Archeage

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination delivers playable frame rates in Archeage only at 1080p with reduced settings, and the data clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck. The combo ranks in the 3572nd position out of 3708 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 4% of all system configurations, a result that underscores a severe performance imbalance where a high-end 12-core processor is paired with an entry-level graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a dramatic performance collapse as resolution increases, a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces an average of 62 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches smooth, competitive gameplay. Dropping to 1440p at the same Low settings reduces the average to 41 FPS, a 34% decline, while 4K Low yields just 24 FPS, representing a further 41% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern demonstrates that the GTX 1650's rendering pipeline is saturated even before resolution increases, and the pixel throughput requirements of higher resolutions quickly overwhelm it.

The Medium settings data provides the most complete picture of scaling behavior, as it is the only quality level with recorded minimum and maximum frame times. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 63, showing a relatively tight frame time distribution. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 37 FPS with a minimum of 31 and maximum of 42, indicating that the frame pacing remains consistent even as the average drops. The 4K Medium result shows an average of 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 and maximum of 24, which means the worst-case frame rate at 4K Medium is lower than the average frame rate at 1440p Medium by 16 FPS.

The Ultra settings results expose the most severe bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages only 25 FPS average, while 1440p Ultra drops to 17 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to a nearly unplayable 10 FPS. The transition from High to Ultra at each resolution costs approximately 12 FPS at 1080p (37 to 25), 8 FPS at 1440p (25 to 17), and 4 FPS at 4K (14 to 10). This diminishing absolute cost with increasing resolution indicates that the GPU is already so constrained at High settings that the additional workload from Ultra settings cannot be fully processed, resulting in a compressed range of frame rates across all resolutions.

The data strongly indicates that the limiting component is the GTX 1650. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, has ample headroom for a game from 2014, and the resolution scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that exhausts its pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth quickly. The 4 GB of VRAM also becomes a constraint at higher resolutions, as the 128-bit memory bus and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth cannot feed the render pipeline sufficiently for 1440p or 4K workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 3572 out of 3708 tested combinations places it in the 96.3rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms only about 3.7% of configurations. This is an exceptionally low ranking that reflects the fundamental mismatch between the CPU and GPU. The Ryzen 9 9900X alone sits in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs tested, demonstrating that the processor is a top-tier component, while the GTX 1650 sits in only the 40th percentile among GPUs.

The CPU's benchmark scores support this interpretation. In Cinebench R23, the Ryzen 9 9900X scores 32172 in multi-core and 2253 in single-core, placing it among the fastest desktop processors available. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 with a delta of -0.1%, the AMD EPYC 7313 with +0.2%, the Intel Core i9-14900 with -1.1%, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M with -1.4%. These rivals are all high-end server or desktop parts, confirming the CPU's elite status.

In contrast, the GTX 1650's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with a delta of +0.3%, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 with +0.4%, the AMD Radeon R7 350 with +0.6%, and the Intel Arc A310 with -1%. These are predominantly integrated or low-end discrete graphics solutions, highlighting that the GPU is positioned in the entry-level segment. The combination of a 92nd percentile CPU with a 40th percentile GPU creates a system where the CPU's potential is entirely untapped in Archeage, as the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize the processor's capabilities.

The rank of 3572 out of 3708 means the system is closer to the bottom of the database than to the middle, and this position is directly attributable to the GPU's limitations rather than any CPU deficiency. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the system cannot exceed 62 FPS average even at the lowest settings and resolution, a performance level that would be considered marginal for competitive play in most modern titles.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves in Archeage?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 62 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 60 FPS, and it represents the practical ceiling for this system.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 9900X ranks in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, while the GTX 1650 ranks in only the 40th percentile among GPUs. The resolution scaling data shows a consistent and severe drop in frame rates as resolution increases, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 7472, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (7447), 0.4% higher than the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441), 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425), and 1% lower than the Intel Arc A310 (7550).

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Medium settings at 1080p and 4K?

A: At 1080p Medium, the system averages 55 FPS, while at 4K Medium it averages 21 FPS. This represents a 34 FPS difference, or a 61.8% reduction in average frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium quality settings.

Q: Does the system provide a playable experience at 1440p in Archeage?

A: At 1440p, the highest average frame rate is 41 FPS with Low settings, and the lowest is 17 FPS with Ultra settings. Only Low settings at 1440p approach playable territory, while Medium, High, and Ultra settings all fall below 40 FPS average.

Q: What is the system's overall rank among tested CPU and GPU combinations?

A: The combination ranks 3572nd out of 3708 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 3.7% of all systems in the database for Archeage performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 62 FPS, which is the only playable configuration in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 63, showing that the frame rate remains stable within a 16 FPS range. High settings drop to an average of 37 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 25 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 37 FPS, representing a 59.7% reduction in performance when maximizing quality.

At 2560x1440, the performance degradation becomes pronounced. Low settings average 41 FPS, which is a 21 FPS drop from the equivalent 1080p setting. Medium settings average 37 FPS with a minimum of 31 and maximum of 42, indicating that the frame time distribution remains consistent despite the lower average. High settings average 25 FPS, and Ultra settings average 17 FPS. The 1440p results show that only Low and Medium settings provide average frame rates above 30 FPS, and even these are marginal for a game that benefits from higher refresh rates.

At 3840x2160, the system is severely constrained. Low settings average 24 FPS, Medium settings average 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 and maximum of 24, High settings average 14 FPS, and Ultra settings average 10 FPS. The 4K Medium data reveals that the minimum frame rate of 18 FPS is only 3 FPS below the average, suggesting that the GPU is operating at its absolute limit with no headroom for frame time variation. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 38 FPS, a 61.3% reduction, demonstrating that resolution scaling has a catastrophic impact on this system.

The data shows a consistent pattern where each resolution increase costs approximately 15-20 FPS at Low settings, 18 FPS at Medium settings, 12-13 FPS at High settings, and 8 FPS at Ultra settings. This narrowing of the absolute FPS gap at higher quality settings indicates that the GPU reaches its saturation point quickly, and additional quality settings have diminishing returns because the render pipeline is already maxed out.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the dominant factor in this system's Archeage performance. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, the card has a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s, which is insufficient for higher resolutions in a modern MMO environment. The GPU's base clock of 1485 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz provide the processing throughput, but the 896 shading units and 32 ROPs are simply too few to handle the pixel workload at 1440p and 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores confirm its entry-level positioning. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 305, while its Passmark G3D score is 7880 and its Geekbench OpenCL score is 29629. The Passmark DirectX 11 score of 58 and DirectX 12 score of 35 indicate that the card struggles with modern graphics APIs, although Archeage from 2014 likely uses older rendering paths. The GPU's average benchmark score of 7472 places it in the 40th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 8850M, Intel UHD Graphics 750, and AMD Radeon R7 350.

The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a critical limitation for Archeage at higher resolutions. While the game's 2014 release date means it does not have the massive texture requirements of modern titles, the combination of a 128-bit memory bus and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth creates a bottleneck that becomes evident when moving from 1080p to 1440p. The measured FPS data shows that the average frame rate at 1440p Low is 41 FPS, which is only 66% of the 1080p Low result, indicating that memory bandwidth constraints are limiting the render pipeline's ability to fetch textures and geometry.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 2.984 TFLOPS is modest by contemporary standards, and the 53.28 GPixel/s pixel rate and 93.24 GTexel/s texture rate are insufficient for resolutions above 1080p. The 75 W TDP and lack of external power connectors confirm that this is a low-power, entry-level solution, and the 250 W suggested PSU requirement indicates that the card is designed for basic systems rather than high-performance gaming rigs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X provides an exceptional foundation for gaming, but its capabilities are entirely untapped in this Archeage configuration. The 12 cores and 24 threads represent a substantial amount of processing power, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The 64 MB L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core ensure that the processor can handle large datasets without memory stalls, and the DDR5 dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provides rapid data access.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its high-end status. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and single-core score of 2253 place it among the fastest desktop processors. The Geekbench multi-core score of 22174 and single-core score of 3010 further confirm its capabilities. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and 16-thread score of 12552 show that the processor scales well with thread count, which is relevant for MMO games that may have multiple background threads.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 92 among all CPUs means it outperforms 92% of processors in the database. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the AMD EPYC 9015 (-0.1%), AMD EPYC 7313 (+0.2%), Intel Core i9-14900 (-1.1%), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (-1.4%). These rivals are all high-core-count server or enthusiast parts, confirming that the Ryzen 9 9900X is a top-tier processor.

In the context of Archeage, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, AI, networking, and physics calculations, none of which are likely to be bottlenecks given the game's 2014 release date. The measured FPS data shows that the system's performance is entirely determined by the GPU, as evidenced by the severe frame rate drops at higher resolutions that would not occur if the CPU were the limiting factor. The CPU's 16,630 million transistors and 4 nm process node represent significant computational resources, but they cannot compensate for the GPU's inability to render frames quickly enough.

The architecture's Zen 5 design on the Granite Ridge codename provides excellent single-thread performance, which is important for MMO games that often have a primary rendering thread. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz is particularly beneficial for this workload, as it allows the CPU to process game logic at maximum speed. However, the data shows that even with this high clock speed, the system cannot exceed 62 FPS average at 1080p Low, which is a clear indication that the GPU is the sole limiting factor in this configuration. The CPU's 120 W TDP and Socket AM5 compatibility position it as a modern, power-efficient processor, but its performance advantages are wasted when paired with a GPU that ranks in only the 40th percentile.