Archeage

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a broad performance envelope in Archeage, but the scaling between resolutions reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 226.9 FPS, which drops to 208 FPS at Medium and 140.3 FPS at High. The step to Ultra at 1080p cuts performance nearly in half to 94 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces a significant load that the CPU’s four cores struggle to feed at lower resolutions. Moving to 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low produces 158.2 FPS, Medium 141.3 FPS, High 95.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 67.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at both 1080p and 1440p is relatively modest (roughly 8-10%), suggesting that the i3-12100F’s single-thread performance is sufficient for those settings, but the jump to High and Ultra creates a steeper drop.

At 4K, the scaling becomes more linear with settings, but the absolute numbers drop substantially. Low at 2160p yields 88.5 FPS, Medium 81.8 FPS, and High 55.9 FPS, while Ultra bottoms out at 40.1 FPS. The delta between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 138.4 FPS, a 61% reduction, which points to the GPU becoming the primary limiter at higher pixel counts. However, the Ultra preset at 4K (40.1 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (94 FPS) shows a 57% decrease, meaning the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB frame buffer and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are saturated by the combination of high resolution and maxed settings. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads (with a 4.30 GHz boost clock) constrain frame rates more than the GPU, particularly on Low and Medium presets where the GPU has headroom. At 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER’s raw compute (35.48 TFLOPS FP32) becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the tighter clustering of scores across settings at that resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is a substantial piece of hardware, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Archeage’s texture-heavy environments at high resolutions. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and 7168 shading units provide the compute headroom needed for high frame rates, but the measured data shows that this headroom is not always utilized. In the 1080p Low preset, the combo hits 226.9 FPS, which is far beyond the 144 Hz refresh rate most gamers target, indicating that the GPU is not the bottleneck in that scenario. Instead, the i3-12100F’s single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and 1681 in Cinebench R23 single-core likely caps the frame rate when settings are low enough to reduce GPU load.

At 4K Ultra, the situation reverses. The 40.1 FPS average suggests the GPU is working at full capacity, as the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs are taxed by the pixel and texture throughput required at 3840x2160. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 29995 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4627 place it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs, yet Archeage’s Ultra preset still drags it below 60 FPS at 4K. This is a game-side limitation rather than a hardware deficiency, as the same GPU achieves 94 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is not exhausted at any tested resolution, but the memory bandwidth becomes a factor at 4K Ultra, where the 504.2 GB/s throughput is strained by high-resolution textures and draw calls. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scores only 0.2% higher on average, confirming that the 4070 SUPER is not leaving performance on the table in synthetic benchmarks, but Archeage’s engine appears to favor raw fill rate over compute, which the 4070 SUPER has in abundance (198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate).

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 293rd out of 1,727 tested combos for Archeage, placing it in the top 17% of all configurations. This is a strong result, but it is not exceptional given the GPU’s 84th percentile standing among all GPUs. The i3-12100F, by contrast, sits in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 13,516. The CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores 13,534, only 0.1% higher, which is a negligible difference in synthetic workloads. However, in a real game like Archeage, the Threadripper’s massive core count would likely produce different results, but the data only shows the i3-12100F’s standing. The combo rank of 293 suggests that the pairing is well-balanced for this title, but the CPU’s 4-core limitation becomes apparent in the frame rate scaling.

When compared to the CPU’s other nearest rivals, the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13,462 (0.4% lower), the Core i3-10105 scores 13,430 (0.6% lower), and the Core i7-7700K scores 13,280 (1.8% lower). These deltas are small in synthetic tests, but in Archeage, the i3-12100F’s newer architecture (Alder Lake-S) and higher boost clock (4.30 GHz) provide a tangible advantage in single-threaded scenarios, which the game heavily relies on. The combo’s 293rd rank out of 1,727 is respectable, but it is worth remembering 1,434 other combos rank below it, meaning the i3-12100F + RTX 4070 SUPER outperforms 83% of tested configurations. This is largely driven by the GPU’s strength, as the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 40.1 FPS, which is playable for an MMORPG, while the CPU’s weakness only manifests at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 200 FPS anyway.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p High offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at 95.6 FPS. 4K High drops to 55.9 FPS, which is still smooth for an MMORPG, but 1440p provides a higher margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 140.3 at 1080p to 55.9 at 4K, a reduction of 84.4 FPS (60%). At Low settings, the drop is from 226.9 to 88.5 FPS, a 138.4 FPS decrease (61%), indicating a consistent scaling penalty across presets.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo produces 226.9 FPS, which exceeds what most displays can show. The i3-12100F’s single-thread performance (893 in 3DMark single-thread) is sufficient to drive frame rates well above 200 FPS, so the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a playable experience at any resolution?

A: Ultra settings yield 94 FPS at 1080p, 67.4 FPS at 1440p, and 40.1 FPS at 4K. The 1440p result is playable, but the 4K result falls below 60 FPS, which may be unacceptable for some players in a fast-paced MMORPG.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 293rd out of 1,727 combos, placing it in the top 17%. The GPU’s 84th percentile standing contributes more to this rank than the CPU’s 72nd percentile, as the RTX 4070 SUPER provides the majority of the raw performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, the difference is 18.9 FPS (226.9 vs 208), and at 1440p, it is 16.9 FPS (158.2 vs 141.3). This small gap suggests that Medium settings are a nearly free upgrade from Low in terms of performance cost.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS or higher, the data supports specific preset choices based on resolution. At 1080p, all presets except Ultra exceed 140 FPS, making High the sensible choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing performance (140.3 FPS). Ultra at 1080p still delivers 94 FPS, which is playable, but the 46.3 FPS drop from High to Ultra is substantial for a single settings tier. At 1440p, Medium (141.3 FPS) and High (95.6 FPS) both provide smooth gameplay, but High offers a significant visual upgrade for a 45.7 FPS cost. Ultra at 1440p drops to 67.4 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making it viable for players with G-Sync or FreeSync displays. At 4K, the choices are more constrained: Low (88.5 FPS) and Medium (81.8 FPS) are both excellent, while High (55.9 FPS) falls just below 60 FPS. Ultra at 4K (40.1 FPS) is not recommended for competitive play, but it may be acceptable for casual exploration in an MMORPG setting.

The optimal configuration depends on the player’s display refresh rate. For 144 Hz monitors at 1080p, High is the best choice, as it delivers 140.3 FPS, which is close to the refresh cap. For 1440p 144 Hz displays, Medium (141.3 FPS) is the only preset that approaches this target, while High (95.6 FPS) still provides a smooth experience. For 4K 60 Hz displays, Medium (81.8 FPS) offers headroom above the refresh rate, while Low (88.5 FPS) provides even more margin. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any preset, but the i3-12100F’s 4 cores become a bottleneck at Low settings where the GPU is underutilized. Therefore, players should avoid Low presets at 1080p and 1440p, as they leave performance on the table without any visual benefit, and instead favor Medium or High for a better balance of image quality and frame rate.