Archeage

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination produces a wildly varying experience in Archeage, one that is dictated almost entirely by the graphics preset rather than the resolution. The data shows that this pairing is heavily constrained by the GPU, but the severity of that constraint changes dramatically based on settings. While the CPU is exceptionally powerful, the GTX 1070 acts as a firm ceiling, making high-refresh-rate play a distant goal except at the lowest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming that the GTX 1070 is the primary limiting component in this pairing. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 61.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 44.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 29%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields just 24.2 FPS, a 61% decline from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

The trend holds across all presets. At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p (95 FPS) to 1440p (66.2 FPS) is a 30% loss, and the 4K result (34.7 FPS) represents a 63% decline from 1080p. Even at Low settings, where the CPU has the most headroom, the scaling is brutal: 107.2 FPS at 1080p falls to 73.2 FPS at 1440p and then to 38.6 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings indicates that resolution scaling is purely a GPU-bound exercise. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is never the bottleneck in these tests; the frame rate collapses in lockstep with the increase in pixel count, regardless of how light the CPU load becomes.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations for Archeage, this pairing sits near the bottom. The combo rank is 1461 out of 1727 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 15% of all configurations. This low ranking is not a reflection of the CPU, which is a top-tier part, but rather the consequence of pairing it with an end-of-life GPU. The data suggests that many older or mid-range CPUs paired with more modern graphics cards would outperform this specific combination in this title.

The GPU’s own percentile ranking reinforces this. The GTX 1070 sits at the 51st percentile against all GPUs, meaning it is statistically average. When combined with a CPU that ranks at the 94th percentile against all CPUs, the result is an imbalanced system. The benchmark results indicate that this pairing is effectively wasting the potential of the Ryzen 9 9900X in Archeage. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 54450 is nearly 4.4 times higher than the GPU’s average of 12331, and the game’s frame rates reflect that massive disparity. This is a case where the weakest link is so dominant that the strongest component becomes irrelevant to the outcome.

GPU Role

The GTX 1070 is the decisive factor in every measured scenario. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at 4K. The benchmark data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate collapses to 14.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum settings. The card’s 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs, running at a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, are simply not enough to drive Archeage at 4K with high fidelity.

The GPU’s compute potential, listed at 6.463 TFLOPS for FP32, is modest by modern standards. This is reflected in the Passmark G3D score of 13498, which places it just 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 and 1.4% behind the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER. The GTX 1070 is an average performer, and its performance in Archeage is consistent with its overall standing. The data shows that the card can handle 1080p Medium (95 FPS) and 1440p Low (73.2 FPS) with playable results, but it struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 1440p High (44.1 FPS) and fails outright at 4K Ultra. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB does not appear to be the primary issue; rather, it is the raw shader throughput and texture fill rate that limit performance at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings deliver an average of 107.2 FPS, Medium delivers 95 FPS, High delivers 61.8 FPS, and Ultra delivers 45.3 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is significant, a 35% drop, while the gap between High and Ultra is a further 27% drop. This suggests that the High preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive on the GTX 1070.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low at 73.2 FPS, Medium at 66.2 FPS, High at 44.1 FPS, and Ultra at 28 FPS. The Medium preset remains playable, but High dips below the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 38.6 FPS, Medium at 34.7 FPS, High at 24.2 FPS, and Ultra at 14.9 FPS. None of the 4K presets are playable for a smooth experience, with even Low settings failing to reach 40 FPS. The data shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1070 is a 1080p card for this game, with a secondary capability for 1440p at reduced settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combination is at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset, which delivers an average of 95 FPS. This provides a substantial margin above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring smooth gameplay in most situations. The Low preset at 1080p offers a higher frame rate (107.2 FPS), but the visual quality trade-off is likely not worth the 13% performance gain.

For users with a 1440p monitor, the Low preset at 2560x1440 (73.2 FPS) is the only viable option for maintaining a frame rate near or above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p (66.2 FPS) is acceptable, but it leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 1440p (44.1 FPS) should be avoided, as it sacrifices the smoothness that is critical for an MMORPG.

At 4K, the data shows no acceptable presets. The highest average frame rate at 3840x2160 is 38.6 FPS on Low settings, which is below the playable threshold for a responsive experience. Users with a 4K display should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p or accepting a significant performance penalty. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it delivers only 45.3 FPS at 1080p and 14.9 FPS at 4K.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9900X is a high-end processor that is massively overqualified for this workload. With 12 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, it provides more than enough processing power for Archeage, which is not a CPU-intensive title by modern standards. The CPU’s benchmark results are exceptional: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46438 and a single-core score of 6555. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4672 and multithread score of 54643 place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, scores an average of 54681, which is just 0.4% higher, indicating that the 9900X is at the top of the performance hierarchy. However, none of this processing power translates into higher frame rates in this game due to the GPU bottleneck. The data shows that the CPU is never the limiting factor; the frame rates are consistently dictated by the graphics card’s resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the CPU could theoretically push hundreds of frames per second, but the GTX 1070 caps the output at 107.2 FPS. The CPU’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support are irrelevant to the outcome here. In this configuration, the CPU role is to ensure that the GPU is never starved of data, and it performs that role flawlessly, allowing the GPU to reach its maximum potential in every test.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the most effective resolution. The system achieves 95 FPS at Medium settings and 107.2 FPS at Low settings, while higher resolutions result in significant frame rate drops.

*Q: Can this system run Archeage at 4K?*

A: Technically yes, but the results are poor. At 4K High, the average frame rate is 24.2 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it drops to 14.9 FPS. Even at 4K Low, the system only manages 38.6 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331, which is 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241) and 1.4% lower than the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (12504). It is effectively a mid-pack performer.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs and has a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The frame rates in Archeage scale almost entirely with resolution and settings, which indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What settings should I use for a 1440p monitor?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 delivers 73.2 FPS, which is the best option. The Medium preset provides 66.2 FPS, which is still playable, but High settings drop to 44.1 FPS and are not recommended.

Q: How much faster is the CPU compared to the GPU in average benchmarks?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score is 54450, while the GPU’s is 12331. This means the CPU’s average score is approximately 4.4 times higher than the GPU’s, highlighting the performance imbalance in this pairing.