Greedfall

# Greedfall with Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + AMD Radeon 890M

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the AMD Radeon 890M integrated graphics produces a playable but constrained experience in Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG. The data shows a system that is firmly GPU-limited across all tested resolutions, with the CPU's substantial multi-threaded capability remaining largely untapped. The combo ranks 3483rd out of 3703 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 6% of all configs, yet the measured frame rates reveal a workable path for 1080p gaming at medium settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming that the AMD Radeon 890M is the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 75 at 1920x1080 to 52 at 2560x1440, a 31% reduction, then further to 31 at 3840x2160, which is 59% below the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput, rated at 92.80 GPixel/s, is being saturated long before the CPU's capabilities are stressed.

At Medium settings, the drop is equally pronounced: 59 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. The 1440p result represents a 31% decline from 1080p, while the 4K result sits 59% lower. High settings show a similar trajectory, starting at 53 FPS at 1080p, falling to 37 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 22 FPS at 4K. The consistent percentage drops across all quality presets suggest a purely resolution-bound scenario, typical of an integrated GPU with system-shared memory where bandwidth constraints amplify at higher pixel counts.

Ultra settings are the most punishing, with 34 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and just 14 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 59% lower than the 1080p Ultra figure, matching the scaling seen in other presets. This uniformity across settings indicates that the Radeon 890M's 1024 shading units and 32 ROPs are the limiting factor, rather than any CPU-side constraint. The 15 W TDP of the GPU reinforces this interpretation, as the integrated graphics simply lacks the raw fill rate for higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + AMD Radeon 890M combo capable of running Greedfall at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at lower presets. The measured data shows 75 FPS at Low, 59 FPS at Medium, and 53 FPS at High settings at 1920x1080. Ultra settings drop to 34 FPS, which may be borderline for smooth gameplay.

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system achieves consistently playable frame rates. At 2560x1440, even Low settings produce 52 FPS, while Medium and High dip to 41 and 37 FPS respectively. 4K is not viable, with the highest recorded average being 31 FPS at Low settings.

Q: How does the Radeon 890M compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Radeon 890M scores 8076 in Passmark G3D, placing it 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221), 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273), and 0.9% behind the GTX 465 (9294). Its 45th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates a mid-low tier position.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 17984.5 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 29376, far exceed what Greedfall requires. The consistent FPS drops across resolutions point entirely to GPU limitation.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking, and what does that mean for gaming?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35670. This places it within 0.7% of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, indicating strong headroom for any game workload.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra preset worth attempting?

A: No. The measured 14 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra is far below playable thresholds. Even at Low settings, the 31 FPS at 4K is marginal, and users would be better served by sticking to 1080p.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is a Strix Point integrated GPU built on TSMC's 4 nm process, featuring 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its boost clock reaches 2900 MHz, producing a peak FP32 throughput of 5.939 TFLOPS. The GPU operates with system-shared memory, meaning bandwidth is "System Dependent" and directly tied to the host platform's DDR5 configuration. This shared-memory architecture is a critical factor in Greedfall, where the game's open-world environments demand consistent memory throughput.

The GPU's 45th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 8076, places it in the lower-middle tier. Its nearest rivals include the Radeon Vega 8 (0.1% ahead), GTX 960 (0.7% ahead), and GTX 465 (0.9% ahead) — all older or lower-tier parts. The 15 W TDP is remarkably low for the performance delivered, but it also caps sustained clock speeds under load, which is reflected in the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions.

In Greedfall specifically, the GPU's 32 ROPs and 92.80 GPixel/s pixel rate become the limiting factor at 1440p and 4K. The game's combat animations and environmental detail require both pixel fill and texture sampling, and the Radeon 890M's 185.6 GTexel/s texture rate proves insufficient for smooth high-resolution play. At 1080p, however, the GPU manages to keep up with Medium settings at 59 FPS, suggesting that its architecture is well-suited to lower pixel counts where bandwidth demands are reduced.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy across presets. Low settings deliver 75 FPS average, which is smooth and responsive. Medium settings produce 59 FPS average, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings yield 53 FPS average, still acceptable for an Action RPG. Ultra settings fall to 34 FPS average, which is playable but may exhibit noticeable stutter during intense combat sequences.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops become significant. Low settings maintain 52 FPS average, which is just above the 50 FPS threshold. Medium settings produce 41 FPS average, with a range of 35 to 47 FPS, meaning dips below 40 FPS are possible. High settings drop to 37 FPS average, while Ultra settings fall to 24 FPS, which is marginal for the game's real-time combat. The Medium preset's minimum of 35 FPS suggests occasional frame hitches during scene transitions.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. Low settings achieve 31 FPS average, Medium settings 24 FPS average (with a 21-28 FPS range), High settings 22 FPS, and Ultra settings just 14 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K is only suitable for static exploration or screenshot purposes, not active gameplay. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (17 FPS) is smaller than at 1080p (41 FPS), showing that the GPU is so bandwidth-starved at 4K that even reducing quality settings provides diminishing returns.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread Meteor Lake processor with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) provide ample headroom for game logic and asset streaming. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking, with an average benchmark score of 35670, places it just 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 and 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X.

In Greedfall, the CPU's role is largely secondary. The game's AI routines and quest logic are not particularly demanding by modern standards, and the Core Ultra 9's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17984.5 and single-core score of 1810.5 are more than sufficient. The Passmark single-thread score of 3697 ensures that even the game's main thread, which often bottlenecks in older titles, has enough processing power to avoid limiting the GPU.

The key evidence for CPU non-involvement is the consistent FPS scaling across resolutions. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU's workload remains constant regardless of resolution. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly 30% at each resolution step, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU's 45 W TDP and mobile BGA 2049 socket also indicate this is a laptop part, where thermal constraints could theoretically throttle performance, but the benchmark data shows no such throttling within the measured frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this combo is 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This preset delivers 59 FPS average, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS, providing a smooth experience for Greedfall's combat and exploration. The Medium preset's 50 FPS minimum is just above the common 50 FPS playability threshold, ensuring that even demanding scenes with multiple enemies maintain acceptable frame rates.

For players prioritizing visual fidelity, High settings at 1080p (53 FPS average) are a viable alternative, though the lack of min/max data for this preset makes it harder to guarantee frame pacing. Low settings at 1080p (75 FPS average) offer the smoothest experience and are recommended for players who value responsiveness over graphics, particularly during parry-heavy combat sequences.

The Ultra preset at 1080p (34 FPS average) is not recommended, as the frame rate dips below the 40 FPS threshold where action RPGs typically become less responsive. At 1440p, only Low settings (52 FPS) are playable, while Medium (41 FPS) and High (37 FPS) are borderline. 4K is not recommended under any preset, as even Low settings (31 FPS) fail to reach 30 FPS consistently for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + AMD Radeon 890M combination ranks 3483rd out of 3703 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the bottom 6% of all configurations. This low ranking is directly attributable to the GPU, as the CPU's 85th percentile performance is far above what the game requires. The GPU's 45th percentile ranking, combined with its shared-memory architecture, explains why this combo struggles relative to discrete GPU solutions.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the Radeon 890M's benchmark performance is essentially on par with the Radeon Vega 8 (0.1% behind) and the GTX 960 (0.7% behind). This means the combo's in-game results are likely representative of what users would see with those older GPUs paired with a similarly strong CPU. The gap to top-tier combos is substantial: the 4K Ultra result of 14 FPS is 59% below the 1080p Ultra result, and the overall ranking reflects that the system is best suited for 1080p gaming at medium-to-high settings.

The ranking also highlights a broader point: integrated graphics solutions, even modern ones like the Radeon 890M, are not designed for high-resolution gaming in demanding titles like Greedfall. The combo's strengths lie in its CPU capabilities, which future-proof it for games with heavier CPU requirements, but the GPU will remain the limiting factor until a discrete graphics solution is added. For users with this combo, the data clearly indicates that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, and any attempt to push higher resolutions will result in a degraded experience.