Archeage

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a highly constrained experience in Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG. This combination ranks 2453rd out of 2761 tested combos, placing it near the bottom of the database (11th percentile). The measured frame rates are uniformly low across all resolutions and settings, with the best result being 71 fps at 1080p Low. The data indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck, as its performance percentile sits at 9, while the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a strong modern processor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It operates at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and boosts up to 5.40 GHz. This is a desktop-class CPU with a 65 W TDP, socketed on AMD Socket AM5, and fabricated on a 4 nm process by TSMC. The processor includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and provides 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The CPU also features integrated Radeon Graphics, though this is irrelevant when a discrete GPU is present.

Benchmark results place the Ryzen 5 9600X at the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29713. In Cinebench R23, it scores 17528.5 in multicore and 2183.5 in single-core tests. Geekbench results show 14438 multicore and 2923 single-core. PassMark multithread score is 30027, with a single-thread score of 4570. These numbers indicate a very capable CPU that is not the limiting factor in Archeage.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 9600X shows minimal differences in average score. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (29656 vs. 29713), 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868), 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (29879), and 0.8% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (29955). These deltas are all within one percentage point, meaning the CPU's computational power is effectively equivalent to these rivals in synthetic benchmarks.

In Archeage, an MMORPG from 2014, the CPU's role is typically to handle game logic, network processing, and the many characters and objects in the world. The Ryzen 5 9600X has ample single-thread performance (2183.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core) for such workloads, and its 12 threads provide headroom for background tasks. However, the measured FPS in this game does not reflect the CPU's strength. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 71 fps, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 29 fps. The difference between Low and Ultra at the same resolution is 42 fps, which suggests the GPU struggles with increased graphical load, not the CPU. The CPU's high performance across all tested resolutions confirms it is not causing the low frame rates; rather, the GPU is the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, with the chip codename Panther Lake. It belongs to the Arc Graphics-M generation and is fabricated on a 3 nm process by Intel. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory is system shared, with type, bus width, and bandwidth all marked as system dependent. The Arc B390 has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 24 raster output units (ROPs). It includes 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). The TDP is 80 W, and it has no power connectors, as it is an IGP. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The Arc B390's benchmark results are extremely poor. Its only tested benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, yields a score of 1482. This places the GPU at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Arc B390 is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). These are all very old, low-end GPUs, indicating the Arc B390 is only marginally better than a decade-old entry-level card.

In Archeage, the GPU's role is to render the game world, including terrain, characters, and effects. The Arc B390's weak shading units and low ROP count (24) limit its ability to handle higher resolutions and settings. The measured FPS data confirms this. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 71 fps, which is playable, but at 1080p Ultra, it falls to 29 fps. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 11, which is unplayable. The GPU's system-shared memory also means it relies on the CPU's DDR5 bandwidth, which can cause performance variability. The data shows that the Arc B390 is the limiting component in this combo, as the CPU is far more powerful than the GPU's needs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience for this combo is at 1080p with Low settings. The data shows 71 fps average at 1920x1080 Low, which is the highest frame rate across all tested configurations. This is the only setting that approaches a smooth experience for an MMORPG, where player interactions require responsive gameplay. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 64 fps, with a minimum of 54 and a maximum of 73. This is still playable, but the 7 fps reduction from Low to Medium suggests diminishing returns on visual quality. At 1080p High, the average is 43 fps, which is noticeably less fluid, and at 1080p Ultra, it is 29 fps, which may feel stuttery in crowded areas.

For 1440p, the data is less favorable. At 2560x1440 Low, the average is 48 fps, which is acceptable for casual play but not ideal. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 43 fps (minimum 36, maximum 49), and at High, it is 29 fps. Ultra at 1440p yields only 20 fps, which is not recommended. At 4K, all settings are below playable thresholds: Low gives 28 fps, Medium gives 25 fps (minimum 21, maximum 28), High gives 17 fps, and Ultra gives 11 fps.

The recommendation is to use 1080p Low for the smoothest experience, as it is the only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 fps. Players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate could try 1080p Medium, which still maintains an average above 60 fps, but they should expect occasional dips to 54 fps. Higher resolutions or settings are not advisable given the measured performance. The data indicates that the Arc B390 cannot handle the graphical load of Archeage beyond the lowest preset at 1080p without significant frame rate drops.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this combo in Archeage?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest average FPS at 71. This is the only configuration above 60 fps among all tested rows.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 11 (Ultra) to 28 (Low). Medium settings yield 25 fps with a minimum of 21 and maximum of 28. These are all below playable levels.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X scores at the 81st percentile among CPUs, while the Intel Arc B390 scores at the 9th percentile among GPUs. The FPS drops significantly with higher settings, indicating GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 71 fps, while Ultra settings average 29 fps. This is a difference of 42 fps, showing a steep performance penalty for higher graphical presets.

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

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. It is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710 (1443).

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark percentile and average score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is at the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29713. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 17528.5, and single-core is 2183.5.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 71 fps. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 48 fps, a 32.4% decrease. At 4K Low, the average falls to 28 fps, a 60.6% decrease from 1080p Low. This trend is consistent across all settings. For Medium settings, 1080p yields 64 fps, 1440p yields 43 fps (a 32.8% drop), and 4K yields 25 fps (a 60.9% drop). High settings show 43 fps at 1080p, 29 fps at 1440p (32.6% drop), and 17 fps at 4K (60.5% drop). Ultra settings are the most extreme: 29 fps at 1080p, 20 fps at 1440p (31.0% drop), and 11 fps at 4K (62.1% drop).

The percentage drops from 1080p to 1440p are consistently around 31-33%, and from 1440p to 4K, the additional drop is roughly another 28-30 percentage points. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is heavily overloaded at higher resolutions. The Arc B390's system-shared memory and limited ROPs (24) struggle to fill the larger frame buffers. The CPU's performance does not change with resolution, so the FPS drop is entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering workload. The data suggests that the limiting component is the GPU, as the FPS scales inversely with pixel count in a manner consistent with a weak rasterizer. For this combo, 1080p is the only viable resolution, and even then, only Low and Medium settings yield acceptable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings average 71 fps, Medium settings average 64 fps with a minimum of 54 and maximum of 73, High settings average 43 fps, and Ultra settings average 29 fps. The spread from Low to Ultra is 42 fps, with each step down in settings providing a noticeable improvement. The Medium setting's minimum of 54 fps indicates occasional dips below 60, which could cause minor stutters in busy game areas.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly. Low settings yield 48 fps, Medium yields 43 fps (minimum 36, maximum 49), High yields 29 fps, and Ultra yields 20 fps. The Medium setting's minimum of 36 fps is quite low, making it borderline for playable performance. The gap between Low and Ultra is 28 fps, which is smaller than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is already saturated at 1440p. Even Low settings struggle to maintain 50 fps, which is below the 60 fps target for smooth MMORPG gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the performance is poor across the board. Low settings average 28 fps, Medium averages 25 fps (minimum 21, maximum 28), High averages 17 fps, and Ultra averages 11 fps. The Medium setting's maximum of 28 fps is barely above the Low average, showing that the GPU is rendering at its limit. The difference between Low and Ultra is 17 fps, which is the smallest gap of any resolution, confirming that the GPU is fully bottlenecked. These 4K results are not suitable for any type of gameplay, as even the lowest settings cannot provide a smooth experience.

The data also shows that the Arc B390's performance is inconsistent, as seen in the Medium settings at all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the min-max range is 54-73 fps (19 fps variance). At 1440p Medium, the range is 36-49 fps (13 fps variance). At 4K Medium, the range is 21-28 fps (7 fps variance). This tightening range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown demonstrates that this combo is only viable at 1080p Low or Medium, with all other configurations falling below acceptable thresholds.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2453rd out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the bottom 11.2% of all tested systems (calculated as 2453/2761). The rank is primarily driven by the GPU's weak performance, as the CPU is a high-end desktop processor. The combo's position in the database reflects the severe mismatch between the CPU's capability and the GPU's limitations.

To contextualize this rank, consider that the Ryzen 5 9600X alone is at the 81st percentile among CPUs, meaning it outperforms over 80% of processors in synthetic benchmarks. In contrast, the Arc B390 is at the 9th percentile among GPUs, meaning it outperforms fewer than 10% of graphics cards. The combination of a top-quartile CPU with a bottom-decile GPU creates a system that is heavily unbalanced for gaming. In Archeage, the GPU's low fill rate and shading power cannot keep up with the CPU's ability to feed it data, resulting in the low FPS numbers seen in the measured data.

The combo's rank of 2453 indicates that there are 308 tested combos that perform worse (2761 - 2453 = 308). This suggests that while the Arc B390 is weak, there are even less capable GPUs in the database. However, the practical experience is still poor, as the best case scenario (1080p Low at 71 fps) is only marginally playable. The data shows that this combo is not suitable for Archeage at higher resolutions or settings, and users would need to significantly lower their graphical expectations to achieve a consistent frame rate. The rank serves as a warning that this configuration is among the least capable for this specific game.