Greedfall

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a formidable Greedfall experience, with performance scaling that clearly separates GPU-bound scenarios from CPU-bound ones. This combination ranks 57th out of 1,705 tested combos in the database, placing it in the top 3.4% of all configurations for this title. The data shows a system capable of high refresh rate play at 1440p and smooth 4K, though the gap between settings presets reveals where the hardware limits actually lie.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about the limiting component at each resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 350.7 FPS, but at 4K Low it falls to 145.1 FPS—a 58.6% reduction. That massive drop indicates the RTX 4090 is being pushed progressively harder as pixel count rises, which is expected for a flagship GPU. At 1080p Low, the frame rate is so high that the CPU likely becomes the ceiling, preventing the GPU from stretching its legs further.

Moving from 1440p to 4K shows a similar pattern. At High settings, 1440p yields 175.1 FPS while 4K drops to 104.1 FPS, a 40.5% decrease. The Ultra preset tells an even sharper story: 1440p Ultra hits 109.6 FPS, but 4K Ultra falls to 66.1 FPS—a 39.7% decline. This consistent ~40% penalty from 1440p to 4K across High and Ultra settings suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at both resolutions, with the Ryzen 9 5900X providing sufficient headroom to feed the RTX 4090.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low produces 350.7 FPS versus 163.8 FPS on Ultra—a 2.14x difference. At 4K, the same comparison shows 145.1 FPS versus 66.1 FPS—a 2.19x difference. This indicates that Greedfall’s Ultra preset imposes a heavy shading and post-processing load that scales with resolution, and the RTX 4090 has enough raw throughput to partially absorb that cost even at 4K.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Greedfall’s textures at any resolution. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, and the GPU boosts to 2520 MHz. These specifications translate into strong raw performance: the card scores 38,194 in Passmark G3D and 31,7684 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s role in Greedfall is dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 66.1 FPS, which is the lowest measured result but still playable. The RTX 4090’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores suggest it could handle ray tracing workloads, though no ray tracing-specific data appears in these results. The card’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate provide the computational muscle needed to maintain high frame rates even when settings are pushed to maximum.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4090 sits close in average benchmark score to professional workstation cards. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 scores 66,733 (0.4% higher), the Tesla P40 scores 66,127 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 67,097 (0.9% lower). These are all within 1.3% of each other, suggesting the RTX 4090’s gaming-specific advantages come from its driver optimizations and feature set rather than raw compute alone. For Greedfall specifically, the 4K Ultra result of 66.1 FPS shows the GPU is the decisive factor, since dropping to 1440p Ultra only recovers 43.5 FPS.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 5900X brings 12 cores and 24 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz with a boost up to 4.80 GHz. This 7nm chip from TSMC packs 8,300 million transistors across a 2x 74 mm² die size. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a substantial 64 MB L3 cache, which helps feed the RTX 4090 in CPU-bound scenarios.

In Greedfall, the CPU’s role becomes apparent at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 240 FPS. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 350.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s practical limit for this game engine. The 3DMark single-thread score of 941 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,680 indicate strong per-core performance, essential for a game that may not fully utilize all 12 cores. The multi-threaded scores are equally impressive—Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 33,150 and Passmark multithread scores 39,002—but Greedfall’s engine may not scale perfectly across all 24 threads.

The CPU’s 105W TDP and DDR4 dual-channel memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GPU. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,075 versus 2-thread score of 1,852 shows good scaling, but the game’s performance at 1080p High (249.4 FPS) versus 1080p Low (350.7 FPS) suggests the CPU handles the lower settings with headroom, while the GPU becomes the constraint at higher settings. The Ryzen 9 5900X ranks in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-13700 (0.9% higher average score) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS (0.7% lower).

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Ryzen 9 5900X and RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 57 out of 1,705 tested configurations in Greedfall. This places it in the top 3.3% of all combos, which is a strong result for a CPU that launched in late 2020 paired with a GPU from late 2022. The ranking reflects the synergy between a high-core-count Zen 3 processor and the fastest consumer GPU available, though the data does not specify how many combos use this exact pairing.

The 4K Ultra result of 66.1 FPS is the weakest measured, but it still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth play. At 1440p Ultra, the combo delivers 109.6 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate monitors. The ranking suggests that while the RTX 4090 is the primary driver of performance, the Ryzen 9 5900X does not bottleneck it to a significant degree, even at 1080p where CPU load is highest.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing sits above the vast majority but below the absolute top tier, which likely includes newer CPUs like the Ryzen 7000 or 9000 series with faster single-thread performance. The 57th rank out of 1,705 confirms the Ryzen 9 5900X’s staying power, as it remains competitive despite being a generation behind.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 66.1 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the lowest result across all tested configurations but remains above 60 FPS for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 or the Ryzen 9 5900X the bottleneck in Greedfall?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, with frame rates dropping from 145.1 FPS at Low to 66.1 FPS at Ultra—a 54.4% reduction. At 1080p Low, the 350.7 FPS result suggests the CPU may limit performance, but the GPU dominates at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to other hardware pairings in the database?

A: This combination ranks 57th out of 1,705 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.3%. The RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile of GPUs, while the Ryzen 9 5900X ranks in the 90th percentile of CPUs.

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

A: At 2560x1440, High settings produce 175.1 FPS while Ultra drops to 109.6 FPS—a 37.4% reduction. This suggests Ultra adds significant visual effects that cost substantial performance.

Q: Does the 24 GB VRAM on the RTX 4090 matter for Greedfall?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for this game. No VRAM capacity issues appear in the data, and the memory bandwidth supports smooth texture streaming at all tested resolutions.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 4K gaming?

A: The data shows strong performance at both, but the RTX 4090’s capabilities are best utilized at 4K. At 1080p Low, the 350.7 FPS result exceeds most monitor refresh rates, making the GPU partially idle, while 4K Ultra at 66.1 FPS uses the hardware more effectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 350.7 FPS average
• Medium: 275.0 FPS average
• High: 249.4 FPS average
• Ultra: 163.8 FPS average

The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy, with Low producing more than double the frame rate of Ultra. The jump from High to Ultra costs 85.6 FPS (34.3% reduction), which is the largest single-settings drop at this resolution. The spread from Low to Ultra is 186.9 FPS, indicating that Greedfall’s Ultra preset imposes a substantial load on the RTX 4090 even at Full HD.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 241.7 FPS average
• Medium: 189.8 FPS average
• High: 175.1 FPS average
• Ultra: 109.6 FPS average

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high but show a tighter grouping between Low and High. The difference between Medium and High is only 14.7 FPS (7.7% reduction), suggesting diminishing returns from Medium to High. Ultra again stands apart, dropping 65.5 FPS from High—a 37.4% penalty that makes Ultra the most demanding preset per pixel.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 145.1 FPS average
• Medium: 116.9 FPS average
• High: 104.1 FPS average
• Ultra: 66.1 FPS average

The 4K results show the RTX 4090’s limits. Low settings produce 145.1 FPS, which is still excellent for 4K, but Ultra drops to 66.1 FPS—a 54.4% reduction from Low. The gap between High and Ultra is 38.0 FPS (36.5% reduction), mirroring the 1440p pattern. The data suggests that 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration, and players seeking higher frame rates should consider High settings, which still deliver 104.1 FPS and represent a 57.5% improvement over Ultra.