Greedfall

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It sits in the 91st percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 40,468. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-13905H (0.6% slower), indicating that this desktop chip is competitive with high-end mobile parts despite its mainstream positioning.

In Greedfall, an Action RPG from 2019, the CPU’s thread count and clock speeds matter less than one might expect. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system produces 237.3 FPS on average, which is the highest result across any resolution or settings combination. This massive headroom suggests the Ryzen 7 7700 is not a bottleneck at lower settings, even when the GPU is pushed to its limits. The processor’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for a game of this era, which was not designed to exploit more than 8 cores effectively.

However, the CPU’s influence becomes more visible when examining the scaling between 1080p and 1440p at High settings. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 171.2, while at 1440p High it drops to 117.6. That is a 31% reduction, which is steeper than the pixel count difference (77% more pixels) would suggest. This indicates that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor, but the CPU is still contributing to the frame pacing. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 45 FPS, a clear sign that the RTX 3080’s 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated, while the CPU has plenty of compute left in reserve.

The Ryzen 7 7700’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1,049 and 16-thread score of 8,484 demonstrate balanced performance for both lightly threaded and heavily threaded workloads. In Greedfall, which typically uses a handful of threads for game logic and AI, the 8-core design ensures that no single thread becomes a bottleneck. The 65W TDP and 5 nm process also mean the CPU runs cool enough to sustain boost clocks over long sessions, which is relevant for maintaining consistent frame times in a game like Greedfall that can be CPU-intensive during large-scale combat encounters.

FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 7700 compare to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40,468, which is just 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 9 7940H’s 40,431. In practical terms, this means the two processors are effectively identical in overall compute performance, though the 7700 is a desktop part with 8 cores and 16 threads.

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p High provides a strong balance with 117.6 FPS average. At 1080p High, the system reaches 171.2 FPS, while at 4K High it drops to 71.6 FPS. For players prioritizing smooth frame rates, 1080p Medium at 188.5 FPS is a solid choice.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: Yes. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 45, which is less than half of the 4K High result (71.6 FPS). The GPU’s 10 GB memory and 320-bit bus are clearly being overwhelmed by the Ultra preset’s demands, while the CPU has enough headroom to push much higher frame rates.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for Greedfall?

A: This combination ranks 541st out of 1,705 tested combos, placing it in the top 31.7% of all systems. This is a respectable position, though not elite, given that the RTX 3080 is an end-of-life GPU from 2020.

Q: Does the CPU’s single-thread performance matter for this game?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1,049 is strong, but the data shows that frame rates scale more with resolution than with CPU speed. At 1080p Low, the system hits 237.3 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond what the RTX 3080 can render at higher settings.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 166.1 FPS, while Ultra drops to 73.1 FPS. That is a 127% performance delta, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a severe GPU load that more than doubles the rendering time per frame.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the system averages 171.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces this to 117.6 FPS, a 31.3% drop. At 4K High, the average falls to 71.6 FPS, which is another 39.1% reduction from the 1440p result. This progressive decline tracks closely with the pixel count increases (1440p has 1.78x the pixels of 1080p, 4K has 2.25x the pixels of 1440p), confirming that the RTX 3080 is the primary limiting component at these settings.

However, the scaling is not perfectly linear, and the deviations reveal interesting nuances. At 1080p Low, the system produces 237.3 FPS, which is 38.6% higher than the 1080p High result of 171.2 FPS. This large gap suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is significantly taxed by High settings, leaving the CPU with plenty of idle capacity. In contrast, at 4K Low, the system achieves 96.6 FPS, which is only 35% higher than 4K High’s 71.6 FPS. This smaller improvement indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even reducing settings cannot fully compensate for the resolution’s pixel throughput demands.

The Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 106.4 FPS, which is 37.8% lower than 1080p High. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 73.1 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 45 FPS. The drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 38.4%, which is proportionally similar to the High preset’s scaling. This suggests that the Ultra preset’s additional effects (likely including higher shadow quality, more detailed textures, and increased draw distances) tax the GPU’s memory bandwidth and rasterization throughput in a linear fashion, regardless of resolution.

The overall picture is that this combo is firmly GPU-limited at all settings above Low. The Ryzen 7 7700’s 8 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to feed the RTX 3080, even at 1080p where CPU overhead is typically highest. For players seeking maximum frame rates, 1080p Low at 237.3 FPS is the ceiling, but the more practical target for balanced visual quality is 1440p High at 117.6 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

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

1920x1080 (1080p): The system delivers its highest performance at this resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS is 237.3, which is nearly 150 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result. Medium settings yield 188.5 FPS, High produces 171.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 106.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 48.8 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 64.8 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a particularly heavy load. These numbers suggest that 1080p is not a challenge for this combo; even Ultra settings maintain well above 100 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

2560x1440 (1440p): At this resolution, the RTX 3080 begins to show its limits. Low settings average 166.1 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium produces 128.7 FPS, High averages 117.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 73.1 FPS. The transition from High to Ultra represents a 37.9% performance loss, which is the steepest drop across any resolution. This suggests that the Ultra preset at 1440p includes settings that exceed the GPU’s 10 GB memory capacity, leading to potential texture thrashing. For most users, 1440p High at 117.6 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a 44.5 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining high visual fidelity.

3840x2160 (4K): The GPU is clearly overtaxed at this resolution. Low settings average 96.6 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 59.3% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium produces 75.8 FPS, High averages 71.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 45 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is only 4.2 FPS, suggesting that High settings do not add significant GPU load beyond Medium. However, the jump from High to Ultra is 26.6 FPS (37.1% loss), indicating that the Ultra preset’s advanced effects—likely including ray-traced shadows or global illumination—are far too demanding for this GPU at 4K. At this resolution, players should stick to Low or Medium settings to maintain playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 541st out of 1,705 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 31.7% of all systems. This is a strong result for a GPU that was released in 2020 and is now end-of-life, but it also reflects the fact that newer GPUs have significantly improved performance. The RTX 3080’s percentile rank among all GPUs is 80, meaning it outperforms 80% of the database’s GPUs, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (0.9% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (1% faster), showing that the performance gap to newer parts is narrow.

The CPU’s rank of 541 is slightly better than the GPU’s relative position, as the Ryzen 7 7700 sits in the 91st percentile among all CPUs. This suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor in this combo; the RTX 3080 is the component that holds the system back from a higher overall rank. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 237.3 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound, but at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 45, a clear GPU constraint.

Comparing to other combos in the database, the 541st rank places this system in the upper-middle tier. It is well ahead of budget or older systems, but it cannot compete with top-tier configurations featuring newer GPUs like the RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX. However, for Greedfall specifically, the game’s 2019 release date means it does not require current-generation hardware. The measured FPS at 1440p High (117.6 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (106.4 FPS) show that this combo delivers a smooth experience at mainstream resolutions, which is likely why it ranks above the median despite the GPU’s age. The 541st position out of 1,705 reflects the RTX 3080’s enduring capability, especially when paired with a modern 8-core CPU that avoids any processor-induced bottlenecks.