Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT

The combination of Intel's flagship Core Ultra 9 290K Plus processor and AMD's Radeon RX 6650 XT graphics card produces distinctly GPU-limited results in Greedfall across all tested resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern where the RX 6650 XT, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases, while the 24-core/24-thread CPU with its 5.80 GHz boost clock remains largely underutilized in this Action RPG title. The data reveals playable performance at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings, but 4K requires significant compromises, with the Ultra preset dropping to an average of 30 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate degradation from 1080p to 4K is substantial and follows a predictable pattern tied to the GPU's rendering load. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 sees average FPS drop from 158 to 65, a reduction of 93 FPS or approximately 59%. This scaling behavior indicates that even at the lowest quality preset, the RX 6650 XT's 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 280.3 GB/s memory bandwidth become limiting factors at 4K, as pixel count quadruples while the GPU's raw throughput remains constant.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling shows 124 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. The step from 1440p to 4K represents a 35 FPS drop, while the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 38 FPS. This relatively even distribution suggests the GPU is consistently saturated across these resolution steps. The High preset tells a similar story: 113 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, with each resolution increase costing roughly 31-35 FPS.

Ultra settings exhibit the most severe scaling penalty. The 4K average of 30 FPS represents a 42 FPS drop from the 1440p result of 50 FPS, and a 72 FPS drop from the 1080p result of 72 FPS. This disproportionate decline at 4K Ultra suggests the combination of increased pixel count and the most demanding graphical features overwhelms the GPU's 8 GB frame buffer and 2048 shading units. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal; with 24 cores capable of 3.70 GHz base and 5.80 GHz boost clocks, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides far more processing headroom than Greedfall requires, making the RX 6650 XT the definitive bottleneck at every resolution and settings combination.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the data shows that High settings at 113 FPS average provide an excellent balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 72 FPS remains playable, but the 41 FPS cost over High (a 36% reduction) is steep for the incremental graphical improvements. Low settings at 158 FPS are unnecessarily high for most displays and sacrifice visual fidelity without practical benefit on standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz monitors. Medium at 124 FPS also performs admirably, but High delivers better visuals at a still-smooth 113 FPS.

At 1440p, High settings at 78 FPS average represent the optimal choice, maintaining smooth gameplay while providing solid visual quality. The Medium preset at 86 FPS offers only 8 FPS more but with reduced graphical detail, making High the better value in performance terms. Ultra at 50 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for responsive action combat, so it should be avoided unless the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity over frame smoothness. Low at 109 FPS is viable for competitive play, but Greedfall is a single-player RPG where visual immersion typically outweighs the need for extreme frame rates.

At 4K, the situation becomes more constrained. High settings at 47 FPS average are borderline playable but will show visible stuttering during combat sequences. Medium at 51 FPS is marginally better, while Low at 65 FPS provides the only consistently smooth experience at this resolution. Ultra at 30 FPS is effectively unplayable for an action-oriented game, as the frame pacing at this level would significantly impact gameplay responsiveness. For 4K users, Low or Medium settings are the practical choices, with Low offering the best playability at 65 FPS and Medium providing a modest visual upgrade at 51 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT combination ranks 1891 out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution. This ranking reflects the GPU's limitations relative to the CPU's capabilities; the processor alone sits in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, while the graphics card ranks in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The substantial gap between these percentiles explains why the combo's overall position is dragged down by the GPU component.

The CPU's benchmark performance shows it trading blows with several enterprise-grade processors. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus averages a benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's 83807, 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX's 83090, and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135's 82980. It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3% (85072 vs 84003). These margins are minimal, indicating that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus offers performance essentially equivalent to its closest rivals in synthetic workloads, though Greedfall's actual frame rates are determined primarily by the GPU.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in a competitive but not elite tier. With an average benchmark score of 19765, the RX 6650 XT sits just 0.6% above the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885, delta -0.6%) and 0.7% above the AMD FirePro D300 (19637). It trails the AMD FirePro W7000 by 0.7% (19905) and the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 by 0.8% (19602). These professional-grade competitors highlight that the RX 6650 XT, while capable for gaming at 1080p and 1440p, does not possess the raw compute power to push the combo significantly higher in the overall ranking for a demanding title like Greedfall at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Greedfall at 4K?

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 4K Low settings, the combo achieves 65 FPS average, which is playable. Medium drops to 51 FPS, High to 47 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 4K Low is the recommended setting, while 4K Ultra should be avoided due to sub-30 FPS performance.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings ratio for this combo?

A: The data indicates 1440p High at 78 FPS average provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p High, the combo reaches 113 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium settings to maintain playable frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU's 24-core configuration affect Greedfall performance?

A: The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus's 24 cores and 24 threads provide massive processing headroom that Greedfall does not fully utilize. The game's frame rates are consistently GPU-limited across all tested resolutions, as evidenced by the CPU's 96th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 65th percentile and the combo's 1891st overall rank.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM usage pattern in this game?

A: The RX 6650 XT's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but the 4K Ultra preset's 30 FPS average suggests the frame buffer capacity may be strained at the highest resolution and quality combination.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar CPU configurations with different GPUs?

A: The combo's rank of 1891 out of 2938 in Greedfall indicates that the RX 6650 XT is the limiting component. The CPU alone outperforms 96% of all processors, but the GPU's 65th percentile ranking prevents the combo from achieving higher overall positions in this specific game.

Q: Is the 1080p Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 72 FPS average, which is playable but represents a 36% reduction from High's 113 FPS. Given that High settings already provide excellent visual quality at significantly higher frame rates, Ultra is only recommended for users who prioritize maximum graphical detail over frame smoothness.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT serves as the definitive performance limiter in this Greedfall configuration. Its RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process with 11,060 million transistors, provides 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2055 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz and a boost clock of 2635 MHz, delivering 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s.

The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory operates at 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, providing 280.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This configuration proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as evidenced by the measured frame rates, but the 4K results reveal the memory subsystem's constraints. At 4K Ultra, the 30 FPS average likely stems from both compute and memory bandwidth limitations, as the GPU must process four times the pixel data of 1080p while managing the most demanding texture and shader workloads.

The GPU's benchmark results contextualize its gaming performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 1859, while Geekbench scores show 97969 in Metal, 10111 in OpenCL, and 81306 in Vulkan. Passmark results include 17166 in G3D and 7532 in GPU compute. These scores place the RX 6650 XT in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being professional workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885 average, -0.6% delta) and AMD FirePro D300 (19637 average, +0.7% delta). The GPU's 176 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector make it a straightforward installation, though its end-of-life production status and 399 USD launch MSRP reflect its position in AMD's previous-generation lineup.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides exceptional processing power that far exceeds Greedfall's requirements, making it a non-bottleneck component in this configuration. Built on TSMC's 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors across a 243 mm² die, this Arrow Lake Refresh processor features 24 cores and 24 threads running at a 3.70 GHz base clock and 5.80 GHz boost clock. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache, supporting DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth.

The processor's benchmark results demonstrate its high-end positioning. In Cinebench tests, it scores 5214 in R15 multicore and 736 in single-core, 21727 in R20 multicore and 3067 in single-core, and 51731 in R23 multicore and 7303 in single-core. Passmark results include 60860 in multithread, 4823 in single-thread, and notable scores in data compression (698346), floating point math (214760), and integer math (166194). These results place the CPU in the 96th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 84003.

In Greedfall specifically, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with sufficient draw calls and game logic updates, a task it handles with substantial headroom. The measured frame rates show no evidence of CPU limitation, as even at 1080p Low where the GPU produces 158 FPS, the frame rate remains stable. The CPU's 24 cores and high boost clock ensure that even the most demanding combat scenarios with numerous NPCs and particle effects would not strain the processor. The nearest rival comparisons show the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus performing nearly identically to the Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% faster) and within 1.3% of several EPYC server processors, confirming its status as a top-tier desktop CPU that will not hinder gaming performance for years to come.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for Greedfall with this combination is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average of 158 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS and maximum of 143 FPS. High settings produce 113 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 72 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression where each settings tier costs approximately 11-46 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring between High and Ultra (41 FPS).

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 109 FPS average. Medium achieves 86 FPS with a range of 73 to 99 FPS. High settings deliver 78 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 50 FPS. The 1440p data shows similar relative scaling to 1080p, with Ultra costing 28 FPS over High, representing a 36% reduction in frame rate.

At 3840x2160, Low settings provide 65 FPS average. Medium achieves 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS and maximum of 59 FPS. High settings produce 47 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 30 FPS. The 4K results show the most severe settings impact, with Ultra costing 35 FPS over Low (a 54% reduction), making the Ultra preset impractical for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

The data reveals that the Medium preset consistently offers the most stable frame pacing, as it is the only settings tier with recorded minimum and maximum values at every resolution. The minimum FPS values at Medium (44 FPS at 4K, 73 FPS at 1440p, 105 FPS at 1080p) show that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate remains within 7-19 FPS of the average, indicating fewer severe frame time spikes compared to other settings. This stability makes Medium a reliable choice for users who prioritize consistent performance over absolute maximum frame rates.