Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG, exhibits a distinctive performance profile when paired with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. Measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution but shows notable sensitivity to the most demanding settings. The combination ranks 551st out of 2938 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 19% of all configurations — a strong result that reflects the GPU's substantial rasterization headroom and the CPU's modern Zen 5 architecture.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating a progressive shift from CPU-bound behavior at lower resolutions to GPU-bound performance at 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 268 FPS at 1920x1080 to 111 FPS at 3840x2160 — a 58.6% reduction. This massive drop suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the primary limiter, with the RX 7900 XT leaving significant performance on the table. The Ryzen 7 9700F's 8 cores and 16 threads are capable, but even a 5.50 GHz boost clock cannot feed enough frames to saturate this GPU at low graphical loads.

Moving to High settings, the scaling is slightly less dramatic but still pronounced: 191 FPS at 1080p drops to 132 FPS at 1440p (a 30.9% decline), then further to 79 FPS at 4K (a 40.2% decline from 1440p). The 4K-to-1080p ratio here is 79/191, or 41.4% of the 1080p performance. This pattern is typical for a GPU-heavy title at high quality, where pixel throughput becomes the dominant cost. The Medium preset shows similar behavior: 210 FPS at 1080p, 146 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K. The 4K result represents 41.4% of the 1080p figure, nearly identical to High — suggesting that both presets hit a similar GPU-bound ceiling at 4K.

Ultra settings present the most extreme scaling. At 1080p, the system manages 122 FPS, which falls to 84 FPS at 1440p (a 31.1% drop) and then plummets to 50 FPS at 4K (a 40.5% drop from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS is exactly 41.0% of the 1080p Ultra score, reinforcing that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the binding constraints at this resolution. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 61 FPS (111 vs 50), while at 1080p that same gap is 146 FPS (268 vs 122). This compression at 4K indicates that resolution scaling dominates over settings scaling once pixel count becomes extreme.

GPU Role

The RX 7900 XT, with its Navi 31 chip on a 5 nm process, is the clear performance driver in this configuration. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth — a figure that becomes critical at 4K Ultra, where the 50 FPS average suggests the GPU is working near its limits. The boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz provide the raw compute headroom, with 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs handling Greedfall's rendering demands. The 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is substantial, but the game's 2019-era engine does not appear to leverage the full architecture efficiently, as evidenced by the steep Ultra preset penalties.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 55 among all GPUs is surprisingly modest, yet in Greedfall, the measured results tell a more favorable story. At 1440p High, the system achieves 132 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and indicates the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The 4K Medium result of 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS shows consistent frame delivery, suggesting the 20 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for Greedfall's textures and geometry. The 800.0 GB/s bandwidth appears adequate even at 4K, as the memory clock of 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) keeps pace with the compute load.

Comparisons to nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark list are instructive but must be interpreted carefully. The RX 7900 XT's average benchmark score of 13745 is only 0.5% below the AMD Radeon 660M and 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, while sitting 1.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. These deltas are negligible in synthetic terms, yet the Greedfall measurements show the RX 7900 XT performing as a high-end part. The benchmark percentile of 55 likely reflects the inclusion of many workstation and mobile parts in the database, not an accurate measure of gaming capability. In this title, the GPU's role is decisive at 4K, where even Medium settings produce only 87 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50 FPS — a clear indication that the GPU is the bottleneck at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F provides the computational foundation for this pairing. With 8 cores and 16 threads on the Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) architecture, the CPU runs at a 3.80 GHz base clock and boosts to 5.50 GHz. The 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node from TSMC make it an efficient part, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core. Its PassMark multithreaded score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69996.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the PassMark database show how tightly grouped modern processors are. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 (0.2% below the 9700F), while the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163 (0.2% above). The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X trails by 0.7% at 69515, and the Intel Core i7-14700K is 0.9% behind at 69355. These sub-1% deltas indicate that the 9700F is competitive with flagship parts from both AMD and Intel, which explains why the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at most settings in Greedfall.

Evidence of CPU limitation emerges only at 1080p Low, where the 268 FPS average suggests the game is pushing against single-thread limits. Greedfall's 2019 engine likely relies heavily on a few primary threads, and while the 9700F's 5.50 GHz boost helps, the frame rate ceiling is apparent. At 1080p Medium, the 210 FPS result is still high but shows a 21.6% drop from Low, indicating that the GPU begins to take on more load. By 1440p, the CPU is no longer the bottleneck — the 186 FPS at Low versus 132 FPS at High demonstrates that graphical settings, not CPU throughput, are driving performance differences.

The CPU's PassMark physics score of 2122 and integer math score of 120788 suggest strong computational throughput for game logic and AI. In Greedfall, this translates to consistent frame pacing even in demanding scenes, as evidenced by the Medium preset minimums: 179 FPS at 1080p, 124 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. These minimums are within 15-17% of the averages, indicating that the CPU avoids severe frame-time spikes. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for a title of this era, and the data shows no evidence of CPU-induced stuttering at any resolution or setting.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At High settings, the system delivers 132 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. At 4K High, the average drops to 79 FPS, which is still playable but shows the GPU becoming the limiting factor. The 1440p Medium result of 146 FPS with a 124 FPS minimum provides excellent headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of performance cost?

A: Ultra incurs a significant penalty across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra averages 122 FPS versus 191 FPS for High — a 36.1% reduction. At 1440p, the gap widens to 84 FPS versus 132 FPS, a 36.4% drop. The 4K comparison shows 50 FPS versus 79 FPS, a 36.7% reduction. The Ultra preset consistently costs roughly 36% of the High preset's frame rate, regardless of resolution.

Q: Is the 20 GB VRAM sufficient for Greedfall at 4K?

A: The measured data indicates yes. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 50 FPS, and at 4K Medium it achieves 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS. There is no evidence in the measured rows of texture pop-in or memory-related stuttering. The 800.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears adequate for the game's demands at all tested settings.

Q: Why does the GPU's benchmark percentile (55) seem low for a high-end card?

A: The 55th percentile is derived from the GPU's average benchmark score of 13745, which is within 1.5% of several rivals including the AMD Radeon 660M, NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. This percentile reflects a broad database that includes workstation and entry-level parts, not the card's gaming performance. In Greedfall specifically, the measured FPS values show the RX 7900 XT performing as a capable high-end GPU.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any setting?

A: The only clear evidence of CPU limitation appears at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 268 FPS. This is likely near the game engine's draw-call ceiling. At 1080p Medium and above, the FPS deltas between settings are consistent with GPU-bound behavior. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU is not the limiting component based on the resolution scaling patterns.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 551st out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 19% of all configurations. This is a strong result given the game's age and the hardware's modern architecture. The ranking reflects the balanced performance of the Zen 5 CPU and RDNA 3.0 GPU in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 132 FPS average provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, and the frame rate is high enough to take advantage of high-refresh-rate displays. At 1440p High, the system is not pushing against its limits, leaving headroom for demanding scenes without noticeable frame drops.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. The 87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum delivers smooth gameplay with only modest visual compromises. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 50 FPS, which is borderline for action RPG combat, and the 37 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra at this resolution is not justified by the visual improvements. At 1080p, the High preset at 191 FPS is the best option for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, as the Ultra preset's 122 FPS represents a significant 36.1% reduction for marginal quality gains.

The Low preset is only recommended for users prioritizing maximum frame rates above all else. At 1080p Low, the 268 FPS result is exceptional, but the visual compromises are substantial for a game that benefits from atmospheric lighting and texture detail. The Medium preset at 1080p provides a middle ground at 210 FPS, though the jump to High is more impactful visually and still maintains 191 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 268 FPS, while Medium achieves 210 FPS with a minimum of 179 FPS and maximum of 242 FPS. High settings produce 191 FPS, and Ultra drops to 122 FPS. The 146 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at this resolution highlights the significant cost of the highest quality preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction from pixel-count scaling. Low averages 186 FPS, a 30.6% drop from 1080p Low. Medium achieves 146 FPS with a 124 FPS minimum and 168 FPS maximum. High delivers 132 FPS, while Ultra falls to 84 FPS. The 102 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that resolution scaling is beginning to dominate.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low averages 111 FPS, representing a 40.3% drop from 1440p Low. Medium reaches 87 FPS with a 74 FPS minimum and 100 FPS maximum. High produces 79 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The 61 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU's compute and memory resources are the limiting factor at this extreme resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 551st out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the 81st percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects a strong overall performance profile, with the system delivering playable frame rates even at the most demanding 4K Ultra settings. The rank is particularly notable given that the GPU's synthetic benchmark percentile of 55 and the CPU's 94th percentile would suggest a more middling position — the actual in-game measurements demonstrate that this pairing exceeds expectations from component-level benchmarks alone.

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700F's 8-core/16-thread configuration with the RX 7900 XT's 20 GB frame buffer and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth proves well-matched for Greedfall's engine. The CPU's 5.50 GHz boost clock prevents bottlenecks at lower resolutions, while the GPU's substantial compute resources handle the game's visual effects at higher settings. The 551st rank out of 2938 combos means the system outperforms roughly 81% of all tested configurations, a result that aligns with the measured FPS values showing high frame rates across all tested scenarios.