Archeage

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable but uneven experience in ArcheAge, a 2014 MMORPG whose performance profile heavily favors CPU throughput at lower resolutions. This combination ranks in the 29th percentile for this game, sitting at position 2624 out of 3708 tested combos, which suggests that while the hardware is competent, it is far from optimal for this specific title. The data reveals a system that can push high frame rates at 1080p but struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K, with the scaling pattern pointing directly at the graphics card as the primary bottleneck in demanding scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 129 FPS at 1080p to 87 FPS at 1440p, then down to 50 FPS at 4K—a reduction of roughly 32% when stepping up to 1440p and another 43% when moving to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering throughput is the limiting factor once the pixel count rises, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions but cannot compensate for the increased workload.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at Medium settings, where the average drops from 115 FPS at 1080p to 77 FPS at 1440p (a 33% reduction) and then to 44 FPS at 4K (a 43% reduction from 1440p). High settings tell a similar story, with averages of 78, 52, and 30 FPS across the three resolutions, respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across different quality presets strongly suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the binding constraints at higher resolutions, rather than any CPU limitation.

At Ultra settings, the scaling becomes even more severe, with the average falling from 53 FPS at 1080p to 36 FPS at 1440p and then to just 20 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling—a 62% drop from the 1080p Ultra figure—which implies that the combination of maximum graphical fidelity and high pixel density overwhelms the GPU's capabilities. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases: at 1080p the difference is 76 FPS (129 vs 53), but at 4K it narrows to 30 FPS (50 vs 20), meaning that at 4K even dropping to Low settings cannot rescue playable frame rates.

This data implies that for this combo, 1080p is the sweet spot where the CPU and GPU balance each other well, while 1440p represents a compromise zone where Medium and High settings remain viable, and 4K should be reserved for Low or Medium settings at best. The fact that the frame rate at 4K Low (50 FPS) is still lower than 1080p Ultra (53 FPS) underscores how heavily the resolution increase taxes the GPU, regardless of quality preset.

How This Combo Ranks

In ArcheAge specifically, this combo ranks 2624 out of 3708 tested combinations, placing it in the 29th percentile of all systems tested for this game. This relatively low ranking suggests that the game's performance characteristics favor hardware configurations that differ from this pairing—likely those with stronger single-threaded CPU performance or more recent GPU architectures. The i5-11400F holds a 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs based on average benchmark scores, while the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile among GPUs, yet their combined performance in this game falls below what those individual rankings might predict.

Comparing to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i5-11400F's average benchmark score of 17177 is remarkably close to several competitors, including the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120, a 0.3% difference) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17074, a 0.6% difference). This tight clustering indicates that the CPU's raw computational power is roughly average for its class, but ArcheAge's engine may not scale well with the i5-11400F's specific architecture—a 6-core, 12-thread Rocket Lake part with a 12 MB shared L3 cache.

The GPU side shows a similar pattern, with the RTX 2060 SUPER's average score of 18093 falling within 1.6% of several rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, -0.4%), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, -1.5%). The proximity of these scores suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a mid-pack performer, but in ArcheAge's specific workload, the game's older engine may not fully utilize the GPU's Turing architecture features like ray tracing cores or tensor cores, which could explain why the combo ranks lower than the sum of its parts.

The rank percentile difference between the combo (29th) and the individual components (71st for CPU, 62nd for GPU) implies that ArcheAge is particularly demanding on some aspect of this configuration that isn't captured by generic benchmarks. This could be related to the game's MMO nature, which often involves many on-screen characters and complex draw calls that stress both the CPU's single-thread performance and the GPU's geometry processing capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play ArcheAge with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings, with averages ranging from 53 FPS at Ultra to 129 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, the averages drop to between 36 and 87 FPS, while 3840x2160 yields only 20 to 50 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where all presets achieve at least 50 FPS.

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

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 129 to 50, a 61% reduction. At Medium settings, it falls from 115 to 44, a 62% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 78 to 30, a 62% reduction. At Ultra settings, the average falls from 53 to 20, a 62% reduction. The consistency across presets indicates a uniform GPU bottleneck.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this game?

A: The resolution scaling strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but the combo's low rank (2624 of 3708) suggests the CPU may also be a constraint at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 129 FPS average is likely near the CPU's maximum framerate for this game, given the i5-11400F's single-thread benchmark score of 868 in 3DMark.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings average 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 89, while Ultra settings average only 36 FPS. This represents a 53% reduction in average frame rate when switching from Medium to Ultra, making Medium the more sensible choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar hardware in the database?

A: The combo ranks 2624 out of 3708, placing it in the 29th percentile. The CPU's average score of 17177 is within 0.6% of rivals like the AMD EPYC 7H12 and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, while the GPU's 18093 average is within 1.6% of the RTX 3060 Mobile and Radeon RX 460, indicating the combo is statistically similar to several alternatives.

Q: Is the frame rate stable at Medium settings?

A: The data shows min/max values only for Medium settings, revealing a 97 to 132 FPS range at 1080p, a 66 to 89 FPS range at 1440p, and a 38 to 51 FPS range at 4K. These ranges suggest moderate frame time variance, with the 4K Medium preset showing the tightest spread relative to its average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all presets. Low settings achieve an average of 129 FPS, making this the fastest configuration tested. Medium settings average 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 and maximum of 132, showing a 35 FPS spread that indicates some scene-dependent variability. High settings average 78 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 53 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 59% reduction from Low.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably but remains viable for most presets. Low settings average 87 FPS, which is 42 FPS lower than the 1080p equivalent. Medium settings average 77 FPS with a range of 66 to 89, showing a 23 FPS spread that is tighter than at 1080p. High settings average 52 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 36 FPS, which borders on the edge of smooth gameplay for an MMORPG.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 50 FPS, which is the only 4K preset to exceed 45 FPS. Medium settings average 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 51, showing a 13 FPS spread. High settings average 30 FPS, and Ultra settings average just 20 FPS, making this preset essentially unplayable for any action-heavy content. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 30 FPS drop, which is the smallest absolute difference across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU's maximum output is being reached even at Low settings.

The data reveals that the Medium preset consistently offers the best balance of performance and visual quality, with averages of 115 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. The min/max data for Medium settings also shows that frame pacing is reasonable, with the 4K preset having the smallest relative variance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is directly relevant to ArcheAge's performance at higher resolutions, as the 4K results (30 FPS at High, 20 FPS at Ultra) suggest that the GPU's memory bandwidth and texture fill rate are insufficient for the game's demands at 3840x2160. The GPU's 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate are modest by modern standards, which explains why the frame rate drops so precipitously as resolution increases.

The GPU's boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz provide a 12% overclock headroom, but the benchmarks indicate that raw clock speed is not the limiting factor—the 62nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and the 4K performance suggest that the TU106 chip's overall compute capacity is the constraint. The GPU's 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the sheer number of pixels to process overwhelms these resources.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 14.36 TFLOPS of FP16 performance and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are theoretical maximums that the game likely does not fully utilize, given ArcheAge's 2014 release date and older engine. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility are forward-looking features that this game probably does not leverage, meaning the GPU's modern architecture is partially wasted on this title. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for all tested settings, but the bandwidth limitation becomes apparent when comparing the 4K Low (50 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (53 FPS) results—the former uses less memory but still achieves similar frame rates, indicating that bandwidth, not capacity, is the bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience at 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, offering 115 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum. This provides a 47% improvement over High settings (78 FPS) while still maintaining better visual fidelity than Low (129 FPS). The High preset is viable at 1080p with 78 FPS, but the jump to Ultra (53 FPS) is not worth the visual gains, as the frame rate drops below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider essential for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings are strongly recommended, with 77 FPS average and a 66 FPS minimum that stays above playable levels. High settings at 1440p (52 FPS) are borderline, and Ultra (36 FPS) should be avoided. Low settings (87 FPS) are an option for competitive play, but the visual compromise is significant.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests that only Low settings (50 FPS) and Medium settings (44 FPS) are worth considering, with the latter offering a better visual experience at a 12% frame rate cost. High (30 FPS) and Ultra (20 FPS) are not recommended, as the frame rates are too low for an MMORPG where reaction time matters in combat scenarios. The Medium preset at 4K provides a 38 FPS minimum, which is just at the edge of acceptable, but players should be prepared for occasional dips.

The overall pattern across all resolutions is that Medium provides the best balance of performance and quality, while Ultra should be avoided entirely with this combo. The data shows that the step from Medium to High costs 37 FPS at 1080p (115 to 78) but only 8 FPS at 4K (44 to 30), meaning that at higher resolutions, the visual quality gains from High are relatively more expensive in percentage terms.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, built on the Rocket Lake architecture with a 14 nm process. Its 12 MB shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are moderate by current standards, but the CPU's single-thread performance is what matters most for ArcheAge, an MMORPG that relies heavily on one or two cores for game logic and entity management. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024 are respectable, but the 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is not a top-tier part.

The CPU's performance in ArcheAge is likely constrained by its 6-core design, as the game's engine may not efficiently utilize more than 4 threads. The 3DMark 4-thread score of 3171 is significantly lower than the 8-thread score of 4691, suggesting that scaling beyond 4 cores yields diminishing returns—a pattern that aligns with older MMO engines. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 6022 and R15 multi-core score of 1445 show that the CPU can handle multi-threaded workloads, but the game's performance is more dependent on the single-thread score.

The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is the key asset here, as higher clocks directly translate to better frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. However, the 65W TDP and end-of-life production status indicate that this is a mid-range part, not a high-end enthusiast chip. The combo's 29th percentile ranking in ArcheAge suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance, while adequate, is not sufficient to push the game's frame rates much higher than the measured values, particularly at 1080p where the GPU is less of a bottleneck. The PassMark single-thread score of 2981 and Geekbench single-core score of 1777 confirm that the CPU is competitive with its rivals but not exceptional, and the game's performance reflects this positioning.