Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, remains a demanding title at higher settings, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces a wide spectrum of performance depending on resolution and preset. The dataset shows a clear narrative: at lower resolutions the CPU carries the load, while at 4K the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, particularly on Ultra settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all configurations to determine where this combo excels and where it struggles.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but uneven across settings, revealing how the game's engine scales with pixel count. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 245 FPS at 1920x1080 to 181 FPS at 2560x1440, a 26.1% reduction, and then to 104 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 42.5% decline from the 1440p figure. This progression indicates that even on Low, the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p, as the CPU is likely the limiting factor, but by 4K the graphics card is working much harder.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern, with averages of 235 FPS at 1080p, 161 FPS at 1440p, and 92 FPS at 4K. The 1440p result is 31.5% lower than 1080p, and the 4K result is 42.9% lower than 1440p. These percentages are close to the Low preset's scaling, suggesting that the relative load on the GPU increases consistently as resolution rises, regardless of the modest increase in visual fidelity from Low to Medium.

High settings present a more pronounced drop at the top end. The average goes from 163 FPS at 1080p to 110 FPS at 1440p (a 32.5% decrease) and then to 63 FPS at 4K (a 42.7% decrease from 1440p). The 4K High result of 63 FPS is notably lower than the 92 FPS seen at Medium, indicating that the jump to High introduces effects that disproportionately tax the RTX 4080's memory bandwidth or shading resources at higher pixel counts.

Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling, with averages of 111 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and just 43 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32.4%, and from 1440p to 4K is 42.7%. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is barely playable, showing that this preset is not viable at that resolution. The consistent ~42-43% drop from 1440p to 4K across all presets suggests that the RTX 4080's raw pixel throughput is the dominant factor at 4K, while the variance at lower resolutions points to CPU involvement.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the star of this pairing, but its performance is heavily influenced by the resolution and settings. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for Archeage's textures and assets. The GPU's base clock of 2205 MHz and boost clock of 2505 MHz are high, and its 9728 shading units are more than enough for a 2014 title, yet the data shows that Ultra settings at 4K bring it to its knees.

The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is the clearest indicator of GPU limitation. At this resolution, the card is rendering four times the pixels of 1080p, and the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is not sufficient to maintain high frame rates with all effects enabled. The min FPS is not recorded for Ultra, but the average of 43 FPS suggests significant frame pacing issues. In contrast, the 4K Medium result of 92 FPS, with a min of 79 FPS and max of 106 FPS, shows that the card is much happier when some of the more intensive effects are dialed back.

The data also highlights the GPU's strength at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the RTX 4080 achieves 245 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it hits 235 FPS. These figures are likely CPU-bound, as the GPU is not the bottleneck. The 1080p High result of 163 FPS is notably lower, suggesting that High settings introduce a workload that the CPU cannot feed quickly enough, or that certain High-specific effects are more demanding per pixel. The 1080p Ultra result of 111 FPS further confirms this, as the GPU is still not fully utilized but the frame rate drops significantly from Medium.

Compared to its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database, the RTX 4080 sits at the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54247 is within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 SUPER's score of 54209, and it is 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's 54828. This indicates that the RTX 4080 is a top-tier card, but its performance in Archeage at 4K Ultra shows that even the best hardware cannot overcome the game's engine limitations at extreme settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It has 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory. Its benchmark scores are solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and a single-core score of 3072, placing it at the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. In this game, its role is to feed the GPU, and the data shows it does so effectively at 1080p but becomes less relevant at 4K.

At 1080p Low and Medium, the 7400F is the limiting factor. The 245 FPS and 235 FPS averages are high, but they are well below what the RTX 4080 could theoretically produce if unconstrained. The CPU's boost clock of 4.70 GHz is critical here, as Archeage relies on single-thread performance for game logic and draw calls. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3072 is strong, and it shows in the frame rates. However, the 1080p High result of 163 FPS suggests that the CPU is struggling to keep up with the increased draw calls and physics calculations at that preset.

The 7400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this MMORPG, which does not scale well beyond a few threads. The Passmark multi-thread score of 25645 is respectable, but the game's engine is likely not using all of them effectively. The 1080p Ultra result of 111 FPS is a clear sign of CPU limitation, as the frame rate drops by over half from Medium, despite the GPU having more headroom. This is likely due to the increased number of objects and effects on Ultra requiring more CPU processing time per frame.

At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's role diminishes. The 1440p Medium average of 161 FPS is still high, but the 4K Medium average of 92 FPS shows that the GPU is now the bottleneck. The CPU is not the limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate scales almost exactly with pixel count from 1440p to 4K across all presets. The 7400F's performance is sufficient to keep the RTX 4080 fed at 4K, but not at 1080p where the GPU is waiting on the CPU.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the 7400F has an average benchmark score of 32750, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600T's 32707 and 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H's 32812. This places it in a tightly contested range, but in Archeage, its single-thread performance is what matters most, and the data shows it is adequate for most scenarios except the most CPU-heavy 1080p Ultra presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 281st out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 7.6% of all systems tested. This is a strong ranking, but not exceptional, given that the RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU and the 7400F is a mid-range CPU. The rank reflects that while the GPU is powerful, the CPU can hold it back in certain scenarios, particularly at 1080p.

The 281st rank out of 3708 combos suggests that many other pairings with more powerful CPUs achieve higher frame rates, especially at lower resolutions. The data shows that this combo is better suited for 1440p and 4K gaming, where the GPU is the primary driver. At 4K Ultra, the 43 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target that many gamers consider the minimum for smooth play, which hurts the combo's overall ranking.

The GPU's 86th percentile ranking and the CPU's 83rd percentile ranking indicate that both components are above average, but the combo's 281st rank is lower than either individual percentile would suggest. This is because Archeage is a CPU-heavy game at lower resolutions, and the 7400F's 6 cores are not enough to fully utilize the RTX 4080's power. A system with a higher-end CPU like a Ryzen 9 or Core i9 would likely rank higher, as the GPU would be less constrained.

However, the combo's rank is still respectable, and it outperforms the majority of systems in the database. The measured data shows that it can deliver 60+ FPS at 4K on High settings and well over 100 FPS at 1440p on Medium, which are solid results for a demanding MMORPG. The rank is a reflection of the entire system's average performance across all settings and resolutions, and the 1080p Ultra result of 111 FPS is a weak point that drags it down.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 245 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. The Medium preset is close behind at 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. The High preset drops significantly to 163 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 111 FPS. This shows a clear trend: the gap between Medium and High is much larger than between Low and Medium, indicating that High settings introduce a substantial workload increase.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 181 FPS, which is still very playable on high-refresh monitors. The Medium preset averages 161 FPS, with a min of 137 FPS and a max of 186 FPS. The High preset averages 110 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 75 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo can handle High settings comfortably, but Ultra is borderline, with the 75 FPS average being just above the 60 FPS threshold. The min FPS of 137 FPS at Medium is particularly good, indicating that frame pacing is stable.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 104 FPS, which is the lowest Low-preset result in the dataset but still playable. The Medium preset averages 92 FPS, with a min of 79 FPS and a max of 106 FPS. The High preset drops to 63 FPS, which is exactly at the 60 FPS target but may experience stutters. The Ultra preset averages 43 FPS, which is not smooth by modern standards. The 4K results show that the combo is only viable at Low and Medium settings, as High is marginal and Ultra is not recommended.

The data also shows that the min FPS is only recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution, with values of 200 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. These min FPS figures are all above 60 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset provides a consistent experience without major frame drops. The absence of min FPS data for other presets suggests that the frame times may be less stable, particularly at Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience for this combo depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering 235 FPS with a minimum of 200 FPS. This provides a smooth and responsive experience on high-refresh monitors. The High preset at 163 FPS is still excellent, but the 30.6% drop from Medium suggests that the additional visual fidelity comes at a high performance cost. The Ultra preset at 111 FPS is playable but not ideal for competitive gaming, as the frame rate is significantly lower.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is again the recommended choice, with an average of 161 FPS and a minimum of 137 FPS. This ensures consistent performance above the 144 Hz refresh rate that is common on 1440p monitors. The High preset at 110 FPS is also viable, but it may not fully saturate a 144 Hz display. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the lack of min FPS data suggests potential instability, so it is not recommended for a smooth experience.

For 4K, the Low preset at 104 FPS is the only option that provides a high frame rate, but it sacrifices visual quality. The Medium preset at 92 FPS is the best balance, with a min of 79 FPS that keeps it above 60 FPS at all times. The High preset at 63 FPS is marginal, as it averages just above 60 FPS but may dip below in busy scenes. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended, as it is too slow for a playable experience.

Overall, the Medium preset is the best choice across all resolutions, as it provides high average frame rates with stable minimum FPS. It offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, and the data shows that it is the most reliable setting for this combo. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the High preset is acceptable at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K. The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions due to its significant performance penalty.