Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting scaling pattern when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The measured data shows a consistent drop in average frame rates as resolution increases, which is expected, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly depending on the graphics preset. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, settings recommendations, and component roles based solely on the provided benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 317.2 FPS, which drops to 215.5 FPS at 1440p and further to 130.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 41% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU is more capable of feeding frames, but the GPU still becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

When moving to High settings, the pattern changes. At 1080p High, the system produces 229.2 FPS, which falls to 156.5 FPS at 1440p and 93.9 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 59%, showing that the GPU is under significantly more stress with the higher graphical fidelity. The data suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER handles the 1440p High workload efficiently, as the 156.5 FPS result is still well above typical high-refresh monitor capabilities.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest scaling curve. From 142.3 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 103.2 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 62.7 FPS at 4K. This is a 56% reduction from 1080p to 4K, but the absolute numbers are more telling. The 62.7 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests that the GPU is heavily taxed, and the gap between 1440p and 4K (103.2 vs 62.7) indicates that the 4K Ultra setting pushes the RTX 4080 SUPER beyond its comfort zone for this title.

The limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the CPU’s strong single-thread performance allows the GPU to work at high utilization, as evidenced by the 317.2 FPS Low result. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, especially at Ultra settings where the frame rate drops below 63 FPS. The 1440p results show a balance, with High settings delivering 156.5 FPS, which is a practical sweet spot for this hardware combination.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution. For 1080p displays, the High preset at 229.2 FPS offers a substantial improvement over Ultra at 142.3 FPS, and the visual difference between High and Ultra in Greedfall is often less noticeable than the 87 FPS gap. The Low preset at 317.2 FPS is unnecessary for most displays, as even High exceeds 240Hz refresh rates.

At 1440p, the High preset is the clear recommendation. The 156.5 FPS result is smooth and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Medium at 173 FPS is also viable, but High provides better visual quality with only a 16.5 FPS penalty. Ultra at 103.2 FPS is playable but sacrifices frame rate for marginal visual gains, making High the more balanced choice.

For 4K gaming, the data points to High as the only playable option. The 93.9 FPS average on High is respectable, while Medium at 103.4 FPS offers a slight bump but with reduced fidelity. Ultra at 62.7 FPS is below the 70 FPS threshold that many consider smooth, so High is recommended for 4K. Low at 130.2 FPS is possible but severely compromises image quality, making it a poor trade-off for the frame rate increase.

The measured data shows that the High preset delivers the most consistent experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, the High settings produce frame rates of 229.2, 156.5, and 93.9 respectively, all of which are above 60 FPS and suitable for their respective resolution classes.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 317.2, achieved with Low settings. The High preset produces 229.2 FPS, which is a more practical choice for visual quality.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings in Greedfall?

A: The measured data shows 62.7 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is playable but below the 60-70 FPS range that many users prefer for smooth gameplay, so High settings at 93.9 FPS are more suitable for 4K.

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

A: The average FPS drops from 229.2 at 1920x1080 to 93.9 at 3840x2160 on High settings. This is a reduction of approximately 59%, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium produces 173 FPS while High produces 156.5 FPS. The 16.5 FPS difference is modest, so High is recommended for better visual quality without a major performance hit.

Q: What is the combo rank for this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 112th out of 1705 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at 1080p Low settings?

A: The 317.2 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is not limiting the frame rate significantly, as the GPU is still able to produce very high numbers. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D’s strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance supports this.

How This Combo Ranks

In Greedfall, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 112th out of 1705 tested combos. This places it in the upper echelon of configurations, roughly in the top 6.6% of all possible pairings. The rank reflects the overall capability of the system across all tested resolutions and settings, not just the peak FPS numbers.

The CPU itself sits in the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 71660. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 with an average score of 71056 (0.9% behind) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 (1.8% behind). The Intel Xeon 6517P is 1.9% ahead, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF is 2.2% behind. This indicates the 9950X3D is competitively positioned, though not the absolute fastest.

The GPU ranks in the 88th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53489, which is 0.2% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 0.4% behind, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700S is 2.1% behind and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is 2.9% behind. The RTX 4080 SUPER leads these comparisons but by a narrow margin over the RX 6900 XT.

The rank of 112 out of 1705 suggests that while this is a high-end pairing, there are 111 other combinations that perform better in Greedfall specifically. This could be due to the game’s engine favoring different architectures or the specific balance of CPU and GPU capabilities in this title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, with a TDP of 170W. The CPU features 128 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming workloads that benefit from large caches.

In Greedfall, the CPU’s role is evident in the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the 317.2 FPS result shows that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to reach very high rates. The single-thread benchmark scores, such as 8430 in Cinebench R23 and 3401 in Geekbench, indicate strong per-core performance, which is crucial for games that rely on a few main threads.

The multi-threaded capabilities also matter. The 59712 score in Cinebench R23 multicore and 22515 in Geekbench multicore show that the CPU can handle background tasks and any game engine threading. In Greedfall, which is not known for heavy CPU scaling, the 16 cores provide headroom even if the game uses fewer threads.

The 3D V-Cache technology, implied by the X3D designation, contributes to the CPU’s gaming performance. The 128 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data, which can improve frame pacing and consistency. The measured FPS numbers, particularly the 229.2 FPS at 1080p High, suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The CPU’s launch MSRP is $699, and it ranks in the 96th percentile against all CPUs. Its performance in Greedfall is complemented by the GPU, but at 1080p, the CPU’s strength is more apparent, as the frame rates are higher than at 4K where the GPU takes over as the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 317.2 FPS, Medium produces 251 FPS, High produces 229.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 142.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 66.2 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 86.9 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset is disproportionately demanding.

At 2560x1440, the results are 215.5 FPS on Low, 173 FPS on Medium, 156.5 FPS on High, and 103.2 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 112.3 FPS, which is less severe than at 1080p but still significant. The High setting remains above 150 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 130.2 on Low, 103.4 on Medium, 93.9 on High, and 62.7 on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only one below 60 FPS, and even Low settings at 4K produce just over 130 FPS, indicating the GPU is the dominant constraint at this resolution.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K on each preset shows consistent reductions. For Low settings, the drop is from 317.2 to 130.2 FPS (a 59% reduction). For Medium, it drops from 251 to 103.4 FPS (a 59% reduction). For High, it drops from 229.2 to 93.9 FPS (a 59% reduction). For Ultra, it drops from 142.3 to 62.7 FPS (a 56% reduction). This uniformity suggests that the GPU’s rendering workload scales proportionally with pixel count, regardless of the preset.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 10240 shading units, handles 1440p High very well at 156.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 62.7 FPS is the only measured value below 60 FPS, making it the only setting that falls short of a smooth gameplay target. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown demonstrates that this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K requiring a trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate.