Archeage

Archeage, the 2014 MMORPG, presents a demanding workload that scales sharply with resolution and visual presets. With the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F pairing with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the measured data reveals a system that delivers playable frame rates at 1440p High, but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K Ultra. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results, focusing on where the bottleneck shifts between the CPU and GPU across different settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title at higher pixel counts. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 211 FPS, while at 4K Low, it drops to 81 FPS. That is a 62% reduction in average frame rate when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 with the same Low preset. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1080p to 1440p at Low sees a drop from 211 FPS to 142 FPS (a 33% decrease), while the jump from 1440p to 4K at Low drops from 142 FPS to 81 FPS (a 43% decrease). This suggests that the GPU’s rendering workload is growing at a faster rate than the pixel count alone, likely due to the increased memory bandwidth and fill-rate demands at higher resolutions.

At the High preset, the same pattern holds. The average FPS at 1080p is 127, at 1440p it falls to 86, and at 4K it reaches 49. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32%, and from 1440p to 4K is 43%, mirroring the Low preset’s scaling behavior. This consistency implies that the RTX 4070’s performance headroom is being consumed by resolution scaling in a predictable way, regardless of the graphical load from settings.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 187 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33%, and from 1440p to 4K is 43%. Even the Ultra preset, which yields the lowest absolute numbers, follows suit: 87 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. Here, the 1080p to 1440p drop is 33%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 43%. This uniformity across all four presets indicates that resolution scaling is the dominant factor limiting performance, not the specific quality settings.

The data points to the GPU as the primary limiting component at 4K. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 33 is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and at 4K High, 49 FPS is borderline. The RTX 4070, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus, appears to be saturated at this resolution, especially with higher presets that increase texture detail and shading complexity. Conversely, at 1080p, the high frame rates (over 200 FPS at Low) suggest that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU fast enough, and the GPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The scaling pattern, where the FPS drops by roughly a third between 1080p and 1440p, and then by another 40% to 4K, is a classic sign of a GPU that is increasingly overwhelmed by pixel throughput.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines. Its boost clock is rated at 2475 MHz, with a base clock of 1920 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU’s compute power is rated at 29.15 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, and it includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores for ray tracing and AI workloads. The card has a TDP of 200 W and requires a 550 W power supply, according to its specifications.

In Archeage, the GPU’s role becomes evident when examining the FPS deltas between settings at a fixed resolution. At 4K, the average FPS moves from 81 at Low to 72 at Medium, then to 49 at High, and finally to 33 at Ultra. This is a 39% drop from Low to High, and a 59% drop from Low to Ultra. The RTX 4070’s raw throughput is being taxed by the higher fidelity settings, which likely include increased draw distances, more complex shaders, and higher-resolution textures. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient to hold the assets at 4K, as the system does not show a catastrophic frame rate collapse that would indicate memory swapping, but the GPU’s compute units are clearly the limiting factor at this resolution.

At 1440p, the GPU still dominates performance but with more headroom. The average FPS at Low is 142, at Medium it is 126, at High it is 86, and at Ultra it is 58. The gap between Low and Ultra is 59%, which is similar to 4K, but the absolute numbers are higher, indicating that the GPU is not as saturated. The RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is likely sufficient for 1440p, allowing the GPU to maintain a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold for most presets except Ultra.

The GPU’s benchmark scores provide context for its overall capability. Its Passmark G3D score is 26927, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3854. In Geekbench, it scores 154858 in OpenCL and 174152 in Vulkan. The GPU ranks in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score is 37648. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (average score 37628, delta 0.1%), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, delta 0.4%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, delta -1.3%). This places the RTX 4070 in a competitive mid-to-high tier, capable of handling modern titles at 1440p but not without compromises at 4K.

In Archeage specifically, the GPU’s 21 Gbps effective memory clock and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are critical for streaming textures in a large open-world MMORPG. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is unable to keep up with the rendering demands, resulting in a 33 FPS average. At 4K High, the 49 FPS average is playable but not smooth on high-refresh displays. The GPU is the bottleneck at 4K and partially at 1440p Ultra, where the 58 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename) on a 4 nm process node from TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. The TDP is 65 W, and it supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. The processor’s launch MSRP is $289, and its release date is 2025-09-15.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, and the frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 211, and at 1080p Medium, it is 187. These high numbers indicate that the Ryzen 7 9700F is capable of feeding the RTX 4070 with enough draw calls and game logic updates to sustain very high frame rates. The CPU’s single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 4691 and its multi-thread score of 36470.

The CPU’s benchmark performance is solid. Its Passmark data compression score is 421988, data encryption is 21488, extended instructions is 33688, find prime numbers is 183, floating point math is 77955, integer math is 120788, physics is 2122, and random string sorting is 45890. The average benchmark score is 69996, and it ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (average score 69875, delta 0.2%), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163, delta -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, delta 0.7%), and the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355, delta 0.9%). These rivals are all within 1% of the 9700F’s average score, indicating that the CPU is competitive with top-tier desktop and mobile parts.

In Archeage, the CPU’s effect on FPS is subtle at higher resolutions. At 4K, the difference between Low and Medium is only 9 FPS (81 to 72), which suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU is. However, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 24 FPS (211 to 187), and between Medium and High is 60 FPS (187 to 127). This larger variance at lower resolutions indicates that the CPU can influence performance when the GPU is not saturated, but it is still not the primary bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9700F’s 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for an MMORPG like Archeage, which relies heavily on single-threaded game logic but can also utilize multiple threads for rendering tasks.

The CPU’s 5.50 GHz boost clock is likely a key factor in maintaining high average FPS at 1080p. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 211 FPS, which is nearly double the 4K Low result of 81 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is capable of keeping up with the GPU’s output, and the frame rate is still largely GPU-limited. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau in FPS across different resolutions at the same settings, but that is not the case here. The FPS consistently drops as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU is the dominant constraint in the vast majority of scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The 2560x1440 resolution at High settings provides an average of 86 FPS, which is smooth and above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, the average FPS at High drops to 49, which is below 60, making 1440p the highest resolution where High settings maintain fluid performance.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its closest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37648. It is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507), and 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157). It is 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F a bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: Data shows the combo achieves 211 FPS at 1080p Low, which is the highest measured result. The CPU’s single-thread score of 4691 and multi-thread score of 36470 suggest it has ample headroom. The consistent FPS drop with resolution increases indicates the GPU, not the CPU, is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset averages 142 FPS, while Ultra averages 58 FPS. This represents a 59% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 have enough VRAM for Archeage at 4K?

A: The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. The measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K Medium (72 FPS) and 4K High (49 FPS), with no severe frame rate collapse that would indicate memory swapping. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 33, indicating GPU compute limits rather than memory capacity issues.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in Archeage?

A: This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 633 out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 23% of all systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data from the benchmark runs is as follows. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 211. With Medium settings, the average is 187, with a minimum of 159 and a maximum of 215. High settings produce an average of 127 FPS. Ultra settings drop the average to 87 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 142 FPS. Medium settings average 126 FPS, with a minimum of 107 and a maximum of 145. High settings average 86 FPS. Ultra settings average 58 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 81 FPS. Medium settings average 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 and a maximum of 83. High settings average 49 FPS. Ultra settings average 33 FPS.

These numbers reveal a few key points. First, the Medium preset at each resolution has min and max FPS values that bracket the average, with the 4K Medium min at 61 FPS and max at 83 FPS, and the 1440p Medium min at 107 FPS and max at 145 FPS. This indicates some frame time variance, but the minimums are still above 60 FPS at 1440p and 4K Medium. Second, the gap between Low and Medium is relatively small compared to the gap between High and Ultra. For instance, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 24 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is 40 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset is a sweet spot for performance, while Ultra is a significant step up in GPU load.

The data also shows that the 1440p High setting (86 FPS) is very close to the 1080p Ultra setting (87 FPS). This implies that users can achieve similar frame rates at a higher resolution by using a lower preset. Similarly, the 4K Medium setting (72 FPS) is close to the 1440p Ultra setting (58 FPS) but with a higher average, indicating that Medium at 4K is a viable option for those prioritizing resolution over graphical fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user’s display resolution and frame rate target. For a 1080p display, the High preset delivers 127 FPS, which is excellent for smooth gameplay on a standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz monitor. The Ultra preset at 87 FPS is also playable and offers higher visual quality, while the Low preset at 211 FPS is only necessary for extremely high-refresh displays (240 Hz or above) where every frame counts.

For a 1440p display, the High preset at 86 FPS is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. It provides a smooth experience that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 126 FPS offers even more headroom, but the visual quality drop may be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 58 FPS is slightly below 60 FPS, which may cause minor stutter on some displays, but it is still playable for a less demanding MMORPG. The Low preset at 142 FPS is overkill for most displays.

For a 4K display, the Medium preset at 72 FPS is the recommended choice. It stays above the 60 FPS target and provides a reasonable visual experience. The High preset at 49 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat, as it falls below the smoothness threshold. The Ultra preset at 33 FPS is not recommended for serious gameplay, as it will feel sluggish. The Low preset at 81 FPS is the highest frame rate at 4K but sacrifices too much visual quality, making Medium the superior choice.

In general, the data indicates that the RTX 4070 paired with the Ryzen 7 9700F is best suited for 1440p gaming with High settings, offering a 86 FPS average. At 1080p, users can safely push to Ultra settings for 87 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only setting that reliably exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 72 FPS. The system is not capable of achieving 4K Ultra at a playable frame rate, and 4K High is a compromise that users may accept if they prioritize resolution over fluidity. The choice ultimately hinges on whether the user prefers higher resolution with reduced settings or lower resolution with maximum quality, but the sweet spot for this hardware combination is clearly 1440p High.