Archeage

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Archeage, with the bottleneck shifting decisively toward the graphics solution as resolution climbs. Across the measured settings, the combination never reaches 60 FPS at 4K, and even at 1080p, only the Low preset breaks past that threshold, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded and single-threaded benchmark scores suggest it is not the primary limiter in most scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows a clear hierarchy among the four tested presets at each resolution, with Low offering the only consistently fluid frame rates. At 1920x1080, Low produces an average of 71 FPS, which is the single highest average in the entire measured set. Medium follows at 64 FPS, High drops to 43 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS. For a game like Archeage, where player density and ability effects can cause sudden frame dips, the 71 FPS on Low provides the most headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, while 7 FPS slower on average, still stays above 60 FPS and is the best balance for visual quality, as it also has a recorded minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS, indicating that frame pacing remains stable enough for most encounters.

At 2560x1440, the situation tightens. Low averages 48 FPS, Medium 43 FPS, High 29 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. None of these reach 60 FPS, so the recommendation shifts to preserving smoothness rather than chasing a target that is out of reach. Low is the most responsive option, but Medium’s 43 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS and maximum of 49 FPS shows that the preset still holds a playable range, albeit with occasional dips below 40 FPS. Given that the gap between Low and Medium is only 5 FPS, Medium offers a modest visual upgrade for a small performance cost, making it the better choice for 1440p if the user accepts sub-60 FPS gameplay.

At 3840x2160, all results are marginal. Low averages 28 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, High 17 FPS, and Ultra 11 FPS. The only reasonable option is Low, as it is the sole preset that stays above 25 FPS on average. Medium is close at 25 FPS, but its minimum of 21 FPS and maximum of 28 FPS show that the frame time variance is already high, and any additional load from High or Ultra will push the experience into unplayable territory. For 4K, Low is the only viable choice, and even then, users should expect a slideshow-like experience in crowded areas.

The overall recommendation is to play at 1080p with Low settings for the best experience, as this is the only configuration that clears 60 FPS with a comfortable margin. If visual fidelity is a priority, Medium at 1080p is acceptable, but the 7 FPS drop from Low to Medium is a tangible cost. At higher resolutions, no preset delivers a smooth experience, so users should prioritize frame rate over graphics and stick to Low.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory is designated as System Shared, meaning it relies on the host system’s DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth listed as System Dependent. This is a critical factor in Archeage, because the game’s texture streaming and draw calls can saturate memory bandwidth, and a shared memory pool competes with CPU and system workloads.

The GPU’s benchmark data is sparse, with only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all low-end discrete parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX at 1463 (1.3% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% slower). This places the Arc B390 at the very bottom of the performance spectrum, which aligns with the measured FPS data. In Archeage, the GPU’s 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs, along with 1536 shading units, are simply insufficient for high-resolution rendering, as evidenced by the sharp drop from 1080p to 4K.

The 12 RT cores and 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are irrelevant for this game, as Archeage does not use ray tracing and its DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is not leveraged by the title’s older rendering pipeline. The 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 120.0 GTexel/s texture rate are theoretical maxima that the shared memory system likely cannot sustain in practice. The data indicates that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, where the 17 FPS to 29 FPS averages across High settings reflect a graphics solution that is out of its depth. Even at 1080p, the jump from Low (71 FPS) to Ultra (29 FPS) is a 42 FPS drop, which is more than 59% of the Low average, showing that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are exhausted quickly as settings increase.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern across all settings when moving from 1080p to 4K. At Low, the average drops from 71 FPS at 1080p to 48 FPS at 1440p and then to 28 FPS at 4K. This represents a 32% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 42% reduction from 1440p to 4K, relative to the 1440p value. At Medium, the averages are 64 FPS, 43 FPS, and 25 FPS, respectively, with similar percentage drops. High sees 43 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K, while Ultra goes from 29 FPS to 20 FPS to 11 FPS.

The pattern reveals that the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, because the CPU workload per frame is largely independent of pixel count. Instead, the data shows that doubling the pixel count from 1080p to 4K (a 4x increase) more than halves the frame rate at every setting. For instance, at High, 43 FPS at 1080p falls to 17 FPS at 4K, a drop of 60%. At Low, 71 FPS falls to 28 FPS, a drop of 61%. This is consistent with a GPU that is severely underpowered for 4K rendering.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly stark. At Low, moving from 48 FPS to 28 FPS is a 42% reduction, but at High, moving from 29 FPS to 17 FPS is a 41% reduction. The consistency of these percentages across settings suggests that the GPU’s shading and memory throughput are saturated, and that adding more pixels has a linear effect on frame time. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is unlikely to be the constraint, as its Passmark multi-thread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, far above the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking.

The conclusion is that Archeage at 1080p is the only resolution where the CPU can partially mask the GPU’s weaknesses, but even there, the GPU is still the dominant factor. At 1440p and above, the GPU is unequivocally the limiting component, and users should not expect playable frame rates regardless of settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2453rd out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. This rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU, as the CPU is in the top 6% of all processors, but the GPU is in the bottom 9% of all graphics cards. The mismatch between the two components is stark: the CPU’s benchmark scores are competitive with high-end desktop parts, while the GPU’s scores are comparable to decade-old entry-level discrete cards.

The combo rank of 2453 out of 2761 means that 308 other tested combinations perform worse, but the vast majority of systems, roughly 89%, deliver higher frame rates in this game. This is not surprising given the measured FPS data. The highest average FPS achieved by this combo is 71 FPS at 1080p Low, which is below the 60 FPS target that many users expect. At 1440p, the best average is 48 FPS, and at 4K, it is 28 FPS. These numbers place the combo firmly in the “playable only at low settings and low resolution” category.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in general benchmark scores are the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher), Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% higher). These are all high-end processors, and the 9700F’s 94th percentile ranking confirms that it is not the reason for the poor game performance. If this CPU were paired with a capable discrete GPU, the combo rank would likely be much higher, but the Arc B390’s integrated nature caps the system’s potential. The data shows that the combo rank is a reflection of the weakest link, and in this case, that is the GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and a TDP of 65 W. The cache hierarchy consists of 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache, totaling 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and its PCIe implementation is Gen 5 with 24 lanes from the CPU.

In Archeage, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, which are typically single-threaded or lightly threaded tasks. The 9700F’s Passmark single-thread score of 4691 is high, and its multi-thread score of 36470 is also strong, with additional scores like 120788 for integer math and 77955 for floating point math indicating robust computational capability. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% higher average score) and Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower), are all flagship parts, and the 9700F is within a tight margin of them.

Given that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s performance is largely untapped in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the 71 FPS average suggests that the CPU can feed frames fast enough to hit playable rates, but the GPU cannot maintain that pace at higher settings or resolutions. The 1080p Medium minimum of 54 FPS indicates that the CPU can handle the game’s thread scheduling without causing major hitches, but the GPU’s frame rendering time dominates.

The CPU’s architecture, with 16 threads, is more than sufficient for an MMO like Archeage, which may use multiple threads for zone loading, character processing, and network handling. The 32 MB of L3 cache is also beneficial for keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores. However, the data does not show any CPU-related bottlenecks, as the FPS scaling is purely resolution-driven. If the CPU were the limit, 1080p and 4K would produce similar frame rates, but they do not, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting component in this combo.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for this CPU and GPU combo in Archeage?

A: The data shows that 1080p Low provides the highest average FPS at 71, which is the only measured configuration above 60 FPS. Medium at 1080p is a solid alternative with 64 FPS and a minimum of 54 FPS, but Low is the safest choice for consistent performance.

Q: Why is the FPS so low at 4K even on Low settings?

A: At 3840x2160, Low averages 28 FPS, which is a 61% drop from the 71 FPS at 1080p Low. This is because the Intel Arc B390 uses System Shared memory and has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, putting it in the 9th percentile of GPUs, so it lacks the fill rate and memory bandwidth for 4K rendering.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F powerful enough for this game?

A: Yes, the CPU is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs with a Passmark multi-thread score of 36470 and a single-thread score of 4691. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and Intel Core i7-14700KF, so the CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU is.

Q: How much better is Low compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 71 FPS while Ultra averages 29 FPS, a difference of 42 FPS. This represents a 145% improvement in frame rate when using Low, indicating that the GPU is heavily taxed by Ultra’s effects and textures.

Q: Does the combo score well relative to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2453rd out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. This is due to the GPU’s low performance, as the CPU is competitive with high-end processors like the Intel Core i7-14700K.

Q: What resolution should I use for the smoothest gameplay?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any setting reaches 60 FPS or higher. At 2560x1440, the best average is 48 FPS on Low, and at 3840x2160, the best is 28 FPS on Low, so 1080p Low is the only choice for smooth performance.