Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, presents an interesting performance profile when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by both resolution and graphical presets, with the game's engine showing distinct scaling characteristics at the high end of the hardware spectrum. This combination achieves a rank of 2 out of 1727 tested combos in this title, positioning it near the very top of the performance hierarchy, yet the frame rate behavior is not uniformly linear across all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the increasing burden placed on the GPU as pixel count rises. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 184.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 125.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 32%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average further declines to 74 FPS, which is a 60% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that at 4K, the RTX 5090 is being pushed hard, and the game's rendering load at this resolution is significant.

The scaling pattern shifts with lower settings. At Low, the average frame rate at 1080p is 310.7 FPS, which drops to 208 FPS at 1440p and then to 121.2 FPS at 4K. While the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is similar (around 61%), the absolute frame rates remain high, suggesting that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions and settings. The data indicates that the bottleneck transitions from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU as resolution increases, particularly at higher presets. The gap between the Ultra preset at 1080p (125.7 FPS) and 4K (47.8 FPS) is a 62% reduction, showing that the most demanding settings combined with 4K resolution create a scenario where the GPU is the primary limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the High preset offers the most balanced experience, particularly at 1440p and 4K. At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 125.1 FPS, which is still well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, while the Ultra preset drops to 82.4 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K is particularly punishing, with the average falling from 74 FPS to 47.8 FPS. This 35% performance penalty for the Ultra preset yields diminishing returns, making High the more sensible choice for maintaining higher frame rates at higher resolutions.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p produces 310.7 FPS, which is more than double the High preset's 184.6 FPS. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The Medium preset provides a middle ground, with 275.9 FPS at 1080p and 187.7 FPS at 1440p, but at 4K it drops to 107.5 FPS. The data indicates that the High preset is the optimal choice for a high-refresh-rate monitor at 1440p, while 4K users will need to accept either High settings for 74 FPS or drop to Medium for 107.5 FPS, with Ultra being a less viable option due to its sub-60 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination holds a rank of 2 out of 1727 tested combos specifically for Archeage. This places it in the top percentile of all systems tested for this game, indicating that this pairing is exceptionally well-suited for the title. The only combination ranked higher demonstrates that this setup is at the very apex of performance for this particular MMORPG.

This ranking is supported by the absolute frame rates achieved. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces over 300 FPS, which is a result that only a handful of other hardware pairings could likely match. The CPU's performance percentile of 94 and the GPU's percentile of 94 in their respective benchmark databases further corroborate the high standing of this combination. The data shows that this system does not struggle with the game's CPU-bound aspects, and the GPU is powerful enough to drive high frame rates even at 4K, albeit with some settings adjustments.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates for this combo in Archeage is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 310.7 FPS
• Medium: 275.9 FPS
• High: 184.6 FPS
• Ultra: 125.7 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 208 FPS
• Medium: 187.7 FPS
• High: 125.1 FPS
• Ultra: 82.4 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 121.2 FPS
• Medium: 107.5 FPS
• High: 74 FPS
• Ultra: 47.8 FPS

The data reveals a clear pattern where the frame rate scales inversely with both resolution and settings quality. The most significant single drop occurs between the High and Ultra presets at 4K, where the average FPS falls from 74 to 47.8, a decline of 26.2 FPS. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 185 FPS, showing the wide performance envelope available to the user. The consistency of the scaling between resolutions at each preset suggests that the game's engine is well-optimized for this hardware, with no unexpected anomalies in the measured results.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 plays a critical role in this combination, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a substantial bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is essential for handling the texture and geometry data at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz contribute to its raw compute power, which is reflected in its high benchmark scores, such as 39,650 in Passmark G3D and 14411 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12.

The GPU's performance percentile of 94 places it among the top graphics cards, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D with a negligible 0.1% score difference. This indicates that the RTX 5090 is operating at its expected performance level for this title. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate differences when moving from High to Ultra settings, as the CPU is less likely to be the bottleneck at these higher graphical loads. The GPU's 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs are well-utilized in this game, which is evident from the smooth scaling of frame rates across the different presets.