Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, places distinct demands on the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 580 pairing. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a system where the graphics card is the primary constraint, yet the CPU's capabilities set the ceiling for playable scenarios. This analysis interprets the data to show how the combination behaves under load.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all quality presets, pointing to a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 66.5 at 1920x1080 to 48.7 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 27%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 25.8 FPS, which is a 61% decrease from the 1080p figure. This pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 580's rendering throughput is the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The scaling behavior is similar for the Medium preset, where the average goes from 64.0 FPS at 1080p to 40.6 FPS at 1440p, and then to 23.0 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows a more pronounced drop between 1440p and 4K, from 29.2 to 14.6 FPS, suggesting that the additional shading and texture work at High settings overwhelm the GPU at 4K. In contrast, the Ultra preset yields the lowest absolute numbers, with 29.8 FPS at 1080p, 22.2 FPS at 1440p, and 13.8 FPS at 4K. The consistent halving of performance from 1080p to 4K across presets confirms that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth, rated at 256.0 GB/s, are the primary bottlenecks.

Notably, the gap between Medium and High at 1080p is small, with 64.0 versus 40.8 FPS, but the gap widens at 1440p (40.6 vs 29.2) and narrows at 4K (23.0 vs 14.6). This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU's compute units, which number 2304 shading units, reach a saturation point where additional settings have diminishing returns on frame rate. The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the combination approaches a consistently playable experience, while 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then barely.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580, with its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, is the dominant component in this pairing. Its base clock of 1257 MHz and boost clock of 1340 MHz, along with a memory clock of 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective), define its processing capacity. The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which scores 13564, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 at 13549, with delta percentages of 0 and 0.1, respectively. This places the RX 580 in a mid-range tier, capable of handling older titles but struggling with modern demands at high resolutions.

In Archeage, the GPU's role is evidenced by the frame rate differences between settings. At 1080p, the jump from Low (66.5 FPS) to Ultra (29.8 FPS) represents a 55% performance penalty, which is typical for a GPU with 32 ROPs and a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s. The texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s, driven by 144 TMUs, is sufficient for 1080p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the High preset yields only 14.6 FPS. The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.175 TFLOPS is consistent with its GCN 4.0 architecture, but the data indicates that memory bandwidth is the critical resource; the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth is strained when rendering the large draw distances and particle effects common in MMORPGs.

The GPU's DirectX 12 support, rated at 12_0, does not appear to provide a tangible benefit in this title, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution without any anomalous spikes. The Vulkan 1.3 and OpenGL 4.6 APIs are supported, but the measured results suggest a standard rasterization workload. The GPU's 53rd percentile ranking, compared to its nearest rival the GTX 570 with a delta of 0, indicates that this card is a solid but not exceptional performer, and its 8 GB VRAM is adequate for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but the compute throughput is insufficient for 4K Ultra, which produces 13.8 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1586 out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the bottom 8% of configurations, reflecting the GPU's age and the CPU's mid-range positioning. The CPU itself, with a 75th percentile rank among all processors and an average benchmark score of 17181, is not the weak link; its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with a score of 17189 and a delta of 0, and the Intel Core i7-1260P at 17212 with a delta of -0.2. This suggests that the i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, are more than capable of feeding the GPU in most scenarios.

The low combo rank is thus driven by the GPU, which scores in the 53rd percentile. The measured frame rates, such as 40.8 FPS at 1080p High, are below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a fast-paced MMORPG. Compared to other tested combos, this pairing is clearly positioned at the lower end, where users would expect to run older or less demanding titles. The data shows that the CPU's multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372, does not translate into higher frame rates because the GPU cannot keep up with the rendering demands at higher settings. The combo's rank suggests that while the CPU has headroom, the GPU limits the overall experience, making this a balanced but low-end pairing for Archeage.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is achieved at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which delivers an average of 64.0 FPS. This is nearly identical to the Low preset's 66.5 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset offers a significant visual upgrade with only a marginal frame rate cost. At 1080p, the High preset yields 40.8 FPS, which is playable but may suffer in crowded areas, while Ultra drops to 29.8 FPS, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience.

For users with a 1440p monitor, the Low preset is the only viable option, producing 48.7 FPS, while Medium and High fall to 40.6 and 29.2 FPS, respectively. The Ultra preset at 1440p is not recommended, as it yields 22.2 FPS. At 4K, all presets are below playable thresholds, with the best being Low at 25.8 FPS, which is still suboptimal. The data suggests that the sweet spot is 1080p Medium, as it provides a frame rate that is 57% higher than the 1080p Ultra preset (64.0 vs 29.8 FPS) while maintaining a reasonable visual fidelity. For those prioritizing frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 66.5 FPS is the maximum achievable. The High preset at 1080p offers a middle ground, but the 40.8 FPS average indicates that it is best reserved for less demanding scenes.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings provides the best experience, with an average of 64.0 FPS. This is nearly as fast as the Low preset (66.5 FPS) but offers better visual quality.

Q: Can this system run Archeage at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is achieved on Low settings at 25.8 FPS. All other presets, including Medium (23.0 FPS), High (14.6 FPS), and Ultra (13.8 FPS), are below playable levels.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212). This indicates a performance parity among these processors.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a significant drop, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking and high multi-core scores (e.g., 14372 in Cinebench R23) suggest it has ample headroom, but the Radeon RX 580's 53rd percentile ranking limits overall performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 66.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 29.8 FPS. This represents a 55% reduction in frame rate when moving to Ultra settings.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, which is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564) with a delta of 0%. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 is also close at 13549, with a delta of 0.1%.