Archeage

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Archeage with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and Intel Arc B390 shows a steep performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080, the game is broadly playable at lower presets, but at 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, every setting falls short of the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 71 FPS, the only setting in the entire dataset to clear 60 FPS by a comfortable margin. Medium follows at 64 FPS average, with a recorded minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS. High drops to 43 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 29 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is substantial: 21 FPS, a 33% reduction in frame rate for stepping up one preset level. The gap between High and Ultra is smaller in absolute terms (14 FPS) but represents a 33% drop from an already sub-60 baseline.

Moving to 2560x1440, the picture degrades sharply. Low averages 48 FPS, which is below the playable threshold despite being the least demanding preset. Medium averages 43 FPS, with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 49. High drops to 29 FPS, and Ultra falls to 20 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset is severe: Low loses 23 FPS (from 71 to 48), Medium loses 21 FPS (from 64 to 43), High loses 14 FPS (from 43 to 29), and Ultra loses 9 FPS (from 29 to 20). Notably, the absolute loss narrows as the preset gets heavier, suggesting the GPU is already saturated at lower resolutions and cannot absorb additional pixel workload without steep frame rate erosion.

At 3840x2160, performance collapses. Low averages 28 FPS, Medium averages 25 FPS (minimum 21, maximum 28), High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 17 FPS, which is the smallest relative spread across all resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, even the Low preset is pushing the Intel Arc B390 to its limits, and the additional shading work from higher presets yields diminishing returns in frame rate but still costs measurable performance.

The min/max data is only recorded for Medium presets across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the frame time variance spans 54 to 73 FPS, a 19 FPS range. At 1440p Medium, the range is 36 to 49 FPS, a 13 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 21 to 28 FPS, a 7 FPS spread. As resolution increases, the frame rate range compresses, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where the bottleneck is consistent rather than intermittent.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the dominant performance limiter in this configuration. The Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread Zen 4 processor with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29300, and a single-core score of 2016.5. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 1093, and its PassMark single-thread score is 4238. The CPU sits at the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53288. This is a processor capable of feeding any reasonable frame rate target for a game from 2014.

The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 1482 and sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its only recorded benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, yields a score of 1482. The nearest GPU rivals are all low-end parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% ahead), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% ahead). This places the B390 in the company of entry-level graphics hardware from over a decade ago.

The scaling between resolutions confirms the GPU-bound nature of the workload. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 71 FPS. At 1440p Low, that drops to 48 FPS, a 32% reduction. At 4K Low, it drops further to 28 FPS, another 42% reduction. These are classic pixel-throughput bottlenecks, where doubling the pixel count roughly halves the frame rate. If the CPU were the limiter, the frame rate would stay relatively flat across resolutions, since the CPU workload in a 2014 MMORPG does not scale with pixel count. Instead, the data shows a near-linear relationship between pixel area and frame rate, which points squarely at the GPU.

The preset scaling within a fixed resolution further supports this. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 7 FPS (71 to 64), from Medium to High costs 21 FPS (64 to 43), and from High to Ultra costs 14 FPS (43 to 29). The non-uniform cost suggests that certain preset steps (Medium to High) introduce disproportionately expensive effects, likely related to shadows, post-processing, or draw distances. But the overall pattern is that the B390 cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1080p High or Ultra, and cannot reach 60 FPS at any setting above 1080p.

The CPU's role is therefore secondary. At 1080p Low and Medium, the Ryzen 9 7900X is likely feeding the B390 enough draw calls and physics updates to keep the GPU busy, but the GPU simply runs out of shading and texture throughput. At higher resolutions, the CPU's headroom is irrelevant because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to create CPU-bound scenarios. The data does not include CPU utilization figures, but the frame rate behavior across resolutions is consistent with a GPU bottleneck at every measured point.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Archeage at 1080p Ultra?

A: No. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 29, which is well below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict data lists only Low and Medium as playable settings at 1080p.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p?

A: There is no playable setting at 2560x1440. The best average FPS at 1440p is 48 with Low settings, which falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 43 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% lower). The B390 is effectively in the same performance class as these legacy GPUs.

Q: What is the frame rate range for Medium settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the recorded minimum is 54 FPS, the average is 64 FPS, and the maximum is 73 FPS. This is the only preset at any resolution with a recorded minimum above 50 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 7900X a high-performing CPU relative to other processors?

A: Yes. The Ryzen 9 7900X sits at the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53288. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 29300 and single-core score is 2016.5. It outperforms the AMD EPYC 7313P by 0.2% and the Intel Core i7-14700F by 0.6%.

Q: Does the system playable threshold change by resolution?

A: The playable threshold is set at 60 FPS for all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low (71 FPS) and Medium (64 FPS) clear this threshold. At 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, no settings clear 60 FPS, with the best results being 48 FPS and 28 FPS respectively.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and Intel Arc B390 combination can run Archeage, but only under strict conditions. The verdict data specifies that at 1920x1080, the playable settings are Low and Medium, with Medium being the best playable setting at an average of 64 FPS. This means a user can achieve a playable experience at 1080p, but must accept Medium preset quality or lower. High and Ultra at 1080p are not playable, with averages of 43 FPS and 29 FPS respectively.

At 2560x1440, the verdict is unambiguous: no settings are playable. The best average FPS at 1440p is 48 with Low settings, which falls 12 FPS short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra are progressively worse, with averages of 43, 29, and 20 FPS. The recorded minimum at 1440p Medium is 36 FPS, which would produce noticeable stuttering in a fast-paced MMORPG environment.

At 3840x2160, the situation is worse. The best average FPS is 28 with Low settings, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. This resolution is not viable for playable frame rates with this GPU.

The overall rank of this combo in the game's database is 3297 out of 3708 combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of tested systems. The data is marked as measured, meaning these are actual recorded frame rates rather than estimates. The conclusion is that this system is best suited for 1080p gaming with Medium settings, and users targeting higher resolutions would need a substantially more powerful GPU.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Ryzen 9 7900X provide context for the CPU's position. The AMD EPYC 7313P has an average score of 53206, which is 0.2% lower than the 7900X's 53288. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, 0.3% higher. The Intel Xeon 634 scores 52974, 0.6% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620, 0.6% higher. These deltas are all within 0.6%, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Archeage when paired with the same GPU, since the game's performance is GPU-limited in this configuration.

For the Intel Arc B390, the nearest GPU rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts. The GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, just 1.3% above the B390's 1482. The GeForce 800M scores 1460, 1.5% above. The GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, 2.5% below. The GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, 2.7% below. These deltas are small enough that swapping the B390 for any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Archeage. The practical implication is that the B390 behaves like a decade-old entry-level GPU, and any system with similar benchmark scores would face the same resolution and preset limitations.

The CPU's percentile ranking (91st among all CPUs) versus the GPU's percentile ranking (9th among all GPUs) highlights the imbalance. A user upgrading from a weaker CPU to the Ryzen 9 7900X would see no meaningful FPS improvement in Archeage because the GPU is the bottleneck. Conversely, upgrading the GPU while keeping the 7900X would unlock significant headroom, as the CPU has ample single-thread and multi-thread performance for this game.

Best Settings per Resolution

The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS average at each resolution is determined directly from the measured data. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the highest playable setting, with an average FPS of 64. The minimum recorded at this setting is 54 FPS, which dips below the 60 FPS threshold, but the average clears it. Low averages 71 FPS and is also playable, but Medium is the best option that still maintains an average above 60.

At 2560x1440, no preset achieves a 60 FPS average. The highest average is Low at 48 FPS, which is below the threshold. Therefore, the best settings per resolution for 1440p is none, with the recommendation being to lower the resolution to 1080p for a playable experience.

At 3840x2160, the same conclusion applies: no preset achieves 60 FPS. The highest average is Low at 28 FPS, which is far below the threshold. The verdict data explicitly lists empty playable settings arrays for both 1440p and 4K, confirming that no settings at these resolutions clear the playable bar.

In summary, the only viable configuration for this system is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, yielding a 64 FPS average. Users who prioritize frame rate stability over visual quality could select Low at 1080p for a 71 FPS average, and the recorded minimum at Medium (54 FPS) suggests that Low would provide a more consistent experience above 60 FPS. However, for the best visual quality that still averages above the playable threshold, Medium at 1080p is the clear choice.