Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, exhibits a fascinating performance profile when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The benchmark data reveals a system that is unequivocally GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet the CPU’s immense headroom becomes a defining factor at 1080p. This combination, ranking 595th out of 2938 tested combos, demonstrates that even a top-tier mobile processor can create a bottleneck in specific scenarios, while the flagship graphics card dictates the experience at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the rate of that degradation tells a compelling story about which component is the limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 261 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 181 FPS, a reduction of approximately 30.7%. Pushing further to 4K Low yields 108 FPS, which is another 40.3% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline from 1080p to 4K is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario; the CPU is capable of feeding frames far faster than the GPU can render them at higher pixel counts.

The trend becomes even more pronounced when examining the High settings preset. At 1080p High, the system produces 186 FPS. At 1440p High, this falls to 129 FPS (a 30.6% decrease), and at 4K High, it further drops to 77 FPS (a 40.3% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings presets is striking. It indicates that the scaling penalty is almost purely a function of pixel count and rasterization load, which is squarely the GPU's domain. The data suggests that the RTX 5090's rendering throughput is the primary constraint, with the Ryzen 9 8945HX providing more than enough processed frames to keep the graphics card saturated at every resolution.

What is more revealing is the gap between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (261 FPS) and Ultra (119 FPS) is a massive 142 FPS. However, at 4K, the gap between Low (108 FPS) and Ultra (49 FPS) is only 59 FPS. This compression of the FPS range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is so heavily loaded at 4K that even reducing the graphical fidelity to its lowest setting cannot proportionally increase the frame rate; the pixel throughput limit is the dominant wall. Conversely, at 1080p, the GPU has enough spare capacity to render the extra visual effects of the Ultra preset, but the CPU's frame generation limit begins to cap the maximum output, creating a different kind of bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 in Greedfall?

A: The data suggests a conditional bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the system hits 261 FPS, which is exceptionally high. The fact that lowering resolution from 1080p to 1440p yields only a ~30% FPS drop, while the pixel count drops by 77%, implies the CPU is limiting the maximum achievable frame rate at lower resolutions. At 4K, the FPS is far lower (e.g., 77 FPS on High), indicating the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's performance in Greedfall compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In the database, the RTX 5090's average benchmark score is 79842. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, has an average score of 79605, meaning the RTX 5090 is 0.3% ahead. It also leads the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (score 78940) by 1.1% and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (score 79396) by 0.6%. Interestingly, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores higher at 80959, making the RTX 5090 1.4% slower in that specific aggregate benchmark.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 4K experience based on the measured data?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the only option with recorded minimum and maximum FPS data, showing an average of 85 FPS with a minimum of 72 and a maximum of 98. The High preset averages 77 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 49 FPS. The Medium preset provides the highest average FPS that also includes a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the most balanced choice for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 8945HX's multi-core performance translate to a high frame rate in this game?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 42713, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. In Greedfall, this raw multi-threaded power likely contributes to the system's ability to maintain very high frame rates at 1080p, reaching 186 FPS on High settings. However, the game's performance ceiling at lower resolutions appears to be tied to single-core performance or other CPU limitations, as the frame rate doesn't scale proportionally with resolution decreases.

Q: How does the combo's ranking in Greedfall compare to its overall parts' percentiles?

A: The combo ranks 595th out of 2938 tested combinations for this game, placing it in the top ~20% of all tested systems. This is lower than the individual component percentiles; the CPU is in the 95th percentile and the GPU is in the 92nd percentile. This discrepancy indicates that the game's engine or the specific combination's characteristics prevent it from achieving the same relative dominance as its parts would suggest.

Q: What is the impact of the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads on 4K performance?

A: At 4K, the frame rates are 77 FPS on High and 108 FPS on Low. These numbers are significantly lower than the 1080p results, which demonstrates that the GPU's rendering load is the primary constraint. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads provide ample processing power so that it is not the limiting factor at this resolution; the GPU is the component determining the final frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 secures a rank of 595 out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall. This places the system in the upper echelon of tested hardware, but it is not at the absolute pinnacle. Given that the individual components are in the 95th (CPU) and 92nd (GPU) percentiles of their respective categories, one might expect a higher combined ranking. The data implies that the specific pairing, while powerful, does not perfectly translate its aggregate benchmark strengths into this particular game's engine.

The ranking suggests that other combinations, perhaps with differently balanced CPUs and GPUs, achieve higher frame rates in Greedfall. This could be due to the game favoring specific CPU architectures or having a frame rate cap that this powerful combo hits at lower resolutions, but then suffers from at higher resolutions where other, more balanced systems might have a better performance curve. The combo's high absolute performance is evident, but the 595th rank out of 2938 shows that there are 594 other tested configurations that deliver a better experience in this title, likely due to better optimization for the game's specific workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest frame rates. The Low preset achieves an average of 261 FPS. The Medium preset averages 205 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 174 FPS and a maximum of 236 FPS. The High preset averages 186 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 119 FPS. These numbers show a clear performance hierarchy, with the Low preset providing a massive 142 FPS advantage over the Ultra preset, indicating the CPU can push very high frame rates when the GPU load is minimal.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset averages 181 FPS. The Medium preset averages 142 FPS, with a minimum of 121 and a maximum of 163 FPS. The High preset averages 129 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 82 FPS. The relative differences between presets remain, but the absolute numbers are lower than at 1080p, confirming the increased pixel load on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more modest. The Low preset averages 108 FPS. The Medium preset averages 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 and a maximum of 98 FPS. The High preset averages 77 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 49 FPS. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets narrows to 59 FPS, underscoring the GPU's dominance as the performance limiter at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For a 4K gaming experience, the data strongly points to the Medium preset as the optimal choice. It delivers an average of 85 FPS, which is higher than the High preset's 77 FPS. More importantly, it is the only 4K preset with a recorded minimum FPS of 72, ensuring that the frame rate stays comfortably above 60 FPS even in demanding scenes. The Ultra preset, at 49 FPS, is likely too demanding for smooth gameplay, and the Low preset, while faster at 108 FPS, sacrifices visual quality for a marginal gain over Medium.

At 1440p, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, delivering an average of 129 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over the Medium preset (142 FPS) for a relatively small performance cost. The Ultra preset at 82 FPS is playable, but the High preset offers a better balance of fidelity and speed. The Low preset, at 181 FPS, is only for players prioritizing maximum frame rate over all visual considerations.

At 1080p, the High preset provides an excellent experience at 186 FPS, making full use of high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset is also a strong option at 205 FPS. However, for players with the fastest displays, the Low preset at 261 FPS will maximize the frame rate, though this comes at the cost of visual detail. The Ultra preset at 119 FPS is still smooth and is the best choice for maximum image quality.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture. Its high core count and thread count contribute to strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713. This places the CPU in the 95th percentile of all processors. In Greedfall, this raw processing power ensures that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU is the limiting factor.

The CPU's role becomes more nuanced at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 261 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the CPU is generating frames as fast as the game's engine and the GPU's interface allow. The single-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 score of 6030, is also robust. This is crucial because many game engines, even those that can use multiple cores, still rely heavily on a single thread for game logic and rendering commands. The data suggests that in Greedfall, the CPU's capability is sufficient to push frame rates to very high levels, but it cannot exceed a certain threshold, which is why the 1080p Low setting doesn't scale much beyond 261 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its compute power is substantial, with 21,760 shading units and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. This hardware is clearly designed for high-resolution rendering, and the Greedfall benchmarks confirm this. The GPU's percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs highlights its position as a top-tier component.

In Greedfall, the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates at 4K resolution. The drop from 1080p High (186 FPS) to 4K High (77 FPS) is a 58.6% decrease, which is a direct consequence of the GPU having to render four times the number of pixels. The GPU's performance is also the reason why the Ultra preset is so punishing at 4K, averaging only 49 FPS. The sheer amount of graphical work required at that setting and resolution overwhelms even this powerful card. The RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for any asset the game can load, meaning the performance is purely limited by its computational and rasterization abilities rather than memory capacity.