Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG released in 2019, presents a specific set of demands on PC hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT. The data shows a configuration that handles the game well at 1080p and 1440p, but faces significant limitations at 4K, particularly with higher graphical presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with High settings is 113 FPS. This indicates a smooth experience for standard monitors.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995. This is 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K, which has an average score of 48618. It is also 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228.

Q: What is the best 4K preset based on the measured data?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset provides the highest average FPS at 65. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS, while the High preset averages 47 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of only 30 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. This ensures compatibility with modern rendering APIs.

Q: What is the total L3 cache available on the CPU?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 features a 24 MB shared L3 cache. This is in addition to a 192 KB L1 cache and a 3 MB L2 cache per core.

Q: How many combos does this system rank above in Greedfall?

A: The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1891 out of 2938 tested combinations for this game. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance spectrum for Greedfall.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the primary driver for frame rate in Greedfall, as is typical for a GPU-intensive Action RPG. This card is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. Its clock speeds are substantial, with a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz.

The GPU's capabilities are reflected in its benchmark scores. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 17166, which places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its compute performance is also notable, with a Passmark GPU Compute score of 7532 and an FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS. The card's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are key to its rasterization performance. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 1859 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 81306 in Geekbench Vulkan, indicating solid modern API performance.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's performance scaling with resolution. At 1080p High, the system achieves 113 FPS. This drops to 78 FPS at 1440p High and further to 47 FPS at 4K High. This scaling suggests that while the GPU is capable of high frame rates at mainstream resolutions, the 4K resolution presents a significant challenge, especially with more demanding presets. The GPU's memory configuration of 8 GB might also be a limiting factor at 4K with high-resolution textures, as the game's demands can exceed this capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Greedfall, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT holds the rank of 1891 out of 2938 total combos. This places it in the 36th percentile, meaning that roughly 64% of all tested systems perform better in this game. This is a mid-to-low ranking, reflecting that while the system is playable, it is not a top-tier performer for Greedfall.

The ranking is influenced by the strengths and weaknesses of both components. The CPU has a strong average benchmark score of 48995, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. However, the GPU's average score of 19765 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The combination of a high-percentile CPU with a more modest-percentile GPU results in a system that is likely bottlenecked by the graphics card in most gaming scenarios. The combo's rank in Greedfall is a direct result of this GPU limitation, as the game's performance is more dependent on the graphics card than the processor.

The data suggests that this is a balanced system for 1080p gaming, where the GPU can keep up with the CPU's capabilities. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's relative weakness becomes more apparent, dragging the overall combo rank down. Users seeking higher frame rates at 1440p or 4K would likely see significant gains from a more powerful GPU, while the CPU would not be the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. The Low preset yields an average of 158 FPS, providing a highly responsive experience. Medium settings average 124 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. The High preset, a common target for quality, averages 113 FPS. The Ultra preset is more demanding, bringing the average down to 72 FPS. These numbers indicate that for 1080p displays, the user has significant headroom to use higher settings while maintaining high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains respectable but shows the expected drop. The Low preset averages 109 FPS, still very smooth. Medium settings average 86 FPS, with a min and max of 73 and 99 FPS, respectively. The High preset averages 78 FPS, which is playable on most high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 50 FPS, which is on the edge of what is considered smooth for fast-paced action.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become clear. The Low preset averages 65 FPS, which is playable. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 59 FPS, indicating some frame pacing issues. The High preset averages 47 FPS, which may feel inconsistent. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of only 30 FPS, which is generally considered too low for a good gaming experience. The data shows that 4K gaming is only feasible with lower presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals the bottleneck in this system. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS at High settings drops from 113 to 78, a reduction of 31%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops from 78 to 47, a further reduction of 40%. This demonstrates a non-linear scaling where the impact of increasing resolution becomes more severe at higher pixel counts.

This pattern indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the limiting component. As resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows exponentially. The CPU, with its high benchmark scores, is likely not being fully utilized at lower resolutions. The fact that the FPS drops so significantly at 4K suggests that the GPU is running out of raw pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth and 8 GB of VRAM are insufficient for the demands of 4K textures and shading.

The scaling also shows that the drop from Low to Ultra settings at 4K is more pronounced than at 1080p. At 1080p, the difference between Low (158 FPS) and Ultra (72 FPS) is 86 FPS. At 4K, the difference between Low (65 FPS) and Ultra (30 FPS) is only 35 FPS. This is because at 4K, the GPU is already saturated, and increasing settings has a less-than-proportional impact on the already low frame rate, as it struggles to keep up with the base resolution workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This combination of a high core count and high boost clock makes it a very capable gaming CPU. Its benchmark scores confirm this, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648.

In the context of Greedfall, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI. The data suggests that it performs this role without becoming a bottleneck. The Passmark multi-thread score of 38706 and the single-thread score of 4394 indicate strong all-around processing power. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce latency and improve data access for gaming workloads.

The fact that the FPS is so dependent on resolution points to the GPU being the primary limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers across different resolutions, as the CPU's workload would remain constant. Instead, the FPS drops significantly with each resolution increase, proving that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's performance is more than sufficient for this game, and it is unlikely to cause any stuttering or frame drops.

The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, compared to the GPU's 65th percentile, further highlights this imbalance. While the CPU is a top-tier performer, the GPU is a mid-range card. This system is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p, where the CPU can help push frame rates to their maximum potential. At higher resolutions, the CPU's power is largely untapped.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and performance targets.

For 1080p displays, the High preset is an excellent choice. The 113 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS standard and provides a fluid experience. For users with 144Hz or higher refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 124 FPS is a better choice to maximize smoothness. Even the Ultra preset at 72 FPS is playable if visual fidelity is the priority.

For 1440p displays, the High preset offers a good balance of quality and performance, with an average of 78 FPS. This is suitable for most games. Users who prefer higher frame rates can use the Medium preset, which averages 86 FPS. The Low preset at 109 FPS is an option for competitive play. The Ultra preset, at 50 FPS, is not recommended for a consistently smooth experience.

For 4K displays, the system is not powerful enough for high or ultra settings. The Low preset at 65 FPS is the most playable option. The Medium preset at 51 FPS is borderline, and the High preset at 47 FPS may result in noticeable stuttering. The Ultra preset at 30 FPS should be avoided.

In summary, the best experience is at 1080p with High or Medium settings, where the system can deliver high frame rates. At 1440p, High settings provide a good experience. For 4K gaming, users must significantly lower settings to the Low preset to achieve a playable frame rate. The data does not support using High or Ultra presets at 4K with this hardware configuration.