Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting benchmark scenario for the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination. The measured data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution, but the relationship between settings presets and frame rate is not always linear, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to characterize the performance profile of this specific CPU-GPU pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At the High preset, average frame rates fall from 181 FPS at 1920x1080 to 121.5 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 33%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields 74.9 FPS, which is roughly 59% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline points to a GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and the 192-bit memory bus are tasked with filling significantly more pixels.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At the Low preset, the system achieves 246.2 FPS at 1080p, drops to 172 FPS at 1440p, and settles at 100.2 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic falloff, going from 110.7 FPS at 1080p to 80.4 FPS at 1440p and finally to 48.3 FPS at 4K. This consistent trend across presets confirms that the resolution scaling behavior is independent of the graphical settings chosen, reinforcing the conclusion that the GPU's rendering throughput is the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The data suggests that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, is not the constraining factor at 1080p. The large gaps between the Low and Ultra presets at this resolution—246.2 FPS versus 110.7 FPS—show that the GPU has ample headroom when the CPU is not heavily loaded. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3dmark single-thread score of 1253, likely keeps up with the GPU's demands at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 450 out of 1705 tested combos for Greedfall. This places the pairing in the top 26% of all systems tested, indicating a configuration that delivers above-average performance for this title. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's capabilities and the GPU's raw power, with neither component severely bottlenecking the other in most scenarios.

The CPU itself ranks in the 85th percentile against all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 28246. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13490F at 28173 (0.3% slower) and the AMD Ryzen 5 230 at 28164 (0.3% slower). The data also shows the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS at 28369 (0.4% faster) and the Intel Core i5-14500T at 28377 (0.5% faster) as close competitors. This tight grouping suggests the 9600X is well-positioned in the mid-range desktop CPU segment.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 81 places it above the majority of graphics cards in the database. Its average benchmark score of 37283 is comparable to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507 (0.6% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at 38008 (1.9% faster), though these are not direct performance peers in gaming workloads. The RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth are key specifications that contribute to its strong showing in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing for Greedfall, particularly as resolution increases. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is sufficient for the game's demands at 4K, as evidenced by the playable 74.9 FPS at High settings. The memory operates at 1313 MHz with a 21 Gbps effective data rate across a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This bandwidth is critical for the texture-heavy environments typical of an Action RPG set in a detailed world.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, allow for strong performance scaling across the settings presets. At 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized, as seen by the 246.2 FPS at Low settings, which suggests the CPU is keeping pace. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 48.3 FPS, indicating the GPU is saturated with work. The 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are part of the Ada Lovelace architecture, though their specific impact on Greedfall's performance is not directly measured in the provided data.

The benchmark results show that the GPU's performance degrades gracefully as settings increase. The transition from Medium to High at 4K results in a modest drop from 79 FPS to 74.9 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra causes a more significant fall to 48.3 FPS. This nonlinear scaling highlights the substantial computational cost of the Ultra preset's additional effects, which likely include higher-quality shadows, reflections, and draw distances that tax the GPU's shading units and texture rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this configuration. At 1920x1080, High delivers 181 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate displays. At 2560x1440, the High preset maintains 121.5 FPS, providing an excellent experience for most gaming monitors. Even at 3840x2160, High achieves 74.9 FPS, which remains within the playable range for a 60 Hz display, though users with 120 Hz 4K panels would need to consider the Medium preset.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for 4K gaming, offering 79 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a modest sacrifice in visual fidelity compared to High, but the frame rate improvement is noticeable. The Low preset, while providing 100.2 FPS at 4K, likely compromises too much in visual quality for an Action RPG where environmental detail contributes to immersion. The Ultra preset is not recommended at 4K, where 48.3 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target, but it becomes viable at lower resolutions: 110.7 FPS at 1080p and 80.4 FPS at 1440p.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 2560x1440 offers 172 FPS, which would be ideal for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. However, for the majority of players, the High preset provides the most consistent experience across all three resolutions, with frame rates that remain above 70 FPS even at 4K. The data suggests that this CPU-GPU combo is well-suited for High settings at 1440p, where it delivers 121.5 FPS, making it a strong choice for gamers seeking high-quality visuals without sacrificing smoothness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance potential. The Low preset achieves 246.2 FPS, the Medium preset reaches 197.8 FPS, and the High preset delivers 181 FPS. The Ultra preset, at 110.7 FPS, still provides a smooth experience but shows the significant cost of maximum graphical settings. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the CPU and GPU combination is capable of exceeding 200 FPS in lighter settings, making it suitable for esports-style play or high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset yields 172 FPS, which remains exceptionally high for a 1440p resolution. The Medium preset produces 136.8 FPS, while the High preset maintains 121.5 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 80.4 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold but shows the increased strain on the GPU at this resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 91.6 FPS, indicating that the settings preset has a more pronounced effect than resolution scaling alone.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Low preset delivers 100.2 FPS, which is respectable for 4K gaming. The Medium preset falls to 79 FPS, and the High preset achieves 74.9 FPS. The Ultra preset, at 48.3 FPS, is the only combination in the entire dataset that falls below the 60 FPS standard. This 4K Ultra result is approximately 52% slower than the 4K Low preset, underscoring the exponential cost of rendering effects at higher pixel counts. The data across all resolutions and settings shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 4070 provides the most headroom at 1080p, but as resolution increases, the benefits of lower settings presets become more critical for maintaining playable frame rates.