Greedfall

Greedfall on the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution climbs, with the CPU holding its own even at 1080p where frame rates peak. The measured data reveals a system that delivers smooth gameplay across most settings, but the gap between presets widens dramatically at 4K, suggesting the Radeon RX 9070 is the primary limiter in the most demanding scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the shape of that curve changes with each preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 232.9 at 1080p to 164.4 at 1440p, then to 93.5 at 4K — a total reduction of roughly 60% from the lowest to highest resolution. This indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is doing substantial work, and the RX 9070’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed by the higher pixel counts.

Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 184.8 FPS at 1080p, 129.8 at 1440p, and 78.5 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is about 57.5%, which is nearly identical to the Low setting drop. This consistency suggests that the game’s rendering load scales almost linearly with resolution, and the CPU is not becoming a bottleneck even at the lower resolution where frame rates exceed 180 FPS.

High settings tell a more interesting story. At 1080p, the average is 168.8 FPS, dropping to 117.8 at 1440p and 69.9 at 4K. The 4K figure is noticeably lower relative to the 1440p result — a 40.7% drop — compared to the 30.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p. This steeper decline at 4K points to the GPU hitting a memory bandwidth or shading unit ceiling, as the RX 9070’s 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs struggle to keep up with the pixel fill rate demands.

Ultra settings are where the scaling becomes punishing. The 1080p average of 110 FPS is already well below the High preset, but the drop to 73.2 FPS at 1440p is a 33.5% reduction, and then to 43.9 FPS at 4K is another 40% cut. The 4K Ultra result is barely playable for a smooth experience, and the data clearly shows that this preset is not designed for 4K on this hardware. The limiting component here is unambiguously the GPU — the CPU’s 20 cores and 20 threads are more than adequate, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 232.9 FPS, which would expose any CPU weakness.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Greedfall?

A: The measured data shows that 1440p with High settings delivers 117.8 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and only 30% below the 1080p High result. At 4K, the best playable option is High at 69.9 FPS, which is just above 60 FPS but leaves little headroom.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 232.9 FPS average. Given the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 50009 and single-core score of 7060, the data indicates the processor is not limiting frame rates even at the highest FPS measured in this test.

Q: How does the RX 9070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 34780, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 and 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970. It sits 0.2% below the NVIDIA A2, making it statistically comparable to all three in pure compute terms.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 73.2 FPS average, which is playable but represents a 37.9% drop from High settings. Given that High at 1440p delivers 117.8 FPS, the visual fidelity gain from Ultra comes at a significant performance cost.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: Low at 4K averages 93.5 FPS, while Ultra at 4K averages 43.9 FPS. That is a 53% reduction in frame rate, making Ultra essentially unplayable for smooth motion at 4K on this hardware.

Q: Does the CPU’s 20-core configuration help in Greedfall?

A: The 20-core, 20-thread design (with 30 MB of shared L3 cache) provides ample headroom for the game’s logic and physics. The PassMark multi-thread score of 58838 confirms strong parallel performance, but the game’s frame rates are primarily dictated by GPU load, as seen in the scaling patterns.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the defining component in this system’s Greedfall performance. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the high-resolution textures and effects in this Action RPG. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz drive the 3584 shading units, and the measured results show that this configuration is sufficient for 1440p High at 117.8 FPS but struggles at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmarks place it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 34780. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA A2, is just 0.2% faster, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 0.7% slower. These margins are tiny, but the real-world data shows that Greedfall rewards the RX 9070’s RDNA 4.0 architecture, particularly at 1440p where the card can flex its 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 564.5 GTexel/s texture rate.

The VRAM capacity is rarely a limiting factor here. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 43.9 FPS, but this is more likely due to the compute load on the 128 ROPs than memory exhaustion. The 16 GB pool is generous for a game released in 2019, and even the most demanding preset does not seem to be hitting a VRAM ceiling. The data suggests that the GPU’s raw shading power is the bottleneck, not its memory subsystem.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows point to High settings as the sweet spot for this hardware. At 1080p, High delivers 168.8 FPS, which is nearly 60 FPS higher than Ultra’s 110 FPS. At 1440p, High produces 117.8 FPS, which is the highest preset that stays comfortably above the 100 FPS mark. The jump to Ultra costs 44.6 FPS at 1440p, a 37.9% penalty that is not justified for most users.

For 4K, the recommendation is more nuanced. High settings at 69.9 FPS is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium sits at 78.5 FPS and Low at 93.5 FPS. Ultra at 43.9 FPS is not viable for smooth gameplay. If a user prioritizes visual quality, High is the best choice at 4K; if they prefer higher frame rates, Medium or Low offers a significant boost without the harsh visual degradation that often accompanies the lowest preset.

The data also shows that Medium is a strong fallback at 1440p, delivering 129.8 FPS — only 12 FPS less than High but with a noticeable reduction in visual effects. At 1080p, Medium’s 184.8 FPS is more than sufficient, and users with high refresh rate monitors can consider Ultra at 110 FPS if they want maximum fidelity without dropping below the 100 FPS mark.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the RX 9070 and Ultra 7 265K combination produces a wide spread of results. Low settings average 232.9 FPS, Medium 184.8 FPS, High 168.8 FPS, and Ultra 110 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 122.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution and the CPU is not a constraint.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates compress slightly. Low averages 164.4 FPS, Medium 129.8 FPS, High 117.8 FPS, and Ultra 73.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 91.2 FPS, but the Ultra preset takes a disproportionately large hit, dropping 44.6 FPS from High. This suggests that Ultra’s additional effects are particularly taxing on the GPU’s pixel pipeline at 1440p.

At 4K, the hierarchy stays the same but the margins shrink further. Low averages 93.5 FPS, Medium 78.5 FPS, High 69.9 FPS, and Ultra 43.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 49.6 FPS, and every preset except Ultra remains above 60 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only sub-60 FPS measurement in the entire dataset, confirming that this preset is out of reach for the RX 9070 at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its benchmark results are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 50009 and a single-core score of 7060, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. The PassMark multi-thread score of 58838 and single-thread score of 4904 further confirm its capability.

In Greedfall, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but it does not bottleneck the system at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the 232.9 FPS average is a clear indication that the processor can feed the GPU fast enough. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s of DDR5 memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s world streaming and AI calculations, which are typical for an Action RPG.

The CPU’s nearest rivals are all within 1.2% of its average benchmark score. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF is 0.2% faster, the Intel Core i9-14900KF is 0.2% faster, and the Intel Core i9-14900K is 0.9% faster. This tight grouping means that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would have a negligible impact on Greedfall’s frame rates, as the game is clearly GPU-limited in almost every measured scenario. The only area where the CPU might matter is at 1080p Low, where the 232.9 FPS result leaves room for a slower processor to still hit high frame rates, but the 265K is more than up to the task.