Archeage

Archeage, an MMORPG released in 2014, presents a mixed workload for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination. The CPU, a 12-core/24-thread Zen 3 part with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, and the GPU, a RDNA 4.0 part with 16 GB GDDR6, produce measured frame rates across three resolutions and four presets. The CPU carries a launch MSRP of $549, and the GPU a launch MSRP of 549 USD. This analysis uses only the measured data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals how the system scales from 1080p to 4K, and the pattern is consistent across all presets. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 121.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 81.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a 32.9% reduction, and then to 43.9 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 46.3% drop. The same trend appears at Low settings: 200.5 FPS at 1080p, 133.2 FPS at 1440p (33.6% lower), and 75 FPS at 4K (43.7% lower). Medium settings show 179.3 FPS, 122.1 FPS, and 68.1 FPS, with drops of 31.9% and 44.2% respectively. Ultra settings are the most demanding: 84.9 FPS at 1080p, 54.8 FPS at 1440p (35.5% lower), and 30.1 FPS at 4K (45.1% lower).

The drop from 1440p to 4K is consistently larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, regardless of preset. This indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution increases. The Ryzen 9 5900X, with its strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33150), is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions; the scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 200.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU well, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 30.1 FPS, showing that the GPU's raw throughput is the ceiling. The data points to a balanced pairing where the CPU's headroom is only fully utilized at lower resolutions and lighter presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 5900X and Radeon RX 9070 ranks 543rd out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, outperforming 1184 other combos. The CPU itself sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39453. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the AMD EPYC 4245P scores 39383 (0.2% slower), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS scores 39747 (0.7% faster), the Intel Core i7-13700F scores 39095 (0.9% slower), and the Intel Core i7-13700 scores 39857 (1% faster). The GPU, meanwhile, holds the 79th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 34780. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA A2 (34866, 0.2% faster), NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (34677, 0.3% slower), AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34541, 0.7% slower), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (34511, 0.8% slower). Both components are within 1% of their closest competitors, indicating a well-matched pair that performs near the top of its class.

The combo's rank of 543/1727 is respectable, but not exceptional. The CPU's high percentile (90) and GPU's above-average percentile (79) suggest that the pairing is strong, yet the game's specific demands—likely CPU-bound at lower resolutions and GPU-bound at higher ones—prevent it from cracking the top tier. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (200.5) and 1440p Medium (122.1) show that the system can deliver high refresh rates, but the 4K Ultra result of 30.1 FPS drags the overall ranking down. In a game with many tested combos, this configuration sits comfortably in the upper third, making it a viable choice for most players.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS across presets and resolutions provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1920x1080, every preset exceeds 60 FPS: Low delivers 200.5 FPS, Medium 179.3 FPS, High 121.7 FPS, and Ultra 84.9 FPS. For high-refresh-rate monitors (144 Hz or above), Low or Medium are the best choices, as they maintain frame rates well above 170 FPS. For those prioritizing visual quality, High offers a solid 121.7 FPS, and even Ultra remains playable at 84.9 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. Ultra drops to 54.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High, however, holds at 81.7 FPS, and Medium and Low reach 122.1 and 133.2 FPS respectively. For 1440p, High is the recommended preset—it provides a good balance of visual fidelity and performance, while Medium is the choice for higher refresh rates. Ultra should be avoided unless the user accepts sub-60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium maintain 60+ FPS: Low averages 75 FPS, and Medium 68.1 FPS. High falls to 43.9 FPS, and Ultra to 30.1 FPS, both unplayable for a smooth experience. For 4K, Medium is the sweet spot—it delivers 68.1 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target, while Low offers a bit more headroom at 75 FPS. High and Ultra are not viable at this resolution. Overall, the data suggests that Medium is the best all-around preset for 4K, High for 1440p, and High or Ultra for 1080p depending on refresh rate preference.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists all measured average frame rates from the dataset.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 43.9 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 75.0 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 68.1 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 30.1 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 81.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 133.2 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 122.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 54.8 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 121.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 200.5 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 179.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 84.9 |

These numbers show a clear hierarchy: Low is always the fastest, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra the slowest. The gap between Low and Ultra widens with resolution—at 1080p, Ultra is 42.3% of Low's FPS (84.9 vs 200.5), while at 4K, Ultra is 40.1% of Low (30.1 vs 75). This indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy load on the GPU, and the scaling is consistent across resolutions.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 9070's specifications directly influence the measured results. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), while the base clock is 1330 MHz, the game clock is 2070 MHz, and the boost clock reaches 2520 MHz. These clocks, combined with 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs, give the GPU a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute performance is 36.13 TFLOPS.

In Archeage, the GPU's role becomes evident at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 200.5 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given the Ryzen 9 5900X's strong single-thread score (PassMark single-thread 3469). But as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a 2014 MMORPG; even at 4K Ultra, the game's texture and geometry demands are unlikely to exceed that capacity. The memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s helps maintain performance at high resolutions, but the raw compute power is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the GPU delivers only 30.1 FPS.

The GPU's percentile of 79 places it above average, and its nearest rivals are all within 1% in average benchmark score. However, in this specific game, the RX 9070's performance at 4K Ultra is poor, suggesting that the Ultra preset is exceptionally demanding. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz are high, but they cannot overcome the sheer pixel count at 3840x2160. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU has ample headroom—a conclusion supported by the scaling pattern and the CPU's high benchmark scores.