Archeage

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a combination that struggles significantly in Archeage, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data places this combo at rank 2546 out of 2761 tested configurations, putting it in the bottom 8% of all combos for this game. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics, bottlenecks, and practical settings for this hardware pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals a system heavily constrained by the GPU. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 65 FPS at 1920x1080 to 43 FPS at 2560x1440, a 34% reduction, and then to 25 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 42% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B370 is the primary limiting factor, as the workload increases with pixel count and the GPU cannot keep pace.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds: 57 FPS at 1080p drops to 39 FPS at 1440p (32% reduction) and then to 22 FPS at 4K (44% reduction). The consistent 30-45% performance penalty for each resolution step-up is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU has enough headroom to feed frames but the graphics processor runs out of compute and memory bandwidth.

The High preset shows similar behavior: 39 FPS at 1080p falls to 26 FPS at 1440p (33% drop) and 15 FPS at 4K (42% drop). Interestingly, the Ultra preset at 1080p delivers 27 FPS, which is barely playable, but at 1440p it falls to 18 FPS and at 4K it collapses to 10 FPS. The data suggests that resolution scaling is nearly linear, with each step up in pixel count costing roughly one-third of the previous frame rate, regardless of the quality preset.

This scaling behavior points directly to the GPU as the bottleneck. The Intel Core i5-12400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.40 GHz, would not typically show such dramatic frame rate drops from resolution changes unless the graphics subsystem is saturated. The 3 nm Intel Arc B370, despite its modern architecture, has only 1280 shading units and a 25 W TDP, which limits its ability to handle the increased pixel throughput at 1440p and 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370's specifications explain much of the performance ceiling observed in Archeage. With a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, the GPU has a narrow operational range. The system-shared memory architecture means there is no dedicated VRAM, and the bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which introduces variability based on the rest of the platform.

The GPU's benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, delta -0.2%) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, delta -0.5%), which are legacy parts from over a decade ago. This context is crucial: the Arc B370 performs at a level comparable to ancient discrete GPUs, which explains why 4K Ultra yields only 10 FPS and even 1080p High struggles to reach 40 FPS.

The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are modest figures. At 4K resolution (3840x2160), the GPU must process roughly 8.3 million pixels per frame. With a pixel rate of 48 GPixel/s, the theoretical maximum fill rate would allow about 5,800 frames per second of pure pixel pushing, but real-world rendering involves shaders, textures, and memory access that dramatically reduce this. The measured 25 FPS at 4K Low versus 15 FPS at 4K High shows that the GPU's fixed-function units and shading capacity are overwhelmed as quality settings increase.

The FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS is the compute ceiling, but Archeage, as an MMORPG from 2014, relies more on draw calls and geometry than raw shader throughput. The lack of dedicated VRAM means the GPU competes with the CPU for system memory bandwidth, further constraining performance in scenes with many characters or effects, which are common in MMO environments.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2546 out of 2761 tested configurations places this pairing in the bottom 7.8% of all tested combos in Archeage. This is a poor result that reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's, as the Core i5-12400F ranks in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 19039.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (score 19047, delta 0%), the Intel Core 3 201E (score 19056, delta -0.1%), and the Intel Core i5-1335U (score 18982, delta 0.3%). These are all mobile or low-power parts, and the i5-12400F slightly outperforms or matches them in synthetic tests. However, when paired with the Arc B370 in Archeage, the combination ranks near the bottom, confirming that the GPU drags the overall experience down.

The gap between the CPU's solid standing (73rd percentile) and the combo's poor ranking (2546th of 2761) highlights a severe imbalance. A capable processor is being held back by a graphics solution that cannot deliver playable frame rates at most settings. The data shows this is not a CPU bottleneck: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 65 FPS, but this drops to 27 FPS at Ultra, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor across all quality levels.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the only settings that provide a consistently playable experience are at 1920x1080 with Low or Medium presets. The Low preset at 1080p delivers 65 FPS average, which is smooth for an MMORPG, while Medium achieves 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS. These are the only configurations that maintain frame rates above 50 FPS.

At 1440p, the Low preset yields 43 FPS, which may be tolerable for some players but is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 1440p drops to 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS, which could cause noticeable stuttering in crowded areas. The High preset at 1080p delivers 39 FPS, but this is marginal and the frame pacing may suffer in combat scenarios.

The Ultra preset is not viable at any resolution: 27 FPS at 1080p, 18 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. These frame rates are below playable thresholds for an action-oriented MMORPG. The data suggests that users should avoid Ultra entirely and stick to Low or Medium at 1080p for the best experience.

For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, Medium at 1440p (39 FPS) is the highest resolution with a reasonable balance, but the minimum FPS of 33 indicates potential dips. The recommended configuration is 1080p Low for maximum smoothness, with 1080p Medium as an alternative if visual fidelity is more important than frame rate consistency.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 65 FPS at Low to 27 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset delivers 57 FPS average, with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS. The High preset achieves 39 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 38 FPS, showing that quality settings have a major impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly. Low produces 43 FPS, Medium 39 FPS (min 33, max 44), High 26 FPS, and Ultra 18 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 25 FPS, but all settings except Low are below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 33 FPS, which is close to the 30 FPS threshold for playability but may feel choppy.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. Low yields 25 FPS, Medium 22 FPS (min 19, max 25), High 15 FPS, and Ultra 10 FPS. None of these settings reach 30 FPS, meaning the system cannot maintain a smooth experience at 4K under any quality level. The Medium preset's minimum of 19 FPS and maximum of 25 FPS show severe frame time inconsistency.

The overall pattern across all resolutions shows that Low settings provide roughly 2.5 times the frame rate of Ultra settings at the same resolution. For example, at 1080p, Low (65 FPS) is 2.4 times Ultra (27 FPS); at 1440p, Low (43 FPS) is 2.4 times Ultra (18 FPS); at 4K, Low (25 FPS) is 2.5 times Ultra (10 FPS). This consistent ratio indicates that the GPU's performance scales predictably with quality settings, and the bottleneck remains constant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 18 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are respectable: Cinebench R23 multicore of 12380 and single-core of 1680, Geekbench multicore of 9472 and single-core of 1964, and Passmark multithread of 19433.

In Archeage, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The 3DMark scores show a single-thread score of 909 and a 2-thread score of 1699, indicating that the processor has solid single-thread performance, which matters for MMO game logic and network handling. The 8-thread score of 4779 and max-thread score of 5912 suggest that the CPU can handle moderate multi-threaded workloads without becoming a bottleneck.

The data from the measured FPS rows supports this: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 65 FPS, which is higher than most other settings, suggesting the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at this level. However, at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 27 FPS, which is a 58% reduction. This drop is too large to be attributed to CPU limitations, as the CPU would not be significantly more stressed at Ultra versus Low for the same resolution.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (delta 0%), Intel Core 3 201E (delta -0.1%), and Intel Core i5-1335U (delta 0.3%). These are all within 0.3% of the i5-12400F's average score, indicating that the CPU's performance is typical for its class. The fact that this combo ranks so low in Archeage despite the CPU's adequate performance reinforces that the GPU is the limiting component.

The CPU has a TDP of 65 W and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, but the shared memory architecture of the GPU means that system memory bandwidth directly affects graphics performance. With no dedicated VRAM, the GPU relies on the CPU's memory controller, which could introduce latency in memory-heavy scenes. However, the data does not show CPU-specific bottlenecks, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings provides 65 FPS average, and Medium settings provide 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS. These are the only configurations that maintain frame rates above 50 FPS. At 1440p, the Low preset drops to 43 FPS, and at 4K, even Low only reaches 25 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F or the Intel Arc B370 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs with solid benchmark scores, while the GPU ranks in the 5th percentile. Frame rates drop by 30-45% with each resolution increase, which is a GPU-bound pattern. The CPU's performance is sufficient to drive 65 FPS at 1080p Low, but the GPU cannot maintain playable rates at higher settings.

Q: Can this combo run Archeage at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 25 at Low settings, and the Ultra preset delivers only 10 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 19 FPS and maximum of 25 FPS, which is below playable thresholds. All 4K settings produce frame rates under 30 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, delta -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, delta -0.5%), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, delta -0.7%). These are all legacy GPUs, indicating the Arc B370 performs at a level comparable to decade-old hardware.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 65 FPS average, while Ultra delivers 27 FPS. This is a 38 FPS difference, representing a 58% reduction in performance. The Medium preset sits in between at 57 FPS, and High achieves 39 FPS. The data shows that quality settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

Q: Should I use Medium settings at 1440p or High settings at 1080p?

A: The data shows 1440p Medium delivers 39 FPS average with a minimum of 33 FPS, while 1080p High delivers 39 FPS average. Both have the same average frame rate, but the 1440p Medium has a lower minimum (33 FPS) compared to the 1080p High (no minimum FPS data available). The 1080p High may offer more consistent frame times given the lower resolution, but neither reaches 60 FPS.