Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, is heavily dependent on single-threaded CPU performance and draw call processing, which makes pairing an older six-core processor like the Intel Core i5-10400F with a flagship-tier NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 an interesting study in bottleneck dynamics. The measured data shows a system that delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where this combination’s true limitations lie. The i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, posts a 3dmark_single_thread score of 688, while the RTX 4080, with 9728 shading units and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, is an absolute brute. The result is a pairing where the GPU frequently waits on the CPU, particularly at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern: as resolution increases, the average frame rate drops, but the rate of that drop is not uniform across all settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 169 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low yields 148 FPS, a drop of 21 FPS, and at 4K Low, the average falls to 104 FPS. That is a 65 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is being tasked more heavily as pixel count rises.

However, the more telling scaling appears at higher settings. At High settings, 1080p produces 140 FPS, 1440p produces 110 FPS, and 4K produces 63 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 21%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is a massive 43%. This accelerating decline points to the RTX 4080 becoming the primary limiting factor at 4K High, a workload that demands significant memory bandwidth and pixel throughput. The RTX 4080’s 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are substantial, but 4K High is a punishing load.

At Ultra settings, the pattern is even starker. The 1080p Ultra average is 111 FPS, which is surprisingly close to the 1440p High result of 110 FPS. Yet 1440p Ultra falls to 75 FPS, and 4K Ultra crashes to 43 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra is a 32% reduction, and from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is another 43% reduction. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce graphical effects that disproportionately hammer the GPU, likely related to the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory usage and the 304 TMUs handling complex textures.

The limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the i5-10400F’s single-thread performance of 688 in 3dmark_single_thread becomes the ceiling; the GPU could likely push higher, but the CPU’s 2.90 GHz base clock (boost up to 4.30 GHz) cannot feed frames fast enough. Evidence for this is the small gap between Low (169 FPS) and Medium (162 FPS) at 1080p — a mere 7 FPS difference despite the increased GPU load. At 4K, the RTX 4080 becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the steep drop from 104 FPS at Low to 63 FPS at High and then 43 FPS at Ultra. The CPU is still working hard, but the GPU’s rendering time dominates.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F capable of driving the RTX 4080 to high frame rates in Archeage?

A: At 1080p, yes, but with a visible cap. The measured 1080p Low average of 169 FPS and 1080p Medium average of 162 FPS are close, suggesting the CPU’s single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 688) is the constraining factor. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck, and the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep up, though the 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS shows that even the RTX 4080 struggles with maximum settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4080’s VRAM affect Archeage performance?

A: The RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. In the measured data, the biggest performance collapse occurs when moving from High to Ultra at 4K (63 FPS to 43 FPS). This suggests that Ultra settings at 4K are likely exceeding the comfortable capacity or bandwidth utilization, causing a significant frame rate penalty. At 1080p, the VRAM is not a limiting factor, as the difference between High (140 FPS) and Ultra (111 FPS) is modest.

Q: Should I play at 4K with this combo?

A: Only if you stick to Medium or Low settings. The 4K Medium average is 92 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, which is playable. 4K Low is 104 FPS, also good. But 4K High (63 FPS) and 4K Ultra (43 FPS) will feel sluggish for an MMORPG where player counts and spell effects can cause stutters. The data indicates that 4K Medium is the sweet spot for fluid gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 overkill for a 2014 game like Archeage?

A: The benchmark results suggest that the GPU is not overkill at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the measured 43 FPS shows the RTX 4080 is fully utilized and still cannot maintain 60 FPS. Even at 1440p Ultra, the average is 75 FPS, which is above 60 but far from the GPU’s potential. The game’s engine has scaling demands that push even this high-end card, especially with the RTX 4080’s 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: What is the main performance bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The CPU. The i5-10400F has a passmark_single_thread score of 2541 and a 3dmark_single_thread score of 688. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (169) and 1080p Medium (162) are nearly identical, which is a classic sign of a CPU limit. The GPU is not being taxed enough to differentiate between those settings. The RTX 4080’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is likely idle much of the time at 1080p.

Q: How does the combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: This specific combination of the i5-10400F and RTX 4080 ranks 688th out of 3708 tested combos for Archeage. That places it in the top 18.5% of all configurations tested, which is strong, but it is not near the top. The ranking reflects that while the GPU is excellent, the older CPU holds the combo back from the highest echelons of performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain much of the measured behavior. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, the chip (AD103) contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU’s base clock is 2205 MHz, boosting up to 2505 MHz, and it features 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. These raw numbers—particularly the 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute—translate to immense rasterization power.

In Archeage, the GPU’s role becomes more pronounced as resolution and settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, delivering just 43 FPS. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is a key factor here. Archeage at 4K Ultra likely consumes a significant portion of that 16 GB, and the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is being pushed to its limits. The measured drop from 4K High (63 FPS) to 4K Ultra (43 FPS) is a 32% performance hit, which is substantial and indicates that the Ultra preset introduces memory-heavy effects that the 256-bit bus struggles with.

The RTX 4080’s clock speeds also matter. The boost clock of 2505 MHz is high, and the GPU maintains strong performance at lower resolutions when the CPU can feed it. At 1440p High, the combo hits 110 FPS, and at 1080p High, 140 FPS. These numbers show that the GPU is capable of high refresh rates when not limited by the CPU. The 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs (avgBenchmarkScore of 54247) confirms that this is a top-tier card, but the game’s engine and CPU pairing limit its full expression.

The GPU’s memory configuration deserves attention. With 16 GB of GDDR6X and a 256-bit bus, the RTX 4080 has less bandwidth than some competitors, but still plenty for most games. Archeage, being an older MMORPG, may not be optimized to use all that VRAM efficiently. The measured 4K Medium result of 92 FPS (min 79, max 106) suggests that the card handles moderate loads well, but Ultra settings cause a cliff. This is not a VRAM capacity issue—16 GB is ample—but rather a bandwidth or shader complexity issue that the 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs must process.

Overall, the RTX 4080 is the star of this combo, but its performance is gated by the CPU at low resolutions and by the game’s engine at ultra-high settings. The measured data shows a GPU that can deliver 169 FPS at 1080p Low, but that number is not representative of the GPU’s true ceiling—it is a CPU limit. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is fully loaded, and the 43 FPS result is a reflection of the game’s demanding Ultra preset on a 2014 engine.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 688 out of 3708 tested combinations in Archeage. This places it in the 81.5th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly four out of every five configurations tested. That is a strong showing for a system built around a 2020 CPU and a 2022 GPU.

The ranking is influenced heavily by the CPU’s limitations. The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, with a percentileVsAllCpus of 68. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E (avgScore 14163, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (avgScore 14115, deltaPct 0.5), meaning the CPU is firmly in the mid-range of all processors. The RTX 4080, by contrast, has a percentileVsAllGpus of 86 and an average benchmark score of 54247, with its nearest rival being the RTX 4080 SUPER (avgScore 54209, deltaPct 0.1). This imbalance—a mid-tier CPU with a top-tier GPU—is exactly what the 688th rank reflects.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is held back by the CPU’s single-thread performance. Archeage is known for being CPU-bound in crowded areas, and the i5-10400F’s 3dmark_single_thread score of 688 is modest. A combo with a stronger CPU (e.g., one with a higher single-thread score) would likely rank higher, even with the same GPU. The 688th rank out of 3708 is respectable, but it is not a top-tier result. The data suggests that users with a 10th-gen i5 should not expect this combo to compete with newer CPU pairings.

The combo’s rank also benefits from the GPU’s raw power. The RTX 4080’s 86th percentile ranking means that in GPU-bound scenarios (like 4K Ultra), the combo performs far better than average. The measured 4K Medium average of 92 FPS is strong for any system, and the 1080p Medium average of 162 FPS is excellent. But the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions prevents this combo from climbing higher in the rankings. If the database included a combo with the same GPU and a faster CPU, that combo would likely rank in the top 200 or better.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience comes from balancing frame rate and visual fidelity. For 1080p, the Medium preset offers 162 FPS with a minimum of 138 FPS and a maximum of 187 FPS. This is a massive frame rate that will feel smooth on any high refresh rate monitor. The High preset at 1080p drops to 140 FPS, which is still excellent, but the gain in visual quality is marginal compared to the 22 FPS loss. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 111 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. Low at 1080p is 169 FPS, but the visual quality is poor. For most users, 1080p Medium is the sweet spot.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 142 FPS with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS. This is the best choice for 1440p, as it offers high frame rates without sacrificing too much visual detail. High at 1440p is 110 FPS, which is still smooth, but the drop from Medium is noticeable. Ultra at 1440p falls to 75 FPS, which is playable but may feel less fluid in crowded areas. Low at 1440p is 148 FPS, but again, the visual trade-off is severe. The data shows that 1440p Medium is the optimal balance.

For 4K, the situation is different. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 92 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that maintains a high frame rate. Low at 4K is 104 FPS, which is slightly better but with poor visuals. High at 4K is 63 FPS, which is borderline for an MMORPG, and Ultra at 4K is 43 FPS, which is too low for comfortable play. The recommendation for 4K is unequivocal: use Medium settings. The 92 FPS average is more than sufficient for a game like Archeage, and the minimum of 79 FPS ensures that frame drops remain manageable.

The pattern across all resolutions is that Medium offers the best frame rate-to-quality ratio. Low settings provide only marginal FPS gains over Medium (e.g., 169 vs 162 at 1080p, 148 vs 142 at 1440p, 104 vs 92 at 4K), while the visual penalty is significant. High settings are a step down in FPS but a step up in quality, and Ultra is a luxury that only the most powerful systems can handle at lower resolutions. For this combo, sticking to Medium is the practical choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in Archeage is as follows.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Low preset produces an average of 169 FPS. The Medium preset yields 162 FPS, with a minimum of 138 FPS and a maximum of 187 FPS. The High preset drops to 140 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 111 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 58 FPS reduction, which is a 34% drop. The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium, at 138 FPS, indicating that the combo maintains good stability at that setting.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the Low preset averages 148 FPS. The Medium preset averages 142 FPS, with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS. The High preset drops to 110 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 75 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 73 FPS, a 49% reduction. The Medium preset’s minimum of 121 FPS is still high, showing that even the lowest frame rate at this setting is smooth.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the Low preset averages 104 FPS. The Medium preset averages 92 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. The High preset drops significantly to 63 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces just 43 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 61 FPS drop, a 59% reduction. Notably, the Medium preset’s maximum of 106 FPS is higher than the Low preset’s average, indicating that there is some variance, but the minimum of 79 FPS shows that even the low end is playable.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best combination of average FPS and minimum FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 162 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 142 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 92 FPS. The High preset at 4K (63 FPS) is the first setting that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 4K (43 FPS) is the only setting below 45 FPS. The data also shows that the CPU bottleneck at 1080p is real: the difference between Low (169 FPS) and Medium (162 FPS) is just 7 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High (140 FPS) is 22 FPS, suggesting that the CPU limits the GPU’s ability to render more complex scenes at Low settings. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as the drop from Low (104 FPS) to High (63 FPS) is a 39% reduction that cannot be attributed to CPU limitations.