Greedfall

Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress test for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT pairing. The measured data reveals a configuration that is heavily influenced by resolution, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, contextualizes the combo's standing against other tested configurations, and examines the specific roles of the CPU and GPU in shaping the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K provides a clear picture of where the performance bottleneck lies. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 159 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops this to 111 FPS, a 30% reduction. The jump to 3840x2160 Low yields 66 FPS, which is a further 41% decrease from the 1440p figure. This steep and consistent drop-off as resolution increases is a classic indicator of a GPU-limited scenario; the CPU has ample headroom, but the Radeon RX 7600 XT's rendering capabilities are being saturated.

The scaling pattern persists across other settings. For High settings, the average FPS goes from 114 at 1080p, to 79 at 1440p, and finally to 47 at 4K. This represents a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 125, 87, and 52 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is not fully utilizing the CPU's potential, but the GPU is still the limiting factor, as even the Low preset cannot maintain frame rates that would imply a CPU bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU's workload becomes so heavy that the highest preset, Ultra, drops to an average of just 30 FPS.

The min/max FPS data available for the Medium preset reinforces this. At 1080p, the frame time variance is relatively tight (106 min, 144 max). At 1440p, the spread widens (74 min, 100 max), and at 4K it tightens again (44 min, 60 max). The 4K range is proportionally closer to the average, suggesting the GPU is consistently pegged at its limit, leaving little variance. The 1440p range suggests more headroom and fluctuation, but the overall trend is clear: the GPU is the defining component for performance scaling in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 2,938 tested combinations for Greedfall, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks at 1,840. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance spectrum, which is consistent with the GPU's overall standing. The Radeon RX 7600 XT sits at the 60th percentile among all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 7 265 is much higher, at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. This disparity in percentile rankings confirms that the graphics card is the limiting factor in this combo.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 17,083 places it in close competition with several other cards. It is a mere 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, a 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M, and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M4. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 by just 0.7%. This indicates that while the RX 7600 XT is a capable card, its raw compute performance is closely matched with a range of other offerings, some of which are significantly older. The combo's rank is therefore a direct reflection of the GPU's mid-pack positioning, despite being paired with a top-tier CPU.

The CPU's own benchmark scores show it is a high-end part. Its average benchmark score of 64,640 puts it nearly on par with the AMD EPYC 4464P, which scores 64,823 (-0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 9124 at 65,104 (-0.7%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F by 0.3% and the AMD EPYC 7343 by 0.7%. This data suggests the CPU is not the source of any performance limitation in Greedfall, as its processing power far exceeds what the GPU can feed it, especially at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1920x1080, the High preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 114 FPS. This provides significant headroom above 60 FPS, ensuring a stable experience. The Medium preset also works well, with an average of 125 FPS, but the visual fidelity of High is preferable given the ample performance margin. The Low preset at 159 FPS is only necessary for extremely high refresh rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is still the sweet spot, averaging 79 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a better visual experience than Medium, which averages 87 FPS. The difference between High and Medium at this resolution is a 9% performance gain, but the visual quality improvement from Medium to High is generally worth the small trade-off. The Ultra preset, at 50 FPS, is not recommended for 1440p if a consistent 60 FPS is desired, as it falls below that mark.

At 3840x2160, achieving 60 FPS is not possible with any preset. The Low preset averages 66 FPS, which is above 60, but requires a significant visual compromise. The Medium preset averages 52 FPS, which is playable but not optimal for fast-paced action. The High preset at 47 FPS is a further step down. For 4K, the recommendation is to use the Low preset if frame rate is the absolute priority, or accept the 52 FPS average of Medium for a balance between visuals and playability. The Ultra preset, at 30 FPS, is generally not recommended for a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates for this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset yields an average of 73 FPS. The High preset averages 114 FPS. The Medium preset averages 125 FPS, with a minimum of 106 and a maximum of 144. The Low preset averages 159 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. The High preset averages 79 FPS. The Medium preset averages 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100. The Low preset averages 111 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 30 FPS. The High preset averages 47 FPS. The Medium preset averages 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 60. The Low preset averages 66 FPS.

The data for the Medium preset is the only set with complete min/max values. At 1080p, the 106-144 FPS range indicates a 36% variance from the average, suggesting good frame pacing. At 1440p, the 74-100 FPS range shows a similar 30% variance. At 4K, the 44-60 FPS range tightens to a 27% variance, which is consistent with a GPU that is fully saturated and producing a more consistent, albeit lower, frame output.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock is rated at 2755 MHz, with a game clock of 2470 MHz.

The 16 GB VRAM allocation is substantial for a card in this performance class. While Greedfall is not a particularly VRAM-heavy title by modern standards, the large memory pool ensures that capacity is never a limiting factor at any tested resolution or setting. The card's 60th percentile ranking and its close benchmark scores to older cards like the GTX 690 and HD 7970M indicate that its raw compute throughput is the primary constraint, not memory capacity. The measured FPS data supports this, as performance scales directly with resolution, a hallmark of a GPU that is limited by its pixel and texture processing rates (176.3 GPixel/s and 352.6 GTexel/s, respectively).

The GPU's FP32 performance of 22.57 TFLOPS is a theoretical maximum that is not fully realized in this game. The substantial FPS drops when moving from 1080p to 4K, particularly at the High and Ultra presets, show that the card's compute units are being pushed to their limit. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is a clear indicator of this, as the GPU simply cannot handle the combined load of high resolution and maximum graphical settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory. Its benchmark scores are exceptionally high, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data strongly suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the system hits 159 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would require a reasonably strong CPU, but the CPU is capable of far more. The fact that performance drops so significantly with resolution increases, even at Low settings, indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions at the same settings, as the CPU's workload would be unchanged.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and its benchmark scores, which are on par with server-class AMD EPYC processors, confirm its immense processing power. Its 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for Greedfall's threading model. The high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game logic. The data shows that the CPU has significant headroom, even at 1080p, and is not the source of any performance limitations in this game. The Core Ultra 7 265 is effectively waiting for the GPU to catch up, a common scenario when pairing a top-tier CPU with a mid-range graphics card.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset for a 60 FPS experience?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 114 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 79 FPS, which is also above the 60 FPS target. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a 60 FPS average; the Low preset comes closest at 66 FPS.

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

A: The average FPS on High settings drops from 114 at 1920x1080 to 47 at 3840x2160. This represents a 59% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 a bottleneck for the Radeon RX 7600 XT in this game?

A: No. The CPU is ranked in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 60th percentile. The significant FPS drops at higher resolutions indicate the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: How does the Radeon RX 7600 XT compare to the GeForce RTX 3070 in benchmark scores?

A: The RX 7600 XT has an average benchmark score of 17,083, which is 0.7% lower than the RTX 3070's score of 17,208. This indicates they perform very similarly in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What is the average FPS for the Ultra preset at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 averages 50 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience.

Q: Does the 16 GB of VRAM on the RX 7600 XT cause any performance issues in Greedfall?

A: The measured data shows no indication of VRAM-related performance drops. The FPS scaling is consistent with a GPU that is limited by its compute performance, not its memory capacity, even at 4K resolution.