Greedfall

Greedfall, an Action RPG released in 2019, presents a demanding workload for legacy hardware. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, based on measured FPS data. The combination ranks 2844th out of 2938 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 3% of all configurations for this title. The data reveals a system heavily constrained by its graphics card, where CPU headroom is vast but largely irrelevant at the resolutions and settings where the GTX 1650 operates.

FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 73, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only measured configuration that crosses the 70 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072) by 1.3%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 sits at the 40th percentile, meaning it performs better than 40% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 7472.

Q: At 1440p, what is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 50 on Low settings to 23 on Ultra settings. This represents a 54% decrease in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Is there a measurable FPS range for Medium settings at any resolution?

A: Yes, the data includes minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings. At 1920x1080, the average is 57 FPS with a range of 48 to 66 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average is 40 FPS with a range of 34 to 45 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average is 24 FPS with a range of 20 to 27 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's average benchmark score compare to its closest competitor?

A: The GTX 1650's average score of 7472 is 1% lower than the Intel Arc A310's score of 7550. It is 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 8850M's score of 7447.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the primary determinant of performance in Greedfall for this pairing. Its specifications paint a picture of a card designed for 1080p gaming at the time of its release, and the measured data confirms this is its functional limit. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, paired with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The card's 896 shading units and 32 ROPs are tasked with rendering the game's world.

The impact of the GPU is most evident when observing the frame rates across different settings. At 1920x1080, the card manages an average of 73 FPS on Low, but this falls to 52 FPS on High and 33 FPS on Ultra. This steep drop-off indicates that the GTX 1650's compute and texture units are quickly saturated as the graphical load increases. The 4 GB VRAM buffer is also a likely limiting factor at higher settings, as Greedfall's textures and geometry can exceed this capacity, forcing the card to manage memory more inefficiently.

The GPU's performance class is confirmed by its benchmark standing. With an average score of 7472, it sits at the 40th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A310, scores 7550, a difference of just 1%. This places the GTX 1650 in a very specific performance tier, one that is fundamentally mismatched with the high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus. The data suggests that the GPU's role is to be the absolute bottleneck, and its 75W TDP and lack of power connectors indicate a design focused on efficiency rather than raw performance, which is reflected in the measured FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across the three tested resolutions provides a clear picture of how the limiting component shifts as the rendering load changes. At 1920x1080, the GTX 1650 is under maximum stress, but it still delivers playable frame rates. The average FPS on Low is 73, which drops to 57 on Medium and 52 on High. This shows a performance curve that is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS across all settings drops significantly. The Low preset averages 50 FPS, a 31.5% decrease from the 73 FPS at 1080p. The High preset falls to 36 FPS, a 30.8% drop from its 1080p counterpart. This consistent reduction of roughly 30% indicates that the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily, confirming the GTX 1650 as the primary constraint.

At 3840x2160, the performance degrades to a level that is not playable. The Low preset averages just 30 FPS, while Medium dips to 24 FPS and High to 21 FPS. The Ultra preset is effectively a slideshow at 14 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is not linear; the 4K Low average of 30 FPS is 40% lower than the 1440p Low average of 50 FPS. This disproportionate drop suggests that the GPU is not only fill-rate limited but is also hitting memory bandwidth ceilings with its 128.1 GB/s connection. The 4K resolution demands over 8 million pixels per frame, and the GTX 1650's 128-bit memory interface is insufficient for this task. The data strongly indicates that the GPU is the sole limiting factor at all resolutions, but its inadequacy becomes more pronounced as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 2844th out of 2938 tested combos in Greedfall. This places it in the bottom 3.2% of all configurations, a ranking that reflects the profound imbalance between the CPU and GPU. The ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance ceiling, which prevents the CPU from contributing to higher frame rates.

This poor ranking is not due to a lack of CPU capability. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a top-tier processor, scoring in the 96th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807), are extremely close in performance. However, this CPU strength is entirely negated by the GTX 1650. In the context of Greedfall, the combo rank of 2844 is a measure of the system's real-world gaming performance, and that performance is dictated by the graphics card.

The data shows that the combo's rank is a clear indicator of a bottleneck. A system with a more balanced pairing, such as this CPU with a modern mid-range GPU, would rank significantly higher. The 2844th position is a direct result of the GTX 1650's 40th percentile standing. The CPU's potential to push hundreds of frames is capped by the GPU's inability to render more than 73 FPS even at the lowest settings and resolution. This pairing demonstrates that a high-end CPU cannot compensate for a low-end GPU in a graphics-intensive title like Greedfall.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and the user's tolerance for frame rate fluctuations. The data provides three presets with complete average FPS measurements, giving a clear path for configuration.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset is the only one that delivers a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 73 FPS. The Medium preset, averaging 57 FPS, is also viable for those who prefer higher visual fidelity, as the minimum FPS of 48 is still within a playable range. The High preset’s 52 FPS average is acceptable, but the Ultra preset's 33 FPS average is too low for a responsive experience.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset provides the only playable average at 50 FPS. The Medium preset averages 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34, which is borderline. The High and Ultra presets, at 36 and 23 FPS respectively, are not recommended for active gameplay.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a playable frame rate. The Low preset averages 30 FPS, and the rest are lower, with Ultra at 14 FPS. This resolution should be avoided entirely with this hardware.

The data suggests that the best experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with the Low or Medium preset. The Medium preset offers a 57 FPS average with a minimum of 48 FPS, providing a balance between visual quality and performance. For users prioritizing smoothness, the Low preset's 73 FPS average is the superior choice. At higher resolutions, the GPU's limitations become too severe to overcome with settings adjustments alone.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across all resolution and settings combinations. The following breakdown details the exact average FPS figures from the data.

At 1920x1080, the performance is as follows:

• Low: 73 average FPS.
• Medium: 57 average FPS, with a minimum of 48 and a maximum of 66.
• High: 52 average FPS.
• Ultra: 33 average FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance is as follows:

• Low: 50 average FPS.
• Medium: 40 average FPS, with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 45.
• High: 36 average FPS.
• Ultra: 23 average FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance is as follows:

• Low: 30 average FPS.
• Medium: 24 average FPS, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27.
• High: 21 average FPS.
• Ultra: 14 average FPS.

These numbers illustrate a clear pattern. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in an average FPS drop of approximately 30% across all settings. The transition from 1440p to 4K results in an additional drop of approximately 40%. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer, with its 33 FPS at 1080p being the only time it breaks above 30 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, indicating a more stable performance profile, but its averages are still significantly lower than the Low preset.

CPU Role

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. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a 36 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The CPU's average benchmark score of 84003 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is one of the most powerful processors available.

However, in the context of Greedfall with a GTX 1650, this CPU's role is largely passive. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU has more than enough processing power to handle the game's logic and physics. The bottleneck is entirely on the GPU. Evidence for this is the fact that the FPS does not change significantly when the CPU is under load; the performance scaling is directly tied to resolution and settings, which are GPU-centric variables.

The CPU's single-thread performance is also more than adequate. Greedfall, like most Action RPGs, relies on a few heavily loaded threads for game logic. With a single-core score of 7303 in Cinebench R23, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is far beyond what is required. The data indicates that even the most demanding CPU-bound scenarios in the game would not stress this processor. Its 24 cores and 24 threads are virtually idle during gameplay, as the GPU is unable to feed frames fast enough to utilize them. The CPU's role is to ensure that it never becomes a limiting factor, and it succeeds in that role. The performance of this combo is entirely defined by the GPU, rendering the CPU's immense power irrelevant for this specific title.