Greedfall

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a remarkable performance profile in Greedfall, with frame rates that scale predictably across the three tested resolutions. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, yet still demonstrates the CPU's capability to feed the flagship graphics card at lower presets. This analysis breaks down the measured results to determine the optimal settings, the role of each component, and how this combination stacks up against the broader benchmark database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this combination shows a clear hierarchy in performance that makes the High preset the most logical choice for a balanced experience. At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers an average of 103.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate 4K displays. Stepping down to Medium only gains 12.8 FPS (116.6 FPS), while the visual quality reduction is noticeable. The Ultra preset, conversely, exacts a heavy toll, dropping the average to 65.8 FPS at 4K—a 37% reduction from High. This makes Ultra a poor trade-off for the marginal visual improvements it offers, especially when the High preset already provides a triple-digit frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 177.1 FPS, which is exceptional and will easily saturate most 144Hz and even 165Hz monitors. The Medium preset (190.4 FPS) and Low preset (245.9 FPS) offer higher numbers, but they are beyond the refresh rate capabilities of most displays, making the extra frames imperceptible. The Ultra preset at 1440p (114 FPS) remains playable but again represents a significant performance loss for diminishing returns. The story is similar at 1920x1080, where High produces 250.5 FPS. While Low (350.5 FPS) and Medium (278.7 FPS) are faster, they are purely academic figures for competitive play, as the High preset already provides a buttery-smooth experience. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot, offering the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions, with the 4K results being the most compelling argument for this choice.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed performance driver in this pairing, and its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth ensures that Greedfall's textures and geometry are never constrained by memory capacity or throughput. This is particularly evident at 4K Ultra, where the card's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is pushed to its limit, resulting in the 65.8 FPS figure. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with its 16,384 shading units, allows it to brute-force the game's rendering demands. The 176 ROPs and 512 TMUs are more than capable of handling the pixel and texture fill rates required at high resolutions.

The data implies that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at the Ultra preset across all resolutions. For instance, moving from High to Ultra at 1080p drops the frame rate from 250.5 to 158.5 FPS, a 37% reduction that is directly attributable to the increased GPU workload. Conversely, the jump from Low to High at 1080p only costs 100 FPS (350.5 to 250.5), indicating that the GPU has ample headroom until the Ultra preset's effects are enabled. The GPU's performance percentile of 91 versus all other GPUs, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, confirm it is a top-tier part. The data suggests that for this game, the RTX 4090 is so powerful that even at 4K, only the most demanding preset can bring it to its knees.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Greedfall with this hardware for a high-refresh-rate experience?*

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440 with the High preset, the average frame rate is 177.1 FPS, which is ideal for monitors with refresh rates up to 170Hz. For 4K, the High preset at 103.8 FPS is the best option for a smooth experience on a 100Hz+ display.

Q: How much performance is lost when switching from the High to Ultra preset?

A: The frame rate penalty for enabling Ultra is substantial. At 1920x1080, the drop is from 250.5 FPS to 158.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, it falls from 177.1 FPS to 114 FPS. At 3840x2160, it drops from 103.8 FPS to 65.8 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this combination?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at Ultra settings, as the frame rates scale down consistently with resolution. However, at lower settings like Low at 1080p (350.5 FPS), the CPU's performance becomes more relevant, as it must be fast enough to feed the GPU those frames.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600X's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance in relation to this game?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2622, while its multi-core score is 18578. Greedfall's engine benefits from the strong single-core performance, which is evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low, where the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Medium presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 147.4 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 116.6 FPS. This is a 30.8 FPS difference, showing that Medium adds a significant workload compared to Low.

*Q: Does the RTX 4090's large memory capacity have a noticeable impact on Greedfall?*

A: The 24 GB VRAM is far beyond what Greedfall requires, ensuring that there is no texture pop-in or stuttering due to memory swapping. The bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s also allows for smooth streaming of high-resolution assets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are exceptionally high, showcasing the system's raw power. The Low preset achieves an average of 350.5 FPS, which is an extreme figure. The Medium preset is next at 278.7 FPS, followed by High at 250.5 FPS. The Ultra preset brings the average down to 158.5 FPS, a significant drop that highlights the heavy load of Ultra effects. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns, with the frame rate dropping by 192 FPS from the lowest to the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains very strong. The Low preset produces 245.9 FPS. The Medium preset yields 190.4 FPS, and the High preset is close behind at 177.1 FPS. The Ultra preset again causes the largest relative drop, falling to 114 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is 63.1 FPS, which is a 36% reduction. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings sees a 73.4 FPS drop (250.5 to 177.1), indicating the increased pixel count has a noticeable impact.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the GPU is working much harder. The Low preset averages 147.4 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset drops to 116.6 FPS, and the High preset is at 103.8 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to just 65.8 FPS, which is the only sub-100 FPS result in the entire dataset. The scaling here is steep; moving from High to Ultra costs 38 FPS, making Ultra a difficult choice for 4K gaming unless a 60Hz panel is used. The Low-to-Ultra range at 4K spans 81.6 FPS, showing the massive workload difference between the presets.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 37 out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the top 2.2% of all systems in the database, which is an exceptional result. The ranking reflects the high average frame rates measured across all presets and resolutions, particularly the ability to maintain high performance at 4K. The data suggests that this pairing is not just a high-end system, but one that is specifically well-suited for this title.

The GPU's performance percentile of 91 versus all other GPUs indicates that the RTX 4090 is a top-tier part, and the CPU's percentile of 78 is also respectable. The combo rank of 37 suggests that while the CPU is not the absolute fastest, its strong single-thread performance complements the GPU well in this game. The closest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Core i7-10700, have average benchmark scores within 0.5% of the 5600X, but the measured FPS data for this combo shows that the pairing is more than the sum of its parts, as it outranks the vast majority of systems in the database.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, plays a crucial role in ensuring the RTX 4090 is not starved of data. Its boost clock of 4.60 GHz provides the single-threaded speed that Greedfall's engine relies on for game logic and draw calls. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622 is a strong indicator of this capability, allowing for high frame rates even at 1080p Low, where the system achieved 350.5 FPS. This suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU is the limiting factor, but it is capable enough to push past the 300 FPS mark.

The multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18578, is less critical for this game but still provides headroom for background tasks. The 32 MB of L3 cache is beneficial for keeping frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency. The CPU's performance is close to its nearest rivals, with the 5600X averaging 20680 in benchmarks, while the Ryzen 5 5600GT scores 20740 and the Intel Core i7-10700 scores 20746. This shows that the 5600X is not a bottleneck in this system; it provides enough throughput to keep the RTX 4090 occupied, especially at 4K where the GPU's workload is the primary constraint.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern of frame rate scaling as resolution increases, which points to the GPU being the dominant performance limiter. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 250.5 at 1080p to 177.1 at 1440p, a 29% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K (2160p) sees a further drop to 103.8 FPS, a 41% reduction. This non-linear scaling is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, placing an exponentially larger load on the graphics card.

The scaling is even more dramatic at the Low preset, where the frame rate goes from 350.5 FPS at 1080p to 245.9 FPS at 1440p (a 30% drop) and then to 147.4 FPS at 4K (a 40% drop). This consistent pattern across presets confirms that the RTX 4090's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rates to plateau at lower resolutions, but the data shows continuous scaling, indicating the GPU is always the limiting factor, even at 4K Ultra where it drops to 65.8 FPS. The results suggest that to maintain a consistent 60 FPS at 4K, the Ultra preset is not viable, but the High preset offers a 73% higher frame rate, proving the importance of settings selection for 4K play.