Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG from Spiders, presents an interesting case study in how a modern mid-range CPU and upper-mid-range GPU interact. The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT demonstrates a clear performance hierarchy that shifts depending on resolution and graphical preset. The measured FPS data reveals a system that is capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p but becomes increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count and visual fidelity rise. The benchmark results indicate that this pairing is well-balanced for 1440p High settings, while 4K Ultra demands more from the graphics card than it can deliver at playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and tells a clear story about system bottlenecks. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 146.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 104.9 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 41.7 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 63.7 FPS, which represents a 56.5% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario; the RX 7700 XT is working progressively harder to fill the increasing number of pixels.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 206.9 FPS, but this falls to 143.9 FPS at 1440p and then to 88.7 FPS at 4K. The delta between Low and High settings at the same resolution is also revealing. At 1080p, the difference between Low (206.9 FPS) and High (146.6 FPS) is 60.3 FPS. At 4K, the same setting change only yields a 25.0 FPS difference (88.7 vs 63.7). This compression of the performance gap at higher resolutions is a classic sign that the GPU is the limiting component; the CPU has enough headroom to handle the lower settings, but the graphics card's raw throughput becomes the primary constraint.

The Ultra preset further confirms this trend. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 93.7 FPS, while High delivers 146.6 FPS, a 52.9 FPS advantage for High. At 4K, Ultra drops to 38.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered desirable for smooth action gameplay. The data suggests that players targeting 4K will need to stick with Medium (69.1 FPS) or High (63.7 FPS) settings to maintain fluid motion, while Ultra is only viable at 1080p.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the dominant performance driver in this configuration, particularly as resolution increases. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 12 GB capacity is sufficient for Greedfall's texture and geometry demands at 4K, but the bandwidth and compute throughput determine the frame rates observed. The RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, includes 3456 shading units and 96 ROPs, which contribute to the card's 244.2 GPixel/s pixel rate and 549.5 GTexel/s texture rate.

The GPU's clock behavior is central to its performance. The base clock is 1435 MHz, but the boost clock reaches 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz. This boost behavior explains why the card performs well in sustained gaming loads; it can operate near its peak frequency under typical game conditions. The 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is substantial for a card in this class, and the benchmark results show it scoring 22547 in Passmark G3D, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs.

The 4K Ultra result of 38.3 FPS illustrates the card's limits. This is likely due to the combination of high-resolution textures, complex shaders, and the increased pixel count overwhelming the GPU's resources. The card's nearest rival in aggregate benchmarks is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, with a delta of 0.0%, and the AMD Radeon RX 570, which scores 30158 versus the 7700 XT's 30097 average. This positions the RX 7700 XT as a solid performer for 1440p gaming, but the data suggests it is not a 4K Ultra card for Greedfall.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 plays a supporting role that becomes more critical at lower resolutions. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, the CPU offers a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are sufficient to keep the GPU fed in most scenarios. The CPU's benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319, which places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p with Low settings, where the system reaches 206.9 FPS. At this point, the GPU is not the primary constraint, and the CPU's ability to process game logic and draw calls becomes more significant. The Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread performance is adequate for this task, as evidenced by its 836 score in 3DMark single-thread testing. However, the data shows that even at 1080p Ultra (93.7 FPS), the CPU is not creating a significant bottleneck, as the frame rate is still limited by the GPU's rendering capabilities.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-12500, which scores 20897 with a delta of -0.1%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE, also at -0.1%. This indicates the Ryzen 5 5500 is competitive with other mid-range options. In Greedfall specifically, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is well-suited for the game's engine, which likely does not fully utilize more than 8 threads. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 5386 and max-thread score of 5411 suggest that the CPU has limited headroom beyond its 12 threads, but this is not a constraint for Greedfall.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 High settings deliver 104.9 FPS, which offers a strong balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay. For higher frame rates, 1080p High achieves 146.6 FPS.

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

A: Yes, but not at Ultra settings. The 4K Medium result of 69.1 FPS and 4K High result of 63.7 FPS are both above 60 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 38.3 FPS, which is below the smooth-play threshold.

Q: How does the RX 7700 XT compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 30097, which is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109, delta 0.0%) and slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 570 (30158, delta -0.2%).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The data suggests it is not a significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 206.9 FPS, indicating the CPU can handle high frame rates. At higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 143.9 FPS, while Ultra yields 67.6 FPS. This represents a 76.3 FPS difference, showing the significant impact of graphical presets on performance.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance impact Greedfall?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and 3dmark max-thread score of 5411 indicate sufficient multi-threading capability. Greedfall appears to be well-optimized for this core count, as the system maintains high frame rates even in CPU-sensitive scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all twelve resolution and settings combinations.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 206.9 FPS average
• Medium: 164.6 FPS average
• High: 146.6 FPS average
• Ultra: 93.7 FPS average

At 1080p, the system is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings, but the Low preset result of 206.9 FPS shows the CPU's capability to drive very high frame rates. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with the largest single drop occurring between High (146.6 FPS) and Ultra (93.7 FPS), a 52.9 FPS reduction.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 143.9 FPS average
• Medium: 115.9 FPS average
• High: 104.9 FPS average
• Ultra: 67.6 FPS average

The 1440p results show a similar pattern but with lower absolute values. The gap between Low and Ultra is 76.3 FPS, and the High setting still provides over 100 FPS, making this the sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors. Ultra drops below 70 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 88.7 FPS average
• Medium: 69.1 FPS average
• High: 63.7 FPS average
• Ultra: 38.3 FPS average

At 4K, the GPU's limitations become clear. Only the Low preset manages to stay above 80 FPS. Medium and High are close, at 69.1 FPS and 63.7 FPS respectively, both remaining above 60 FPS. Ultra falls dramatically to 38.3 FPS, which is the only combination in the entire dataset that drops below 40 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 50.4 FPS range, indicating that the graphics card's compute resources are the primary limiting factor at this resolution.