Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphics presets. For this system, pairing the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X with the AMD Radeon RX 7600, the measured data reveals a configuration where the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate, with the CPU providing ample headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the most balanced experience is achieved at the High preset across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 109 FPS, which is only 11 FPS lower than the Low preset's 152 FPS but provides a substantial visual uplift. Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset maintains a smooth 75 FPS average, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid gameplay. At 3840x2160, the High preset yields a playable 45 FPS average, which is more consistent than the Ultra preset's 29 FPS.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combination, as it causes a precipitous drop in performance at every resolution. The data shows that at 1080p, Ultra yields 69 FPS, a 37% reduction from High. At 1440p, this gap widens to 36%, with Ultra producing 48 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset becomes largely unplayable, averaging just 29 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra appears to introduce a disproportionately heavy load, likely tied to advanced shading or post-processing effects that strain the GPU's 8 GB of memory and 2048 shading units.

For users prioritizing maximum fluidity over visual fidelity, the Medium preset offers a compelling middle ground. It provides 120 FPS at 1080p and 83 FPS at 1440p, with recorded minimums of 102 and 71 FPS respectively, indicating stable frame pacing. The Low preset is only advisable for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, as it pushes frame rates to 152 FPS at 1080p and 106 FPS at 1440p, but sacrifices the game's atmospheric detail. The optimal recommendation is the High preset for all resolutions, as it provides the best trade-off between visual quality and playable, consistent performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running on the AM5 socket. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are high for a desktop part, and its benchmark scores reflect substantial processing power. In Cinebench R23, it scores 29300 points in multi-core and 2016.5 points in single-core. This places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53288.

The role of this CPU in Greedfall is to ensure the GPU is never bottlenecked. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p with the Low preset, the system achieves 152 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high performance, even in less GPU-intensive scenarios. The processor's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1093, is crucial for game logic and physics calculations.

Comparatively, the Ryzen 9 7900X sits near processors like the AMD EPYC 7313P (0.2% faster) and the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% slower) in average scores. However, these are workstation-class chips; for gaming, the Ryzen 9 7900X's high clock speeds and modern architecture provide a distinct advantage. The 12 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for Greedfall's multi-threaded workload, as evidenced by the 3DMark max threads score of 12536, ensuring that background tasks or heavy AI calculations do not cause frame drops. The CPU's performance headroom is clear: at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is most stressed, the frame rate is 29 FPS, but the CPU remains capable of processing the game's logic without being the primary constraint.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the central component dictating this system's gaming performance. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. Based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a chip codenamed "Hotpink Bonefish," it has a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz. Its 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are key to its rasterization performance.

The GPU's role is clear from the measured FPS: it is the primary bottleneck in this configuration, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The memory capacity and bandwidth are critical. At 1080p, the GPU can handle the data throughput, but as resolution increases to 4K, the 8 GB frame buffer becomes a limiting factor. The transition from 1080p to 4K at the High preset shows a 59% drop in average FPS (from 109 to 45), demonstrating the GPU's struggle to fill the larger frame buffer and process the increased pixel count.

In the Passmark G3D benchmark, the RX 7600 scores 16634, placing it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs. This score is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which is only 0.2% faster, and the AMD Radeon 680M, which is 0.7% faster. This indicates that while the RX 7600 is a competent 1080p performer, it is positioned in the mid-range tier. The GPU's compute performance, with a Passmark GPU Compute score of 8790, is adequate for the game's effects, but the combination of memory size and bandwidth limits its high-resolution capabilities. The data suggests that the GPU's 128-bit memory interface and 8 GB capacity are the primary constraints, preventing the system from achieving high frame rates at 4K Ultra, where the average is just 29 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Greedfall, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 7600 holds the rank of 2568 out of 3703 total combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, indicating that while it is a functional setup, it is not a high-end performer in this specific title.

This ranking is consistent with the performance data. The combo's position is largely determined by the GPU's mid-range standing. While the CPU is in the 91st percentile of all processors, the GPU is only in the 57th percentile. The overall system performance is dragged down by the GPU's limitations. For context, the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-14700F (0.6% slower), would likely produce a similar ranking if paired with the same GPU, as the bottleneck is not the CPU. Conversely, pairing this CPU with a higher-tier GPU would significantly improve the combo's rank, as the CPU has ample headroom to support a more powerful graphics card.

The rank of 2568 reflects that many other tested combos feature stronger GPUs, which are more critical for Greedfall's frame rates. The data shows that the system is not optimized for high-resolution or ultra-high-detail gaming, but rather for solid 1080p and 1440p gameplay at medium-to-high settings. The combo's ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's 8 GB memory and 2048 shading units, which are sufficient for mainstream gaming but not for the extreme demands of 4K Ultra settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Greedfall smoothly at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440 with the High preset, the system achieves an average of 75 FPS. The Medium preset is also viable, with an average of 83 FPS and a minimum of 71 FPS, ensuring a consistently smooth experience.

Q: What is the best graphics preset for this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The High preset provides the best balance, delivering 109 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is not recommended, as it causes frame rates to drop below 70 FPS at 1080p and to 29 FPS at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X has a single-thread score of 2016.5 in Cinebench R23 and is in the 91st percentile, while the RX 7600 is in the 57th percentile. The frame rate drops significantly with resolution increases, indicating the GPU's limits.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The RX 7600's average benchmark score is 15171, making it nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (0.2% faster). It is also within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon 680M, indicating similar performance levels.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this setup?

A: It is only viable at lower presets. At 4K with the Low preset, the system averages 63 FPS. The High preset yields 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS, which is not a playable experience.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this hardware?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 152 FPS at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The High preset at 1080p achieves 109 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data presents the average, minimum, and maximum frame rates for each tested resolution and settings combination.

1920x1080

• Low: Average 152 FPS.
• Medium: Average 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS.
• High: Average 109 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 69 FPS.

2560x1440

• Low: Average 106 FPS.
• Medium: Average 83 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 95 FPS.
• High: Average 75 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 48 FPS.

3840x2160

• Low: Average 63 FPS.
• Medium: Average 50 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS.
• High: Average 45 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 29 FPS.

The data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns. At 1080p, the step from Low to Medium costs 32 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs only 11 FPS. However, the step from High to Ultra costs 40 FPS, which is the largest single drop, highlighting the heavy load of the Ultra preset. At 1440p, the progression is more linear, with drops of 23, 8, and 27 FPS for each successive preset. At 4K, all presets deliver sub-65 FPS averages, and the Ultra preset's 29 FPS is the lowest recorded score.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of frame rates from 1080p to 4K reveals the system's performance characteristics. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 109 at 1920x1080 to 75 at 2560x1440, a 31% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 75 to 45, a further 40% reduction. Overall, from 1080p to 4K, the frame rate falls by 59%.

This scaling pattern is indicative of a GPU-bound system. As resolution increases, the number of pixels the GPU must render grows exponentially. The RX 7600's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus are insufficient to maintain high throughput at 4K. The data shows that the GPU is working at its limits, as the frame rate drops are consistent with the increase in pixel count.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset shows a similar trend, with FPS dropping from 152 to 63, a 59% decrease. This consistency across presets further confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's performance, with its high single-thread and multi-thread scores, is not the cause of these drops. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU workload is relatively constant. Instead, the dramatic scaling of FPS with resolution points directly to the GPU's rendering capabilities, specifically its memory bandwidth and capacity, as the primary constraint on this system's performance in Greedfall.