Archeage

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a performance curve in Archeage that clearly separates CPU-bound and GPU-bound territory. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 156.2 FPS, but scaling up to 1440p Low drops that to 103.8 FPS, and 4K Low lands at 61.7 FPS. The progression from 1080p to 4K at Low settings represents a 60.5% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the GPU is increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count rises. However, the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low is steeper than the gap between 1440p and 4K, suggesting that the CPU still has headroom to push frames at lower resolutions.

When the settings are cranked to Ultra, the scaling pattern shifts dramatically. The 1080p Ultra result of 63.7 FPS falls to 43 FPS at 1440p, and then to 25.8 FPS at 4K. That 1080p-to-4K drop of 59.5% is nearly identical to the Low-setting decline, but the absolute numbers reveal a different story: at 4K Ultra, the system is firmly GPU-limited, with the RX 6700 XT’s 12 GB frame buffer and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to maintain playable rates. The Medium preset shows a more moderate decline from 138.7 FPS at 1080p to 50.4 FPS at 4K, a 63.7% reduction that highlights how the game’s shading load scales with resolution.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the i3-12100F’s four cores and eight threads are adequate to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the 156.2 FPS Low result. But at 4K, even the Low preset drops below 62 FPS, meaning the RX 6700 XT is the bottleneck regardless of settings. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, while High at 1440p achieves 65.4 FPS. This suggests that for smooth gameplay, users should avoid Ultra at 1440p and above, as the GPU cannot maintain fluid motion in Archeage’s large-scale environments.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT’s specifications are central to understanding these results. With a base clock of 2321 MHz and a boost clock of 2581 MHz, the GPU operates at high frequencies, but its performance in Archeage is heavily influenced by its memory subsystem. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 25.8 FPS result indicates the card is overwhelmed by both fill rate and memory pressure.

The GPU’s 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs provide solid raw throughput, reflected in its 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 165.2 GPixel/s pixel rate. In Archeage, these figures translate to strong 1080p performance, with the High preset hitting 94.6 FPS and Medium reaching 138.7 FPS. However, the game’s CPU-heavy nature is evident in the scaling: from 1080p High to 1440p High, the frame rate drops by 31.1%, which is less than the 45.3% drop from 1440p High to 4K High. This indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as resolution increases, with the i3-12100F’s single-thread performance (3,444 in Passmark) being sufficient to avoid bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

The RX 6700 XT’s 40 ray accelerators and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are irrelevant for Archeage, which launched in 2014 and does not utilize modern ray tracing or mesh shaders. Instead, the card’s strength lies in its traditional rasterization performance, which is evidenced by its 19,786 Passmark G3D score and its 77th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The data shows that the GPU’s performance is consistent with its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6800, which scores 0.7% higher on average, and the NVIDIA RTX A5000, which scores 1.3% higher. This places the RX 6700 XT in a competitive position, but Archeage’s engine rewards higher memory bandwidth over raw compute, which is why the 4K Ultra result suffers.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the i3-12100F and RX 6700 XT ranks 937th out of 1,727 combos for Archeage, placing it in the 54th percentile. This mid-pack ranking is unsurprising given the CPU’s modest core count and the GPU’s upper-midrange positioning. The combo’s percentileVsAllCpus for the i3-12100F is 72, meaning the processor outperforms 72% of all CPUs in general benchmarks, but its avgBenchmarkScore of 13,516 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13,534 (a -0.1% delta). This suggests that the i3-12100F’s four cores are not a significant liability in Archeage, which likely does not scale well beyond eight threads.

The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 77, with an avgBenchmarkScore of 33,721, placing it just 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 1.0% behind both the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and RX 480. This proximity to older and newer cards indicates that the RX 6700 XT is well-balanced for its class, but the combo’s 937th rank suggests that other pairings with stronger CPUs or more powerful GPUs achieve higher frame rates in this specific title. The ranking reflects that while the individual components are competent, the combination does not excel in Archeage’s engine, which appears to favor higher-end GPUs with more memory bandwidth at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all settings. The Low preset achieves 156.2 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Low result and indicates a CPU-bound scenario where the i3-12100F’s 4.30 GHz boost clock can keep up with the GPU’s output. Medium follows at 138.7 FPS, High at 94.6 FPS, and Ultra at 63.7 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 30.9 FPS, a 32.7% reduction, which is the largest single-setting drop at this resolution, suggesting that Ultra enables effects that heavily tax the GPU.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low produces 103.8 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium hits 92.9 FPS. High dips to 65.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is particularly telling, as it is only 5.8 FPS higher than the 4K High result of 37.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain playability at this quality level. The 1440p data shows that the combo is most comfortable at Low and Medium settings, where it can maintain high refresh rates.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal. Low achieves 61.7 FPS, which is barely playable, while Medium drops to 50.4 FPS and High to 37.9 FPS. Ultra is effectively unplayable at 25.8 FPS. The 4K results reveal that the RX 6700 XT’s memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s is insufficient for the game’s high-resolution textures, and the GPU’s 12 GB frame buffer is not enough to prevent stuttering in crowded scenes. The data suggests that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is marginal.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing a smooth experience at 1080p, the High preset at 94.6 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it remains well above the 60 FPS threshold while providing richer detail than Medium. Those with high-refresh-rate monitors should consider Low at 156.2 FPS, which maximizes frame pacing and minimizes input latency, though it sacrifices visual fidelity. Ultra at 1080p is acceptable at 63.7 FPS, but the 30 FPS drop from High makes it a less attractive option.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 92.9 FPS is the recommended choice, as it delivers smooth gameplay while retaining moderate visual quality. High at 65.4 FPS is also viable for users who prefer sharper textures, but the 27.5 FPS difference between Medium and High may not justify the visual upgrade. Ultra at 1440p should be avoided, as 43 FPS is below the playable threshold for most users, and the experience will feel sluggish in combat.

For 4K, the only playable option is Low at 61.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS line. Medium at 50.4 FPS and High at 37.9 FPS are not recommended, as they fall below acceptable frame rates for an MMORPG where reaction time matters. The data strongly suggests that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Archeage, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for the best experience. Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns, and the measured results indicate that High or Medium provide the most consistent frame rates relative to visual quality.