Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, shows markedly different performance characteristics depending on resolution and settings when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060. The data reveals a system that is clearly capable of high frame rates at 1080p but becomes progressively more GPU-limited as resolution increases, with the Ultra preset proving particularly demanding across all tested resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 80 FPS at 1080p to 54 FPS at 1440p, then further down to 31 FPS at 4K. This represents a substantial 61% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count.

The Low settings preset follows a similar trajectory but with higher absolute numbers. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 132, which falls to 89 at 1440p and 51 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 61%, matching the High preset's scaling pattern almost exactly. This consistency suggests that the resolution scaling behavior is uniform across different quality levels, pointing to a predictable relationship between pixel count and frame rate.

Medium settings show the same scaling trend, with 118 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The 4K result includes a min FPS of 38 and max FPS of 52, indicating some frame time variability at this demanding resolution. Interestingly, the 4K Medium average of 45 FPS is only slightly below the 4K Low average of 51 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the lowest quality settings at this resolution.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling, with 54 FPS at 1080p dropping to 37 FPS at 1440p and finally 21 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is barely playable by any standard, and even the 1080p Ultra average of 54 FPS is below what many users would consider smooth for an MMORPG. This indicates that Ultra settings impose a particularly heavy rendering burden that the RTX 5060 cannot fully overcome even at lower resolutions.

The scaling behavior strongly suggests that at 1080p, the system is partially CPU-bound or at least balanced between CPU and GPU limitations, while at 4K the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The fact that frame rates at 4K are consistently below 60 FPS across all settings confirms that the RTX 5060, with its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit memory bus, is the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is likely a limiting factor at 4K resolution, where texture data and frame buffers demand substantial bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2497 MHz and base clock of 2280 MHz, combined with 3840 shading units, deliver a peak FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS.

In Archeage, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. The benchmark data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 21, which is 61% lower than the 4K Low result of 51 FPS. This dramatic spread between settings at 4K indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher-quality rendering features enabled by Ultra settings, such as enhanced shadows, textures, and post-processing effects.

The RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM capacity may also contribute to performance limitations at 4K, particularly with Ultra settings that can exceed this capacity in memory-intensive scenes. However, the data shows that even at Low settings, 4K performance remains below 60 FPS, suggesting that raw computational throughput rather than VRAM capacity is the primary constraint.

Compared to its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database, the RTX 5060 scores 0.3% below the AMD Radeon 860M and 0.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, while sitting 1.2% above the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT. These close margins indicate that the RTX 5060 occupies a specific performance tier, and Archeage's results reflect this positioning. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the upper-middle tier, which aligns with the observed 4K performance struggles.

FAQ

Q: What is the playable frame rate at 1080p with High settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 80, which provides a smooth experience for most gameplay scenarios in Archeage.

Q: How does 4K performance compare to 1440p performance?

A: At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 45, while at 1440p Medium it is 79. This represents a 43% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1440p to 4K at the same settings.

Q: Is the RTX 5060 capable of running Archeage at Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 54, which is technically playable but may not be consistently smooth. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 37 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 21 FPS, making these higher resolutions less practical for Ultra settings.

Q: What is the impact of switching from Low to Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 89 FPS, while Medium settings produce 79 FPS. This is a modest 11% reduction in performance for the visual quality improvement that Medium settings provide.

Q: Does the data indicate a CPU bottleneck at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 132, which is well above typical refresh rates. The relatively small frame rate difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low (132 vs 51) suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but at 1080p Low, the system may be approaching CPU limitations.

Q: How does the 4K Medium min FPS compare to the average FPS?

A: The 4K Medium min FPS is 38, while the average is 45. This indicates that frame times can vary significantly, with minimum performance falling 16% below the average.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1827 out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage. This places the system in the 34th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly two-thirds of tested configurations deliver better performance in this specific game.

This ranking is notably lower than the individual component percentiles might suggest. The CPU alone ranks in the 95th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs. The combination's lower ranking indicates that Archeage's specific performance characteristics do not favor this particular pairing, likely due to the game's age and its rendering requirements not scaling optimally with the hardware's strengths.

The discrepancy between component-level rankings and the combo ranking suggests that Archeage may not fully utilize the Ryzen 9 8945HX's 16 cores and 32 threads. The game, released in 2014, likely has a single-threaded or lightly-threaded rendering path that benefits more from the CPU's high boost clock of 5.40 GHz than its massive core count.

The 2761 total combos in the database provide context for this ranking. With 1827 combos performing better, this system is in the lower-middle range for Archeage specifically, despite the hardware being relatively high-end for general productivity and other gaming workloads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 64 MB of L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel configuration providing 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In Archeage, the CPU's role appears to be significant at lower resolutions but diminishes as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 132 FPS average, which likely approaches the game's engine-level frame rate ceiling or the CPU's single-thread performance limit. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 6030 indicates strong per-thread performance, which is beneficial for a game that may not scale well across many cores.

The CPU's multithreaded capabilities are substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and a Passmark multithread score of 51405. However, Archeage's 2014 engine likely cannot fully exploit these resources, making the high boost clock more relevant than the core count for this title.

The Ryzen 9 8945HX's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, has an average benchmark score 0.1% higher, indicating nearly identical overall CPU performance. This suggests that CPU choice between these two would not meaningfully affect Archeage performance, reinforcing that the GPU is the dominant factor in this game's frame rates.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking among all processors indicates it is a top-tier chip for most workloads. Yet in Archeage, the system's combo ranking of 1827 out of 2761 shows that this CPU firepower cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values across settings are: Low 132, Medium 118, High 80, and Ultra 54. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 100 and maximum of 135, indicating a reasonably stable frame delivery with a 35 FPS spread between min and max.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to: Low 89, Medium 79, High 54, and Ultra 37. The Medium preset at this resolution exhibits a min FPS of 67 and max of 91, showing a 24 FPS spread. The High preset at 1440p produces an average of 54 FPS, which is identical to the 1080p Ultra average, suggesting that the performance cost of Ultra settings at 1080p is roughly equivalent to the cost of High settings at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low 51, Medium 45, High 31, and Ultra 21. The Medium preset at 4K has a min FPS of 38 and max of 52, representing the only 4K measurement with min/max data available. This 14 FPS spread at 4K Medium indicates relatively tighter frame pacing compared to the lower resolutions.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the performance cost of Ultra versus Low settings is consistent: 59% lower FPS at 1080p (54 vs 132), 58% lower at 1440p (37 vs 89), and 59% lower at 4K (21 vs 51). This uniformity suggests that the Ultra preset adds a consistent rendering workload regardless of resolution.

The High preset shows a different pattern, with the gap between High and Low widening at higher resolutions. At 1080p, High is 39% lower than Low (80 vs 132), but at 4K, High is 39% lower as well (31 vs 51). The Medium preset maintains the smallest gap, being 11% lower than Low at 1080p (118 vs 132), 11% lower at 1440p (79 vs 89), and 12% lower at 4K (45 vs 51).

For users seeking the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1440p offers 79 FPS average, which is suitable for most displays. The High preset at 1080p provides 80 FPS average, making it a viable alternative for those prioritizing higher visual fidelity over resolution. The 4K resolution is only practical at Low or Medium settings, with 51 and 45 FPS averages respectively, both of which remain below the 60 FPS threshold for optimal smoothness.