Archeage

# Archeage: Intel Core i5-12400 + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

This pairing of a 6-core Alder Lake processor with AMD's flagship RDNA 3 GPU produces a wide performance envelope in Archeage, ranging from 39 FPS at 4K Ultra to 230 FPS at 1080p Low. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions and settings, while at 1080p Low the frame rate climbs high enough to expose the CPU's role in this MMORPG.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces dramatic frame rate shifts that clearly identify the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At High settings, average FPS drops from 149 at 1920x1080 to 100 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 49 FPS or roughly one-third of the 1080p figure. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average falls to 57 FPS, which represents a 62% decrease from the 1080p result. This steep scaling curve is typical of a GPU-heavy workload where pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

The scaling pattern at Low settings is even more pronounced. The RX 7900 XTX delivers 230 FPS at 1080p Low, 165 FPS at 1440p Low, and 95 FPS at 4K Low. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 65 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 70 FPS. This consistent drop of roughly 65-70 FPS per resolution step suggests the GPU's fillrate and bandwidth are being taxed progressively, with the 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate working harder at each higher resolution.

Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 219 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS at Medium also scales predictably, with 186 at 1080p, 125 at 1440p, and 72 at 4K. The maximum values of 251, 169, and 97 respectively reinforce the notion that the GPU's compute resources—61.39 TFLOPS FP32 and 959.2 GTexel/s texture rate—are being saturated as resolution climbs.

Ultra settings produce the steepest scaling curve, with 101 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result drops below the 60 FPS threshold, which is notable because the RX 7900 XTX ranks in the 64th percentile among all GPUs. The fact that this high-end card cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra indicates that Archeage's Ultra preset imposes exceptionally heavy rendering demands.

The resolution scaling data suggests that at 1080p, the system is transitioning toward CPU limitation at lower settings, while at 4K, the GPU is unambiguously the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the 230 FPS average is high enough that the Core i5-12400's single-thread performance likely becomes a factor, whereas at 4K Ultra, the 39 FPS result points squarely at the GPU's inability to process the scene fast enough.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S chip has an 18 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 or DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration. In the context of Archeage, an MMORPG that relies heavily on single-threaded game logic and draw call processing, the CPU's single-core performance is more relevant than its multi-threaded throughput.

Benchmark data for the i5-12400 shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 910, while the 2-thread test scores 1692, indicating that scaling from one to two threads nearly doubles performance. The 4-thread score of 3012 and 8-thread score of 4745 show diminishing returns as more threads are utilized, which aligns with the game's tendency to favor fewer, faster cores. The max-threads score of 5890 is only 24% higher than the 8-thread result, suggesting that additional threads beyond 8 provide limited benefit.

In Cinebench R23, the i5-12400 scores 2257 in single-core and 15989 in multi-core. The ratio of multi-core to single-core performance is approximately 7.1x, which is reasonable for a 6-core/12-thread part. PassMark single-thread results show a score of 3456, while the multithread score is 18747. The CPU's overall percentile rank is 72, meaning it outperforms 72% of all tested CPUs.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database provide context for the i5-12400's positioning. The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697 with a delta of -0.1%, essentially matching the i5-12400's 18683 average benchmark score. The Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730 with a delta of -0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 18811 with a delta of -0.7%. The Intel Core i3-14100F is the closest rival below, scoring 18519 with a delta of +0.9%. This tight cluster of scores indicates that the i5-12400's overall benchmark performance is competitive with a wide range of other processors, though its single-thread characteristics are what matter most for Archeage.

At 1080p Low, where the system achieves 230 FPS, the CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is likely being fully utilized. The transition from Low to Medium at 1080p shows a modest 11 FPS drop (230 to 219), suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at these settings. However, at 4K Ultra with 39 FPS, the CPU has ample headroom, and the GPU's rendering capabilities are the clear constraint. The data indicates that the i5-12400 is neither a significant bottleneck at high resolutions nor a performance ceiling at low settings, but rather sits in a balanced position that allows the RX 7900 XTX to stretch its legs at 1440p.

FAQ

Q: Why does 4K Ultra produce only 39 FPS while 1080p Ultra reaches 101 FPS?

A: The 4K Ultra frame rate is less than half of the 1080p Ultra result, and the scaling pattern across all settings shows consistent drops as resolution increases. This indicates the RX 7900 XTX's rendering pipeline becomes saturated at 4K with Ultra settings, particularly given the GPU's 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: Is the Core i5-12400 holding back the RX 7900 XTX in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the 230 FPS result suggests the CPU is approaching its limits, but the 7.1x multi-core to single-core ratio in Cinebench R23 and the single-thread score of 2257 indicate adequate performance. At higher resolutions, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, so the CPU is not a meaningful bottleneck.

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

A: The 1440p Medium setting delivers 147 FPS average with a minimum of 125 FPS, providing a strong balance between visual quality and smoothness. The 4K High setting at 57 FPS is playable but approaches the edge of smooth performance, while 1080p offers higher frame rates but less visual detail.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX compare to other GPUs in the benchmark database?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 19410, placing it in the 64th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, scores 19334 with a delta of +0.4%, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 scores 19602 with a delta of -1%. The NVIDIA TITAN Xp scores 19177 with a delta of +1.2%.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core configuration limit performance in Archeage?

A: The 3DMark 8-thread score of 4745 versus the max-threads score of 5890 shows only 24% improvement from adding threads beyond 8. Archeage's single-threaded nature means the i5-12400's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is more important than core count, and the data shows strong frame rates at 1080p.

Q: Why does the Medium preset at 4K achieve 84 FPS while Ultra drops to 39 FPS?

A: The 45 FPS difference between Medium and Ultra at 4K demonstrates the substantial rendering cost of Ultra effects. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 72 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, whereas Ultra falls well below it, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual features are disproportionately expensive on this GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 230 FPS, Medium averages 219 FPS with a minimum of 186 FPS and maximum of 251 FPS, High averages 149 FPS, and Ultra averages 101 FPS. The spread from 230 FPS at Low to 101 FPS at Ultra represents a 56% reduction, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a significant performance cost even at 1080p.

The 2560x1440 results show a step down across the board. Low averages 165 FPS, Medium averages 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS and maximum of 169 FPS, High averages 100 FPS, and Ultra averages 68 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent at roughly 35% across all settings, which aligns with the increased pixel count of 78% more pixels requiring additional GPU throughput.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope compresses considerably. Low averages 95 FPS, Medium averages 84 FPS with a minimum of 72 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS, High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The 4K results show that only Low and Medium settings maintain an average above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra fall below this threshold. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 72, which is still playable, but the 57 FPS average at High and 39 FPS at Ultra indicate that these settings are not ideal for smooth gameplay.

Comparing the Medium preset across resolutions reveals the most complete data set, as it includes both minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 186 FPS and maximum of 251 FPS show a 65 FPS range, indicating some frame time variance. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 44 FPS (125 to 169), and at 4K Medium, it narrows further to 25 FPS (72 to 97). This tightening range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent as it becomes the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 533rd out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the 86th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates at 1080p and playable rates at 1440p, despite the CPU's mid-range positioning and the GPU's 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs provides context for its contribution to this combo's overall position. The i5-12400's average benchmark score of 18683 places it in a tight cluster with rivals such as the AMD EPYC 7643 at 18697 (-0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U at 18730 (-0.3%), AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 at 18811 (-0.7%), and Intel Core i3-14100F at 18519 (+0.9%). This clustering suggests that the CPU is not an outlier in either direction, and its performance in Archeage is likely typical of processors in this benchmark range.

The GPU's 64th percentile ranking is more modest, with an average benchmark score of 19410. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB at 19334 (+0.4%), NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 19602 (-1%), AMD FirePro D300 at 19637 (-1.2%), and NVIDIA TITAN Xp at 19177 (+1.2%). Despite the RX 7900 XTX being a high-end card with 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and 6144 shading units, its benchmark percentile is lower than might be expected, which could explain why the combo ranks at 533 rather than higher.

The combo's rank of 533 out of 3708 means there are 532 other tested combinations that perform better in this game. Given that the data is measured rather than estimated, this rank reflects actual gameplay performance. The fact that this system ranks in the top 15% of all tested combos suggests it is a capable setup for Archeage, even though it does not reach the top tiers.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing smooth frame rates above all else, the 1080p Low preset at 230 FPS delivers the highest measured performance. This setting is well above any refresh rate currently common in gaming monitors, providing substantial headroom. However, the visual compromise may not be worth the extra frames for most players.

The 1080p Medium preset at 219 FPS with a minimum of 186 FPS offers the best combination of high frame rates and improved visual quality at 1080p. The 11 FPS difference between Low and Medium is minimal, making Medium the sensible choice for 1080p displays. The 1080p High preset at 149 FPS is also viable, but the 70 FPS drop from Medium to High suggests the High preset's visual upgrades come at a noticeable cost.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS is the standout recommendation. This setting maintains frame rates well above 60 FPS even in the minimum case, and the 22 FPS difference between Medium and High (147 vs 100) makes Medium the clear sweet spot for 1440p gaming. The 1440p Low preset at 165 FPS is available for those who want maximum smoothness, but the visual trade-off is significant.

For 4K displays, the Medium preset at 84 FPS with a minimum of 72 FPS is the only recommended option. The 4K High preset at 57 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and the 4K Ultra preset at 39 FPS is not suitable for smooth gameplay. The 4K Low preset at 95 FPS is playable but sacrifices visual fidelity. The 4K Medium result of 84 FPS average with a 72 FPS minimum provides the best balance of resolution and performance on this hardware.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution in this configuration. At 1080p Ultra, the 101 FPS result is 118 FPS lower than Medium; at 1440p Ultra, the 68 FPS result is 79 FPS lower than Medium; and at 4K Ultra, the 39 FPS result is 45 FPS lower than Medium. The consistent pattern across resolutions indicates that the Ultra preset's performance cost is substantial, and the visual improvements are unlikely to justify the frame rate penalty. For the best experience with this Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX combination, the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p provides the optimal balance of measured performance and visual quality.