Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with resolution and graphical presets. This analysis examines the performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 processor paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, using measured frame rate data to interpret the balance between CPU and GPU limitations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 213 FPS at 1920x1080 to 148 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 88 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 30.5% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 40.5% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, indicating that the workload shifts from being partially CPU-bound at lower resolutions to heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

The Low preset shows a similar trend with a steeper initial drop. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 299 FPS, which falls to 207 FPS at 1440p (a 30.8% drop) and then to 124 FPS at 4K (a 40.1% drop). The ability of the RTX 5070 Ti to produce nearly 300 FPS at 1080p Low suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding frames at a very high rate, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The Medium preset, which includes minimum and maximum FPS data, provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 235 FPS with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 163 FPS with a range of 138 to 187 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 97 FPS with a range of 83 to 112 FPS. The frame time variance increases with resolution, suggesting that the GPU's rendering time is becoming more variable under heavier load.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the most significant performance cost. Average FPS drops from 136 at 1080p, to 94 at 1440p, and to 56 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 56 FPS is the lowest measured in the entire dataset, showing that the combination of high resolution and maximum settings can push even a high-end GPU like the RTX 5070 Ti to its limits in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 409th out of 3703 tested combinations in Greedfall. This places the system in the top 11% of all tested configurations, indicating strong overall performance. The percentile ranking of the individual components supports this: the CPU sits at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 19593 places it in close competition with several rivals. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 scores 19617, a delta of -0.1%, making it a statistical tie. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19668, which is 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, which is 0.5% lower. The Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19723, which is 0.7% higher. These deltas are all within a very narrow band, suggesting that the Ryzen 5 5500's compute performance is highly competitive with these mainstream alternatives.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5070 Ti's average benchmark score of 49957 places it near several high-end cards. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 scores 50001, a delta of -0.1%. The Intel Arc A550M scores 49737, a delta of 0.4%. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT scores 50951, which is 2% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT scores 48477, which is 3.1% lower. The data shows the RTX 5070 Ti is positioned in a competitive segment, trading blows with previous generation flagship cards.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides an excellent balance, with 148 FPS at High and 163 FPS at Medium. While 1920x1080 offers higher frame rates, the 1440p results remain well above 60 FPS even at Ultra (94 FPS), making it a viable high-refresh-rate target.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 213 at 1080p to 88 at 4K, a reduction of 58.7%. At the Low preset, the drop is from 299 FPS to 124 FPS, a reduction of 58.5%. The performance roughly halves at each major resolution step.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a playable experience at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 56. This is technically playable but sits right at the edge of what is typically considered smooth for fast-paced action. The Medium preset at 4K offers a more comfortable 97 FPS average.

Q: Is the system more CPU or GPU limited in this game?

A: The data indicates the system becomes increasingly GPU-limited as resolution rises. At 1080p Low, the CPU can push 299 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, producing only 56 FPS. The CPU's performance headroom is evident at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (0.1% slower), Intel Core i5-12500 (0.4% faster), Intel Core i7-10700F (0.5% slower), and Intel Core i5-11600KF (0.7% faster). All are within 1% of the Ryzen 5 5500's average score.

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 299, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only setting where the system approaches the 300 FPS mark.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combination depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset offers an excellent 213 FPS average, which is well-suited for high refresh rate monitors. The Medium preset delivers 235 FPS, but the difference between 213 and 235 FPS is unlikely to be perceptible to most users, while the visual quality increase at High is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the High preset provides a strong 148 FPS average, making it the recommended choice for a balanced experience. The Medium preset at 163 FPS offers a slight performance boost, but High's visual improvements are worth the 15 FPS trade-off. The Ultra preset at 94 FPS is still very playable, but the performance cost over High, which is 54 FPS higher, seems excessive for the incremental visual gains.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 97 FPS is the clear recommendation. It provides a smooth experience that makes full use of the resolution's detail. The High preset at 88 FPS is also viable, but the 9 FPS difference between Medium and High is smaller than the 32 FPS difference between Medium and Low, suggesting diminishing returns at this resolution. The Ultra preset at 56 FPS should be avoided unless visual fidelity is the absolute priority, as its performance is at the threshold of playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 299 FPS. The Medium preset averages 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. The High preset averages 213 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 136 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 163 FPS, showing the significant impact of settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. The Low preset averages 207 FPS. The Medium preset averages 163 FPS, with a minimum of 138 FPS and a maximum of 187 FPS. The High preset averages 148 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 94 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 113 FPS, indicating a tighter performance envelope than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The Low preset averages 124 FPS. The Medium preset averages 97 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS. The High preset averages 88 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 56 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 68 FPS, showing that settings have less impact on absolute frame rate at 4K due to the pixel fill rate bottleneck.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The processor's 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are relevant for gaming performance.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role appears to be providing enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions. The 299 FPS result at 1080p Low demonstrates that the 6-core/12-thread configuration can handle the game's engine demands at high frame rates. The processor's 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern: 1645 in the 2-thread test, 3151 in 4-thread, 4593 in 8-thread, and 5411 in the max-thread test. This suggests that the game does not scale perfectly with thread count, but the jump from 4 to 8 threads is significant.

The single-thread performance, as indicated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319, is adequate for gaming. The passmark single-thread score of 3058 places it in a competitive position. The CPU's percentile ranking of 73rd overall indicates it is a mid-to-high tier processor, and its performance in this game reflects that, as it is not the primary limiter in most tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a high-end graphics card based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, using the GB203 chip. It features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. The card has 8960 shading units, 280 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. Its boost clock is 2452 MHz.

In Greedfall, the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the card's rasterization throughput and memory bandwidth determine the frame rate. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, as even the Ultra preset at 4K does not appear to be memory-limited based on the consistent performance scaling.

The GPU's benchmark scores show its capabilities. The Passmark G3D score of 32974 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6604 indicate strong DirectX 12 performance, which is relevant for Greedfall. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 225122 and OpenCL score of 212363 show the card's compute capabilities. The GPU's percentile ranking of 86th overall places it in the upper echelon of graphics cards, and the measured FPS data confirms this position, as it is able to deliver high frame rates at 1440p and playable frame rates at 4K across most settings.