Archeage

# Archeage with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B580

The combination of AMD's Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel's Arc B580 produces a highly uneven performance profile in Archeage, with the data showing that resolution and settings choices dramatically alter the experience. At 1080p, the system delivers playable frame rates across most presets, but 4K Ultra performance collapses to 20 FPS, suggesting a hard limit in the GPU's capabilities relative to this MMORPG's demands. The measured results span from a low of 20 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 124 FPS at 1080p Low, a spread that reveals how sensitive this game is to both resolution scaling and graphics preset selection.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the magnitude varies considerably depending on the preset. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 75 FPS at 1920x1080 to 51 FPS at 2560x1440, then plummets to 29 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 32% decline from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 43% further drop from 1440p to 4K, resulting in a total reduction of 61% from the starting resolution.

Low settings tell a similar story but with higher absolute numbers: 124 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 32% and 43% respectively, mirroring the High preset's scaling pattern almost exactly. This consistency suggests that resolution scaling in Archeage follows a predictable curve regardless of quality level, with pixel count being the dominant factor rather than texture complexity or shadow calculations.

Medium settings show the same trend: 111 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K, with drops of 32% and 43% again. The uniformity of these percentage declines across Low, Medium, and High presets indicates that the rendering pipeline's resolution-dependent workload scales linearly with pixel count, likely due to fill-rate limitations in the Arc B580's 80 ROPs and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate.

Ultra settings, however, break this pattern with a more severe collapse: 51 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 31%, but the 1440p-to-4K drop is 43%, and the total 4K reduction from 1080p is 61%. The Ultra preset's additional effects create a larger absolute workload, pushing the GPU into a region where pixel output becomes the bottleneck — the 213.6 GPixel/s peak is insufficient for 4K Ultra at playable rates.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4691) is sufficient to feed the GPU, allowing frame rates to scale with GPU capability. At 4K, the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are taxed heavily, and the measured FPS values suggest the B580's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute is the limiting component. The sharp 4K Ultra drop to 20 FPS points to a memory bandwidth or shader throughput ceiling that no CPU can overcome.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580's specifications explain much of the measured behavior in Archeage. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s is substantial but not exceptional for a modern GPU. The 2560 shading units and 160 TMUs provide the compute and texturing throughput, while 80 ROPs handle pixel output at a theoretical 213.6 GPixel/s. The boost clock of 2670 MHz is modest, and the 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 rating places this card in the mid-range segment.

The 4K Ultra result of 20 FPS is the clearest indicator of GPU limitation. Even at 1080p Ultra, the card only manages 51 FPS, which is half of what it achieves at Low settings (124 FPS). This suggests that Archeage's Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately burden the B580's architecture — likely ray-traced shadows or volumetric lighting, though the data does not specify which features are active. The 20 RT cores in the Xe2-HPG architecture are present, but their performance in this MMORPG appears insufficient for 4K Ultra.

Comparing to rivals, the Arc B580's PassMark G3D score of 15748 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (score 23061, deltaPct -0.2) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (score 22895, deltaPct 0.6). The B580 is actually 0.6% ahead of the RTX 2080 in aggregate benchmark score, yet the 4K Ultra FPS of 20 suggests that in Archeage specifically, the card's real-world performance lags what its synthetic scores would predict. The near parity with the RTX 3080 (score 23172, deltaPct -0.7) is notable, as that card typically excels at high resolutions.

The GPU's memory subsystem appears adequate for 1440p Medium (75 FPS) but strained at 4K. The 12 GB capacity is sufficient for Archeage's textures at all presets, as no VRAM-related crashes or stutters are evident in the FPS data. The min FPS values for Medium settings — 36 FPS at 4K, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 1080p — show that the card maintains reasonable consistency without severe dips, indicating the memory bandwidth is not causing hitches. The 19 Gbps effective memory speed is a positive factor, but the 192-bit bus width limits total throughput to 456.0 GB/s, which becomes the ceiling for 4K performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth provide solid fundamentals for gaming. The PassMark single-thread score of 4691 places it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, and the multithread score of 36470 reflects strong multi-core capability for an 8-core part.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 124 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the processor's single-thread speed is sufficient to drive the game's logic and draw calls without becoming a bottleneck. The 5.50 GHz boost clock is particularly valuable for MMORPGs, which often have heavy single-threaded components for player positioning, NPC AI, and network processing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (deltaPct 0.2), Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct -0.2), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (deltaPct 0.7), and Intel Core i7-14700K (deltaPct 0.9). This places the 9700F in elite company, with performance within 1% of these high-end desktop and mobile parts. For Archeage, this means the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor at any resolution tested.

The 65W TDP is notably low for an 8-core Zen 5 processor, and the 4nm TSMC process node contributes to this efficiency. The 32 MB L3 cache is shared across all cores, which helps with game data locality. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 94 indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general benchmark workloads, and the PassMark physics score of 2122 suggests adequate performance for game physics calculations.

At 4K Ultra, the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck — the GPU's 20 FPS result is far below what the 9700F could theoretically feed. The data shows that even at 4K Low (48 FPS), the frame rate is likely GPU-limited, as the CPU's single-thread performance would allow higher frame rates if the GPU could produce them. The asymmetry between CPU capability and GPU output becomes more pronounced as resolution increases, reinforcing that this combo is CPU-heavy in balance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700F and Arc B580 ranks 2091 out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the 24th percentile of all system configurations. This rank is surprisingly low given the individual components' benchmark standings — the CPU is in the 94th percentile and the GPU is in the 68th percentile. The discrepancy suggests that Archeage's specific performance characteristics do not favor this pairing.

The low combo rank implies that many systems with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs outperform this configuration in Archeage. This is consistent with the game being GPU-bound at higher resolutions, where the B580's mid-range compute capacity limits frame rates. The CPU's excellent single-thread scores cannot compensate for the GPU's inability to render enough frames at 4K Ultra.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 124 FPS, which would be competitive with many higher-ranked combos. However, the rank is determined across all settings and resolutions, and the 4K results drag the overall position down significantly. The gap between the CPU's 94th percentile and the combo's 24th percentile ranking highlights a fundamental imbalance: the processor is overqualified for the GPU's output capacity in this game.

The GPU's nearest rivals in PassMark G3D scores — the RX 580 2048SP and RTX 2080 — are older architectures, yet the B580's actual Archeage performance at 4K Ultra (20 FPS) suggests that these older cards might achieve similar or better results in this specific title. The rank of 2091 reflects this reality, as many combos with older GPUs but stronger rasterization performance would outrank this pairing.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings, with 124 FPS at Low, 111 FPS at Medium, 75 FPS at High, and 51 FPS at Ultra. At 2560x1440, performance drops to 84 FPS at Low and 51 FPS at High, while 4K drops below 48 FPS even at Low settings.

Q: Why is 4K Ultra performance so low at 20 FPS?

A: The Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are insufficient for Archeage's Ultra preset at 3840x2160. The 80 ROPs' 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the limiting factor, and the 20 RT cores cannot accelerate the effects in this preset enough to maintain playable frame rates.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-14700KF, 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700K.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 124 FPS, which is likely GPU-limited rather than CPU-limited. The CPU's single-thread score of 4691 and boost clock of 5.50 GHz are sufficient for higher frame rates, but the B580's fill rate and shader throughput cap the output at this level.

Q: What settings are playable at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide 75 FPS with a min FPS of 63, which is smooth. High settings give 51 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat. Low settings achieve 84 FPS, while Ultra drops to 35 FPS, making it borderline for MMORPG play.

Q: How does the combo's rank compare to the individual component percentiles?

A: The combo ranks 2091 out of 2761 combos, which is the 24th percentile. The CPU is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. The large gap between component quality and combo rank indicates that Archeage is particularly demanding on the GPU, and this pairing underperforms relative to its parts' standalone strengths.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience based on the measured rows, 1920x1080 Medium is the optimal choice. It delivers 111 FPS average with a minimum of 94 FPS and maximum of 127 FPS, providing a smooth and responsive experience that exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. The min FPS of 94 ensures that even in intense combat scenes with many players, the frame rate does not drop below playable levels.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings are also the recommended preset, achieving 75 FPS average with a min of 63 FPS and max of 86 FPS. This provides a good balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, though the min FPS of 63 is closer to the edge of what might cause perceptible stuttering in fast-paced scenarios. High settings at 1440p (51 FPS) are playable but not recommended for competitive play.

For 4K, Low settings at 48 FPS are the only viable option, and even this may feel sluggish during busy moments. Medium at 4K produces 43 FPS with a min of 36 FPS, which risks noticeable dips. High at 4K drops to 29 FPS, and Ultra at 4K is unplayable at 20 FPS. Users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept reduced visual quality at 4K Low.

The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where it achieves 51 FPS. This is playable for casual exploration but may be insufficient for player-versus-player combat. The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best overall experience across all resolutions, balancing visual quality with performance headroom, as evidenced by the consistent min FPS values that stay within 15% of the average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its strongest results across all presets. Low settings achieve 124 FPS average, providing an exceptionally smooth experience. Medium settings deliver 111 FPS average with a min of 94 FPS and max of 127 FPS, maintaining consistency. High settings drop to 75 FPS average, which is still very playable. Ultra settings fall to 51 FPS average, representing a 41% reduction from High, indicating the Ultra preset's heavy additional load.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases proportionally. Low settings achieve 84 FPS average, a 32% drop from 1080p. Medium settings deliver 75 FPS average with a min of 63 FPS and max of 86 FPS, showing tighter variance than the 1080p Medium result. High settings produce 51 FPS average, matching the 1080p Ultra result, which highlights the cost of resolution scaling. Ultra settings drop to 35 FPS average, making them marginal for gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become pronounced. Low settings achieve 48 FPS average, which is the only 4K preset above 45 FPS. Medium settings deliver 43 FPS average with a min of 36 FPS and max of 49 FPS, showing the narrow range typical of a GPU-bound scenario. High settings fall to 29 FPS average, and Ultra settings collapse to 20 FPS average. The 4K Ultra result is 61% lower than the 1080p Ultra result, while the 4K Low result is 61% lower than 1080p Low, demonstrating consistent scaling behavior despite the different absolute values.

The data shows a clear pattern: the Arc B580 provides 1080p performance that is 1.6 to 2.2 times higher than 4K across all settings, with the ratio being most favorable at Low settings (124 vs 48 FPS, a 2.6x difference) and least favorable at Ultra (51 vs 20 FPS, a 2.55x difference). This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput scale predictably with resolution, and the CPU's contribution becomes negligible at higher pixel counts where the GPU is fully saturated.