Greedfall

# Greedfall Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc B570

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but heavily resolution-dependent experience in Greedfall, with the data showing a combo that ranks 2344 out of 2938 tested configurations. This places the pairing in the lower-middle portion of the database, indicating that while the CPU is a top-tier component, the GPU becomes the decisive factor in most scenarios. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can comfortably handle 1080p gaming at high settings but struggles to maintain fluid motion at 4K, making the choice of resolution and preset critical for this particular combination.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts up to 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The processor features a substantial cache hierarchy: 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration places it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 84003.

In synthetic CPU workloads, the Ultra 9 290K Plus demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance, scoring 51731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 21727 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Single-thread results are equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and a Cinebench R20 single-core score of 3067. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 further corroborate the processor's capabilities. When compared to its nearest rivals, the Ultra 9 290K Plus is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX, and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135, while trailing the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%.

For Greedfall, an Action RPG released in 2019, the CPU's high single-thread performance is particularly relevant. The game's engine relies heavily on single-threaded draw calls and game logic, and the 5.80 GHz boost clock ensures that this processor can handle the most demanding CPU-bound moments without becoming a bottleneck. The 24 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and the game's AI systems, though the data suggests that at most resolutions and settings, the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the CPU. The processor's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface, combined with its large L3 cache, minimizes the risk of stutter from memory latency in open-world scenarios typical of Greedfall's exploration-heavy gameplay.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage-generation graphics card based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a fixed clock speed of 2500 MHz for both base and boost, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The card houses 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 23.04 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio), with pixel and texture rates of 200.0 GPixel/s and 360.0 GTexel/s respectively.

In the database, the Arc B570 holds the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% ahead), the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% behind). The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 and PassMark G3D score of 14195 indicate solid mid-range performance. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for Greedfall's texture requirements at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows diminishing returns at 4K where the GPU's raw throughput becomes the primary constraint.

The Arc B570's 150 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are notable characteristics, though the benchmark results suggest that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading throughput are what ultimately determine frame rates in Greedfall. The fixed 2500 MHz clock across all workloads means the card's performance is consistent, but it also means there is no boost headroom to compensate for heavy load. The 65th percentile ranking relative to all GPUs indicates that this is a mid-range solution, and the measured FPS data in Greedfall reflects that positioning clearly.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus bottleneck the Intel Arc B570 in Greedfall?

A: The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 130 FPS, and the CPU's 96th percentile ranking and 51731 Cinebench R23 multi-core score indicate it can feed the GPU well beyond the measured frame rates. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking suggests it is the limiting component in most scenarios.

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

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets remain playable, with High settings delivering 92 FPS and Ultra delivering 59 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (90 FPS) and High (64 FPS) are comfortable, while 4K demands Low settings (54 FPS) for acceptable performance.

Q: How much VRAM does the Intel Arc B570 have, and is it sufficient for Greedfall?

A: The card has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured results show that even at 4K Ultra (24 FPS), the GPU is compute-bound rather than VRAM-limited, as reducing settings to Low at 4K improves performance to 54 FPS. The 10 GB capacity is not the constraint; GPU throughput is.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B570 scores 20556 on average, placing it 0.1% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534). It is 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R9 M390X, indicating near-identical performance among these cards.

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

A: The Ultra 9 290K Plus sits in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. This means it outperforms 96% of processors in the database, providing ample headroom for gaming workloads. Its single-thread score of 4823 in PassMark is particularly strong for Greedfall's engine.

Q: Is the combo ranked highly among all tested configurations for Greedfall?

A: No, the combo ranks 2344 out of 2938 tested combos, placing it in the lower half of configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions, as the CPU is clearly capable of much higher performance than the measured FPS values indicate.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data for this combo in Greedfall spans three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 130 FPS on Low settings, 102 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 87 and maximum of 117), 92 FPS on High, and 59 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show a clear progression from Low to Ultra, with the step from High to Ultra representing the largest drop at 33 FPS (from 92 to 59).

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease substantially. Low settings produce 90 FPS, Medium delivers 71 FPS (with a minimum of 60 and maximum of 81), High achieves 64 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 49 FPS, indicating that the GPU's workload is scaling significantly with both resolution and settings. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 60 is noteworthy, as it suggests occasional frame dips that could be perceptible in combat scenarios.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal for smooth gameplay. Low settings yield 54 FPS, Medium drops to 42 FPS (with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48), High manages only 38 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that this GPU is not designed for high-fidelity gaming at this resolution, as even Low settings barely maintain 60 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 30 FPS, narrower than at lower resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is hitting a throughput ceiling that settings changes cannot fully overcome.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling behavior of this combo reveals a GPU-bound system with clear throughput limitations. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 30-40%, which is consistent with the pixel count increase of 1.78x. More telling is the transition from 1440p to 4K, where the pixel count increases by 2.25x but the average FPS drop is more severe, indicating that the GPU is running out of raw shading and memory bandwidth capacity.

Specifically, at High settings, the FPS progression is 92 (1080p) → 64 (1440p) → 38 (4K), representing a 30% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 41% drop from 1440p to 4K. Low settings show 130 → 90 → 54, with drops of 31% and 40% respectively. Ultra settings exhibit the steepest scaling: 59 → 41 → 24, with drops of 31% and 41%. The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets strongly suggests that the GPU's computational throughput is the limiting factor, as the CPU's performance headroom is more than sufficient even at 1080p with Low settings.

The Medium preset's minimum FPS data further reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p, the minimum of 87 FPS represents 85% of the average, while at 1440p the minimum of 60 FPS is 85% of the average, and at 4K the minimum of 36 FPS is 86% of the average. This uniform frame time stability across resolutions indicates that the bottleneck is consistent and predictable, characteristic of a GPU that is saturated at all tested configurations. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking and high single-thread scores (4823 PassMark, 7303 Cinebench R23) rule out processor limitations as a contributing factor to the FPS scaling.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset (92 FPS) offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while providing significantly better image quality than Low (130 FPS). The Ultra preset at 59 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the data suggests that the visual fidelity gain from High to Ultra does not justify the 33 FPS loss.

At 2560x1440, the High preset (64 FPS) becomes the recommended choice, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while Medium (71 FPS) offers only marginal additional headroom. The Low preset (90 FPS) is viable for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, but the visual degradation is substantial. The Ultra preset at 41 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay, as the frame rate falls below what most users would consider acceptable for an action RPG.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that only the Low preset (54 FPS) approaches playability, and even this falls short of 60 FPS. The Medium preset (42 FPS) and High (38 FPS) are too slow for comfortable gameplay, while Ultra (24 FPS) is effectively unplayable. Users who prioritize 4K should consider the Low preset as the only viable option, though the resulting visual quality may not justify the resolution upgrade from 1440p High. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 36 at 4K indicates that frame dips will be noticeable in busy scenes, making even this choice risky for consistent performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2344 out of 2938 tested configurations in Greedfall, placing it in the 21st percentile of all combos (the bottom 21% of the database). This ranking is notably lower than what the CPU's individual performance might suggest, given that the Ultra 9 290K Plus sits in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The discrepancy is explained by the GPU's 65th percentile ranking, which drags the overall combo performance down in a game that is clearly GPU-bound at the tested settings.

The ranking implies that there are 2343 other CPU-GPU combinations that deliver higher average FPS in Greedfall, and 594 combos that perform worse. This places the Arc B570, in terms of gaming performance, closer to entry-level or older mid-range GPUs, despite its modern architecture and feature set. The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks (RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, R9 M390X) all produce similar average scores, and the combo ranking suggests that Greedfall's performance aligns closely with these synthetic expectations.

For context, the combo's performance is heavily influenced by the GPU's 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, which are adequate for 1080p and 1440p but insufficient for 4K at high settings. The CPU's 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock provide no meaningful advantage in this particular game, as the measured FPS values are consistently below what the processor is capable of supporting. Users considering this combo for Greedfall should prioritize the GPU's limitations when setting expectations, as the CPU is not the constraining factor at any tested resolution or preset.