Greedfall

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames-per-second data for Greedfall across three resolutions and four quality presets reveals a system that scales predictably, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers extremely high frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 249.5 FPS and even the demanding Ultra preset maintaining 114.6 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is still feeding the GPU adequately, but the wide spread between Low and Ultra — a 134.9 FPS gap — indicates that quality settings have a massive impact on the workload.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop appreciably across the board. The Low preset records 168.6 FPS, which is a 32.4% reduction from the 1080p Low result. High settings at 1440p produce 126.1 FPS, while Ultra falls to 78.5 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is not uniform; the Low preset loses 80.9 FPS, whereas the Ultra preset loses 36.1 FPS. This non-linear behavior points to a shift in bottleneck behavior — at lower quality settings, the system is still partially CPU-limited, but at Ultra, the GPU is already working hard enough that the additional resolution penalty is relatively smaller.

At 4K, the trend intensifies dramatically. The Low preset drops to 100.8 FPS, a 40.2% decline from the 1440p Low figure. Medium at 4K yields 81.7 FPS, High produces 71.5 FPS, and Ultra collapses to 47.3 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling: it represents less than one-fifth of the 1080p Low ceiling. The data indicates that at 4K, the RTX 3080 Ti is unequivocally the limiting component. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, has ample headroom even at 1080p, where the Low preset exceeds 240 FPS. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus width are being taxed heavily at 4K, especially with Ultra settings that increase texture and shading demands.

The resolution scaling pattern strongly suggests that Greedfall is a GPU-bound title at higher resolutions and quality settings. The gap between 1080p and 4K at the same preset widens as quality increases: Low goes from 249.5 to 100.8 (a 59.6% drop), while Ultra goes from 114.6 to 47.3 (a 58.7% drop). These nearly identical percentage drops across the quality spectrum at the resolution extremes confirm that the GPU's rendering throughput is the primary constraint. The CPU's performance, measured by its 3DMark max-thread score of 13929 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46438, is far beyond what Greedfall requires, even at high frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X brings substantial compute resources to this pairing. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, the CPU operates at a 4.40 GHz base clock and boosts to 5.60 GHz. The 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth provide the memory subsystem with ample throughput. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip achieves a single-thread score of 1286 in 3DMark and 6555 in Cinebench R23, while multi-threaded workloads scale impressively to 13929 in 3DMark max-thread and 46438 in Cinebench R23 multi-core.

Greedfall, an Action RPG from 2019, does not appear to be a heavily multi-threaded title. The evidence lies in the frame rate scaling: at 1080p Low, the system produces 249.5 FPS, which is likely near the engine's practical limit for this hardware. The fact that the 1080p Ultra preset still achieves 114.6 FPS indicates that even at high settings, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU's passmark single-thread score of 4672 and 3DMark 2-thread score of 2519 suggest strong per-core performance, which is what matters most for game logic and draw call processing in an older title like Greedfall.

The Ryzen 9 9900X's percentile ranking of 94 among all CPUs indicates it sits in the top tier of processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, which scores 54681 on average (0.4% higher), and the Intel Core i7-14700F at 54097 (0.7% lower). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming terms, meaning the 9900X is not leaving performance on the table in CPU-bound scenarios. For Greedfall specifically, the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at 1080p — where the Low preset hits 249.5 FPS — demonstrates that the 12-core chip has enough single-thread throughput to avoid becoming a bottleneck even at very high frame rates.

The CPU's 120 W TDP and 4 nm process node from TSMC give it efficiency headroom, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking, though the stock boost clock of 5.60 GHz already provides strong performance. In Greedfall, the CPU role is largely supportive; the data shows that resolution and quality settings drive frame rate changes far more than any CPU-bound limitation. The 1080p to 4K scaling at the same preset shows consistent GPU-bound behavior, reinforcing that the 9900X is more than sufficient for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the workhorse of this configuration, and its specifications explain the observed frame rate behavior. Built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process, the GPU packs 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It operates with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The memory subsystem is particularly robust: 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus delivers 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for high-resolution texture streaming in an open-world RPG like Greedfall.

The GPU's compute capabilities are formidable, with 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 80 RT cores for ray tracing. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 and Passmark G3D score of 26896 place the card in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 3090, which scores 41441 on average (0.5% higher), and the RTX 5070 at 41687 (1.1% higher). The tight deltaPct values indicate that the 3080 Ti is performing at the expected level for its class.

In Greedfall, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the GPU's raw throughput allows for very high frame rates, but the CPU is still able to keep up. At 4K, however, the GPU is clearly the limiting component. The measured FPS at 4K High is 71.5, which is a 43.3% drop from the 1440p High result of 126.1. This is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering, where the increased pixel count directly translates to longer render times. The 4K Ultra result of 47.3 FPS is the lowest measured figure, and it aligns with the GPU's 350 W TDP and the demanding nature of Ultra settings, which likely increase shadow quality, draw distance, and post-processing effects.

The RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for Greedfall at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that the game runs at all at this resolution. However, the performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K — from 71.5 to 47.3 FPS, a 33.8% reduction — suggests that Ultra settings impose a significant additional load on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. The 912.4 GB/s bandwidth is not being fully saturated at 1080p, but at 4K with Ultra textures, the memory subsystem is likely working near capacity. The GPU's percentile ranking of 83 and its average benchmark score of 41224 confirm that it is a high-end part, but not the absolute fastest, which explains why 4K Ultra cannot sustain 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for this hardware combination. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with High at 175 FPS and Ultra at 114.6 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 60.4 FPS, which is a significant trade-off for visual improvements that may be subtle at this resolution. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, the Medium preset at 195.6 FPS or High at 175 FPS are excellent choices, as both are well above the 144 Hz mark.

At 1440p, the recommended preset is High, which achieves 126.1 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and close to 120 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 78.5 FPS is still playable, but the 47.6 FPS drop from High to Ultra is substantial. Medium at 136.7 FPS is also viable if the user prefers higher frame rates over visual quality, but High appears to be the sweet spot for image quality versus performance.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The High preset at 71.5 FPS is the optimal choice, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 47.3 FPS dips below 60 FPS, which can cause noticeable stutter in an Action RPG with combat mechanics. The Medium preset at 81.7 FPS is also a strong option if the user wants a safety margin above 60 FPS, but High offers better visual quality at a still-playable frame rate. The Low preset at 100.8 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the visual degradation would be significant on a high-resolution display, and the frame rate gains over Medium (19.1 FPS) do not justify the loss of graphical fidelity.

Across all resolutions, the data shows a consistent pattern: High settings provide the best experience per the measured rows. At 1080p, High is 60.4 FPS below Ultra but 20.6 FPS above Medium. At 1440p, High is 47.6 FPS above Ultra and only 10.6 FPS below Medium. At 4K, High is 24.2 FPS above Ultra and 10.2 FPS below Medium. The High preset represents the point of diminishing returns, where visual quality is near-maximal without incurring the severe frame rate penalties of Ultra. For users with G-Sync or FreeSync displays, the 4K High result of 71.5 FPS is particularly well-suited, as it falls within typical variable refresh rate ranges.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Greedfall with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1440p High is the most balanced configuration, delivering 126.1 FPS. This is more than double the 60 FPS target and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. At 4K, the High preset at 71.5 FPS is still playable, but 1440p offers a smoother experience.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The High preset drops from 175 FPS at 1080p to 126.1 FPS at 1440p and 71.5 FPS at 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 103.5 FPS, a 59.1% decrease, which indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X sufficient for Greedfall?

A: Yes. The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and Passmark single-thread score of 4672, is more than adequate. The 1080p Low preset reaching 249.5 FPS shows the CPU is not limiting frame rates in this title.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings at 4K with the RTX 3080 Ti?

A: No. The 4K Ultra preset produces 47.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 71.5 FPS provides a substantially better experience with only a modest reduction in visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti's average benchmark score of 41224 is only 0.5% lower than the RTX 3090's 41441 and 1.1% lower than the RTX 5070's 41687. This indicates the card is performing at the expected level for its class, with negligible differences from the closest competitors.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM on the RTX 3080 Ti enough for Greedfall at 4K?

A: Yes, the measured data shows that 4K Ultra runs at 47.3 FPS and 4K High at 71.5 FPS, meaning the game loads and renders successfully at this resolution. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for this title's texture and geometry demands.