Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. The benchmark data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly capable at standard resolutions but begins to show its constraints as the graphical load intensifies, particularly at 4K with maximum settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, focusing on how the CPU and GPU each influence the final frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline tells a compelling story about which component is driving performance. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average frame rate at High settings drops from 191 FPS to 132 FPS, a reduction of roughly 31%. This is a significant hit, but the system remains firmly in high-refresh-rate territory. However, the next jump, from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, is where the curve steepens dramatically. At 4K High, the average FPS falls to 79, which is a 40% drop from the 1440p result.

This pattern strongly suggests that at 1080p and, to a large extent, 1440p, the system is not fully GPU-bound. The very high frame rates at 1080p (191 High, 268 Low) indicate that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with data quickly enough to avoid a bottleneck. The GPU has headroom to work harder as resolution increases. The transition to 4K changes this dynamic. The 4K Ultra setting is particularly telling, with an average of just 50 FPS. This represents a 59% drop from the 4K High setting (79 FPS), which is a much larger performance cliff than the scaling between other settings tiers suggests. This indicates that the Radeon RX 7900 XT’s compute resources are being saturated at 4K Ultra, making the GPU the definitive limiting factor at that extreme configuration.

The data implies that for Greedfall, the sweet spot for this hardware combination is between 1440p and 4K. The 4K Medium result (87 FPS) is respectable, but the massive cost of enabling Ultra at that resolution is not worth the modest visual gain per frame. The scaling from Low to Medium at 4K is also notable: 111 FPS to 87 FPS, a 21% performance penalty for what is likely a significant visual improvement. This suggests that the Medium preset is the most efficient setting for 4K gaming on this hardware.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the undisputed workhorse in this pairing, and its specifications directly correlate with the observed performance. The GPU features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a substantial 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is crucial for Greedfall, which is an open-world RPG that likely loads large texture sets and geometry. The data shows that at 4K, even with the massive memory pool, the GPU's raw processing power becomes the primary constraint. The boost clock of 2394 MHz and the 5376 shading units are tasked with rendering every frame, and at 4K Ultra, they are overwhelmed, producing an average of only 50 FPS.

Interestingly, the GPU's memory bandwidth appears to be sufficient, as the performance drop from 4K High to 4K Ultra is more likely due to the increased shader workload and pixel fill rate requirements than a memory capacity or bandwidth limitation. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s are high, but Greedfall's Ultra settings likely introduce effects like volumetric lighting and complex post-processing that tax these specific units heavily. The data shows a clear hierarchy: at 1080p and 1440p, the GPU has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates, but at 4K, its limits are exposed, particularly when the highest preset is enabled. The GPU's benchmark percentile ranking of 55 places it in the mid-range of all tested GPUs, which seems low for a flagship-tier card, but the measured FPS in Greedfall shows it is still a powerful performer for this specific title.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 191 FPS at 1920x1080 with the High preset.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there when moving from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 146 FPS. At 3840x2160, the same preset averages 87 FPS, representing a 40% decrease in performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 50, which is a substantial drop from the 4K High result of 79 FPS, suggesting the graphics card's processing power is saturated.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The lowest average FPS is 50, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset.

Q: Can this system achieve over 200 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p with the Low preset, the system averages 268 FPS, and with the Medium preset, it averages 210 FPS.

Q: How does the combo's rank in this game compare to other tested combinations?

A: This specific CPU/GPU combination ranks 743rd out of 3703 tested combos for Greedfall, placing it in the top 20% of all tested systems.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of benchmarked systems, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT holds a rank of 743 out of 3703 tested combos for Greedfall. This places it within the top 20% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing. However, given the high-end nature of both components, one might expect an even higher rank. The data suggests that while the system is very powerful, it is not at the absolute pinnacle of performance for this specific title.

The rank implies that there are many other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates, likely including those with newer generation GPUs or CPUs that are more optimized for Greedfall's engine. The CPU's average benchmark score is 53288, placing it in the 91st percentile against all CPUs, but its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700F, which has a slightly higher average score (53620, a -0.6% delta). This indicates that the CPU is not the top performer but is very close to its direct competitors. The GPU, with a percentile rank of 55, is more mid-pack in the overall GPU benchmark database, but its real-world performance in this game is clearly high. This discrepancy suggests that Greedfall may not be fully utilizing all the features of the RDNA 3.0 architecture, or that the game's engine has specific bottlenecks that prevent this combo from ranking even higher.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X plays a critical, though secondary, role in this benchmark. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, it provides ample processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The high boost clock of 5.60 GHz is particularly beneficial for gaming, as it ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is often the key driver for game logic and draw call submission. The data supports this: at 1080p, the system achieves very high frame rates (191 High, 268 Low), which would be impossible if the CPU were struggling to keep up with the GPU.

However, the CPU's influence wanes as resolution increases. The 3DMark benchmarks show a clear scaling from 2137 (2 threads) to 12536 (max threads), demonstrating its multi-threaded capability. Yet, in Greedfall at 4K, the performance is almost entirely dictated by the GPU. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS while the 4K Low preset reaches 111 FPS shows that the CPU can still feed the GPU at a high rate, but the GPU cannot render the more complex frames fast enough. The 7900X’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data-heavy tasks, but its primary role here is to ensure that the GPU is never waiting for instructions. Its performance is strong enough that it never appears to be the primary reason for a frame rate drop in this test, with the limiting factor shifting entirely to the GPU at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is a direct breakdown of the measured average frame rates for this hardware combination in Greedfall.

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Low: 268 FPS
• Medium: 210 FPS (min 179, max 242)
• High: 191 FPS
• Ultra: 122 FPS

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Low: 186 FPS
• Medium: 146 FPS (min 124, max 168)
• High: 132 FPS
• Ultra: 84 FPS

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Low: 111 FPS
• Medium: 87 FPS (min 74, max 100)
• High: 79 FPS
• Ultra: 50 FPS

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset offers a substantial improvement over Low with a moderate performance cost, while the Ultra preset provides a massive performance hit for the highest visual quality. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the min/max values for Medium settings, appears to be stable, with the 4K Medium showing a min of 74 FPS and a max of 100 FPS, suggesting only minor stuttering.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this system depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For players with a high-refresh-rate 1080p monitor, the High preset is the clear choice, delivering an average of 191 FPS. This provides a smooth, responsive experience while retaining significant visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1080p is also viable at 122 FPS, but the jump from High to Ultra incurs a 36% performance penalty, which may not justify the visual gains for all players.

At 1440p, the High preset remains an excellent choice, with an average of 132 FPS, which is ideal for 120Hz+ displays. The Medium preset also performs well at 146 FPS, but the High preset offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. For those seeking the absolute best image quality, the Ultra preset at 84 FPS is playable, but it is a significant step down from High.

At 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended sweet spot. It delivers a playable average of 87 FPS, which is a 10% improvement over High (79 FPS) and a staggering 74% improvement over Ultra (50 FPS). The visual difference between Medium and High is often less noticeable than the difference between High and Ultra, making Medium the most efficient choice for a smooth 4K experience. The Ultra preset should be avoided for consistent gameplay, as 50 FPS is below the standard for a comfortable experience in an action RPG. The data clearly suggests that for this hardware, the law of diminishing returns kicks in hard at the Ultra preset, especially at higher resolutions.