Greedfall

The pairing of AMD’s Ryzen 5 9600X with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1650 in Greedfall presents a study in bottleneck dynamics, where the GPU’s 2019-era capabilities are tested against a modern, high-frequency CPU. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is consistently constrained by its graphics card, yet the CPU’s headroom ensures that lower resolutions and settings yield playable, if not spectacular, results. This analysis breaks down the data to understand where the limits lie and what users can expect from this specific configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, confirming the GTX 1650 as the primary limiting component. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves an average of 69.7 FPS, which falls to 49.8 FPS at 1440p and further to 30.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 56% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling is even more severe at High settings, where the 51.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 36.3 FPS at 1440p and finally to 19.8 FPS at 4K—a 61% decline. Such a steep curve indicates that the GPU’s 4 GB of VRAM and 128.1 GB/s memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases, with the 128-bit bus width struggling to feed the rendering pipeline at higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the situation becomes untenable, with 31.8 FPS at 1080p collapsing to 11.5 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that the GTX 1650’s 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply inadequate for the game’s high-end visual effects at 4K, regardless of the CPU’s readiness. Conversely, the Ryzen 5 9600X’s strong single-thread performance (evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1253) ensures that at 1080p Low, the system is likely GPU-bound, as the 69.7 FPS result shows the GTX 1650 can still push out decent numbers when the CPU has no trouble keeping up. The pattern implies that resolution scaling is entirely a function of the GPU’s fill rate and memory subsystem, not the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1661 out of 1705 tested configurations in Greedfall, this pairing sits in the bottom 3% of all tested combos. This low ranking is unsurprising given the GTX 1650’s modest standing; the GPU itself holds a percentile of 43 against all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 9600X is in the 85th percentile for CPUs. The disparity between the two components—a high-end CPU paired with a low-end GPU—creates a significant imbalance that the benchmark data reflects. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13490F (0.3% lower average score) and the AMD Ryzen 5 230 (0.3% lower), while the GPU’s closest competitors are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (0.4% lower) and the AMD Radeon 550X (0.4% lower). In practice, this means the combo’s overall performance is dragged down by the GPU, as the CPU’s potential is largely untapped in this game.

The rank suggests that among the 1705 combos tested, only 44 perform worse. This places the system in a territory where users are likely to experience significant compromises in visual fidelity or frame rate. The data indicates that while the CPU is a modern powerhouse, the GPU’s age—being end-of-life with a 2019 release date—severely limits the overall experience in a 2019 Action RPG like Greedfall, which was designed around the hardware of its era. The gap between the CPU’s 85th percentile and the GPU’s 43rd percentile is a clear indicator of the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The GTX 1650’s role in this combo is defined by its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, a capacity that proves restrictive in Greedfall’s open-world environments. The GPU’s base clock of 1485 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz are modest, but the real constraint is the 128.1 GB/s memory bandwidth, which is likely the reason for the steep performance drop at 4K. The card’s 896 shading units and 32 ROPs are insufficient for the game’s Ultra settings, as evidenced by the 11.5 FPS average at 4K Ultra. Comparatively, the GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro P2200, scores 0.5% higher, but both are clearly entry-level solutions.

At 1080p Low, the GPU manages 69.7 FPS, showing that it can handle the game when the visual load is minimized. However, the transition from Low to Medium at 1080p sees a drop from 69.7 FPS to 60 FPS, a 14% reduction, and then to 51.4 FPS at High—a further 14% decline. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields only 31.8 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM is likely exceeded, causing texture swapping and frame hitches. The memory clock of 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective) cannot compensate for the small pool, making 4K Ultra an impossibility at 11.5 FPS. This data underscores that the GPU is the definitive weak link, with its performance ceiling firmly at 1080p with reduced settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience is found at 1080p with Low settings, where the combo achieves 69.7 FPS—the highest measured average across all configurations. This setting provides a smooth, playable frame rate without dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings at 1080p are also viable at exactly 60 FPS, offering a slightly better visual quality but with no headroom for demanding scenes. For users prioritizing consistency, Low is the safer choice, as the drop to High at 1080p (51.4 FPS) introduces noticeable stutter potential, though it remains playable.

At 1440p, the data recommends Low settings (49.8 FPS) as the only reasonable option, as Medium drops to 41.4 FPS and High to 36.3 FPS, both below the ideal 60 FPS target. Ultra settings at any resolution are not recommended, with 25.9 FPS at 1440p and 31.8 FPS at 1080p being suboptimal. At 4K, the situation is bleak; even Low settings yield only 30.6 FPS, which is barely playable for a slower-paced RPG but not recommended for action sequences. The analysis suggests that users should stick to 1080p Low/Medium for a balanced experience, accepting that the GPU cannot handle higher resolutions with this CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS scales predictably with settings: Low produces 69.7 FPS, Medium exactly 60 FPS, High 51.4 FPS, and Ultra 31.8 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 14% drop, while Medium to High is a 14.3% reduction, and High to Ultra is a 38% plunge, highlighting the GTX 1650’s inability to handle Ultra’s extra effects. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers are 49.8 FPS (Low), 41.4 FPS (Medium), 36.3 FPS (High), and 25.9 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p Medium result is 31% lower than its 1080p counterpart, showing the resolution’s toll on the GPU’s memory bandwidth.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 30.6 FPS (Low), 23.2 FPS (Medium), 19.8 FPS (High), and 11.5 FPS (Ultra). The 4K Low figure is 56% lower than 1080p Low, and the 4K Ultra result is a 64% reduction from 1080p Ultra. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra widens with resolution: at 1080p, the difference is 37.9 FPS, at 1440p it is 23.9 FPS, and at 4K it is 19.1 FPS. This suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes so saturated that settings have a smaller absolute impact, though relative performance remains poor. The data shows no min/max FPS values, so averages are the sole metric.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 with Low settings yields the highest average FPS at 69.7, making it the only resolution/setting combo that exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: Is the GTX 1650 capable of running Greedfall at 4K?

A: At 4K, the best result is 30.6 FPS on Low settings, with Ultra producing only 11.5 FPS. The GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 28246, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-13490F and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 230, but 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS.

Q: Why is the combo rank so low at 1661 out of 1705?

A: The rank reflects the GTX 1650’s 43rd percentile standing relative to all GPUs, which heavily drags down the overall combo despite the CPU’s 85th percentile. The GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What settings are recommended for 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings provide 49.8 FPS, which is the only playable option. Medium (41.4 FPS), High (36.3 FPS), and Ultra (25.9 FPS) are all below 50 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s single-thread score of 1253 in 3dmark indicates ample headroom, as the FPS drops are consistent with GPU limitations, not CPU bottlenecks.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, operates at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, based on the Zen 5 architecture. In Greedfall, this CPU is far from the limiting factor; its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1253 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3603 demonstrate strong per-thread performance that easily handles the game’s AI and physics calculations. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput, ensuring that the GPU is the sole bottleneck. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU has the least work relative to the GPU, the frame rate is still capped by the GTX 1650’s output.

The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28246, places it far above the GPU’s 43rd percentile. This disparity means that in a game like Greedfall, which is not heavily multi-threaded, the Ryzen 5 9600X’s 3dmark_max_threads score of 7590 is underutilized. The CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13490F, has a similar average score (28173), but neither can compensate for the GPU’s limitations. Users upgrading from weaker CPUs would see no FPS improvement in this combo, as the GTX 1650 is the hard ceiling. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node indicate efficiency, but in this pairing, that efficiency is wasted on a GPU that cannot keep pace.