Archeage

# Archeage Performance Analysis: Intel Core i5-10400F + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT

This combination of an Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a playable but uneven experience in Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG that shows clear signs of engine limitations at higher settings. The measured data reveals a system that excels at 1080p with lower presets but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K, particularly when graphical fidelity is pushed to Ultra. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all tested GPUs and the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking suggest a balanced pairing, yet the game's performance curve indicates that resolution and settings choices matter far more than raw hardware potential.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the system produces 134.5 FPS at 1080p, 87.6 FPS at 1440p, and 51.3 FPS at 4K — a 61.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the frame rate decreases proportionally with pixel count. At Medium settings, the drop is even steeper: 117.4 FPS at 1080p falls to 82.9 FPS at 1440p and then 43.6 FPS at 4K, representing a 62.9% loss from the lowest to highest resolution.

High settings show 79.4 FPS at 1080p, 57.4 FPS at 1440p, and 29.1 FPS at 4K — a 63.4% reduction. Ultra settings present the most extreme case: 56.3 FPS at 1080p drops to 37.4 FPS at 1440p and then 21.8 FPS at 4K, a 61.3% decrease. The consistency of this ~62% reduction across all settings indicates that resolution scaling is governed almost entirely by the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities, not by CPU limitations. The RX 6650 XT's 64 ROPs and 168.6 GPixel/s pixel rate appear insufficient for 4K in this title, particularly when compared to the much smoother 1440p results.

Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K at every settings level. At Low, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 34.9%, while 1440p-to-4K is 41.4%. This suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s and 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM become increasingly stressed as pixel count approaches 4K, with the 128-bit memory bus acting as a constraining factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT's specifications provide context for its performance in Archeage. With 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the GPU is architecturally capable but not designed for 4K gaming. Its base clock of 2055 MHz and boost clock of 2635 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz, demonstrate that the card relies on high clock speeds to compensate for its narrower 128-bit memory bus. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 17.5 Gbps effective delivers 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate at 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 72nd percentile of all tested GPUs, with an average score of 29024. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, scores 29011 (0% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996 (0.1% delta). This tight clustering indicates that the RX 6650 XT performs essentially identically to these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks, yet in Archeage, the measured results show that settings and resolution have a more significant impact than raw compute power. The GPU's 10.79 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 337.3 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial, but the game's rendering pipeline appears to favor memory bandwidth over raw compute.

The 4K Ultra result of 21.8 FPS is particularly telling, as it falls below playable thresholds. Even at 4K Low, the 51.3 FPS result is borderline, suggesting that this GPU is fundamentally mismatched for 4K in this title. At 1440p, the GPU demonstrates its comfort zone: Low produces 87.6 FPS, Medium 82.9 FPS, and High 57.4 FPS — all playable, with Ultra at 37.4 FPS being the only questionable result.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This Comet Lake architecture processor, built on a 14 nm process, features 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores are respectable — a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and single-core score of 1453 — placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance ceiling. The AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115 (0.4% higher), while the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277 (-0.8% delta), and the Intel Core i5-8500 scores 14332 (-1.1% delta). These small percentage differences suggest the i5-10400F is well-matched against its peers. In Archeage, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but at 1080p, the picture is more nuanced.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 134.5 FPS, which is a strong result for an MMORPG known for CPU-heavy scenarios. The 3DMark scores reveal the CPU's multi-threaded capability: 4748 in 16-thread tests and 4735 in max-thread tests, showing that scaling is nearly linear up to 12 threads. This suggests that in crowded MMORPG environments with many players on screen, the CPU should maintain reasonable frame rates. However, the single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and 1453 in Cinebench R23 single-core indicate that the CPU's per-core performance is modest by modern standards, which could matter in Archeage's main-thread-bound scenarios.

The 1080p Ultra result of 56.3 FPS versus 1080p Low of 134.5 FPS (a 58.2% reduction) indicates that at 1080p, the GPU becomes the limiting factor even at this resolution. The CPU's 12 MB L3 cache and 6 physical cores appear sufficient for the game's logic, but the boost clock of 4.30 GHz may be stretched in high-population areas.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of 4K gaming in Archeage?

A: No. The measured data shows 4K performance ranging from 51.3 FPS at Low to just 21.8 FPS at Ultra. Only the Low preset approaches playability, and even that falls short of smooth 60 FPS standards.

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

A: 1440p offers the most balanced experience, with Low producing 87.6 FPS, Medium 82.9 FPS, and High 57.4 FPS. All three presets remain playable, unlike at 4K where even Low struggles.

Q: How does the RX 6650 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 29024, essentially tied with the RX 6800M at 29011 (0% delta) and the RX 470 at 28996 (0.1% delta). The Intel Arc A370M at 29175 scores 0.5% higher, while the RX Vega M GH at 29197 scores 0.6% higher.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 134.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. The consistent ~62% FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings confirms GPU-limited scaling.

Q: What settings should be avoided with this hardware?

A: Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as they produce 21.8 FPS at 4K, 37.4 FPS at 1440p, and 56.3 FPS at 1080p. Even at 1080p, Ultra falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this CPU rank against its closest competitors?

A: The i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14168 puts it within 1.2% of its nearest rivals. The AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115 (0.4% higher), the Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277 (0.8% lower), and the i5-8500 scores 14332 (1.1% lower).

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly identifies the optimal configuration for this hardware. At 1080p, Medium settings deliver 117.4 FPS, which is an excellent balance between visual quality and performance. High settings at 1080p produce 79.4 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS, making it a viable alternative for users prioritizing image quality. Low settings at 1080p reach 134.5 FPS, which benefits fast-paced combat but sacrifices visual fidelity unnecessarily given the headroom.

At 1440p, Medium settings at 82.9 FPS represent the sweet spot for this resolution, offering smooth gameplay with moderate graphical enhancements. High settings at 57.4 FPS are borderline — playable but not ideal for competitive scenarios. Low settings at 87.6 FPS provide the safest experience for 1440p gaming, ensuring consistent frame rates during intense MMORPG battles with many players on screen.

Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. The 56.3 FPS at 1080p is the only Ultra result above 40 FPS, and the marginal visual improvements over High do not justify the 29.1% performance reduction at 1080p (from High's 79.4 FPS). At 4K, only Low settings (51.3 FPS) approach playability, but even this preset cannot maintain a smooth experience during demanding scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 134.5 FPS, Medium reaches 117.4 FPS, High achieves 79.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 56.3 FPS. The progression shows a 12.7% drop from Low to Medium, a 32.4% drop from Medium to High, and a 29.1% drop from High to Ultra — indicating that the High-to-Ultra transition is the least efficient in terms of performance per visual gain.

At 2560x1440, performance remains respectable but less consistent. Low produces 87.6 FPS, Medium 82.9 FPS, High 57.4 FPS, and Ultra 37.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is particularly notable at 34.9%, suggesting that High settings introduce rendering features that heavily tax the GPU. The Medium-to-Low difference is only 5.4%, making Low a marginal improvement over Medium.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across all presets. Low achieves 51.3 FPS, Medium drops to 43.6 FPS, High falls to 29.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.8 FPS. The 4K results show a 15.0% drop from Low to Medium, a 33.3% drop from Medium to High, and a 25.1% drop from High to Ultra. These figures confirm that 4K gaming is not viable with this hardware in Archeage, as even the best preset fails to reach 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1126 out of 1727 tested combinations in Archeage, placing it in the 65.2nd percentile of all tested combos. This ranking reflects the hardware's mid-tier positioning: both components sit in the low-70s percentile individually, but the game's performance characteristics and the combination's measured results place it slightly below the median of tested systems.

The ranking suggests that while this pair is capable of solid 1080p and 1440p performance, it does not excel relative to other tested combinations. The GPU's close benchmark ties with the RX 6800M and RX 470 indicate that the RX 6650 XT is not a standout performer in its class, and the CPU's narrow margins against rivals like the i5-8500 reinforce this middling position. The 4K performance deficit is the primary factor dragging the combo's rank down, as the system's 1080p and 1440p results are competitive with what the hardware specifications would predict.

The rank of 1126 out of 1727 means that 601 tested combinations perform worse, while 1125 perform better. This positions the combo in the lower-middle tier of the database, which is consistent with the hardware's age (CPU from 2020, GPU from 2022) and the game's 2014 engine. Users seeking higher rankings would need either a stronger GPU for 4K capability or a newer CPU with higher single-thread performance for MMORPG scenarios.