Archeage

# Archeage with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 produces a fascinating split personality in Archeage: the combo delivers very playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra pushes it below playable thresholds. With the CPU sitting at the 77th percentile versus all processors and the GPU at the 81st percentile versus all GPUs, this is a balanced mid-high tier pairing. The data shows a system that handles Archeage's older engine well at mainstream resolutions, yet the gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is a stark 48.3 FPS. This suggests the game's settings scaling is uneven, and the measured results reveal where this combo excels and where it stumbles.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Archeage?

A: The combo ranks 423rd out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 24.5% of all tested configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score is 37283, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507) and 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36371). It sits 1.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A and 2.2% behind the RTX 4080 Mobile.

Q: What is the best framerate achieved at 1080p?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches an average of 209.7 FPS. This drops to 88.6 FPS at Ultra settings, showing a 121.1 FPS swing between the lowest and highest presets.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 31.3 FPS is far below the 1080p Ultra result of 88.6 FPS. The CPU's single-thread benchmark score of 909 in 3dmark suggests it is not the limiting factor at 4K; instead, the GPU's workload scales heavily with resolution and settings.

Q: How does the i5-12400F compare to the Intel Core i7-8700K?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19221, which is 0.1% higher than the i7-8700K's 19210. This makes them effectively performance peers in synthetic workloads.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1440p Medium and 4K Medium?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 128.6. At 4K Medium, it drops to 71.4 FPS. This represents a 57.2 FPS reduction, or a 44.5% performance loss when moving from 1440p to 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and memory operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). With 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, the card is built around the AD104 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 26927 and its 81st percentile ranking versus all GPUs indicate strong mainstream performance.

In Archeage, the GPU's role becomes clear when examining the measured FPS across settings. At 1080p, the GPU has headroom at Low settings (209.7 FPS) and Medium (185.6 FPS), but Ultra drops to 88.6 FPS. The pattern repeats at 1440p: Low delivers 142.1 FPS, Medium 128.6 FPS, High 88.3 FPS, and Ultra 58.9 FPS. At 4K, the GPU's limits show sharply—Low yields 79.6 FPS, Medium 71.4 FPS, High 51.2 FPS, and Ultra just 31.3 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at 4K costs 19.9 FPS, a massive penalty that suggests Ultra settings include effects that heavily tax the GPU's 64 ROPs and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 0.6% higher in average benchmarks, yet the RTX 4070's architectural advantages—including 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores—don't necessarily translate to Archeage, which is an older MMORPG. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 is more than capable at 1080p and 1440p for this game, but 4K Ultra exceeds its practical limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boosting to 4.40 GHz. It has 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per core of L2 cache, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core. The CPU scores 16518 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2332 in single-core, while its 3dmark single-thread score is 909. The processor's average benchmark score of 19221 places it at the 77th percentile, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, scores 0.1% higher.

In Archeage, the CPU's influence is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 209.7 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given the GPU's headroom. The single-thread score of 909 in 3dmark suggests the i5-12400F's per-core performance is adequate for an MMORPG like Archeage, which typically relies on a few heavily loaded threads. The 12 threads help with background tasks and large player counts, but the game's engine appears to scale primarily with single-core speed.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 10 nm process make it an efficient choice, and its DDR4/DDR5 memory support offers flexibility. However, the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the CPU is not the bottleneck—the FPS drops to 31.3, which is far below what the CPU could feed. The cpu's 3dmark max threads score of 5912 indicates solid multi-threaded capability, but Archeage's performance ceiling at high settings is dictated by the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance. Low settings produce 209.7 FPS, Medium 185.6 FPS, High 126.6 FPS, and Ultra 88.6 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 38.0 FPS, which is a 30% reduction. At 2560x1440, the numbers are 142.1 FPS (Low), 128.6 FPS (Medium), 88.3 FPS (High), and 58.9 FPS (Ultra). The High to Ultra drop at 1440p is 29.4 FPS, or 33.3%.

At 3840x2160, the results become more demanding. Low settings yield 79.6 FPS, Medium 71.4 FPS, High 51.2 FPS, and Ultra 31.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 48.3 FPS, meaning Ultra runs at 39.3% of the Low FPS. Interestingly, the difference between Low and Medium at 4K is only 8.2 FPS, suggesting that Medium is a relatively efficient upgrade from Low. The High to Ultra drop at 4K is 19.9 FPS, which is the largest single-step penalty across all resolutions.

Comparing resolutions, 1080p Low to 1440p Low sees a drop from 209.7 to 142.1 FPS (67.6 FPS loss), and 1440p Low to 4K Low drops from 142.1 to 79.6 FPS (62.5 FPS loss). At Ultra, the drops are 88.6 to 58.9 FPS (29.7 FPS loss) from 1080p to 1440p, and 58.9 to 31.3 FPS (27.6 FPS loss) from 1440p to 4K. The Ultra preset shows less absolute FPS loss at higher resolutions because it is already heavily GPU-bound.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 423rd out of 1727 tested combinations in Archeage, placing it in the 75.5th percentile of all tested systems. This is a strong result, but it is not exceptional. The GPU's 81st percentile ranking versus all GPUs is slightly higher than the CPU's 77th percentile, suggesting the GPU is the more capable component in this pairing. The CPU's nearest rival, the i7-8700K, has a 0.1% higher average score, meaning the i5-12400F is effectively a match for a much older flagship. The GPU's nearest rival, the RX Vega 56, is 0.6% faster on average, yet the RTX 4070's modern architecture provides better features.

In the context of Archeage, the rank of 423 out of 1727 means this combo is in the upper quartile of tested systems. The data implies that most tested combos deliver lower performance, but there are 422 configurations that outperform this pairing. The rank is influenced by both CPU and GPU, and the balanced nature of this pair means neither component is severely holding back the other at most settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, Medium delivers 185.6 FPS, which is a 24.1 FPS improvement over High (126.6 FPS) and only 24.1 FPS below Low (209.7 FPS). At 1440p, Medium hits 128.6 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, while High drops to 88.3 FPS. At 4K, Medium produces 71.4 FPS, which is still playable, whereas High falls to 51.2 FPS and Ultra to 31.3 FPS.

For players prioritizing smoothness at 4K, Medium is the recommended preset. It provides a 20.2 FPS advantage over High at 4K while offering better visuals than Low. At 1440p, High at 88.3 FPS is viable for most displays, but Medium's 128.6 FPS gives more headroom for high-refresh monitors. At 1080p, High at 126.6 FPS is sufficient for 144Hz panels, but Medium's 185.6 FPS supports 165Hz or 240Hz displays. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution due to its steep performance penalty: at 1080p, it costs 38.0 FPS versus High, and at 4K, it drops below 35 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At Low settings, 1080p produces 209.7 FPS, 1440p produces 142.1 FPS (67.7% of 1080p), and 4K produces 79.6 FPS (37.9% of 1080p). This scaling is roughly proportional to pixel count, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. At Medium, the scaling is similar: 185.6 FPS at 1080p, 128.6 at 1440p (69.3%), and 71.4 at 4K (38.5%).

At High settings, the scaling becomes steeper: 126.6 FPS at 1080p, 88.3 at 1440p (69.7%), and 51.2 at 4K (40.4%). The Ultra preset shows the most severe drop: 88.6 FPS at 1080p, 58.9 at 1440p (66.5%), and 31.3 at 4K (35.3%). The fact that Ultra scaling is worse than Low scaling suggests that Ultra settings include effects that disproportionately impact the GPU at higher resolutions, such as increased draw distances or shadow quality that tax the 12 GB memory buffer.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the primary limiter at 4K, as the FPS drops track pixel count rather than CPU thread performance. The i5-12400F's single-thread score of 909 and multicore score of 5912 are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering workload dominates. The 4K Ultra result of 31.3 FPS is below playable thresholds, suggesting this combo is best used at 1440p or 1080p for Archeage, where it delivers smooth experiences across most presets.