Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + AMD Radeon RX 7700

The benchmark data for Greedfall with this combination reveals a system that delivers playable frame rates across most configurations, but with a pronounced performance cliff at 4K Ultra that signals a GPU-bound scenario. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, pairs with the AMD Radeon RX 7700's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory to produce results that range from 191 FPS at 1080p Low to just 36 FPS at 4K Ultra. This spread of 155 FPS across the measured settings indicates that the GPU is the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance (5,960 in Cinebench R23 single-core) keeps frame rates high at lower resolutions. The combo ranks 1,307th out of 2,938 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of systems evaluated for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this system. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 136 FPS, which drops to 94 FPS at 1440p High (a 31% reduction), and then to 56 FPS at 4K High (a 59% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern suggests that the RX 7700's rendering throughput is increasingly saturated as pixel count rises. The 56 FPS at 4K High is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

Looking at the Low settings across resolutions, the pattern becomes even more revealing. At 1080p Low, the system hits 191 FPS, while 1440p Low achieves 132 FPS, and 4K Low drops to 79 FPS. The fact that even at Low settings the 4K resolution cannot exceed 79 FPS indicates a hard GPU limitation — the pixel fill rate and shading capacity of the RX 7700 (with 96 ROPs and 2,560 shading units) are simply insufficient to push higher frame rates at 4K, regardless of how light the graphics load becomes.

The Medium preset shows the most complete data with min/max values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS, suggesting consistent frame pacing. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 104 FPS with a min of 88 FPS. The 4K Medium average of 62 FPS with a min of 53 FPS and max of 71 FPS reveals noticeable variance — a 13 FPS gap between min and average indicates that even at Medium settings, 4K pushes the GPU into territory where frame times become less predictable. This variance is a warning sign for players who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity.

The Ultra preset delivers the most dramatic scaling penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the system still manages 87 FPS, which is respectable. However, 1440p Ultra falls to 60 FPS, and 4K Ultra plummets to 36 FPS. The drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra represents a 40% performance loss, which is larger than the corresponding drops at High (40%) or Medium (40%). This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that scale superlinearly with resolution, likely taxing the GPU's memory bandwidth (624.1 GB/s) and compute units more heavily at higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: Can this system handle Greedfall at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings with an average of 62 FPS, or High settings at 56 FPS. Ultra settings at 4K are not recommended, as the average drops to 36 FPS, which falls below smooth gameplay thresholds.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 1080p, the system delivers 136 FPS on High and 191 FPS on Low, making it well-suited for 144Hz displays. At 1440p, High settings achieve 94 FPS, which still works for 90Hz or 100Hz monitors but falls short of 144Hz.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of performance?

A: The Ultra preset costs significantly more performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra averages 87 FPS versus 136 FPS on High (a 36% drop). At 1440p, Ultra averages 60 FPS versus 94 FPS on High. At 4K, Ultra averages 36 FPS versus 56 FPS on High.

Q: Is there enough VRAM for this game at maximum settings?

A: The RX 7700 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is ample for Greedfall, a game from 2019. The data shows no indication of VRAM-related stutters, and the min FPS values at Medium settings (53 FPS at 4K) suggest memory capacity is not a bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 1,307th out of 2,938 tested combos, placing it in the 55th percentile. This indicates a mid-to-upper tier position, with roughly half of tested systems performing better and half performing worse.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS, providing a smooth experience with good visual quality.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, plays the defining role in this game's performance envelope. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Greedfall's textures and geometry even at 4K. The benchmark data confirms that memory capacity is not a limiting factor — the 4K Medium results with a 53 FPS minimum show no signs of texture thrashing or memory-related frame drops.

The GPU's clock behavior — with a base of 1900 MHz, game clock of 2041 MHz, and boost of 2459 MHz — helps explain the scaling patterns observed. The 2459 MHz boost clock is relatively modest compared to higher-tier cards, and the 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the ceiling that governs how fast the GPU can process Greedfall's rendering commands. When resolution increases, the number of pixels requiring shading grows quadratically, and the RX 7700's 2,560 shading units must work harder, leading to the dramatic FPS drops seen at 4K.

The GPU's score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2,865) and Passmark G3D (20,974) places it at the 58th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (with an average score 1.7% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (1% higher), indicating that the RX 7700 sits in a competitive mid-range tier. The GPU's RDNA 3.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which Greedfall can leverage for modern rendering features, though the game's 2019 release date means it does not heavily rely on ray tracing or mesh shaders.

The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s are the raw throughput metrics that determine fill-rate limited scenarios. At 4K Ultra, the 36 FPS result suggests the GPU is severely fill-rate limited, as the Ultra preset likely enables higher-resolution shadows and post-processing effects that demand more pixel shading operations per frame. The 96 ROPs handle the final pixel output, and at 4K (8.3 million pixels), even at 36 FPS, the GPU is processing roughly 299 million pixels per second, which approaches the practical limits of the card's architecture.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1,307 out of 2,938 tested combinations places this system in the 55th percentile of all tested hardware pairings for Greedfall. This is a solid mid-pack position, indicating that while the system is not at the modern, it comfortably outperforms a substantial portion of the tested population. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265's CPU percentile of 93 (meaning it outperforms 93% of tested CPUs) is significantly higher than the RX 7700's GPU percentile of 58, which confirms that the GPU is the limiting component in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the AMD EPYC 4464P (0.3% higher average score), Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (0.3% lower), AMD EPYC 7343 (0.7% lower), and AMD EPYC 9124 (0.7% lower) — all cluster within 1% of each other, indicating that the Ultra 7 265 is well-positioned among high-end desktop and workstation processors. However, Greedfall is not a heavily threaded title, so the CPU's 20-core advantage may not translate into proportionally higher frame rates in this game.

The GPU's nearest rivals tell a different story. The AMD Radeon R9 370X (0.1% lower average score), RX 9060 (1% higher), Pro W5500 (1.1% lower), and RTX 3060 Ti (1.7% higher) all sit within a tight performance band. This means the RX 7700's GPU performance is roughly equivalent to a mid-range card from the previous generation, and its rank in this game's combo list reflects that positioning. The 1,307th rank suggests that many combinations with stronger GPUs and similar CPUs achieve better frame rates in Greedfall, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average of 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS provides a smooth experience that exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. At 1440p Medium, the 104 FPS average with an 88 FPS minimum is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming, maintaining frame times that avoid noticeable stutter. Even at 4K Medium, the 62 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum is playable for most action RPG fans, though the variance suggests occasional dips.

The High preset is a viable alternative for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate. At 1080p High, the 136 FPS average is still excellent, and at 1440p High, the 94 FPS average remains smooth. However, at 4K High, the 56 FPS average approaches the threshold where responsiveness becomes a concern for fast-paced combat. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where the 87 FPS average is acceptable, but at 1440p (60 FPS) and 4K (36 FPS), the performance cost is too steep for the visual gains.

For players with 4K displays, the data suggests using Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS, or accepting High settings at 56 FPS if visual quality is paramount. At 1440p, both High and Medium are excellent choices, with Medium offering a 10 FPS advantage over High. At 1080p, even Ultra is viable at 87 FPS, though High provides a 49 FPS improvement over Ultra with minimal visual difference in most scenes. The Low preset delivers the highest frame rates — 191 FPS at 1080p and 132 FPS at 1440p — but the visual trade-offs are likely too significant for a game like Greedfall that emphasizes atmosphere and world detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 191 FPS average
• Medium: 150 FPS average, 127 FPS minimum, 172 FPS maximum
• High: 136 FPS average
• Ultra: 87 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 132 FPS average
• Medium: 104 FPS average, 88 FPS minimum, 120 FPS maximum
• High: 94 FPS average
• Ultra: 60 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 79 FPS average
• Medium: 62 FPS average, 53 FPS minimum, 71 FPS maximum
• High: 56 FPS average
• Ultra: 36 FPS average

The Medium settings provide the only complete min/max data across all resolutions, which allows for the most detailed analysis of frame consistency. The 1080p Medium data shows a 23 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, while 1440p shows a 32 FPS spread, and 4K shows an 18 FPS spread. Interestingly, the 4K Medium spread is tighter in absolute terms, but the lower average means the relative variance is higher. The 53 FPS minimum at 4K Medium is the lowest recorded minimum in the entire dataset, indicating that even with Medium settings, 4K can produce frame dips that are noticeable during busy scenes.

The transition from Low to Medium settings costs roughly 21-22% performance at 1080p (191 to 150 FPS), 21% at 1440p (132 to 104 FPS), and 22% at 4K (79 to 62 FPS). This consistent percentage suggests that the Medium preset adds a predictable amount of GPU work regardless of resolution. The jump from Medium to High costs a further 9% at 1080p (150 to 136 FPS), 10% at 1440p (104 to 94 FPS), and 10% at 4K (62 to 56 FPS). The High to Ultra transition is the most punishing, costing 36% at 1080p, 36% at 1440p, and 42% at 4K — indicating that the Ultra preset includes effects that are disproportionately expensive at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 brings substantial processing power to this combination, with 20 cores and 20 threads running at a base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The processor's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core provide ample data locality for game logic and physics calculations. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216 and single-core score of 5,960, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4,689 and multi-thread score of 49,682 confirm strong performance in both lightly and heavily threaded workloads.

However, Greedfall, being a 2019 action RPG, does not appear to be heavily CPU-bound in this configuration. The evidence for this lies in the FPS scaling: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 191 FPS, which is a high frame rate that still leaves headroom for the CPU to feed the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau across different resolutions at the same settings. Instead, the FPS consistently drops as resolution increases, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU can clearly generate frames faster than the GPU can render them, even at 1080p Low.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores — the AMD EPYC 4464P, Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, AMD EPYC 7343, and AMD EPYC 9124 — are all within 0.7% of the Ultra 7 265's average score. This tight clustering suggests that the CPU's performance is well-understood and consistent, but also that it does not offer a unique advantage in Greedfall specifically. The 20-core configuration is more than sufficient for this game, which likely uses only a handful of threads for main game logic, AI, and physics. The high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is excellent, which is what matters most for a game like Greedfall that does not scale well with core count.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is adequate for feeding the GPU with draw calls and vertex data. The 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors suggest an efficient design that maintains high clock speeds without excessive power draw (65 W TDP). In the context of this game, the CPU's role is to ensure that the GPU is never starved of data, and the benchmark results indicate that it succeeds in this role at all resolutions and settings tested. The only scenario where the CPU might become more relevant is at 1080p Low (191 FPS), where frame times are short enough that CPU overhead could theoretically become a factor, but the measured 191 FPS suggests the CPU handles this workload comfortably.