Greedfall

The pairing of Intel’s flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with AMD’s aging Radeon RX 580 produces a deeply lopsided result in Greedfall. The data shows a system where the CPU’s immense compute potential is effectively neutralized by a GPU that sits near the 53rd percentile of all tested graphics cards. Across all measured resolutions and settings, the RX 580 struggles to maintain playable frame rates, with the only exception being low preset at 1080p. This combination ranks 2672 out of 2938 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 10% of all pairings. The following analysis breaks down what the measured FPS numbers reveal about this bottleneck-heavy configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves in Greedfall?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 81, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only preset/resolution combination where the system delivers a frame rate above 80.

Q: How does the RX 580 perform at 4K in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the RX 580’s results are consistently below playable thresholds. The best 4K result is 34 FPS on Low settings, while High and Medium average 24 and 26 FPS respectively. Ultra settings drop to just 15 FPS.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested systems for Greedfall?

A: The combo ranks 2672 out of 2938 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile range. This indicates that the vast majority of other CPU/GPU pairings deliver better performance in this title.

Q: Which component is limiting performance in this setup?

A: The data strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The RX 580’s average benchmark score is 12928, while the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003. The GPU’s percentile rank (53) is far lower than the CPU’s (96), and the FPS scaling across resolutions reflects a GPU-bound workload.

Q: Is there a measurable difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, Medium settings average 44 FPS with a min of 38 and max of 51. High settings average slightly lower at 40 FPS. The difference is modest but consistent.

Q: Does the RX 580’s 8 GB VRAM appear sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data does not show VRAM capacity as the primary constraint. The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, and the FPS drops between settings are more consistent with raw shading throughput limits rather than memory exhaustion.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using the GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1257 MHz with a boost clock of 1340 MHz, while its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. These specifications produce a peak FP32 throughput of 6.175 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s. The card’s thermal design power is 185 W, requiring a single 8-pin power connector and a suggested 450 W power supply.

In the context of Greedfall, the RX 580’s role is primarily that of a bottleneck. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 12928 places it at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (score 12940, deltaPct -0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (score 12986, deltaPct -0.4). This puts the RX 580 in the middle of the pack for general GPU compute, but its performance in Greedfall is heavily constrained. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the card only reaches 81 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 15 FPS. The GPU’s memory configuration (8 GB GDDR5) is not the limiting factor, as the frame rate drops between Medium and High settings are proportionally similar across resolutions.

The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, by contrast, is a top-tier processor. It has 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. Its 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are far beyond what this GPU can utilize. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 84003 places it at the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (score 83807, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD EPYC 7F72 (score 85072, deltaPct -1.3). In Greedfall, the CPU’s capabilities are effectively wasted, as the GPU cannot keep up with the demands of the game’s rendering pipeline at any resolution above 1080p Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this pairing in Greedfall is 2672 out of 2938 tested combinations. This places the system in the bottom 9% of all tested pairings, a stark indicator of how poorly the RX 580 complements the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and the data shows that the GPU’s mid-range compute performance is insufficient for this title’s requirements.

To contextualize this rank, consider that the RX 580’s average benchmark score of 12928 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which scores 12940 with a deltaPct of -0.1. The GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12986 with a deltaPct of -0.4, meaning the RX 580 is within 1% of these cards in aggregate benchmarks. Yet in Greedfall, the RX 580’s performance is consistently below 60 FPS at 1440p and above, and only reaches 81 FPS at 1080p Low. This suggests that the game’s rendering engine is particularly sensitive to the RX 580’s GCN 4.0 architecture, which lacks the newer feature sets found in more recent GPUs.

The CPU’s rank in the overall hierarchy (96th percentile) does nothing to lift the combo’s position. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, has an average score of 83807 with a deltaPct of 0.2, indicating near-identical CPU performance. However, in this pairing, the CPU’s compute headroom is irrelevant because the GPU becomes the limiting factor at every measured setting. The 2672nd rank out of 2938 combos is a direct consequence of this imbalance, and the data shows that pairing this CPU with a significantly stronger GPU would be necessary to achieve competitive frame rates in Greedfall.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the RX 580’s performance in Greedfall across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its best results: Low settings average 81 FPS, Medium averages 64 FPS with a min of 54 and max of 73, High averages 58 FPS, and Ultra drops to 37 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 44 FPS (81 vs 37), representing a 54% reduction in frame rate when moving to the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades significantly. Low settings average 56 FPS, Medium averages 44 FPS with a min of 38 and max of 51, High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 30 FPS (56 vs 26), a 46% reduction. Notably, the 1440p Low result (56 FPS) is only 2 FPS higher than the 1080p High result (58 FPS), indicating that the GPU is already near its limits at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. Low settings average 34 FPS, Medium averages 26 FPS with a min of 22 and max of 30, High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra drops to 15 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 19 FPS (34 vs 15), a 56% reduction. Even the best 4K result (34 FPS on Low) falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most games target, and the Ultra preset’s 15 FPS is effectively a slideshow.

The Medium preset row at each resolution provides the only complete min/max data: 54-73 FPS at 1080p, 38-51 FPS at 1440p, and 22-30 FPS at 4K. These ranges show that the frame pacing is relatively stable, but the overall performance is consistently below what modern games expect. The data shows that the RX 580 is only capable of delivering a smooth experience at 1080p Low, and even that result (81 FPS) is not particularly high by current standards.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 81 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p (a 31% reduction) and then to 34 at 4K (a 39% reduction from 1440p). At Medium settings, the progression is 64 to 44 to 26 FPS, representing 31% and 41% drops respectively. High settings show 58 to 40 to 24 FPS (31% and 40% drops), while Ultra settings drop from 37 to 26 to 15 FPS (30% and 42% drops).

These scaling patterns are consistent with a GPU that is heavily constrained by its fill rate and shading throughput. The RX 580’s 32 ROPs and 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for 4K rendering, where the pixel count is four times that of 1080p. The fact that the percentage drops between resolutions are similar across all settings (roughly 30% from 1080p to 1440p and 40% from 1440p to 4K) indicates that the GPU is not being bottlenecked by the CPU at any point. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain flat as resolution increases, but the data shows a steady decline.

The scaling also suggests that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is more than capable of feeding the RX 580 with draw calls and game logic. The CPU’s 24 cores, 5.80 GHz boost clock, and 36 MB of L3 cache are far beyond what Greedfall requires, and the FPS drops are entirely attributable to the GPU’s inability to process the increased pixel load. At 1080p Low, the 81 FPS result likely approaches the RX 580’s maximum frame rate in this game, regardless of CPU. Moving to 1440p or 4K does not reveal any CPU-related stutter or frame time inconsistency, as the min FPS values track proportionally with the averages.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only setting preset that delivers a consistently playable experience is Low at 1920x1080, which averages 81 FPS. This is the only configuration that exceeds the 60 FPS mark, and it does so with a comfortable margin. For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, this is the recommended preset, as it provides the smoothest gameplay without any frame time concerns.

At 1080p Medium, the average FPS of 64 with a min of 54 and max of 73 is borderline playable. The min FPS of 54 is close to the 60 FPS target, but dips below it, which could result in noticeable stutter during demanding scenes. The data shows that Medium at 1080p offers a 12.5% improvement in visual quality over Low (based on the FPS difference from 81 to 64), but the frame rate headroom is minimal. If a user has a 60 Hz display, Medium at 1080p might be acceptable, but the 54 FPS minimum is a risk.

For 1440p, no preset achieves 60 FPS. Low averages 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but could be tolerable on a 60 Hz display with adaptive sync. Medium and High at 1440p (44 and 40 FPS respectively) are not recommended for action RPGs, as the lower frame rates can impair combat responsiveness. Ultra at 1440p (26 FPS) is not playable.

At 4K, all presets are effectively unplayable. The best result is 34 FPS on Low, which is below the 30 FPS minimum for most games and will result in a visibly choppy experience. The Ultra preset’s 15 FPS is far below any acceptable threshold. The data indicates that this combo should not be used for 4K gaming in Greedfall, and even 1440p requires significant compromises.

The recommendation is to run the game at 1080p Low for the best balance of frame rate and playability. If visual quality is a priority, 1080p Medium is the highest preset that keeps the average FPS above 60, though the minimum FPS of 54 should be considered. Users with 1440p monitors should be prepared to accept frame rates in the 40-56 FPS range, which may be suitable for slower-paced exploration but not for intense combat. The data does not support any 4K configuration for this title.