Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that clearly separates the capabilities of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and the Intel Arc B390. The measured frame rates reveal a system where the graphics processor is the primary bottleneck, with the CPU's substantial resources remaining largely underutilized. The data indicates a performance profile that is firmly entry-level, struggling to maintain smooth gameplay at higher resolutions and settings, yet showing surprising viability at its most optimized configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a steep and consistent performance cliff, directly attributable to the Intel Arc B390's limited rendering power. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 60 FPS at 1080p to 42 FPS at 1440p, a 30% drop, before plummeting to just 25 FPS at 4K, which is a 58% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This pattern strongly suggests that the GPU's fill rate and shading resources are being saturated as pixel count increases, with the system shared memory bandwidth becoming a critical constraint at higher resolutions.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings shows a similar relative decline, with average FPS dropping from 66 to 46, a 30% decrease. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K at Medium is even more punishing, as the average falls from 46 FPS to 27 FPS, a 41% reduction. This non-linear degradation indicates that the GPU's architecture is disproportionately stressed when crossing the 1440p threshold, likely due to the massive increase in fragment work and memory traffic required at 4K.

At Ultra settings, the picture is even bleaker. The average frame rate starts at 38 FPS at 1080p, drops to 27 FPS at 1440p (a 29% decrease), and collapses to 16 FPS at 4K, a 58% loss from the already low 1080p figure. The data shows that Ultra is simply not a playable preset for this combination, and the resolution scaling at this quality level reinforces that the Arc B390 is the limiting component, as a more balanced system would show a smaller relative performance gap between 1080p and 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and its performance in Greedfall is primarily dictated by its memory configuration: "System Shared" memory. This means the GPU must access the main system DDR4 memory over the bus, rather than dedicated VRAM, which introduces significant latency and bandwidth limitations. The benchmark results show that this shared memory setup is a major hindrance, as the game demands high-bandwidth access for textures and geometry, and the system-dependent bandwidth becomes a clear bottleneck.

With only 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, the B390's raw compute throughput is limited, and its FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS is modest. The measured scores in Greedfall reflect these specifications: the GPU can handle 1080p Low at an average of 84 FPS, but its pixel and texture rates (60.00 GPixel/s and 120.0 GTexel/s, respectively) are insufficient for high-fidelity effects at higher resolutions. The 12 RT cores are irrelevant here, as Greedfall does not utilize ray tracing, meaning all rendering falls on the traditional shader and ROP pipeline.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 9 versus all other GPUs places it in the lowest tier of performance, and its nearest rivals in the benchmark database—the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—are all legacy or entry-level parts. This context is crucial; the B390 is not just underpowered for Greedfall, it is fundamentally positioned at the very bottom of the GPU performance hierarchy, and its behavior in this game (struggling at 4K, playable at 1080p Low) is consistent with that low-tier status.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured average FPS data, the only configuration that delivers a consistently smooth experience is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves an average of 84 FPS. This is the "best" setting for playability, as it provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring minimal stutter and responsive gameplay. Moving to Medium at 1080p yields 66 FPS, which is also playable, but the 18 FPS drop is significant, and the visual gains may not justify the performance loss.

For users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rate, 1440p Low at 58 FPS is a viable compromise, though it sits right at the edge of smooth playability. The data suggests that High and Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as they produce average frame rates of 60 FPS or lower at 1080p, and become unplayable (25 FPS or 16 FPS) at 4K. The measured rows show that Medium at 1440p (46 FPS) is acceptable for slower-paced exploration, but the 1080p Medium preset (66 FPS) is the recommended sweet spot for a balance of quality and performance. Ultra settings, regardless of resolution, are not recommended for this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Arc B390 delivers its best results. Low settings produce the highest average frame rate of 84 FPS. Medium settings follow with 66 FPS, showing a solid 18 FPS decline. High settings drop further to 60 FPS, which is the minimum for a generally smooth experience. Ultra settings are significantly more demanding, resulting in an average of only 38 FPS, a 46 FPS reduction from Low. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS, indicating some frame pacing variance but overall stability.

At 2560x1440, the performance penalty is clear. Low settings average 58 FPS, which is still decent, but a 26 FPS drop from the 1080p Low figure. High settings average 42 FPS, which is borderline for action gameplay. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS, showcasing the GPU's struggle to maintain a consistent frame rate. Ultra settings plummet to an average of 27 FPS, rendering the game largely unresponsive and difficult to play.

At 3840x2160, the combination is severely outmatched. Low settings are the only playable option, yielding an average of 35 FPS, which is choppy. Medium settings drop to 27 FPS (minimum 23 FPS, maximum 32 FPS), High settings fall to 25 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 16 FPS. The data shows a clear pattern: the GPU's performance collapses at 4K, and no preset can salvage a consistently playable experience at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Greedfall, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel Arc B390 combo ranks 2595 out of 2938 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 12% of all systems tested, confirming its status as a low-performance pairing. The rank is almost entirely dictated by the GPU; the CPU's high-end specifications are effectively wasted in this configuration, as the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's ability to feed it frames.

The percentile ranking for the GPU itself (9th percentile) is far more illustrative than the CPU's ranking, and the combo's position in the game's benchmark results aligns closely with the GPU's poor standing. The data implies that this combo is not intended for high-end gaming, and its rank in Greedfall reflects the fundamental mismatch between a top-tier 16-core CPU and an entry-level integrated graphics solution. For any user seeing this rank, the implication is clear: the system is CPU-bound in non-gaming tasks but severely GPU-bound in this specific game.

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. Its benchmark scores are substantial, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017 and a single-core score of 1614, indicating immense processing power. However, in Greedfall, the CPU's role is largely passive. The game's engine is not heavily multithreaded enough to utilize all 32 threads, and the GPU bottleneck is so severe that the CPU rarely has to work hard to keep frames queued.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor; even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the CPU's high single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 3470) is sufficient to maintain the 84 FPS average. The nearest rivals to the 5950X in average benchmark score—the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX, AMD EPYC 8124P, Intel Core i9-13900F, and Intel Core i7-14700—all have similar performance, yet none of them would change the Greedfall outcome when paired with the Arc B390. The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 support provide ample bandwidth for the system shared GPU memory, but the GPU's limited shader throughput remains the wall.

FAQ

Q: Why is the performance so poor at 4K resolution?

A: The Intel Arc B390 uses "System Shared" memory, which has system-dependent bandwidth. At 3840x2160, the GPU is required to process over 8 million pixels per frame, and its limited shading units (1536) and ROPs (24) cannot handle the workload, resulting in average FPS dropping to as low as 16 on Ultra settings.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X holding back the Intel Arc B390?

A: No, the data shows the opposite. The CPU is far more powerful than the GPU, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017, and it is not the bottleneck. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking versus all other GPUs indicates it is the primary limiting component in all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system?

A: The measured data indicates that 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest average frame rate of 84 FPS. This is the only configuration that consistently exceeds the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, given the GPU's limitations.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The B390's average benchmark score is 1482, which is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM. This shows it is in the same performance class as decade-old entry-level graphics solutions, failing to provide a modern gaming experience.

Q: Can this system run Greedfall at Ultra settings smoothly?

A: No. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 38 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. These figures are well below playable thresholds, and the data suggests that Ultra settings are not viable for this hardware combination at any resolution.

Q: Is the system's performance in Greedfall consistent with its overall hardware ranking?

A: Yes. The combo ranks 2595 out of 2938 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 12% of systems. This is consistent with the GPU's low percentile ranking (9th) and its position alongside legacy NVIDIA parts, confirming that the system is designed for basic tasks, not demanding games.