Archeage

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1274 out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage. That places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, which is a curious outcome given the individual strengths of both components. The CPU sits in the 96th percentile against all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 63rd percentile against all graphics cards. The pairing creates an imbalance that the benchmark data reflects clearly.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 puts it within 0.5% of the RTX 2070 and just 0.3% ahead of the GTX TITAN. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's average score of 71660 is 1.8% ahead of the Ryzen 9 9950X and 2.2% ahead of the Core i7-14700KF. The data suggests a system where the GPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios, yet the overall rank of 1274 out of 1727 indicates that this specific game's demands do not favor this particular hardware pairing. The gap between the CPU's elite standing and the GPU's mid-range position explains why the combo does not crack the top half of tested configurations.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1470 MHz with a boost of 1650 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications place the card firmly in the mid-range tier, and the benchmark results reflect that positioning.

In Archeage, the GPU's role becomes apparent when examining the FPS drops across settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the card manages 128.3 FPS on Low settings but falls to 54 FPS on Ultra—a drop of 74.3 FPS from the lowest to highest preset. The pattern holds at 1440p, where Low yields 84.4 FPS and Ultra yields 33.6 FPS. At 4K, the gap narrows in absolute terms but the percentages tell a different story: 52.2 FPS on Low versus 17.7 FPS on Ultra. The 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for this game's demands at these settings, but the underlying compute power of 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate limits how much headroom exists at higher presets.

The GPU's 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present, but Archeage's rendering workload does not appear to leverage these features heavily. The passmark DirectX scores—130 for DirectX 11, 61 for DirectX 12, and 218 for DirectX 9—suggest the game's engine may be relying on older API paths, which could explain why the card performs better relative to its peers than its raw specifications might indicate.

FAQ

Q: Does the RTX 2060 SUPER bottleneck the Ryzen 9 9950X3D in Archeage?

A: The data strongly suggests yes. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 63rd percentile. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 54 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it drops to 17.7 FPS—both figures indicate the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination in Archeage?

A: Based on measured FPS, 1080p provides the most playable experience. At High settings, the combo delivers 75.7 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 115.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops High settings to 54.8 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less smooth.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The card's average benchmark score of 19774 is 0.3% higher than the GTX TITAN, 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070, and 1.3% higher than the Tesla K40m. These are marginal differences that suggest near-identical performance in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's 128 MB of shared L3 cache beneficial for Archeage?

A: The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance with a 3dmark single-thread score of 1292 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3401. However, Archeage's measured FPS does not show unusual gains that would indicate the large cache is providing a significant advantage in this specific game.

Q: What is the biggest FPS gap between settings at any resolution?

A: At 4K, the difference between Low (52.2 FPS) and Ultra (17.7 FPS) is 34.5 FPS. At 1080p, the gap between Low (128.3 FPS) and Ultra (54 FPS) is 74.3 FPS. The 1080p gap represents a 57.9% reduction in performance from Low to Ultra.

Q: Does the combo rank improve at lower resolutions?

A: The overall combo rank of 1274 out of 1727 is fixed across all resolutions. However, the measured FPS data shows that lower resolutions yield higher frame rates, indicating that the combination is more capable at 1080p than at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combination performs across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 128.3 FPS average, Medium delivers 115.8 FPS, High reaches 75.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 54 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with the largest single step occurring between Medium and High—a drop of 40.1 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low settings yield 84.4 FPS, Medium produces 78.4 FPS, High achieves 54.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 33.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 50.8 FPS, which represents a 60.2% reduction. Interestingly, the difference between Low and Medium at 1440p is only 6 FPS, suggesting that Medium offers nearly the same performance as Low with potentially better visuals.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher settings. Low settings produce 52.2 FPS, Medium delivers 42.6 FPS, High drops to 31.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 17.7 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is particularly steep—a 13.7 FPS drop that represents a 43.6% reduction from an already-low baseline.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It operates with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, with a TDP of 170 W. The CPU's benchmark results are exceptional: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 59712 and single-core scores 8430, while Geekbench multi-core reaches 22515 and single-core 3401.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is somewhat paradoxical. The game is an MMORPG from 2014, and its engine likely does not utilize all 16 cores effectively. The CPU's 3dmark scores show strong scaling from 2 threads (2549) to 4 threads (4963) to 8 threads (9259), but the jump to 16 threads (16374) and max threads (17184) is modest. This suggests diminishing returns beyond 8 threads, which is typical for older game engines.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 128.3 FPS—a figure that is likely CPU-bound at that point. The CPU's percentile ranking of 96 against all processors means it outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, yet the GPU's limitations cap the overall system performance. The 128 MB of shared L3 cache, while impressive, does not appear to provide a unique advantage in Archeage, as the FPS figures align with what the GPU's mid-range positioning would predict.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to Medium settings at 1080p as the best balance for this combination. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 115.8 FPS, which is only 12.5 FPS below the Low preset's 128.3 FPS but with presumably better visual quality. High settings at 1080p drop to 75.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 34.6% reduction from Medium.

At 1440p, Medium settings yield 78.4 FPS, which approaches the 1080p High experience. This makes 1440p Medium a viable option for users with higher-resolution monitors who value smooth gameplay over maximum fidelity. Low settings at 1440p (84.4 FPS) offer a marginal improvement over Medium, so the Medium preset is the better choice unless visual quality is not a concern.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts to Low settings, which produce 52.2 FPS. Medium drops to 42.6 FPS, and High falls to 31.4 FPS—both below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. Ultra at 4K is not viable at 17.7 FPS. The data indicates that this combination is not suited for 4K gaming in Archeage beyond the lowest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component clearly. At Low settings, 1080p produces 128.3 FPS, 1440p produces 84.4 FPS, and 4K produces 52.2 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 43.9 FPS (a 34.2% reduction), and the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32.2 FPS (a 38.2% reduction). This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where increased pixel count directly impacts frame rate.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more dramatic: 1080p yields 54 FPS, 1440p yields 33.6 FPS, and 4K yields 17.7 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 20.4 FPS (37.8% reduction), and from 1440p to 4K is 15.9 FPS (47.3% reduction). The steeper relative drop at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's compute resources are being exhausted, and the 8 GB VRAM may also be a factor at 4K Ultra.

The data suggests that this combination is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p possible at lower settings. The CPU's high performance does not translate into higher frame rates at higher resolutions, confirming that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck. The 63rd percentile GPU ranking versus the 96th percentile CPU ranking creates a fundamental imbalance that becomes more pronounced as resolution increases.