Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, shows a clear performance hierarchy when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The measured data indicates that this combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all resolutions, with the primary bottleneck shifting from the GPU at 4K to the CPU at 1080p. The sweet spot for visual fidelity and performance is the High preset, which maintains excellent playability even at 4K, while the Ultra preset demands a significant performance cost that may not justify its visual gains.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, specifically the Vermeer codename. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, featuring a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This large cache is a defining characteristic that benefits games with complex asset streaming, and Greedfall, with its dense environments and numerous NPCs, can leverage this effectively. The processor's benchmark scores, such as a Passmark single-thread score of 2941 and a multithread score of 20363, place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong overall capability.

The data shows that the CPU's influence is most pronounced at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with the Low preset hitting 316 FPS and Medium reaching 248 FPS. These figures suggest that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with data faster than the GPU can render frames at this resolution, making the system CPU-limited. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, and the CPU's role diminishes. The processor's performance relative to its nearest rivals is remarkably tight; it scores 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, while being 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 and 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i9-12900T. This indicates that the 5500X3D is perfectly positioned in its performance class, offering no significant advantage or disadvantage over its direct competitors in synthetic benchmarks.

In Greedfall specifically, the CPU's 96 MB L3 cache is likely a key factor in maintaining high minimum frame rates, as seen in the Medium preset where the 1440p minimum is 146 FPS and the 1080p minimum is 211 FPS. These minimums are not far from the averages, suggesting consistent frame pacing and a lack of stuttering, which is often a sign of a processor struggling to feed data. The 5500X3D's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 2941, is also crucial for the game's primary game logic thread. While the data does not isolate CPU load, the fact that 1080p Ultra still manages 144 FPS indicates that the processor has ample headroom for high-refresh-rate gaming even with demanding settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end graphics card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, resulting in a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2550 MHz, and it has a massive 10240 shading units. The card's benchmark scores are equally impressive, with a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 260075, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. This raw power is what allows for the high frame rates observed in the measured data.

The GPU's role is directly tied to resolution and settings. At 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER is clearly the limiting factor. The average FPS drops from 225 at 1080p High to 93 at 4K High, a reduction of over 58%. This scaling is expected, as the number of pixels increases fourfold from 1080p to 4K, demanding more from the GPU's shading and memory subsystems. The 16 GB of VRAM is sufficient for Greedfall at all tested settings, as there are no indications of memory-related performance hits, even at 4K Ultra. The card's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets are handled without issue.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals is interesting. It scores 0.1% lower than the non-SUPER RTX 4080, which is within the margin of error. However, it is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, 2.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and 2.8% higher than the AMD Radeon 8060S. This suggests that while the RTX 4080 SUPER is a top-tier card, its advantage over the next-best alternatives is modest in synthetic tests. In Greedfall, the measured frame rates confirm this, as the card is able to push 4K Ultra to 59 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The transition from High to Ultra at 4K results in a 34 FPS drop, from 93 to 59 FPS, a significant performance cost for the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides a clear picture of the performance envelope for this combo. At 4K, the High preset delivers an average of 93 FPS, which is excellent for a cinematic experience on a 60Hz or 120Hz display. The Ultra preset, at 59 FPS, is right on the edge of 60 FPS, and while playable, it offers marginal visual improvements over High. The Medium preset at 4K provides 103 FPS, which is a good middle ground if you want higher frame rates without dropping to Low. The Low preset at 4K, at 131 FPS, is clearly not the intended use case for a card of this caliber, as it sacrifices too much visual quality.

For 1440p, the High preset at 156 FPS is the recommended choice for gamers with high-refresh-rate monitors, as it balances visual quality with the performance needed to utilize a 144Hz or 165Hz display. The Ultra preset at 100 FPS is also viable for 1440p, still offering a smooth experience, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 56 FPS, which is substantial. The Medium preset at 172 FPS is a good option if you want to maximize refresh rates, but it is unlikely that the visual differences between Medium and High justify the frame rate drop.

At 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, and the GPU is not the limiting factor. The High preset at 225 FPS is excellent for competitive or high-refresh-rate gaming, but the Ultra preset at 144 FPS is also very playable. The Low and Medium presets at 316 FPS and 248 FPS, respectively, are only useful for extreme refresh rates or if you are trying to eliminate any potential frame drops. For the best overall experience, the data strongly suggests the High preset at any resolution, as it provides the most balanced frame rate without the performance hit of Ultra. The Ultra preset should only be used if you prioritize maximum visual fidelity and are willing to accept the frame rate penalty, particularly at 4K where it dips to 59 FPS.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved at 1080p with this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate at 1080p is 316 FPS, achieved with the Low settings preset.

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

A: On the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 225 FPS at 1080p to 93 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 132 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER faster than the standard RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: No, the data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080 in the average benchmark score.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for the Medium preset at 2560x1440?

A: The minimum frame rate recorded for the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 146 FPS, with an average of 172 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500X3D compare to the Intel Core Ultra 5 225?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D has an average benchmark score that is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 225.

Q: What is the average frame rate for the Ultra preset at 3840x2160?

A: The average frame rate for the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 is 59 FPS.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The data reveals a classic resolution scaling pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS on the High preset drops from 225 to 156, a 30.7% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, the average FPS drops from 156 to 93, a 40.4% decrease. This progressive decline is indicative of a system that is primarily GPU-limited at higher resolutions. The fact that the frame rate does not scale linearly with the pixel count (4K has 4x the pixels of 1080p) suggests that the GPU is becoming more efficient at higher resolutions or that other bottlenecks are present.

The most telling evidence is the difference in scaling between the Low and Ultra presets. At Low settings, the 1080p to 4K drop is from 316 to 131 FPS, a 58.5% reduction. At Ultra settings, the 1080p to 4K drop is from 144 to 59 FPS, a 59.0% reduction. The similarity in the percentage drop across different settings suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor in both cases. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the performance drop to be less severe at lower resolutions where the CPU load is higher. Instead, the data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU is likely the limiting factor, but as the resolution increases, the GPU's workload becomes the dominant constraint.

This is further confirmed by the fact that the 1080p Ultra preset (144 FPS) is still higher than the 4K Low preset (131 FPS). This indicates that even with the lowest settings, the GPU is still being pushed harder at 4K than it is with the highest settings at 1080p. Therefore, for this specific game and hardware combination, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the component that determines the ceiling for frame rates at 1440p and 4K, while the Ryzen 5 5500X3D is sufficient to keep up with the GPU at 1080p without becoming a significant bottleneck. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is a direct consequence of the GPU's rendering workload, and the CPU has enough headroom to avoid limiting performance until the very highest frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following table details the exact measured average frame rates for each resolution and settings preset combination.

1920x1080:

• Low: 316 FPS average.
• Medium: 248 FPS average, with a minimum of 211 FPS and a maximum of 285 FPS.
• High: 225 FPS average.
• Ultra: 144 FPS average.

2560x1440:

• Low: 219 FPS average.
• Medium: 172 FPS average, with a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS.
• High: 156 FPS average.
• Ultra: 100 FPS average.

3840x2160:

• Low: 131 FPS average.
• Medium: 103 FPS average, with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 118 FPS.
• High: 93 FPS average.
• Ultra: 59 FPS average.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the only one for which minimum and maximum frame rates are provided, offering a range of 211-285 FPS at 1080p, 146-198 FPS at 1440p, and 87-118 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the Medium preset may have more variable frame pacing than the other presets, but the minimums are still very high. The difference between the High and Ultra presets is significant at every resolution, with the Ultra preset costing over 50% of the frame rate at 1440p (156 to 100 FPS) and 4K (93 to 59 FPS). The jump from Low to Medium is relatively small, while the jump from Medium to High is moderate, and the jump from High to Ultra is the most severe. This pattern indicates that the Ultra preset likely enables computationally expensive effects that are not present in the High preset, making High the most efficient choice for high frame rates.