Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for hardware, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with the Intel Arc B370 produces a distinct performance profile. This analysis examines the measured FPS data across resolutions and settings to understand the capabilities and limitations of this specific combination, focusing strictly on the benchmark results provided.

How This Combo Ranks

The data indicates that this specific combo ranks at 2699 out of 2938 tested combinations for this game. This places the pairing in the bottom 8.1% of all tested systems, a position that firmly establishes it as a low-performing configuration for Greedfall. This ranking is a direct consequence of the significant bottleneck created by the Intel Arc B370 GPU, which severely limits the overall gaming experience despite the presence of a top-tier processor.

The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, is a high-end desktop part with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture. Its benchmark scores are strong, with an average benchmark score of 39768 and a percentile ranking of 87 among all CPUs. This indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general computational tasks. However, its immense processing power is largely irrelevant in this gaming scenario because the GPU cannot keep up. The system’s performance is dictated by the weakest link, and in this case, that is the graphics solution.

Conversely, the Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a very low benchmark standing. It has a percentile rank of 5 among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of just 1184 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad test. The data clearly shows this is not a discrete gaming GPU, but rather a basic integrated solution. The result is a massive imbalance; the CPU is operating at a level that is orders of magnitude more powerful than what the GPU can deliver, leading to the system's poor overall rank in this specific game.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (with a deltaPct of -0.8%) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS (with a deltaPct of 0.4%), are all in a similar performance class, confirming the CPU's strength. However, the GPU's nearest rivals are far older, much less capable parts like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M. This comparison highlights the extreme disparity in capability between the two components in this combo. The CPU is competing with modern high-end parts, while the GPU is in the company of legacy, low-power mobile graphics.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370's role in this configuration is the primary limiting factor. It is an integrated GPU (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture and built on a 3 nm process. Its specifications reveal its modest intent: it has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation pipelines. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Critically, it uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it does not have its own dedicated VRAM and instead relies on the system's main memory, making its memory bandwidth "System Dependent."

This reliance on shared system memory is a significant handicap for gaming. The GPU's performance is directly tied to the speed and bandwidth of the system's DDR5 RAM, which is far slower than the dedicated VRAM found on discrete graphics cards. The data shows a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, figures that are simply too low to handle the rendering demands of a modern game like Greedfall at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU's raw compute power is also limited, with an FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. The benchmark results reflect this, with the GPU scoring only 1184 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. This score places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, underscoring its position as an entry-level integrated solution. In the context of Greedfall, this GPU is the decisive factor in the low FPS figures, as it lacks the raw throughput and memory bandwidth necessary to maintain fluid frame rates, especially when compared to the CPU's clearly capable performance.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Greedfall at a playable frame rate?

A: The data suggests it is only playable at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 76. However, at 1080p with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 35. At 4K, the average FPS ranges from 14 (Ultra) to 31 (Low), which is not a smooth experience.

Q: What is the primary bottleneck for performance in this system?

A: The Intel Arc B370 GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, ranks in the 87th percentile, while the GPU ranks in the 5th percentile. The GPU's low performance ceiling prevents the system from achieving higher frame rates.

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

A: The CPU is very competitive. Its average benchmark score of 39768 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (score 40081, deltaPct -0.8%) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (score 40048, deltaPct -0.7%). These differences are within a single percentage point.

Q: What is the best performance the Intel Arc B370 can deliver in this game?

A: According to the measured data, the best performance is achieved at 1080p with Low settings, yielding an average of 76 FPS. The GPU does not have a dedicated VRAM buffer, which likely contributes to its performance limitations in this title.

Q: Does increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K have a significant impact on performance?

A: Yes, the impact is severe. For example, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 54 at 1080p to 38 at 1440p, and finally to 22 at 4K. This demonstrates the GPU's struggle to handle the increased pixel count at higher resolutions.

Q: Given the GPU's low performance, does the high-end CPU provide any benefit in this specific game?

A: The CPU's performance is not the limiting factor. While it ensures the system is not CPU-bound, the GPU's low performance caps the frame rate. The strong CPU scores (e.g., Cinebench R23 multicore of 23230) do not translate to higher FPS in this scenario because the GPU cannot process frames fast enough.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the combo's performance across different graphical demands. The scores are consistently low, reflecting the GPU's limitations.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the results are the weakest. With Ultra settings, the average FPS is just 14. Moving to High settings yields an average of 22 FPS. Medium settings provide an average of 25 FPS (with a minimum of 21 and maximum of 28). Even at the lowest graphical preset, the average FPS only reaches 31. These numbers are all far below the threshold for a smooth gaming experience.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), performance improves but remains suboptimal. The Ultra preset averages 24 FPS. High settings bring the average up to 38 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 41 FPS (with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 48). The Low preset is the only one to cross the 60 FPS mark, with an average of 53 FPS.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the results are the most playable. The Ultra preset still struggles with an average of 35 FPS. High settings yield a more reasonable 54 FPS. The Medium preset provides a solid 60 FPS average (with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 69). The Low preset is the only configuration in the entire dataset to achieve a high level of smoothness, with an average of 76 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a steep performance drop as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound system. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is particularly punishing for this integrated graphics solution.

Comparing the High settings preset across resolutions, the average FPS drops from 54 at 1080p to 38 at 1440p, a reduction of about 30%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS further drops to 22, another reduction of about 42%. The overall drop from 1080p to 4K represents a 59% decrease in average FPS.

This pattern is consistent with the Low settings preset. At 1080p, the average FPS is 76. This falls to 53 at 1440p and then to 31 at 4K. The scaling here is similar, with a total drop of 59% from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of this drop across different settings indicates that the limiting factor is the GPU's raw rendering throughput and memory bandwidth, which cannot keep up with the exponential increase in pixel count.

These results clearly indicate that the system is overwhelmingly GPU-limited. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is more than capable of feeding frames to the Intel Arc B370 at any of these resolutions. The frame rate is dictated entirely by how quickly the GPU can render each frame, and that speed plummets as the rendering load increases with resolution. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance, as shown in its benchmarks, is not a contributing factor to the FPS drops observed here.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo prioritizes resolution and settings to achieve a playable frame rate. The data shows that 1080p is the only viable resolution for a reasonably smooth experience.

For a target of 60 FPS, the only setting that achieves this is 1080p with Low settings, which averages 76 FPS. This is the only configuration that provides a significant performance buffer. The 1080p Medium setting is the next best option, hitting an average of 60 FPS exactly. This could be considered the "sweet spot" for a balanced experience, offering better visual quality than Low while maintaining a standard level of smoothness.

At 1080p High, the average FPS drops to 54, which is still playable for some, but the jump from Medium to High sacrifices 6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p is not recommended, as the average FPS of 35 falls into a range that is generally considered too choppy for an Action RPG.

At 1440p and 4K, no settings preset provides a consistently smooth experience. At 1440p, the Low preset reaches 53 FPS, which is borderline, but the Medium preset drops to 41 FPS. All 4K presets are well below the playable threshold, with even the Low preset only achieving 31 FPS. Therefore, the data strongly suggests that users should stick to 1080p and select either the Low or Medium preset to get the best playable performance from this hardware combination in Greedfall.