Archeage

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable 1080p experience in Archeage, but the data clearly shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component at higher resolutions and quality presets. The combination ranks 1534th out of 1727 tested combos in this MMORPG, placing it in the lower third of the database, which aligns with the mid-range positioning of both components. Benchmark results indicate that while the CPU has ample headroom, the GPU’s 6 GB VRAM and Turing architecture struggle to maintain fluid frame rates once pixel count and shading complexity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 98.7 FPS, but dropping to 1440p Low reduces that to 69.5 FPS—a 29.6% decline. Moving to 4K Low yields 36.6 FPS, which is a 62.9% drop from the 1080p Low figure. This pattern holds across all settings, with the most dramatic collapse occurring at Ultra: 38.6 FPS at 1080p falls to 27.7 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 14.4 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior suggests that Archeage becomes heavily GPU-bound as resolution rises. The pixel throughput demand at 4K (3840x2160) is 4 times that of 1080p, and the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 performance are insufficient to keep up. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, does not show signs of bottlenecking—the 2.50 GHz base clock and 4.40 GHz boost clock are more than adequate for an MMORPG’s typical draw calls. Instead, the data points to the GPU’s 48 ROPs and 1408 shading units as the limiting factors, especially at 4K where even Low settings cannot reach 40 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best measured experience, the data strongly favors 1080p with Low or Medium settings. The Low preset delivers 98.7 FPS, which is the highest recorded average across all resolutions and settings. Medium at 1080p is close behind at 85.8 FPS, offering a modest visual uplift for a 13% performance penalty. High at 1080p drops to 59.6 FPS—still playable but noticeably less fluid. Ultra at 1080p is the worst choice, yielding only 38.6 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most players would consider comfortable for an MMORPG.

At 1440p, the situation changes. Low produces 69.5 FPS, which is acceptable, while Medium drops to 61.4 FPS. High at 1440p gives 42.5 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 27.7 FPS. The data suggests that 1440p is only viable with Low or Medium presets. At 4K, no setting reaches 40 FPS—the best is Medium at 36.9 FPS, followed closely by Low at 36.6 FPS. High at 4K is 21.4 FPS, and Ultra is a slideshow at 14.4 FPS. Therefore, the recommendation is to prioritize 1080p Medium for a balanced experience, or 1080p Low for maximum smoothness.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER’s specifications directly explain the measured results. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card has enough capacity for 1080p textures but may struggle with 4K assets in a large MMORPG world. The 1530 MHz base clock and 1785 MHz boost clock are modest by modern standards, and the 12 nm Turing process node limits efficiency. The card’s 1408 shading units and 88 TMUs are adequate for 1080p, but the 48 ROPs become a bottleneck at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the sharp FPS drops.

The GPU’s avgBenchmarkScore of 14286 places it at the 55th percentile, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389 score, -0.7% delta) and the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352 score, -0.5% delta). These comparisons show that the GTX 1660 SUPER is not an outlier—it performs as expected for its class. However, in this specific game, the 4K results are particularly poor, with even Low settings failing to reach 40 FPS. This indicates that Archeage’s rendering pipeline is likely shader-heavy, which taxes the 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is also insufficient for 4K, where texture fetch demands are significantly higher.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset reveals a clear hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 98.7 FPS, Medium 85.8 FPS, High 59.6 FPS, and Ultra 38.6 FPS. This shows a 61.1% difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are disproportionately expensive on this GPU. At 2560x1440, Low gives 69.5 FPS, Medium 61.4 FPS, High 42.5 FPS, and Ultra 27.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 60.1%, but the absolute numbers are lower. At 3840x2160, Low produces 36.6 FPS, Medium 36.9 FPS, High 21.4 FPS, and Ultra 14.4 FPS.

Interesting, Medium at 4K (36.9 FPS) slightly outperforms Low (36.6 FPS), which is unusual and suggests that the Medium preset may enable certain optimizations or that the difference is within measurement variance. Regardless, the 4K results are uniformly poor. The data also shows that moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low costs 62.9% of the frame rate, while moving from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra costs 62.7%. This consistent proportional loss confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor across all settings, not the CPU.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where any preset exceeds 60 FPS. Low achieves 98.7 FPS, Medium 85.8 FPS, and High 59.6 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K in Archeage?

A: No. The highest 4K result is Medium at 36.9 FPS, with Low at 36.6 FPS. Ultra at 4K drops to 14.4 FPS, making it unplayable.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: Its avgBenchmarkScore of 14286 is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389) by 0.7%.

Q: Is the CPU holding back performance?

A: No. The i5-12400F has a 77th percentile rating among all CPUs and scores 16518 in Cinebench R23 multicore. The FPS drops align with GPU load, not CPU limits.

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

A: Low delivers 98.7 FPS, while Ultra delivers 38.6 FPS. Ultra is 60.9% slower, indicating that the Ultra preset is not viable for smooth gameplay on this GPU.

Q: Does the combo rank well among tested systems?

A: It ranks 1534th out of 1727 combos in Archeage, placing it in the bottom 11% of tested configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides a solid foundation for this game, with 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518 and single-core score of 2332 indicate strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for MMORPGs that often rely on a primary rendering thread. The 18 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help with game asset caching, though the 80 KB per-core L1 cache is modest.

The CPU’s avgBenchmarkScore of 19221 places it at the 77th percentile, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210 score, 0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364 score, -0.7% delta). This shows that the i5-12400F is competitively positioned. In Archeage, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. Given that the FPS drops proportionally with resolution, the CPU is not the bottleneck—the GPU is. The 3dmark single-thread score of 909 and 2-thread score of 1699 confirm that the CPU can handle the game’s single-threaded loads without issue. The 65 W TDP and 10 nm process mean efficient operation, but the real takeaway is that upgrading the GPU would yield far more performance than upgrading the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Archeage, this pairing sits at rank 1534 out of 1727 combos. This is a low position, reflecting the GTX 1660 SUPER’s age and mid-range status. The GPU’s 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs (avgBenchmarkScore 14286) drags the combo down, even though the CPU ranks at the 77th percentile. The data suggests that many other tested combos feature more powerful GPUs, which is expected given the GTX 1660 SUPER’s end-of-life production status and 2019 release date.

The rank implies that for Archeage specifically, this combo is outperformed by 88.8% of tested systems. The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (38.6 FPS) is below the 60 FPS target, and 4K performance is uniformly poor. However, the combo does achieve playable frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium, which is its practical use case. The GPU’s nearest rivals—all within 0.7% in avgBenchmarkScore—would likely produce similar results, so the combo’s ranking is not an anomaly but a reflection of its hardware class. For players willing to accept 1080p Medium or Low, this pairing works; for higher fidelity or resolution, it falls short.