Greedfall

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 paired with the Intel Core i5-9400 delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Greedfall, though the data reveals a steep performance cliff at 4K Ultra that shifts the bottleneck decisively toward the GPU. This combination ranks in the 44.5th percentile of all tested combos for the game, sitting at rank 1307 out of 2938, which suggests a balanced pairing that performs admirably for its class but does not push into the top tier of configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, with the drop from 1080p to 4K being particularly punishing at higher settings. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 136 FPS at 1920x1080 to 94 FPS at 2560x1440, a drop of 42 FPS, and then further down to 56 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a cumulative 58.8% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K while the frame rate does not even halve, suggesting some headroom in the rendering pipeline.

The Low settings preset tells a similar story but with a less dramatic curve. From 191 FPS at 1080p to 132 FPS at 1440p and finally 79 FPS at 4K, the drops are 59 FPS and 53 FPS respectively. The fact that 4K Low still maintains 79 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicates that the RX 7700's raw compute power can overcome the resolution penalty when graphical effects are minimized. Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution widens substantially as resolution increases: at 1080p, the difference is 104 FPS (191 vs 87), at 1440p it is 72 FPS (132 vs 60), and at 4K it narrows to 43 FPS (79 vs 36). This narrowing gap at 4K strongly suggests that the GPU becomes the absolute bottleneck, as even reducing settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel throughput demands.

The Medium preset offers the only complete data with min and max FPS readings, which provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the average is 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 and maximum of 172, showing a tight 45 FPS range. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 104 FPS with a range of 88 to 120 (32 FPS spread), and at 4K Medium, the average falls to 62 FPS with a 53 to 71 range (18 FPS spread). This tightening of the min-max range at higher resolutions is paradoxical — it suggests that at 4K, the frame pacing becomes more consistent even though the average is lower, likely because the GPU is uniformly saturated rather than having occasional dips from CPU-related hitches.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, brings substantial memory resources to this pairing. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is generous for a 2019-era title like Greedfall. The GPU's 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 393.4 GTexel/s texture rate are more than sufficient for the game's visual demands, as evidenced by the High preset achieving 136 FPS at 1080p. The boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz indicate that the card operates at high frequencies under load, which is critical for maintaining frame rates in action RPG combat scenes.

The GPU's benchmark profile places it at the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 370X, scores 15862, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the RX 7700 is essentially tied with that older card in synthetic tests. This is surprising given the generational leap, but it underscores that synthetic benchmarks do not always translate directly to gaming performance. Against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129, the RX 7700 trails by 1.7%, while it leads the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679) by 1.1%. These small deltas in aggregate benchmarks contrast sharply with the measured FPS in Greedfall, where the RX 7700 achieves 4K High at 56 FPS, suggesting the game leverages the card's specific strengths well.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is noteworthy in the context of Greedfall's settings. At 4K Ultra, the game likely demands significant memory for high-resolution textures, and the 36 FPS average at that setting suggests the GPU is not necessarily memory-limited but rather compute-limited. The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and ROPS count of 96 provide the fill rate needed for high-resolution rendering, yet the Ultra preset still crushes performance. This indicates that the game's Ultra settings include effects that are particularly expensive on RDNA 3.0 hardware, such as heavy post-processing or volumetric effects that do not scale gracefully with the architecture.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. With a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, it provides solid single-thread performance, which is crucial for Greedfall's game logic and AI systems. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GPU at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, where the data shows the GPU is not the sole bottleneck.

The i5-9400's benchmark scores reveal its position in the market. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and single-core score of 935 place it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% behind), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% behind). This clustering suggests that the i5-9400 is right at the median of CPU performance, which means it is neither a significant asset nor a liability in this pairing.

In the context of Greedfall, the CPU's role becomes more evident when examining the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 191 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for frame generation, as the GPU can certainly push higher. The fact that 1080p Ultra drops to 87 FPS while 1080p High achieves 136 FPS indicates that the CPU can handle the increased draw calls and physics calculations of Ultra settings without collapsing, but the GPU is being tasked with more expensive pixel work. The 6 threads may struggle in heavily populated areas with many NPCs, but the measured data does not include a scenario where the CPU clearly throttles performance, as even 4K Low at 79 FPS suggests the GPU is still the primary constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset emerges as the most balanced choice across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average of 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS provides a comfortable margin above the 144 Hz refresh rate commonly found in gaming monitors, ensuring smooth gameplay even during intense combat sequences. At 1440p Medium, the 104 FPS average with an 88 FPS minimum still clears the 60 FPS threshold with significant headroom, making it the recommended setting for high-refresh-rate 1440p displays. Even at 4K Medium, the 62 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum is playable, though the sub-60 dips in the minimum frame rate might be noticeable to sensitive players.

The High preset is a reasonable alternative for those with 60 Hz displays at 1440p, where the 94 FPS average provides a 56.7% buffer above the 60 FPS line. However, at 4K High, the 56 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for smooth 4K gameplay. The Ultra preset is essentially unplayable at 4K with an average of 36 FPS, and even at 1440p Ultra the 60 FPS average is exactly at the threshold with no margin for frame drops. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (191 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, 79 FPS at 4K), sacrifices visual fidelity for performance and is only recommended for competitive play or extremely high refresh rate displays.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this hardware combination. At 1080p Medium, the 150 FPS average represents a 72.4% improvement over Ultra's 87 FPS, while the visual difference between Medium and Ultra in Greedfall is often minimal in outdoor environments but more pronounced in indoor lighting scenarios. For 4K users, Medium at 62 FPS is the only preset that comes close to 60 FPS, making it the default recommendation for this resolution, with the understanding that the 53 FPS minimum could cause occasional stutter in busy scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1307 out of 2938 tested configurations places it in the middle of the pack, at the 44.5th percentile. This is a notable position given the GPU's 58th percentile ranking and the CPU's 47th percentile ranking, suggesting that the pairing is slightly less effective in Greedfall than their individual benchmark scores would predict. The data implies that the i5-9400's 6 threads, while sufficient, do not fully unlock the RX 7700's potential in this game, which may benefit from higher-core-count processors for background simulation tasks.

The ranking position translates to a configuration that is competitive with other mid-range systems but not exceptional. The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 3060 Ti and Radeon R9 370X, would likely rank similarly in this game, as the RX 7700's 1.7% deficit to the RTX 3060 Ti in aggregate scores suggests comparable real-world performance. The combo's ranking indicates that Greedfall is not a title where this pairing excels beyond expectations, but it also does not underperform relative to its components' capabilities.

For context, the 44.5th percentile means that 55.5% of tested combos outperform this one, which is expected given the i5-9400's mid-tier status. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo can still deliver excellent playability at mainstream resolutions, with 1080p High at 136 FPS and 1440p Medium at 104 FPS. The ranking reflects the absolute performance level, not the efficiency of the pairing, and in that regard, the combo performs as expected for its component tier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is available for analysis. Low preset delivers 191 FPS average, which is the highest of any configuration. Medium preset achieves 150 FPS average with a minimum of 127 FPS and maximum of 172 FPS, providing a stable experience. High preset drops to 136 FPS average, still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. Ultra preset falls to 87 FPS average, which, while lower, remains above the 60 FPS threshold for standard displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low preset maintains 132 FPS average, which is notably above the 120 Hz refresh rate common on 1440p monitors. Medium preset produces 104 FPS average with a range of 88 to 120 FPS, which is ideal for 100 Hz displays. High preset achieves 94 FPS average, suitable for 60-90 Hz panels. Ultra preset at 60 FPS average is exactly at the 60 Hz threshold, meaning any significant frame drop would result in perceptible stuttering.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. Low preset manages 79 FPS average, which is playable but requires visual compromises. Medium preset produces 62 FPS average with a 53 to 71 FPS range, barely playable on 60 Hz displays. High preset drops to 56 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS target and will show judder on standard displays. Ultra preset at 36 FPS average is effectively unplayable, as the frame rate falls below 30 FPS during demanding scenes, which is the threshold for perceived smoothness in most games.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Greedfall?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides the best balance, achieving 104 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming at all?

A: Yes, but with significant caveats. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 62 with a minimum of 53, which is barely playable. The High preset drops to 56 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS, making Medium the only viable 4K preset.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 191 FPS average suggests the CPU is near its limit for frame generation, as the GPU can likely render more. However, at 1080p Ultra with 87 FPS, the GPU becomes more of a factor due to increased pixel work, indicating a balanced workload at this resolution.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to its nearest rival in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, which is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 15862 (0.1% difference). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) by 1.7% and leads the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679) by 1.1%.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at different settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data. At 1080p, the range is 127 to 172 FPS (a 45 FPS spread), at 1440p it is 88 to 120 FPS (32 FPS spread), and at 4K it is 53 to 71 FPS (18 FPS spread). The range tightens as resolution increases, indicating more consistent frame pacing at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the i5-9400's 6-thread configuration limit this GPU in Greedfall?

A: The combo ranks at the 44.5th percentile (1307 of 2938), which is slightly below what the individual component percentiles (CPU 47th, GPU 58th) would suggest. This implies that the CPU's thread count may marginally constrain the GPU in CPU-intensive scenes, though the measured FPS does not show a clear CPU bottleneck at any tested setting.