of 1.1% to the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and -1.6% to the Radeon RX 6850M XT, but these are mobile GPUs and do not reflect the RTX 5090 D's desktop-class performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 284 FPS, Medium produces 261 FPS with a min of 221 and max of 300, High produces 252 FPS, and Ultra produces 175 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 109 FPS, which is significant. The Medium settings show a min FPS of 221, which is 40 FPS below the average, indicating some frame time spikes. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset delivers 175 FPS, which is well above typical display refresh rates, but the gap between Low and Ultra (109 FPS) suggests the CPU is not fully utilizing the GPU's capabilities at lower settings.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 252 FPS, Medium at 209 FPS (min 178, max 240), High at 190 FPS, and Ultra at 121 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 131 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, showing that the GPU is becoming more of a factor. The Medium settings at 1440p show a min FPS of 178, which is 31 FPS below the average, again indicating some inconsistency. The High preset at 190 FPS is notable because it is only 2 FPS below the 1080p High result, suggesting that the GPU is still not fully saturated at 1440p High.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 159 FPS, Medium at 125 FPS (min 106, max 143), High at 113 FPS, and Ultra at 72 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only result below 100 FPS, and it represents a 45% drop from the High preset. The Medium preset at 4K shows a min of 106 FPS, which is 19 FPS below its average, indicating that even at this resolution, there are occasional frame dips that could be attributed to CPU-related hitches. The 4K Low result of 159 FPS is still very high, but it is 125 FPS below the 1080p Low result, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 94th out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the top 3.2% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the CPU's age. The rank of 94 means that there are 93 other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in this game, likely featuring newer processors with higher single-thread performance.

The combo's high rank is primarily driven by the RTX 5090 D's raw power, but the CPU's 71st percentile standing means that many other processors will outperform this pairing in CPU-bound scenarios. The rank of 94 out of 2938 is impressive, but it is not indicative of the system's full potential. If the Ryzen 5 3600 were replaced with a newer CPU with higher single-thread performance, this combo would likely rank higher, as the GPU is clearly capable of delivering more frames at 1080p and 1440p. However, as measured, this pairing is still a top-100 configuration, which means it delivers excellent performance in Greedfall at all resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience for a 60 Hz display would be the 4K Ultra preset, which delivers 72 FPS. This is above 60 FPS and provides the highest visual quality. For a 144 Hz display, the 4K High preset at 113 FPS is the best option, as it maintains a high frame rate while offering good visual fidelity. The 4K Medium preset at 125 FPS is also viable, but the High preset provides a better balance with only a 12 FPS penalty.

For 1440p, the Ultra preset at 121 FPS is the recommended choice for a 120 Hz display, as it hits the refresh rate target while offering maximum quality. If a 144 Hz display is used, the High preset at 190 FPS is preferable, as it exceeds 144 FPS and provides a smoother experience. The 1440p Medium preset at 209 FPS is unnecessary for most displays, but it could be used for competitive play where higher frame rates matter.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 175 FPS is the best choice for a 165 Hz display, as it exceeds the refresh rate. For a 240 Hz display, the High preset at 252 FPS is the recommended setting, as it provides a high frame rate without the visual quality loss of Low or the inconsistency of Medium (which has a min of 221 FPS). The Low preset at 284 FPS is only useful for extreme competitive scenarios, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial. The data shows that the High preset offers the most consistent experience across resolutions, with no min FPS recorded below its average.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Greedfall?

A: The highest average FPS is 284, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 72 FPS, which is the lowest measured result but still playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor, as the gap between Low (284 FPS) and Ultra (175 FPS) is 109 FPS, suggesting the GPU has headroom that the CPU cannot feed.

Q: What is the combo rank in Greedfall?

A: The combo ranks 94th out of 2938 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3.2% of all configurations.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for Medium settings?

A: The min FPS values are 221 at 1080p, 178 at 1440p, and 106 at 4K, all recorded with Medium settings.

Q: Does the GPU's 32 GB VRAM cause any issues in this game?

A: No, the 32 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Greedfall, as the game runs at 72 FPS minimum at 4K Ultra, indicating no memory-related stuttering.