Greedfall

How This Combo Ranks

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H with the AMD Radeon 890M lands at rank 3483 out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall. That places it in the bottom 6% of all configurations, a sobering position for a mobile platform that otherwise carries modern architecture. The data suggests this is not a combo built for demanding action RPGs at high fidelity; it sits far from the median experience, and the percentile rankings of both components corroborate this.

The CPU itself is not the bottleneck in the ranking equation. The Ultra 7 165H holds an 84th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34083. Its nearest rivals in the synthetic suite are the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (0.3% faster), the AMD EPYC 4244P (0.4% slower), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.4% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (0.5% slower). These deltas are razor-thin, indicating the processor is performing squarely within its expected class. Yet the combo rank is dragged down by the GPU side of the equation.

The AMD Radeon 890M, by contrast, sits at only the 45th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9210. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (0.1% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (0.7% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (0.9% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (1% faster). This is an integrated graphics part competing with decade-old discrete cards, which explains why the combined system rank is so low. The 890M is the limiting factor, and the data makes that distinction clear: a strong CPU paired with a middling iGPU yields a combo that struggles in Greedfall's heavier presets.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is the decisive component in this analysis, and its specifications tell a story of shared resources and aggressive clock speeds. The GPU is built on TSMC's 4 nm process with a Strix Point chip, featuring 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines. It also includes 16 ray tracing cores, though Greedfall's age suggests those cores see limited use. The boost clock reaches 2900 MHz, while the base clock sits at 400 MHz — a wide spread that indicates the iGPU can surge when thermal and power headroom allow.

Memory is the critical weakness. The 890M uses "System Shared" memory, with the bus width, type, and bandwidth all listed as "System Dependent." This means the GPU draws from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU, constrained by the dual-channel memory bus and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth of the platform. In Greedfall, which relies on consistent texture streaming and geometry throughput, shared memory creates a bottleneck that shows up starkly in the measured FPS.

The GPU's synthetic scores reinforce this picture. Its PassMark G3D score is 8076, with a DirectX 11 score of 73 and a DirectX 12 score of 37. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 40808 is more respectable but still reflects an integrated part. The compute score of 4157 on PassMark indicates the 890M can handle some parallel workloads, but gaming performance is what matters here. The data shows a GPU that is roughly on par with a GTX 960 or GTX 465, which were mid-range discrete cards from a decade ago. That context explains why Greedfall's Ultra preset at 4K yields a mere 14 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops across resolutions reveal a system that is heavily GPU-limited, not CPU-limited. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo averages 75 FPS — a playable figure. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 52 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 31 FPS, another 40% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated even at lower resolutions, with each pixel increase exacting a heavy toll.

The Medium settings tell a similar story. At 1080p, the average is 59 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 41 FPS (a 31% decline). At 4K, it falls to 24 FPS (a 41% decline from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops — roughly 30% from 1080p to 1440p and another 40% from 1440p to 4K — indicates the GPU is the sole constraint. A CPU-bound system would show smaller FPS differences at higher resolutions, but here the 890M is clearly the wall.

High settings follow the pattern. The 1080p average of 53 FPS drops to 37 FPS at 1440p (30% lower) and then to 22 FPS at 4K (41% lower). Ultra settings are the most punishing: 34 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is nearly unplayable, and even 1080p Ultra is marginal. The data suggests that the integrated GPU cannot keep up with the fill-rate demands of higher resolutions, and the shared memory bandwidth compounds the issue.

Settings Recommendations

For a playable experience, the measured rows point firmly toward lower presets. At 1080p, Low settings deliver 75 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. Medium settings at 1080p still manage 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS — a reasonable range for an action RPG. High settings at 1080p drop to 53 FPS, which is playable but begins to approach the edge of comfort. Ultra at 1080p is not advisable, as it falls to 34 FPS.

At 1440p, the options narrow. Low settings give 52 FPS, which is acceptable, while Medium drops to 41 FPS and High to 37 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is a non-starter at 24 FPS. For 4K, the data shows only Low settings are remotely viable at 31 FPS, and even that figure is below the 60 FPS target most players would want. Medium at 4K yields 24 FPS, High yields 22 FPS, and Ultra yields 14 FPS.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium. It offers a 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS, which keeps the action fluid without sacrificing too much visual quality. If the player prioritizes frame rate above all, 1080p Low at 75 FPS is the clear choice. The data does not support any preset above Medium for consistent playability, and 4K should be avoided except for screenshots or slow exploration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS table from the data provides a full picture of what this combo can and cannot do.

1080p:

• Low: 75 FPS average
• Medium: 59 FPS average, 50 FPS minimum, 68 FPS maximum
• High: 53 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

1440p:

• Low: 52 FPS average
• Medium: 41 FPS average, 35 FPS minimum, 47 FPS maximum
• High: 37 FPS average
• Ultra: 24 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 31 FPS average
• Medium: 24 FPS average, 21 FPS minimum, 28 FPS maximum
• High: 22 FPS average
• Ultra: 14 FPS average

The minimum FPS figures are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution, which gives a sense of frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the 50 FPS minimum is close to the 59 average, suggesting relatively stable performance. At 1440p Medium, the 35 FPS minimum versus a 41 average indicates occasional dips that could be noticeable. At 4K Medium, the 21 FPS minimum against a 24 average shows severe stuttering potential. The absence of min/max data for other presets means we cannot assess their frame variance, but the averages alone are telling.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Greedfall at 60 FPS at any resolution?

A: No. The highest measured average FPS is 75 at 1080p Low, which exceeds 60, but every other preset and resolution combination falls below 60 FPS. The 1080p Low setting is the only row that clears the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the integrated GPU compare to discrete graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon 890M sits at the 45th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (0.1% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (0.7% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (0.9% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (1% faster). This places it in the same performance class as those older discrete parts.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU?

A: No. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H ranks in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34083. It is competitive with its nearest rivals, all within 0.5% of each other. The GPU is the bottleneck, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo?

A: The data indicates 1080p Medium is the best balance, offering 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum. For higher frame rates, 1080p Low at 75 FPS is the fastest option. Presets above Medium are not recommended for consistent playability.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: Across all settings, the FPS drops by roughly 30% from 1080p to 1440p and then another 40% from 1440p to 4K. For example, Low settings go from 75 to 52 to 31 FPS across those resolutions. This consistent scaling confirms the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: Is the Radeon 890M's memory configuration a weakness?

A: Yes. The GPU uses System Shared memory with a bus width, type, and bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." It relies on the platform's dual-channel DDR5 and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, which is shared with the CPU. This shared resource model constrains performance in memory-heavy scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a Meteor Lake part built on Intel's 7 nm process, featuring 16 cores and 22 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, boosting to 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3. This is a mobile processor designed for efficiency, but its synthetic benchmarks show it holds its own against desktop parts from previous generations.

The CPU's benchmark scores are strong across the board. In Cinebench R23, it scores 14551 multi-core and 1759 single-core. Cinebench R20 yields 9233 multi-core and 1303 single-core. PassMark results include a multi-thread score of 25933, a single-thread score of 3509, and a physics score of 1806. The data compression score of 291161 and integer math score of 89415 indicate solid compute throughput. These numbers place the CPU in the 84th percentile, with its nearest rivals all within half a percent of its average score.

In Greedfall, however, the CPU's role is secondary. The game is an Action RPG from 2019, and its demands are more GPU-centric at the settings tested. The measured FPS scaling shows a clear GPU bottleneck: the 890M cannot maintain high frame rates even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would have the least impact. The CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads are more than sufficient for the game's logic and AI, but the integrated GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth cap the experience.

The data implies that pairing this CPU with a more capable discrete GPU would yield far better results, but within this combo, the Ultra 7 165H is effectively waiting on its graphics partner. The CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock and 24 MB of L3 cache are academic when the GPU is the limiting factor. For Greedfall, the processor is not the story — the integrated graphics are, and that story is one of constrained performance at higher resolutions and presets.