Archeage

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a highly resolution-sensitive experience in Archeage, with the gap between settings classes widening dramatically as pixel count rises. At 1920x1080, the combo shows clear CPU headroom: Low settings produce 143 FPS, Medium drops to 129.2 FPS, and High still manages 86.7 FPS. The jump to Ultra, however, cuts performance to 57.6 FPS—a 60% reduction from Low that signals the GPU beginning to strain under the game's heavier effects. Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern intensifies: Low yields 95.5 FPS, Medium 87.3 FPS, and High 55.6 FPS, while Ultra falls to 36.6 FPS. The 1440p-to-1080p ratio at High settings (55.6 vs 86.7 FPS) indicates a 36% performance loss from the resolution increase alone, pointing to the RTX 2070 SUPER as the primary limiter at this quality tier.

At 3840x2160, the bottleneck becomes unambiguous. Low settings still deliver 52.4 FPS, but Medium drops to 47.8 FPS, High plummets to 34.6 FPS, and Ultra collapses to 19.7 FPS. The 4K-to-1080p scaling at High settings (34.6 vs 86.7 FPS) represents a 60% hit, while Ultra at 4K is effectively unplayable. The data reveals a dual-threshold behavior: between 1080p and 1440p, the CPU keeps frame rates respectable at Low and Medium, but once Ultra is enabled or 4K is selected, the GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed. The 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs aligns with this—it is a mid-pack card that cannot sustain high refresh rates at higher resolutions in this MMORPG.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Archeage if targeting 60+ FPS?*

A: At 1920x1080, every settings tier except Ultra exceeds 60 FPS, with Low hitting 143 FPS and High reaching 86.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (95.5 FPS) and Medium (87.3 FPS) clear 60 FPS, while High falls to 55.6 FPS. At 4K, no settings tier reaches 60 FPS, with the maximum being 52.4 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at lower resolutions?

A: The i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, appear sufficient to drive high frame rates at 1080p. The gap between Low (143 FPS) and High (86.7 FPS) at 1080p suggests the GPU is the limiting factor even at this resolution, as the CPU's single-thread score of 1016 in 3dmark and 3309 in Cinebench R23 indicate strong per-core performance.

Q: Is Ultra settings viable at any resolution?

A: Ultra is only playable at 1920x1080, where it averages 57.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 36.6 FPS—a 36% decline from 1080p. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages just 19.7 FPS, making it unusable for smooth gameplay. The 2070 SUPER's 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for the game's Ultra effects at higher pixel counts.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 22206 places it just below the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307, -0.5% delta) and above the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670, +2.5% delta). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, -2.3% delta) but outperforms the GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006, +0.9% delta). This mid-pack positioning explains its struggle with 4K Ultra in Archeage.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 1059 out of 1727 tested combinations tell us?

A: The combo sits in the 61st percentile of all tested CPU-GPU pairings for Archeage, indicating a below-average performance tier for this specific game. This rank reflects the GPU's age and the game's demanding nature at higher settings, rather than a CPU deficiency—the i5-12600KF's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs shows it is a stronger component relative to its peer group.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so steeply from Medium to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Medium averages 129.2 FPS while Ultra averages 57.6 FPS—a 55% reduction. This steep drop suggests Ultra enables effects that heavily tax the GPU's shading units (2560) and texture rate (283.2 GTexel/s). The 2070 SUPER's 64 ROPs and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate cannot keep pace with the additional draw calls and post-processing at Ultra, even at a resolution where the CPU has ample headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF provides the computational backbone for this Archeage configuration, and its specifications reveal why it holds up well at lower resolutions. With 10 cores and 16 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, the CPU offers a blend of performance and efficiency cores that handle the game's multithreaded tasks. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz deliver strong single-threaded performance, evidenced by a 3dmark single-thread score of 1016 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3925. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain data locality for game assets, while the dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support provides flexibility for system builders.

Benchmark data shows the CPU's multithreaded capability is substantial: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 23444, Geekbench multicore reaches 12373, and Passmark multithread hits 27575. These figures place the i5-12600KF at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27827. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scores 27829—a delta of 0%—meaning the i5 matches a previous-generation flagship in overall CPU throughput. The i5-12600K (27851, -0.1% delta) and Core Ultra 5 125H (27872, -0.2% delta) are essentially identical in performance, while the Core i7-13700H (27716, +0.4% delta) is the closest competitor from the mobile side.

In Archeage, the CPU's role becomes evident in the 1080p results. At Low settings, the combo achieves 143 FPS, which is above what the GPU's raw compute (9.062 TFLOPS) would suggest, implying the CPU is not the primary constraint at this quality level. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (143 vs 129.2 FPS) is only 10%, whereas the gap between Medium and Ultra (129.2 vs 57.6 FPS) is 55%—the latter is driven by GPU workload, not CPU. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 7956 and max-thread score of 7952 indicate the CPU scales well with additional threads, which benefits Archeage's MMO environments with many player characters and NPCs. However, at 4K, the CPU's advantage is moot; the 34.6 FPS at High settings is clearly GPU-limited, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU faster than it can render.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1059 out of 1727 tested CPU-GPU pairings in Archeage, placing it in the lower 39% of configurations. This rank is notably lower than what the individual components' percentiles would suggest—the CPU sits at the 84th percentile and the GPU at the 65th percentile. The discrepancy arises because Archeage appears to favor GPU throughput heavily at higher settings, and the RTX 2070 SUPER's mid-pack standing (average benchmark score 22206) drags the overall combo down despite the CPU's strength.

The GPU's nearest rival comparisons illustrate the tight competition at this performance tier. The RTX 2070 SUPER scores within 2.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670) and within 2.3% of the RTX 4060 Mobile (22729), yet these small margins translate to meaningful FPS differences in-game. Against the GTX TITAN Z (22006, +0.9% delta), the 2070 SUPER holds a slight edge, but this is a legacy card from a different era. The combo's rank of 1059 suggests that for Archeage, many other pairings—likely with newer GPUs—deliver superior frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the 2070 SUPER's limitations become pronounced.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing. The i5-12600KF's benchmark scores rival those of the Core i9-10900K (27827 vs 27829, 0% delta), yet the overall combo rank is dragged down by the GPU. If the same CPU were paired with a higher-tier GPU, the rank would likely improve substantially. Conversely, the RTX 2070 SUPER's performance in Archeage at 4K Ultra (19.7 FPS) is consistent with a GPU that ranks at the 65th percentile—adequate for 1080p gaming but not for high-resolution, high-settings workloads. The combo's position at 1059 of 1727 reflects a balanced but aging pairing, where the CPU has years of headroom but the GPU is the limiting factor in modern game demands.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific configuration in Archeage, the measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset delivers the best experience without sacrificing playability. At 1920x1080, High settings offer the optimal balance: 86.7 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while providing better visual fidelity than Low (143 FPS) or Medium (129.2 FPS). Ultra at 1080p drops to 57.6 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play and not worth the visual gain over High. The 1080p High preset is the recommended choice for most users, as it maintains a comfortable frame rate while leveraging the GPU's capabilities.

At 2560x1440, the data suggests Medium settings as the sweet spot, averaging 87.3 FPS. High at 1440p falls to 55.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and may cause noticeable stuttering in busy MMO areas. Low at 1440p (95.5 FPS) is viable for players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, but Medium offers a better compromise with only an 8.6% FPS penalty over Low. Ultra at 1440p (36.6 FPS) should be avoided entirely, as the visual improvements do not justify a sub-40 FPS experience. For 4K, only Low settings (52.4 FPS) come close to playable, but even this falls short of 60 FPS; Medium (47.8 FPS) and High (34.6 FPS) are increasingly unplayable, and Ultra (19.7 FPS) is effectively a slideshow.

The recommendation hierarchy is clear: 1080p High for the best overall experience, 1440p Medium for a balance of resolution and performance, and 4K Low only for players who prioritize resolution over smoothness. The data shows a consistent pattern where Ultra settings impose a disproportionate FPS penalty—at every resolution, the drop from High to Ultra exceeds the drop from Medium to High. For example, at 1080p, High to Ultra drops from 86.7 to 57.6 FPS (34% loss), while Medium to High drops from 129.2 to 86.7 FPS (33% loss), but the absolute FPS values make High the better choice. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM is a limiting factor at Ultra settings, likely causing texture thrashing that contributes to the steep performance decline. Players should prioritize High or Medium settings to remain within the GPU's comfortable operating range.