Greedfall

Greedfall, the 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study when paired with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The measured data reveals a system capable of delivering extremely high frame rates, but the scaling patterns across resolutions and settings indicate a complex relationship between the game's engine, the CPU's Zen 5 architecture, and the GPU's Ada Lovelace silicon. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to understand where the bottlenecks lie and what the optimal experience is for this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable trend: frame rates drop as resolution increases, but the rate of that drop is telling. At 1080p High, the system averages 225 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the score falls to 156 FPS, a reduction of 69 FPS. Pushing to 4K High, the average settles at 93 FPS, a further drop of 63 FPS. This linear step-down from 1080p to 1440p to 4K indicates that the workload is scaling with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions.

However, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reveals a more nuanced story. At 1080p High, the 225 FPS average suggests the CPU is doing a substantial amount of work to feed the GPU. If the GPU were the sole limiting factor, we might expect a more dramatic drop when moving to 1440p. The fact that the drop is significant but not staggering suggests that at 1080p, the system is beginning to feel the constraints of the game's engine on the CPU side. The 9700F's 8 cores and 16 threads are likely being utilized, but the engine's single-threaded performance limits the maximum frame rate.

The 4K results are where the GPU takes over as the definitive bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS plummets to 59, which is exactly at the threshold of smooth 60 FPS gameplay. The gap between 4K High (93 FPS) and 4K Ultra (59 FPS) is a massive 34 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces a heavy graphical load—likely tied to shadow quality, draw distance, or post-processing effects—that taxes the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 52.22 TFLOPS of compute power. This is not a CPU limitation; it is purely the GPU struggling to maintain frame rates at the highest pixel counts and quality settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) part with 8 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 3.80 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. In the benchmark hierarchy, it scores 36,470 on Passmark multithread and 4,691 on single-thread. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher score) and the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower score), placing it in a performance tier where it is effectively tied with those heavy hitters. This is a powerful desktop CPU, and its role in Greedfall is to ensure that the GPU is never left waiting for instructions.

The data suggests that this CPU is more than adequate for the game. At 4K High, the average FPS is 93, which is above the 60 FPS target. The CPU's single-thread performance is critical here, as Greedfall's open-world environments and AI logic rely heavily on a few primary threads. The 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures that these threads are processed as quickly as possible. The 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this is a top-tier processor that will not be a limiting factor in most gaming scenarios.

Yet, the 1080p results hint at the CPU's ceiling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 316 FPS. This is a phenomenal result, but it does not approach the theoretical maximum of the GPU. The data implies that the CPU, while excellent, is still the component that caps frame rates at lower resolutions. The difference between 1080p Low (316 FPS) and 1080p High (225 FPS) is 91 FPS, but the difference between 1080p High (225 FPS) and 1440p High (156 FPS) is 69 FPS. The engine seems to have a ceiling around the 300 FPS mark at 1080p, which is likely a CPU/engine limitation rather than a GPU one. In short, the 9700F provides a massive amount of headroom, but it is not an infinite resource.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo depends on the display. The data presents a clear picture of diminishing returns at each resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 248 FPS, which is 23 FPS higher than High (225 FPS) but only 68 FPS lower than Low (316 FPS). The jump from Low to Medium is a 68 FPS reduction, but the visual quality improvement from Low to Medium is typically substantial in Greedfall, adding better textures and lighting. The High preset, at 225 FPS, is still exceptionally smooth, but it sacrifices 23 FPS for what is often a marginal visual gain over Medium. For a 1080p display, Medium is the sweet spot, offering a balance of high fidelity and incredibly high frame rates.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (172 FPS) is the clear winner. It is 16 FPS faster than High (156 FPS) and 72 FPS faster than Ultra (100 FPS). The Ultra preset at 100 FPS is still playable, but it introduces a 72 FPS penalty over Medium. Given that the visual difference between Medium and Ultra is often subtle in motion, the data suggests that Medium is the most efficient choice. The High preset is a viable alternative if you prefer slightly better shadows, but the performance cost is noticeable.

At 4K, the situation is more delicate. The Ultra preset (59 FPS) is right at the edge of playability, and any demanding scene could cause drops below 60 FPS. The High preset (93 FPS) is the recommended choice. It offers a 34 FPS advantage over Ultra while still providing a high level of visual fidelity. The Medium preset (103 FPS) is also excellent, but High is the best balance for a 4K display. The Low preset (131 FPS) is unnecessary, as the GPU is capable of much better visuals at a high frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum FPS this combo can achieve in Greedfall?

A: The highest measured average is 316 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. This is the only measurement that exceeds the 300 FPS mark, suggesting a hard ceiling for the engine or CPU at this resolution.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: The data shows an average of 59 FPS at 4K Ultra. This is just one frame below the 60 FPS target, meaning it will likely fluctuate above and below that threshold, leading to inconsistent frame pacing.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has a Passmark average score of 69,996. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, scores 69,875, which is 0.2% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163, which is 0.2% higher. This puts the 9700F in a dead heat with these processors.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p display?

A: The Medium preset, averaging 172 FPS, offers the best balance. It is significantly faster than Ultra (100 FPS) and High (156 FPS), with minimal visual differences in most scenarios.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p results (225 FPS on High) are so high that they are likely constrained by the game engine or CPU. The GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and is it enough?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 736.3 GB/s bandwidth. Given that the 4K Ultra preset averages 59 FPS, the VRAM capacity is not causing a catastrophic bottleneck, but the GPU's compute limits are clearly stressed at that setting.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerhouse, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 10,240 shading units and a boost clock of 2550 MHz. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs and a Passmark G3D score of 34,245 confirm its high-end status. In Greedfall, its role is to render the world at high resolutions and settings, and the data shows it performs admirably until the Ultra preset is introduced at 4K.

At 1440p and below, the GPU is the clear workhorse, pushing frame rates well above 100 FPS on High settings. The 4K High result of 93 FPS is particularly impressive, showing that the GPU has enough raw compute and memory bandwidth to handle the game's assets at 3840x2160. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than sufficient for the game's DirectX 12 rendering pipeline.

The weakness appears at 4K Ultra. The drop from High to Ultra is a 34 FPS loss, which is the largest single-setting penalty in the entire dataset. This suggests that the Ultra preset enables effects that are disproportionately expensive to compute. This could be a form of ray tracing or a high level of anisotropic filtering that saturates the GPU's 112 ROPs or 320 TMUs. The fact that the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 134 on Passmark DirectX 12 and 301 on DirectX 11 suggests it is optimized for modern APIs, but Greedfall's engine may not be fully optimized for the Ada Lovelace architecture, leading to inefficiencies at the highest settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers a range of results. Low settings produce an average of 316 FPS. Medium settings average 248 FPS, with a minimum of 211 FPS and a maximum of 285 FPS. High settings average 225 FPS. Ultra settings average 144 FPS. The gap between the minimum and maximum at Medium (74 FPS) shows some frame pacing variance, but the overall performance is exceptionally high.

At 2560x1440, the averages are still very high. Low settings produce 219 FPS. Medium settings average 172 FPS (min 146, max 198). High settings average 156 FPS. Ultra settings average 100 FPS. The 1440p results show a more linear scaling than 1080p, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 119 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to feel the strain. Low settings average 131 FPS. Medium settings average 103 FPS (min 87, max 118). High settings average 93 FPS. Ultra settings average 59 FPS. The 4K results show a dramatic drop at Ultra, highlighting the heavy cost of the highest preset. The Medium settings at 4K provide a minimum of 87 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS target, but the Ultra preset dips to an average of 59 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 325th out of 3,703 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the top 8.8% of all systems tested, which is a strong result. The ranking is likely held back by the CPU's position relative to the very fastest processors, as the GPU is one of the most powerful available. The 1080p Low result of 316 FPS shows that the system is capable of extremely high frame rates, but the 4K Ultra result of 59 FPS shows that even this combo has limits. The data implies that this is a top-tier system for 1440p and 4K gaming, but it is not the absolute fastest combination for this title, as other CPUs with higher multi-thread scores might shave off a few more frames at lower resolutions. The rank of 325 suggests that while this is an excellent pairing, there are a handful of other combos that edge it out, likely due to the CPU's performance ceiling in a game that is only moderately multithreaded.