Greedfall

Greedfall is an Action RPG that places a heavy load on the GPU, and pairing the 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with the AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a predictable bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a combination that is firmly GPU-limited in most scenarios, with the CPU’s substantial headroom left largely unused as frame rates scale down with resolution increases. This analysis examines the measured FPS across three resolutions and four settings presets, interpreting what the numbers reveal about the limiting component, the role of the processor’s core and clock specifications, and the graphics card’s memory and clock behavior in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Greedfall with this hardware combination shows a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop significantly, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the primary limiting component. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 81, which drops to 56 at 2560x1440 and then to 34 at 3840x2160. This represents a 31% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 39% reduction from 1440p to 4K, showing that the GPU’s rendering workload scales steeply with pixel count.

The scaling behavior becomes even more pronounced when examining the High settings preset. At 1920x1080 High, the average is 58 FPS; at 2560x1440 High, it falls to 40 FPS; and at 3840x2160 High, it drops to 24 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 18 FPS, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 16 FPS. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RX 580’s compute and memory bandwidth are saturated by the increasing pixel throughput, and the Ryzen 9 5950X’s capabilities have no bearing on the outcome.

Looking at the Ultra preset tells a similar story but with even lower absolute numbers. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 37, at 1440p Ultra it is 26, and at 4K Ultra it plummets to 15. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 30%, and from 1440p to 4K it is another 42%. These figures reinforce the conclusion that the RX 580 cannot sustain playable frame rates at higher resolutions with maximum settings, and the scaling curve is steep enough to make 4K Ultra essentially unplayable.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data in the pack, with 1080p Medium averaging 64 FPS (min 54, max 73), 1440p Medium averaging 44 FPS (min 38, max 51), and 4K Medium averaging 26 FPS (min 22, max 30). The minimum frame rates at 4K Medium dip to 22 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, while the 1080p Medium minimum of 54 FPS indicates a relatively stable experience. The fact that the CPU is a 16-core, 32-thread part with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz does not prevent these drops, confirming that the GPU is the sole constraint.

FAQ

Q: Why does the average FPS drop so sharply from 1080p to 4K in Greedfall?

A: The data shows that the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the average is 81 FPS, but at 4K Low it falls to 34 FPS, a 58% reduction. The GPU’s rendering workload increases with pixel count, and the RX 580’s 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 performance cannot keep up with the demands of 3840x2160 resolution.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X a bottleneck for this game?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate the CPU is not limiting performance. The Ryzen 9 5950X has 16 cores and 32 threads with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 26017. The measured FPS scales inversely with resolution, which is the signature of a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU limitation.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gameplay?

A: Based on the measured rows, 1080p Medium offers a 64 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS, which is smoother than the 58 FPS average at High settings. The Low preset reaches 81 FPS, but Medium provides a better balance of visual quality and performance, staying above 60 FPS on average.

Q: Can this combination handle 4K gaming in Greedfall?

A: The data shows that 4K performance is marginal at best. The highest average at 4K is 34 FPS on Low settings, while Medium drops to 26 FPS and High to 24 FPS. Ultra averages only 15 FPS. None of these meet the standard for smooth play, so 4K is not viable with this GPU.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928, which is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940) and 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12986). It sits 0.5% above the AMD Radeon 740M (12870) and 0.6% above the AMD FirePro W5100 (12847).

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X’s high core count help in Greedfall?

A: The game’s frame rates are determined by the GPU, as shown by the resolution scaling. The CPU’s 16 cores and 32 threads, plus its 64 MB of L3 cache, are far more than what this title requires. The 3dmark single-thread score of 944 and passmark single-thread score of 3470 are more relevant, but even those do not prevent GPU-limited frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. In Greedfall, the measured FPS data shows that this CPU has no role in limiting performance, as the frame rates are consistently tied to the GPU’s capabilities. The processor’s synthetic benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 26017 and a single-core score of 1614, but these numbers do not translate into higher frame rates because the game is not CPU-bound at any resolution tested.

The 3dmark scores reveal a similar pattern: the single-thread score is 944, the 2-thread score is 1856, the 4-thread score is 3595, the 8-thread score is 6598, the 16-thread score is 10810, and the max-thread score is 11597. The scaling from 2 to 4 threads is roughly 94%, and from 4 to 8 threads it is about 84%, indicating that the CPU has ample headroom for multithreaded workloads. However, Greedfall’s frame rates at 1080p Low (81 FPS) and 1440p Low (56 FPS) do not improve beyond what the RX 580 can deliver, meaning the CPU’s large thread count is unused.

The processor’s cache hierarchy includes 64 MB of L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming, but again, this does not matter when the GPU is the bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 5950X’s percentile rank of 91 among all CPUs is a measure of its overall compute capability, not its gaming performance in this specific title. The nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX with a deltaPct of -0.2% and the Intel Core i9-13900F with a deltaPct of 0.4%, show that the CPU is competitively positioned, but these differences are irrelevant to the measured FPS.

In practical terms, the CPU’s 32 threads and 4.90 GHz boost clock ensure that it will never be a limiting factor in Greedfall, even at low resolutions and settings where the GPU has less work. The lowest average FPS in the entire dataset is 15 at 4K Ultra, and the highest is 81 at 1080p Low; both extremes are governed by the GPU’s fill rate and shading units, not by the CPU’s 16 cores. The processor’s 105 W TDP and 7 nm process node are specifications that speak to its efficiency, but they have no direct bearing on the frame rates observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates span a wide range depending on settings. The Low preset delivers the highest average at 81 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS, providing a playable experience with some headroom. High averages 58 FPS, which is slightly below 60 but still acceptable for most players. Ultra is the most demanding, averaging only 37 FPS, which indicates a significant performance hit for the highest visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages fall across all presets. Low averages 56 FPS, which is still relatively playable but no longer consistently above 60. Medium averages 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS, showing that the GPU is struggling to maintain smooth frame rates. High averages 40 FPS, a marginal improvement over Medium’s average but with no min/max data to compare stability. Ultra averages 26 FPS, which is below the playable threshold and shows that 1440p Ultra is not a viable option for this hardware.

At 3840x2160, the performance is severely limited. Low averages 34 FPS, which is below 60 FPS and likely to feel stuttery in action scenes. Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS, and those minimums are close to the point where gameplay becomes frustrating. High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages only 15 FPS. The 4K resolution clearly overwhelms the RX 580, regardless of the settings preset, and the data suggests that 4K gaming is not feasible with this combination.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 54 to 73 FPS, which is a spread of 19 FPS. At 1440p, the range narrows to 38 to 51 FPS, a spread of 13 FPS. At 4K, the range is 22 to 30 FPS, a spread of 8 FPS. This tightening of the frame rate range as resolution increases is another indicator of GPU saturation, where the card is working at full capacity and has less variance in its output. The average FPS at 1080p Medium (64) is more than double the 4K Medium average (26), quantifying the cost of quadrupling the pixel count.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a Polaris 20 chip built on the 14 nm process, with 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. Its base clock is 1257 MHz and its boost clock is 1340 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, which is sufficient for Greedfall’s demands at 1080p and 1440p, but the measured frame rates suggest that the card’s compute throughput, not its memory capacity, is the limiting factor.

The synthetic benchmark scores for the RX 580 place it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12928. Its Passmark G3D score is 8813, and its DirectX 11 score is 60, which is higher than its DirectX 12 score of 43, indicating that the card performs better in older APIs. In Greedfall, the game’s engine likely uses DirectX 11, which aligns with the RX 580’s relative strength in that area, but the absolute performance is still insufficient for high-resolution gaming.

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile with a deltaPct of -0.1%, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER with a deltaPct of -0.4%, the AMD Radeon 740M with a deltaPct of 0.5%, and the AMD FirePro W5100 with a deltaPct of 0.6%. These rivals have similar average benchmark scores, but their real-world gaming performance could differ. The RX 580’s 8 GB of VRAM is a plus for modern titles, and in Greedfall, the 4K Medium min FPS of 22 suggests that memory is not the primary issue; rather, the card’s 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 193.0 GTexel/s texture rate are overwhelmed by the pixel load.

The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and the texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s are key specifications for understanding the 4K performance. At 3840x2160, the GPU must fill over 8.3 million pixels per frame, and at 24 FPS average on High settings, it is processing roughly 200 million pixels per second, which is close to the card’s pixel fill rate limit. This explains why the frame rates drop so steeply at 4K, as the RX 580 is operating at the edge of its rendering capabilities. The boost clock of 1340 MHz and the 256-bit memory bus are the design choices that define this card’s performance class, and the data shows they are insufficient for Greedfall at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this hardware combination depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the best choice, as it delivers a 64 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS, ensuring that most of the gameplay stays above the 60 FPS mark. The High preset at 58 FPS is close behind, but the lower minimum at Medium (54 vs. unknown for High) makes it a safer option for consistent performance. The Low preset at 81 FPS is the fastest, but it sacrifices visual quality for a frame rate that exceeds what is necessary for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 50 FPS, hitting 56 FPS. This is the recommended choice for 1440p, as Medium averages 44 FPS and High averages 40 FPS, both of which are below the ideal smoothness threshold. The Ultra preset at 26 FPS is not recommended, as it would result in a noticeably stuttery experience. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, Medium at 44 FPS is the best compromise, but it requires accepting frequent dips below 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets are truly playable, but the Low preset at 34 FPS is the least bad option. Medium at 26 FPS and High at 24 FPS are both below 30 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for playable action games, and Ultra at 15 FPS is unplayable. If 4K is a requirement, the Low preset is the only one that approaches a playable frame rate, but even it will struggle in combat-heavy scenes. The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot for this GPU-CPU pairing, providing a balance of visual quality and performance that keeps the average FPS above 60 while maintaining a minimum above 50.

The Medium preset’s complete min/max data across all resolutions allows for a more detailed recommendation. At 1080p, the 54 FPS minimum is acceptable, but at 1440p, the 38 FPS minimum will be noticeable, and at 4K, the 22 FPS minimum is borderline unplayable. For the best experience, users should cap their resolution at 1080p and select Medium settings, which offers the highest average FPS (64) with a stable frame rate range. Alternatively, the Low preset at 1080p provides 81 FPS and is ideal for competitive play or for users with high refresh rate monitors, though it comes at the cost of reduced visual detail.