Archeage

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a highly playable ArcheAge experience across most tested configurations, though the data clearly indicates that the Ultra preset is the outlier. The measured frame rates show that the CPU handles the game’s MMO logic without issue while the GPU scales predictably with resolution. The combination ranks in the top 28.5% of all tested pairings for this title, placing it at rank 492 out of 1727 combos. The following analysis walks through the settings hierarchy, performance positioning, and the specific hardware dynamics that shape these results.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combo presents a clear three-tier performance structure across the four tested presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset produces 87.6 FPS average, which is playable but represents a massive 55.8% drop from the Low preset’s 198.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 186.5 FPS and High at 129.9 FPS both sit comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, but the gap between High and Ultra is substantial at 42.3 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern intensifies. Low delivers 143.5 FPS, Medium 125.4 FPS, and High 85.8 FPS — all still smooth. Ultra, however, collapses to 58 FPS, which is technically playable but noticeably below the fluidity of the other presets. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more restrictive: High manages 46.4 FPS, Medium 71.8 FPS, and Low 80.2 FPS, while Ultra falls to 31 FPS, which is below the standard for comfortable play.

The data points to Medium as the optimal balance for this combination. At 1080p, Medium delivers 186.5 FPS — only 6% behind Low but a massive 53% ahead of Ultra. At 1440p, Medium’s 125.4 FPS remains far above the 60 FPS target, and even at 4K, Medium’s 71.8 FPS is the only preset besides Low that stays above 60 FPS. High is viable at 1080p and 1440p but drops below 50 FPS at 4K. Ultra should be avoided at every resolution; its 31 FPS at 4K and 58 FPS at 1440p represent the only sub-60 results in the entire dataset.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1727 tested CPU-GPU combinations for ArcheAge, this pairing sits at rank 492. That places it in the 71.5th percentile of all tested combos, meaning roughly 28.5% of pairings deliver higher average performance. The ranking reflects a strong mid-to-upper tier position, consistent with a six-core CPU paired with a high-end GPU.

The CPU’s standalone benchmark profile reinforces this placement. The Core i5-11400F scores 17181 in the average benchmark score, which positions it at the 75th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are tightly clustered: the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U scores 17189 (0% delta), the Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17212 (-0.2% delta), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17215 (-0.2% delta). The Intel Core i5-1240U scores 17141, a 0.2% positive delta for the 11400F. This shows the CPU is operating at a performance level statistically indistinguishable from its closest competitors, all within a 0.4% spread.

The GPU side shows a similar story. The RX 9070 XT’s average benchmark score of 39647 places it at the 82nd percentile among GPUs. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39703, -0.1% delta), NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, 0.2% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39836, -0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (39879, -0.6% delta) — all fall within a tight 0.8% band. The measured FPS in ArcheAge, however, shows the GPU has ample headroom, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 198.4 FPS, which suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS on High settings?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 85.8 FPS, and at 1920x1080 it reaches 129.9 FPS. The 3840x2160 High preset drops to 46.4 FPS, so 1440p is the highest resolution where High settings remain above the 60 FPS target.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 198.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 87.6 FPS. This represents a 55.8% reduction in average frame rate, or a drop of 110.8 FPS, for the visual quality increase that Ultra provides.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The evidence suggests yes at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (198.4 FPS) and Medium (186.5 FPS) is only 11.9 FPS, while the difference between High (129.9 FPS) and Ultra (87.6 FPS) is 42.3 FPS. The relatively small gains from Low to Medium, combined with the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread configuration, indicate the processor is reaching its limits before the GPU does.

Q: What is the 4K performance ceiling for this pairing?

A: The best 4K result is Low at 80.2 FPS, followed by Medium at 71.8 FPS. High drops to 46.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31 FPS. Only Low and Medium maintain playable frame rates above 60 FPS at 3840x2160.

Q: How does the CPU’s multi-threaded score compare to its single-threaded score?

A: In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 14372 in multi-core and 2029 in single-core. The multi-core score is 7.1 times higher, indicating strong scaling across its 6 cores and 12 threads, though the 3DMark results show a more modest scaling: 5652 with max threads versus 868 with a single thread, a 6.5x multiplier.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever the best choice for this combo?

A: No. At every resolution tested, Ultra produces the lowest average FPS: 87.6 at 1080p, 58 at 1440p, and 31 at 4K. In each case, the Medium preset provides significantly higher frame rates (186.5, 125.4, and 71.8 respectively) with only a moderate reduction in visual fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured dataset for this combination shows a consistent hierarchy across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 198.4 FPS, Medium 186.5 FPS, High 129.9 FPS, and Ultra 87.6 FPS. The spread from best to worst is 110.8 FPS, with Medium delivering 94% of Low’s performance.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 143.5 FPS, Medium 125.4 FPS, High 85.8 FPS, and Ultra 58 FPS. The spread narrows to 85.5 FPS, and Medium retains 87.4% of Low’s performance. The transition from High to Ultra here is particularly steep, showing a 27.8 FPS drop.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 80.2 FPS, Medium 71.8 FPS, High 46.4 FPS, and Ultra 31 FPS. The spread is 49.2 FPS, and Medium holds 89.5% of Low’s frame rate. The High preset’s 46.4 FPS and Ultra’s 31 FPS are the only two sub-60 results in the entire dataset.

The relative ordering remains identical at every resolution: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The performance deltas between presets, however, change with resolution. At 1080p, the gap between High and Ultra is 42.3 FPS; at 1440p it’s 27.8 FPS; at 4K it’s 15.4 FPS. This narrowing indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more dominant in determining frame rates, reducing the relative impact of the preset-driven load on the CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows the expected pattern for a GPU-heavy workload, but with notable deviations that reveal the system’s balance. For the Low preset, 1080p delivers 198.4 FPS, dropping to 143.5 FPS at 1440p (a 27.7% reduction) and 80.2 FPS at 4K (a 59.6% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, suggesting the GPU is the primary constraint at Low settings.

The Medium preset shows similar behavior: 186.5 FPS at 1080p, 125.4 FPS at 1440p (32.8% drop), and 71.8 FPS at 4K (61.5% drop from 1080p). High settings yield 129.9 FPS at 1080p, 85.8 FPS at 1440p (33.9% drop), and 46.4 FPS at 4K (64.3% drop). Ultra follows with 87.6, 58, and 31 FPS — drops of 33.8% and 64.6% respectively.

The consistent 27-34% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all presets indicates that neither component is severely bottle-necked during that transition. However, the 4K drops, which range from 59.6% to 64.6%, show a steeper decline than the pure pixel count would suggest (4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p and 4 times that of 1080p). This disproportionate falloff at 4K points to the RX 9070 XT’s memory bandwidth and compute being stretched, particularly at High and Ultra where the 4K results fall below 60 FPS. The CPU’s 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR4 support become less relevant as resolution rises, since the GPU’s 644.6 GB/s bandwidth and 16 GB GDDR6 memory take over the workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings a 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Rocket Lake architecture and 14 nm process node deliver a 75th percentile standing among all CPUs in the database. The single-thread performance, measured at 868 in 3DMark and 2029 in Cinebench R23, is what drives the 1080p results where the CPU is the limiting factor.

The multi-threaded capabilities are substantial: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 14372, while Geekbench multi-core hits 7579. The 3DMark thread scaling shows 1691 for 2 threads, 3171 for 4 threads, 4691 for 8 threads, and 5652 for max threads. This scaling pattern — a 3.3x improvement from 2 to 12 threads — indicates that ArcheAge cannot fully utilize all 12 threads, which is typical for an MMORPG with older engine roots.

The evidence for CPU limitation at 1080p appears in the preset deltas. At 1080p, the jump from Low (198.4 FPS) to Medium (186.5 FPS) costs only 11.9 FPS, suggesting the CPU’s single-thread headroom is nearly exhausted. The larger drop to High (129.9 FPS) and Ultra (87.6 FPS) reflects the GPU working harder, but the CPU cannot compensate. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes as the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck — the 4K Low preset still achieves 80.2 FPS, indicating the CPU is not preventing the GPU from reaching its output.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy — 80 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 12 MB shared L3 — is sufficient for the game’s data patterns. Its 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status place it as a mid-range desktop part, and its benchmark average of 17181 aligns closely with rivals like the Ryzen 7 5700U and Core i7-1260P, all within 0.2% of each other. This means the 11400F is neither a standout nor a liability; it consistently feeds the RX 9070 XT enough data to maintain the measured frame rates, with the GPU taking over as the dominant component as resolution increases.