Greedfall

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 presents a clear picture of 1080p dominance and 4K limitations in Greedfall. The measured frame rates show a system that excels at high refresh rates on standard monitors but requires settings compromises to remain playable at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the performance data from the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a dramatic performance drop that is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 136 FPS at 1080p to 94 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 42 FPS, and then further down to 56 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 7700 is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases, with the CPU having ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

Looking at the Low settings preset, the scaling is even more telling. The system achieves 191 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 132 FPS at 1440p, and then to 79 FPS at 4K. The fact that 4K Low still produces only 79 FPS, while 1080p Low produces 191 FPS, demonstrates that the GPU's raw throughput is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2617, is more than sufficient to handle the game's logic at any resolution.

The Medium preset shows the most complete data, with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 104 FPS with a range of 88 to 120 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 71 FPS. This 88 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K Medium averages highlights how resolution scaling directly taxes the GPU.

Ultra settings present the steepest curve. The system manages 87 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and only 36 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, suggesting that this combination is not suited for maximum quality at that resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 4K represents a 58.6% reduction in frame rate, which is a substantial penalty that underscores the GPU's 16 GB memory buffer and 256-bit bus cannot overcome the sheer pixel workload.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, are more than capable of driving the GPU to its limits. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's shading units and texture units become the constraint. The 4K results, particularly at Ultra, suggest that this configuration is best reserved for 1080p or 1440p gaming with adjusted settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 150 FPS average with a 127 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay on high refresh rate monitors. The 1440p Medium result of 104 FPS average, with an 88 FPS minimum, remains above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. Even at 4K Medium, the 62 FPS average and 53 FPS minimum are borderline playable, though users with variable refresh rate monitors will appreciate the stability.

High settings provide a reasonable alternative for those prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rates. The 94 FPS average at 1440p High is solid, and the 56 FPS at 4K High is workable if the user accepts occasional dips. However, the jump from Medium to High costs 10 FPS at 1080p, 10 FPS at 1440p, and 6 FPS at 4K. These reductions are modest, making High a viable choice for most users.

Ultra settings are the least recommended based on the data. The 36 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the only result that falls below 60 FPS, and even at 1440p, the 60 FPS average leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. The 1080p Ultra result of 87 FPS is acceptable, but it sacrifices 63 FPS compared to Low settings. The visual gains from Ultra over High are typically marginal in this genre, and the performance cost is substantial.

Low settings are the best choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate play. The 191 FPS at 1080p Low is excellent for 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitors, and the 132 FPS at 1440p Low remains very fluid. The 79 FPS at 4K Low is the only way to approach 60 FPS at that resolution, but it requires significant graphical compromises. For most users, the Medium preset provides the best balance of image quality and performance across all three resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1307 out of 2938 tested combinations in Greedfall. This places the combo in the 44th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of configurations but is far from the top tier. The rank reflects the GPU's middling position in the overall performance hierarchy, as the CPU is clearly a high-end part.

The GPU's percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 15852, indicates it sits near the middle of the pack. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a score of 15862 (a -0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a score of 16014 (a -1% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a score of 16129 (a -1.7% delta). This clustering suggests the RX 7700 is competitive with these cards in synthetic benchmarks, though in-game results may vary.

The CPU's percentile rank of 91 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53288, shows it is a top-tier processor. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7313P with a score of 53206 (a 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i7-14700F with a score of 53620 (a -0.6% delta). The 7900X's strong multi-threaded performance, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29300, ensures it is not a limiting factor in Greedfall.

The combo rank of 1307 out of 2938 indicates that while the CPU is excellent, the GPU holds the system back in this title. Users seeking higher ranks would need to pair the 7900X with a faster GPU, but for 1080p and 1440p gaming, this configuration delivers solid results that align with its mid-pack GPU positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 191 FPS on Low, 150 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 127 FPS and maximum of 172 FPS), 136 FPS on High, and 87 FPS on Ultra. These results show a clear progression where each settings tier costs approximately 15-50 FPS, with the largest gap between High and Ultra at 49 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the scores are 132 FPS on Low, 104 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 88 FPS and maximum of 120 FPS), 94 FPS on High, and 60 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results maintain playable frame rates across all presets, with even Ultra staying at the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between Medium and High narrows to 10 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra increases to 34 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly: 79 FPS on Low, 62 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 71 FPS), 56 FPS on High, and 36 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show that only Low and Medium presets can maintain average frame rates above 60 FPS, and even then, the minimum frame rates dip below that threshold. The 36 FPS Ultra result is the only measurement that falls below 40 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the spread from minimum to maximum is 45 FPS, which narrows to 32 FPS at 1440p and 18 FPS at 4K. This tightening range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU is working at more consistent utilization, though at lower average frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip, is the primary determinant of performance in Greedfall. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, the memory capacity is adequate, but the bandwidth and compute resources become strained.

The GPU's boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz, with a base clock of 1900 MHz, allow it to sustain high throughput in less demanding scenes. The 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines process the game's visuals efficiently, but the 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the ceiling that limits 4K Ultra frame rates to 36 FPS.

The GPU's benchmark results show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865, a Passmark G3D score of 20974, and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028. These synthetic scores correlate with the in-game results, indicating the GPU is performing as expected. Its Passmark DirectX 11 score of 186 and DirectX 12 score of 96 suggest it handles modern APIs well, which is relevant given Greedfall's release in 2019.

The 16 GB memory buffer is generous for this game, as Greedfall does not require excessive VRAM at 1080p or 1440p. The headroom allows for high-resolution textures without memory pressure, but the GPU's compute units become the bottleneck before memory capacity is exceeded. The 624.1 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the measured frame rates, though higher resolutions would benefit from more bandwidth.

The GPU's TDP of 200 W, with a dual-slot design and 2x 8-pin power connectors, indicates it requires substantial power delivery. The suggested PSU of 550 W is modest for this class, but the card's performance aligns with its power consumption. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures sufficient bandwidth for data transfer, and the display outputs, including 1x HDMI 2.1a and 2x DisplayPort 2.1, support modern monitors.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, plays a supporting role in Greedfall's performance. The CPU's base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz provide excellent single-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and physics. The Geekbench single-core score of 2617 confirms this capability.

The CPU's 64 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core, alongside 64 KB of L1 cache per core, ensure low-latency access to frequently used data. The DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration provides 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the game's demands. The 5 nm process node with 13,140 million transistors on a 2x 71 mm² die size demonstrates the CPU's efficiency.

Benchmark results show the 7900X excels in multi-threaded workloads, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29300 and a Passmark multithread score of 51406. However, Greedfall is not a heavily threaded title, so the CPU's single-thread performance is more relevant. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1093 and 2-thread score of 2137 indicate the CPU can handle the game's primary thread efficiently.

The CPU's percentile rank of 91 against all CPUs and average benchmark score of 53288 place it in the top tier of processors. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7313P, scores 53206 with a 0.2% delta, while the Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620 with a -0.6% delta. This positioning confirms the 7900X is not a bottleneck in this combination.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle AI computations. The high boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU is less stressed, the CPU can maintain frame rates above 190 FPS. At 4K, the CPU's workload remains constant, but the GPU's rendering time dominates, making the CPU's contribution less visible. The 7900X's 24 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks without impacting game performance.