Greedfall

This benchmark analysis pairs AMD's flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1070, a combination that is heavily skewed toward CPU capability in Greedfall. The measured frame rates reveal a system where the Pascal-era graphics card is the definitive bottleneck at every resolution, while the 16-core Zen 5 processor operates far below its potential. The data shows a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K performance falls short of smooth gameplay, and the performance scaling across settings confirms a GPU-limited scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is severe and consistent with a graphics card that lacks the raw throughput for high-resolution rendering. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 89 FPS at 1080p to 62 FPS at 1440p, a 30% reduction, and then to 37 FPS at 4K, a further 40% drop. This steep decline indicates that the GTX 1070's pixel processing capabilities are exhausted as the resolution increases, and the CPU is not a limiting factor in this scaling.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution provides further evidence of GPU dominance. At 1080p, the difference between Low (125 FPS) and Ultra (57 FPS) is 68 FPS, a range that shows the GPU is fully engaged. At 4K, the same settings span only 29 FPS, from 52 FPS at Low to 23 FPS at Ultra, demonstrating that the GPU's ceiling is reached even at the lowest quality preset. The benchmark results indicate that the 4K Ultra average of 23 FPS is not a playable target, while 1080p Ultra remains viable at 57 FPS.

The scaling pattern suggests that reducing resolution yields larger performance gains than reducing settings, particularly at higher resolutions. For example, moving from 4K High (37 FPS) to 1440p High (62 FPS) provides a 25 FPS improvement, whereas dropping from 4K High to 4K Low (52 FPS) only gains 15 FPS. This is characteristic of a GPU that is bandwidth and fill-rate limited, not a system where the CPU or memory subsystem constrains performance.

GPU Role

The GTX 1070's specifications directly explain its performance ceiling in Greedfall. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s, which is modest by modern standards. Its base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1683 MHz are typical for the Pascal architecture, but the 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is the key metric that limits frame rates in this title.

The GPU's 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs are tasked with rendering the game's environments, and the pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s becomes a bottleneck at 4K. The benchmark data shows that even at Low settings, the 4K average is only 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. This indicates that the GTX 1070's architectural limits are reached regardless of the visual fidelity settings.

The memory configuration also plays a role in the measured results. With 8 GB of VRAM, the card does not appear to run out of memory in Greedfall, as the performance difference between Medium and High settings is relatively small. For instance, at 1440p, the Medium average is 68 FPS compared to 62 FPS at High, a 6 FPS difference that suggests the game fits within the 8 GB frame buffer. The GPU's 256.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show the card struggling to feed its own shaders.

The GTX 1070's percentile rank of 47 among all GPUs places it in the lower half of available hardware, and the nearest rivals, such as the AMD FirePro W5000 and NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, have nearly identical average benchmark scores. The data confirms that this GPU is the limiting component in this pairing, as the CPU's performance is dramatically higher than what the graphics card can utilize in Greedfall.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is an exceptionally powerful processor that is severely underutilized in this configuration. With 16 cores and 32 threads, a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, and 128 MB of L3 cache, the CPU's capabilities far exceed the demands of Greedfall when paired with a GTX 1070. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42018 and single-core score of 2259 demonstrate a processor that can handle any gaming workload, but the measured frame rates show no evidence of CPU limitation.

The CPU's percentile rank of 95 among all CPUs places it in the top 5% of processors, and its average benchmark score of 75779 is nearly identical to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 and Intel Core Ultra 9 285, with delta percentages of 0.1% and 0.4% respectively. In Greedfall, the CPU's 128 MB of L3 cache and high clock speeds are irrelevant to the frame rate, as the GPU is the sole constraint.

Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 125 FPS, which is a high frame rate but still far below what this CPU is capable of in less GPU-bound scenarios. The fact that the 4K Ultra average is 23 FPS, while the 1080p Low average is 125 FPS, shows that the CPU can push the GPU to its limits at lower resolutions but cannot overcome the GPU's 4K deficit. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR5 support are also not a factor, as the game's performance is not memory-sensitive in this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a complete picture of the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 125 FPS, which is the highest score recorded in this test. Medium at 1080p yields 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 113 FPS, offering a smooth experience with some headroom. High at 1080p drops to 89 FPS, while Ultra at 1080p falls to 57 FPS, which is still playable but with less margin.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low averages 86 FPS, Medium averages 68 FPS with a range of 58 to 78 FPS, and High averages 62 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is the first setting that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, with an average of 39 FPS. This suggests that 1440p Ultra is not a recommended configuration for this hardware.

At 3840x2160, the results are consistently below playable levels for most settings. Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS with a range of 34 to 47 FPS, and High averages 37 FPS. Ultra at 4K averages 23 FPS, which is the lowest score in the entire dataset. The data indicates that 4K gameplay is only marginally possible at Low settings, and even then, the average frame rate does not reach 60 FPS.

The combination rank of 3062 out of 3703 combos in Greedfall places this CPU-GPU pairing in the lower 18th percentile of tested configurations, reflecting the GPU's age and the imbalance with the high-end CPU. The minimum frame rates recorded for Medium settings at each resolution (83 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, 34 FPS at 4K) show that frame pacing is relatively stable but drops in demanding scenes are noticeable at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is this system capable of playing Greedfall at 4K?

A: The data shows that 4K performance is limited. At 4K Low, the average is 52 FPS, at High it is 37 FPS, and at Ultra it is 23 FPS. While Low is technically playable, it does not reach the 60 FPS target, and Medium at 4K averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combination?

A: The measured data indicates that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. At 1080p, all settings except Ultra exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 125 FPS and High at 89 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium achieve averages above 60 FPS (86 FPS and 68 FPS respectively).

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its closest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803) and 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832). It is 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724) and 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716).

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9950X3D bottlenecked by the GTX 1070?

A: Yes, the benchmark results clearly show a GPU bottleneck. The CPU has a percentile rank of 95 and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42018, but the frame rates are limited by the GPU's 47th percentile rank. The 4K Ultra average of 23 FPS is far below what the CPU could support.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 89 FPS while Ultra averages 57 FPS, a difference of 32 FPS. At 1440p, High averages 62 FPS and Ultra averages 39 FPS, a 23 FPS difference. At 4K, High averages 37 FPS and Ultra averages 23 FPS, a 14 FPS difference.

Q: Does the CPU's 128 MB of L3 cache provide any benefit in this game?

A: The data does not show a meaningful benefit from the CPU's cache in Greedfall. The frame rates are consistently GPU-limited, as evidenced by the steep performance drop from 1080p to 4K. The CPU's 128 MB L3 cache and 5.70 GHz boost clock do not translate into higher frame rates when the GPU is the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings for this hardware depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it provides an average of 89 FPS while maintaining higher visual quality than Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 57 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS threshold but may suffer in demanding scenes, making High the safer pick for consistent performance.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the best balance of quality and performance. It averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate stays above 60 FPS in most situations. The High preset at 1440p averages 62 FPS but offers less headroom, while Low averages 86 FPS but sacrifices significant visual fidelity. Ultra at 1440p is not recommended, as its 39 FPS average falls well below playable standards.

For 3840x2160, no preset provides a fully smooth experienceandar, but Low is the only viable option if 4K is required. It averages 52 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, and the Medium preset at 4K averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS, making it marginal for action sequences. The Ultra preset at 4K averages 23 FPS)Skip and is not recommended for any gameplay scenario.

Given the data, the best overall experience is achieved at 1080p with High settings, yielding an average of 89 FPS without the visual compromises of Low or Medium. For users willing to accept lower quality, 1440p Medium at 68 FPS is a strong alternative. The 4K options are only suitable for Low settings and are best avoided for competitive or fast-paced play.