Greedfall

Greedfall, released in 2019, is an Action RPG that scales well with modern hardware. The measured data for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination shows a system that delivers high frame rates across all tested settings, with performance characteristics that clearly illustrate where each component's influence begins and ends. This pairing produces a wide performance envelope, ranging from 70 FPS at 4K Ultra to over 266 FPS at 1080p Low.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and can boost up to 4.10 GHz, with a shared 9 MB L3 cache. In the context of Greedfall, this processor's capabilities are a limiting factor at lower resolutions, but the data suggests it handles the game's logic and physics without completely bottlenecking the system.

Examining the benchmark scores places this CPU in the 50th percentile of all processors. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 7969, and its single-core score is 1125. The average benchmark score of 2305 puts it in a tight pack with rivals, including a 0.2% lead over the Intel Core i3-10305 and a 0.4% lead over the Intel Xeon E-2134. It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G by 0.6%. This shows the i5-9400 is a middle-of-the-road processor, which is a key factor when interpreting the game's frame rates.

At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and High settings is only 27.3 FPS (266.6 vs. 239.3), and the jump to Ultra drops the average to 167.5 FPS. This relatively small spread at 1080p, compared to the larger spread at higher resolutions, indicates that the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The processor's 6 threads are likely being fully utilized to feed the RTX 5090, and its single-core performance limits the maximum achievable frame rate. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, the system cannot reach 300 FPS, reinforcing the idea that the i5-9400's architecture is the constraining factor in these scenarios.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a powerhouse built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2407 MHz, and it contains 21,760 shading units. The GPU's massive 92,200 million transistors and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 39650.

This GPU's role becomes dominant as resolution and graphical fidelity increase. The data shows that the RTX 5090 has enough headroom to handle Greedfall's demands, but its performance is heavily modulated by the CPU at lower resolutions. The GPU's nearest rivals on the benchmark list include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D (0.1% faster) and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% slower). This data confirms the RTX 5090 is a top-tier card, but its full potential is not realized in this specific system configuration.

The 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Greedfall at any setting, meaning the GPU will never be swapping textures from system memory. The shift in bottleneck from CPU to GPU is evident when moving from 1080p to 4K. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate falls to 70.2 FPS, a dramatic drop that points to the GPU's rendering load becoming the primary constraint. The RTX 5090 is clearly capable of high frame rates, but it requires the resolution and settings to be high enough to offload the dependency on the older CPU.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Analyzing the measured rows, the High preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. It achieves an average of 182.6 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high refresh rate monitors. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs only 18.5 FPS (201.1 to 182.6), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 69.2 FPS (182.6 to 113.4). This indicates that the High preset provides most of the visual fidelity without the massive performance penalty of Ultra.

For users with 4K displays, the High preset is the recommended choice as well. It delivers 109.4 FPS, which is a significantly better experience than the 70.2 FPS at Ultra. The Low preset at 4K (149.9 FPS) provides high frame rates but sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that is not a competitive shooter. The Medium preset (119.2 FPS) is a viable alternative but does not offer a substantial enough performance gain over High to justify the loss in visual quality.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset is the only one that prevents the system from being entirely CPU-bound. It returns 167.5 FPS, which is still extremely high. Since the frame rates at Low (266.6 FPS), Medium (244.5 FPS), and High (239.3 FPS) are all so close, the visual upgrade to Ultra is essentially free in terms of relative performance difference, making it the best option for 1080p users.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: Can this system run Greedfall at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, it can, but with a performance cost. The measured average frame rate at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 70.2 FPS. While this is playable, it is significantly lower than other presets.

Q: Is the RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM necessary for this game?

A: The data shows that the GPU has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, which is more than the game requires. The benchmark results do not indicate any memory-related performance dips, suggesting the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this title.

Q: How does the CPU bottleneck manifest in the benchmark data?

A: The bottleneck is visible in the small frame rate differences between settings at 1920x1080. The spread from Low (266.6 FPS) to High (239.3 FPS) is only 27.3 FPS, indicating that the Intel Core i5-9400 is the limiting component, as it cannot push frames much higher regardless of GPU load.

Q: Which resolution provides the highest frame rate?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 266.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the data that exceeds 260 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The High preset achieves an average of 182.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 113.4 FPS. This represents a performance drop of 69.2 FPS when moving to Ultra, which is a substantial cost for the increased graphical detail.

Q: Are there any rivals to this specific GPU configuration?

A: The nearest rival to the RTX 5090 is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, which has an average benchmark score that is 0.1% higher. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 is 1.3% slower in average score.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate scaling across resolutions is a clear indicator of where the system's bottleneck lies. At 1080p High, the system produces 239.3 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 182.6 FPS, a reduction of 56.7 FPS. Moving further to 4K High, the frame rate falls to 109.4 FPS, a further drop of 73.2 FPS. This progressive decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

The pattern is even more telling when looking at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system hits 266.6 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 236.7 FPS, a loss of only 29.9 FPS. At 4K Low, it falls to 149.9 FPS, a loss of 86.8 FPS. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests the CPU is still the primary limiter at these lower graphical loads. Once the resolution increases to 4K, the GPU's rendering workload becomes much more demanding, causing the frame rate to plummet.

This data indicates a classic two-stage bottleneck. The Intel Core i5-9400 holds the system back at 1080p and 1440p, preventing the RTX 5090 from reaching its full potential. Only at 4K, where the GPU's shading and memory bandwidth are taxed heavily, does the RTX 5090 become the definitive limiting factor, as evidenced by the massive drop in performance from the Low to Ultra presets at that resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the system performs exceptionally well across all presets. The lowest average is 167.5 FPS at Ultra settings. The Medium preset yields 244.5 FPS, while High produces 239.3 FPS. The highest average frame rate for this resolution is found at Low settings, hitting 266.6 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show more variance. The Low preset averages 236.7 FPS, and the Medium preset is close behind at 201.1 FPS. The High preset delivers 182.6 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Ultra preset sees a significant drop to 113.4 FPS, showing the cost of maxing out visual features.

At 3840x2160, the performance scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset averages 149.9 FPS, which is playable. The Medium preset drops to 119.2 FPS, and High is at 109.4 FPS. The most demanding configuration, Ultra settings at 4K, yields an average of 70.2 FPS. This is the only measured configuration that falls below the 100 FPS mark, highlighting the substantial load placed on the RTX 5090 at this resolution.