Archeage

AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in Archeage presents a striking imbalance: the GPU is a top-tier part while the CPU is a mid-range 2020 processor. The measured FPS data shows how this pairing behaves across resolutions and settings, with clear evidence of where the bottleneck sits.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 174 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 156.7 FPS, a modest 10% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 112.8 FPS, which is 35% below the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is relatively shallow, indicating that at lower settings the CPU is limiting performance — the GPU has ample headroom but cannot be fully utilized because the Ryzen 5 4600G is feeding frames as fast as it can.

The picture changes when settings are raised. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 121.9 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it drops to 85.2 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 49.3 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra is 30%, and between 1440p and 4K it is 42%. These larger drops indicate that at higher settings, the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor. The RTX 4090 is being pushed harder by the increased pixel count and visual complexity, and the FPS decline tracks closely with the resolution scaling of GPU workload.

Comparing Low to Ultra at each resolution highlights this transition. At 1080p, Ultra runs at 70% of Low’s frame rate (121.9 vs 174). At 1440p, Ultra runs at 54% of Low (85.2 vs 156.7). At 4K, Ultra runs at 44% of Low (49.3 vs 112.8). The shrinking percentage means the GPU is progressively more stressed as resolution climbs, while at 1080p the CPU-bound nature of the game keeps the gap smaller.

The data suggests that for this specific combo, 1080p and 1440p are largely CPU-limited at Low and Medium settings, while 4K is consistently GPU-limited across all settings. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for any resolution here, so the constraint is compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Ryzen 5 4600G and RTX 4090 ranks 236th out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage. That places it in the top 14% of all pairings, which is respectable given the CPU’s modest specifications. The RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 4600G is in the 75th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU is clearly the stronger component, but the rank shows that Archeage’s performance is not solely determined by GPU strength.

Compared to other CPU rivals, the Ryzen 5 4600G holds its own. Its average benchmark score is 17489, nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE at 17482 (0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12450H at 17475 (0.1% ahead). The Intel Core i3-14100T scores 17636, which is 0.8% higher, and the Intel Core i3-13100F scores 17665, 1% higher. These deltas are small, meaning that swapping the CPU for any of these rivals would produce negligible changes in overall system performance, though the game-specific results could vary.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, 0.4% behind), NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127, 0.5% ahead), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097, 0.9% behind), and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67320, 1.3% behind). The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score of 66473 is in line with these workstation cards, though those parts are not typical gaming GPUs. The rank of 236 out of 1727 suggests that many combos with faster CPUs achieve higher frame rates in Archeage, even if their GPUs are weaker, because the game appears to respond well to CPU improvements at lower settings.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much more from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings compared to Low settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the GPU is the limiting component, so increasing resolution from 2560x1440 (85.2 FPS) to 3840x2160 (49.3 FPS) produces a 42% drop. At Low settings, the CPU limits performance, so the same resolution change only reduces FPS from 156.7 to 112.8, a 28% drop.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 being fully utilized at 1080p Low settings?

A: No. The 174 FPS at 1920x1080 Low is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output, given that the Ryzen 5 4600G has a boost clock of 4.20 GHz and 6 cores / 12 threads. The GPU has far more compute capacity than this game demands at low settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if targeting 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160 High, the average is 66.8 FPS, which is above 60. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 49.3 FPS, so High settings at 4K is the highest quality tier that maintains 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 4600G compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G scores 17489 on average, which is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482), Intel Core i5-12450H (17475), Intel Core i3-14100T (17636), and Intel Core i3-13100F (17665). The differences are negligible.

Q: Does the game favor more CPU cores or higher clock speeds?

A: The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the FPS is 174, which is the highest across all settings. This suggests the game is sensitive to single-thread performance, as the Ryzen 5 4600G’s single-thread benchmark score is 2653 in PassMark, and its boost clock is 4.20 GHz.

Q: Why is the 4K Ultra FPS so low relative to the GPU’s capabilities?

A: Archeage is an MMORPG from 2014, and its engine may not scale efficiently with modern GPU hardware. The 49.3 FPS at 4K Ultra is well below what the RTX 4090 can achieve in newer titles, indicating a game-level limitation rather than a hardware one.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 174 FPS. Medium follows at 171.3 FPS, High at 143.5 FPS, and Ultra at 121.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is only 2.7 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is saturated at both settings. High drops 18% below Medium, and Ultra drops 15% below High, showing that the GPU starts to matter more as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 156.7 FPS, Medium 149.5 FPS, High 120.7 FPS, and Ultra 85.2 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap is 7.2 FPS (5% reduction), while Medium-to-High is 28.8 FPS (19% reduction), and High-to-Ultra is 35.5 FPS (29% reduction). The increasing deltas indicate a growing GPU workload.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 112.8 FPS, Medium 100.3 FPS, High 66.8 FPS, and Ultra 49.3 FPS. Low-to-Medium is a 12.5 FPS drop (11%), Medium-to-High is 33.5 FPS (33%), and High-to-Ultra is 17.5 FPS (26%). At 4K, every setting step yields a substantial FPS loss, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck across the board.

The data shows a consistent pattern: at 1080p, the CPU limits performance; at 1440p, the balance shifts; at 4K, the GPU dominates. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute is underutilized at low settings, but at Ultra 4K it is still insufficient to maintain high frame rates in this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 2 (Renoir) architecture, built on a 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz and boost clock is 4.20 GHz, with 8 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score is 726, and its PassMark single-thread score is 2653, both indicating modest per-core performance.

In Archeage, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the FPS is 174 — only 11% higher than at 1440p Low (156.7) and 35% higher than at 4K Low (112.8). If the GPU were the sole bottleneck at Low settings, the FPS would scale more steeply with resolution. Instead, the relatively flat scaling suggests the CPU is maxed out. The Ryzen 5 4600G’s 3DMark 16-thread score is 4863, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 13593, showing that it has enough multi-threaded capacity for most games, but its single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core: 1919) is the limiting factor.

The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms about three-quarters of processors, but the RTX 4090 is in the 91st percentile among GPUs. This mismatch explains why the combo ranks 236th out of 1727 — the CPU holds back the GPU in many scenarios. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-13100F (1% higher average score), would likely produce similar frame rates in Archeage, as the game appears to be bound by single-thread performance rather than core count.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS, the data supports specific choices. At 3840x2160, High settings average 66.8 FPS, which is the only 4K preset above 60. Ultra at 4K falls to 49.3 FPS, so High is the maximum playable setting at that resolution. Medium at 4K runs at 100.3 FPS, offering a large margin above 60 with only a visual quality step below High.

At 2560x1440, all presets exceed 60 FPS. Ultra averages 85.2 FPS, High 120.7 FPS, Medium 149.5 FPS, and Low 156.7 FPS. Given that the GPU is not fully utilized at Medium (149.5 FPS vs Low’s 156.7), the best experience is likely High settings at 120.7 FPS — this balances visual fidelity with a frame rate well above 60. Ultra at 1440p is also viable at 85.2 FPS if the user prefers maximum quality.

At 1920x1080, every preset is above 60 FPS. Ultra averages 121.9 FPS, High 143.5 FPS, Medium 171.3 FPS, and Low 174 FPS. The difference between Medium and Low is only 2.7 FPS, so Medium offers essentially the same performance with better visuals. High provides 143.5 FPS, still far above 60, and Ultra at 121.9 FPS is the best visual option. Since the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p, raising settings from Low to Medium costs almost nothing in FPS, making Medium the recommended baseline and Ultra a reasonable choice for those with high-refresh monitors.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize High settings at 4K for a 60 FPS experience, or Ultra at 1440p for 85 FPS. At 1080p, Ultra is the best choice given the 121.9 FPS average, which remains well above playable thresholds. The RTX 4090’s power is best used at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 5 4600G handles the lower-resolution workloads without becoming a severe constraint.