Archeage

# Archeage Performance Analysis: Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The pairing of Intel's 6-core Alder Lake processor with NVIDIA's flagship Ada Lovelace GPU produces a fascinating study in bottleneck behavior within Archeage, an MMORPG that launched in 2014. With the RTX 4090 sitting at the 91st percentile among all GPUs and the i5-12400F at the 77th percentile among CPUs, the measured frame rates across resolutions reveal where this game's engine places its demands. The data shows a system that can deliver triple-digit frame rates at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain smooth 4K Ultra performance, suggesting an unusual balance of GPU and CPU limitations for a title of this vintage.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is steep and non-linear, revealing how quickly the RTX 4090's raw compute becomes the limiting factor. At Low settings, the system delivers 231.1 FPS at 1920x1080, but this drops to 201.1 FPS at 2560x1440 — a modest 13% reduction. However, moving to 3840x2160 cuts performance to 114.6 FPS, a 43% loss from the 1440p figure. This pattern intensifies at higher quality presets. With High settings, the 1080p result of 182 FPS falls to 121.7 FPS at 1440p (33% drop), then plummets to 72 FPS at 4K — a 60% reduction from 1440p. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 122.8 FPS at 1080p, 83.9 FPS at 1440p, and just 46.8 FPS at 4K, representing a 62% loss from 1080p to 4K.

These scaling patterns indicate that at 1080p, the CPU is likely the primary constraint, as the frame rates cluster in a relatively narrow band regardless of settings — the gap between Low and Ultra is only 108.3 FPS. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, with settings choice producing a 67.8 FPS spread between Low and Ultra. The data suggests that Archeage's older engine does not scale gracefully with modern hardware at high resolutions, and the RTX 4090's immense bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is not fully utilized at lower resolutions where the processor's 6 cores and 12 threads become the ceiling.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090's specifications paint a picture of a card that should dominate this 2014-era MMORPG, yet the measured results tell a more nuanced story. With 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation pipelines, the GPU has theoretical pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which proves crucial at 4K where the memory subsystem is heavily exercised. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz are both remarkably high for a desktop GPU, yet the Ultra preset at 4K only achieves 46.8 FPS — a result that seems incongruous with the card's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is far beyond what Archeage requires, given its 2014 release date. The data shows that increasing settings from Low to Medium at 4K costs 13.2 FPS, while Medium to High costs another 29.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 25.2 FPS. This suggests the GPU's shading and texture units are the bottleneck at higher presets, not memory capacity. The card's 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores are irrelevant for this title, as Archeage does not utilize DirectX 12 Ultimate features. The GPU's benchmark scores, including a Passmark G3D score of 38,194 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223, indicate the hardware's capability, but the game's engine appears to leave much of this performance untapped.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides 6 physical cores and 12 threads, operating at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core are modest by modern standards, and the processor's 65 W TDP reflects its mid-range positioning. The benchmark data shows strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,518 and single-core score of 2,332, placing the CPU at the 77th percentile overall. However, the measured FPS at 1080p reveals that Archeage's engine may not effectively utilize all 12 threads — the 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,895 versus the 2-thread score of 1,699 suggests decent scaling, but the game's frame rates at low settings (231.1 FPS at 1080p) may be hitting a single-thread or engine-level ceiling.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is telling. The i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19,221 places it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-8700K (19,210) and 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19,167), while being 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19,364). This clustering suggests that for Archeage, the processor's single-thread performance — indicated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and Passmark single-thread score of 3,481 — is likely more important than raw multi-core throughput. The 4.40 GHz boost clock provides adequate headroom, but the data indicates that at 1080p Low settings, the CPU is the limiting component, as the RTX 4090 is clearly capable of far higher frame rates than 231.1 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1,727 tested combinations, this pairing of Core i5-12400F and RTX 4090 ranks 66th overall in Archeage. This places it in the top 3.8% of all tested combos, which is impressive given the CPU's mid-range positioning. The rank suggests that the RTX 4090's dominance compensates for the i5-12400F's relative weakness in this game. The GPU's percentile ranking of 91 versus the CPU's 77 indicates that the graphics card is doing the heavy lifting in this pairing, and the overall combo rank of 66 reflects a system that outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations.

The gap between the GPU's percentile (91) and the combo's rank (66 out of 1,727) suggests that many systems with less powerful GPUs but stronger CPUs achieve comparable or better performance in Archeage. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which shows the CPU constraining performance at 1080p. The data implies that for this specific game, the RTX 4090 is somewhat wasted in this pairing at lower resolutions, but at 4K High settings (72 FPS) the combination demonstrates its value. The combo rank of 66 indicates that users with this hardware configuration are near the top of the performance curve, but there is room for improvement with a stronger processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the settings ladder produces the following average frame rates: Low delivers 231.1 FPS, Medium achieves 223.8 FPS, High reaches 182 FPS, and Ultra drops to 122.8 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs only 7.3 FPS, suggesting minimal additional load, while Medium to High costs 41.8 FPS and High to Ultra costs 59.2 FPS — indicating that the Ultra preset imposes significant additional GPU work.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are: Low 201.1 FPS, Medium 177.3 FPS, High 121.7 FPS, and Ultra 83.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium narrows to 23.8 FPS, but Medium to High now costs 55.6 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 37.8 FPS. At this resolution, the GPU's workload becomes more balanced with the CPU's capabilities.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are: Low 114.6 FPS, Medium 101.4 FPS, High 72 FPS, and Ultra 46.8 FPS. The Low to Medium drop is 13.2 FPS, Medium to High is 29.4 FPS, and High to Ultra is 25.2 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 46.8 FPS is the only measured configuration below 60 FPS, indicating that this setting is not viable for smooth gameplay. Across all resolutions, the High preset consistently offers a balanced experience, with 182 FPS at 1080p, 121.7 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 4090 bottlenecked by the i5-12400F in Archeage?

A: The data suggests yes at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 231.1 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit given the 6-core/12-thread configuration. At 4K Low, the GPU becomes the limiting factor with 114.6 FPS, showing the processor can keep up when the GPU is more heavily loaded.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: 2560x1440 with High settings provides 121.7 FPS, which balances visual quality and performance. At 4K High, the system delivers 72 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive scenarios. The 1080p results exceed 180 FPS at High, making them suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High?

A: Ultra consistently produces significantly lower frame rates: at 4K it drops to 46.8 FPS versus 72 FPS on High, a 25.2 FPS difference. At 1440p, Ultra yields 83.9 FPS versus 121.7 FPS, and at 1080p it reaches 122.8 FPS versus 182 FPS. The visual improvement may not justify the performance cost.

Q: Why does 4K performance drop so dramatically from Low to Ultra?

A: The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth should handle the load, but the game's engine appears to scale poorly. The 4K Low result of 114.6 FPS drops to 46.8 FPS at Ultra — a 67.8 FPS reduction that indicates the Ultra preset heavily taxes the GPU's shading and texture units.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 66th out of 1,727 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.8% of all systems tested for Archeage. The RTX 4090's 91st percentile GPU ranking helps compensate for the CPU's 77th percentile ranking.

Q: Is the i5-12400F's 6-core/12-thread configuration sufficient for Archeage?

A: The benchmark data indicates yes. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,518 and single-core score of 2,332 are adequate for this MMORPG, as evidenced by 231.1 FPS at 1080p Low. The game appears to favor single-thread performance, which the 4.40 GHz boost clock supports.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, High delivers 182 FPS — more than sufficient for any display refresh rate. At 2560x1440, High achieves 121.7 FPS, providing smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality. Even at 3840x2160, High reaches 72 FPS, which is acceptable for an MMORPG where reaction times are less critical than in competitive shooters.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, particularly at 4K where it achieves 101.4 FPS versus High's 72 FPS. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates (231.1 FPS at 1080p, 201.1 FPS at 1440p, 114.6 FPS at 4K) but sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it produces the lowest frame rates (122.8 FPS at 1080p, 83.9 FPS at 1440p, 46.8 FPS at 4K) with diminishing visual returns. For the optimal experience, High at 1440p offers the best combination of frame rate and image quality, with the 121.7 FPS result providing headroom for demanding scenarios common in MMORPGs.