Archeage

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 presents a study in contrasts for Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG. The CPU is a modern powerhouse, while the GPU is a legacy part from 2017. The benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by its graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions and settings, resulting in a combo rank of 1656 out of 1727 tested combinations. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, component roles, and scaling behavior.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Archeage?

A: The combo is ranked 1656 out of 1727 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 5% of all tested systems for this game.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest average frame rate is 59.8 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i5-13490F?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 28246, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-13490F's average score of 28173.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440 resolution?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 41.2 FPS on Low settings to 15.2 FPS on Ultra settings, a significant 26 FPS difference.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock speed, and how many cores and threads does it have?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. The data shows a clear pattern: performance scales inversely with both resolution and graphical fidelity, which are primarily GPU-bound tasks. The GPU's specifications are modest by modern standards, featuring 2048 shading units, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit memory bus. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, running at 1750 MHz with an effective 7 Gbps, provides a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

This memory configuration appears to be a limiting factor. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Medium settings is minimal (59.8 FPS vs. 58.1 FPS), suggesting the GPU is not yet fully saturated. However, the jump to High settings at the same resolution results in a substantial drop to 39.4 FPS. This suggests that the higher texture detail and effects at High settings are exceeding the available memory bandwidth or capacity, causing a significant performance penalty.

The GPU's clock speeds are also a factor. With a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, it relies on these frequencies to drive its 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power. The benchmark scores for the GPU, such as 880 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, place it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs. While this is a relatively high percentile, it is important to note that this is an average across all benchmarks, not specifically optimized for a 2014 MMORPG. The data indicates that the RX 570 is fundamentally outclassed for higher-fidelity gaming in Archeage, as it cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K or at Ultra settings across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1656 out of 1727 is a stark indicator of its overall performance tier. This is not a mid-pack result; it is firmly in the lower echelons of tested systems. The data suggests that this pairing is severely imbalanced for modern gaming workloads, with the GPU dragging down the otherwise capable CPU.

The CPU alone performs well, sitting in the 85th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 28246. Its nearest rivals are all within a 0.5% performance delta, including the Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS. This indicates that the processor is not the source of the low ranking. Instead, the GPU, which is in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, is the limiting component. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-tier GPU results in a system that ranks poorly in a game that is sensitive to GPU performance. The 1656th rank out of 1727 combos shows that most other tested pairings, even those with less powerful CPUs, achieve better overall performance in Archeage because they are paired with more capable graphics cards.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a granular look at how the system handles different loads. At 1920x1080, the most common resolution, the system is playable at lower settings. Low settings yield an average of 59.8 FPS, and Medium settings are nearly identical at 58.1 FPS. However, High settings drop to 39.4 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 27.3 FPS. This indicates a steep performance cliff when moving beyond Medium settings.

At 2560x1440, the GPU's limitations become more apparent. Low settings still produce a playable 41.2 FPS, but Medium drops to 38.3 FPS. High settings fall to 23.6 FPS, and Ultra settings are nearly unplayable at 15.2 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is only 2.9 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is already struggling with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system is not viable for gaming. Low settings produce only 23.8 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings drop to 18.8 FPS, High settings to 14.1 FPS, and Ultra settings are a slideshow at 11.4 FPS. The data shows that the RX 570's 4 GB of VRAM and 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth are insufficient for 4K rendering in this game, regardless of the preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This preset delivers an average FPS of 58.1, which is nearly identical to the 59.8 FPS achieved on Low settings, but with a significant improvement in visual quality. The jump from Medium to High is not worth the performance cost, as it reduces the frame rate by 18.7 FPS.

For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, Low settings at 1080p provides the highest average FPS at 59.8. However, Medium settings offer a much better balance of visual fidelity and performance. At higher resolutions, the data suggests that only Low settings are playable. At 1440p, Low settings yields 41.2 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium settings at 38.3 FPS is a close second. At 4K, no preset is recommended, as even Low settings fails to reach 30 FPS. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as it produces the lowest frame rates at every resolution, including 11.4 FPS at 4K and 27.3 FPS at 1080p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a modern 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture. Its high single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1253 and a 3dmark_2_threads score of 2456, is theoretically well-suited for an MMORPG like Archeage, which often has a primary game thread. The CPU's boost clock of 5.40 GHz and 32 MB of shared L3 cache are also beneficial for game logic and asset streaming.

However, the benchmark data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. The average FPS scales dramatically with resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound workloads. The CPU's performance, as measured by benchmarks like Cinebench R23 (25525 multi-core, 3603 single-core), is strong, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS, have similar average scores. This suggests that in Archeage, the Ryzen 5 9600X has ample headroom to feed frames to the GPU, but the RX 570 is unable to keep up, leaving the CPU's potential largely untapped. The 65W TDP and 4 nm process node also indicate an efficient processor that is unlikely to throttle, but this efficiency does not translate into higher frame rates when the GPU is the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of degradation as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 59.8 at 1080p to 41.2 at 1440p, a 31% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings results in a further drop to 23.8 FPS, a 42% decrease from 1440p. This trend is consistent across all settings presets.

This scaling behavior is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound system. The number of pixels being rendered scales geometrically (1080p has ~2 million pixels, 1440p has ~3.7 million, 4K has ~8.3 million), and the GPU's workload increases proportionally. The RX 570's fixed hardware resources—its 2048 shading units, 32 ROPs, and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth—are the limiting constraint. As the resolution increases, the GPU must do more work per frame, and its performance degrades accordingly.

The data implies that the CPU is capable of handling the game logic at all resolutions, as the frame rate differences are directly tied to the GPU's rendering load. The steep drop from 1080p to 4K, particularly at higher settings, confirms that the RX 570 is the primary bottleneck. For example, at High settings, the FPS falls from 39.4 at 1080p to 14.1 at 4K, a 64% reduction. This is not a CPU limitation but rather the GPU's inability to process the increased pixel count. The system is therefore best utilized at 1080p, where the GPU can provide a playable experience at lower to medium settings.