Archeage

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a formidable Archeage experience, but the data reveals that the game's engine and the CPU's capabilities create a distinct bottleneck that becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions. This combination ranks in the top 1% of all tested configurations, yet the scaling pattern from 4K down to 1080p shows that the GPU is not always the limiting factor, with the CPU taking over at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern of performance scaling across the three tested resolutions. Moving from 3840x2160 (4K) to 2560x1440 (1440p) yields a substantial performance uplift, and the jump to 1920x1080 (1080p) provides further gains, though with diminishing returns that indicate a CPU ceiling.

At 4K resolution with High settings, the combo produces 76 FPS average. Dropping to 1440p at the same High settings increases performance to 132 FPS, a 74% improvement. This substantial gain indicates that at 4K, the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, and reducing the pixel count directly translates to higher frame rates. When moving from 1440p to 1080p at High settings, the average FPS climbs from 132 to 197, a 49% increase. While still a significant jump, the smaller percentage gain compared to the 4K-to-1440p transition suggests that the CPU is beginning to limit performance at 1080p.

The pattern becomes even more evident when examining the Low settings preset. At 4K Low, the system achieves 125 FPS. At 1440p Low, this jumps to 219 FPS, an 83% improvement. However, at 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 260, which is only a 19% improvement over the 1440p result. This dramatic reduction in scaling efficiency between 1440p and 1080p strongly indicates that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p, as the GPU has more than enough headroom to render frames quickly, but the processor cannot feed it data fast enough.

The Medium settings preset shows a similar trend. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 112, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. At 1440p Medium, performance rises to 195 FPS average (166 min, 224 max), a 74% increase. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 250 FPS (213 min, 288 max), which is only a 28% improvement over 1440p. This again confirms that the CPU is becoming the limiting factor at 1080p.

Ultra settings follow the same trajectory but at lower absolute frame rates. The 4K Ultra preset delivers 52 FPS average, which climbs to 90 FPS at 1440p Ultra (73% increase) and then to 134 FPS at 1080p Ultra (49% increase). The scaling pattern for Ultra is more consistent across all resolution steps, suggesting that the heavier graphical workload keeps the GPU more engaged even at lower resolutions.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 D is powerful enough to push frame rates well beyond 200 FPS at 1080p, but the i5-12600KF cannot sustain those rates consistently. The gap between the 1080p Low (260 FPS) and 1080p Medium (250 FPS) is only 10 FPS, while the gap between 1080p Medium and 1080p High (197 FPS) is 53 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the game's engine at Low and Medium settings is less demanding on the CPU, allowing the GPU to stretch its legs, while High settings introduce more CPU-bound work.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship GPU with specifications that are exceptionally well-suited for high-resolution gaming. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, containing 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. Its base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and it has 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units.

In the context of Archeage, the GPU's 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for any texture or asset the game can load, even at 4K Ultra settings. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not become a bottleneck. The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 104.8 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, are far beyond what this MMORPG requires.

The benchmark results for the GPU show a Passmark G3D score of 44065 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 28396. Its average benchmark score is 77712, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. In terms of nearest rivals, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76904 (1.1% faster), while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940 (1.6% slower than the RTX 5090 D). The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB variants score 79396 and 79605 respectively, making them 2.1% and 2.4% faster in these synthetic benchmarks. These close margins in synthetic tests do not translate to gaming performance, where the RTX 5090 D's architectural advantages become apparent.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is not the limiting factor at any resolution below 4K Ultra. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 52 suggests that the GPU is working hard, but even then, the frame rate is playable. The GPU's role in this configuration is to provide ample headroom, ensuring that the CPU is the primary constraint at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 26th out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the top 0.94% of all configurations, a remarkable achievement that underscores the strength of pairing a high-end CPU with a flagship GPU.

The rank of 26 out of 2761 is particularly impressive given that the CPU itself is not the absolute fastest available. The i5-12600KF has a percentile rank of 79 against all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 79% of all processors. However, its average benchmark score of 27799 is nearly identical to several rivals. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872 (-0.3% delta), the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896 (-0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U scores 27887 (-0.3% delta). The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712 (0.3% delta). These near-identical scores suggest that the CPU's performance is well-balanced, and its placement in the 26th combo rank is driven by the GPU's exceptional capabilities.

The combination's high rank indicates that in Archeage, the RTX 5090 D compensates for any CPU limitations, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The fact that this combo ranks above the majority of others, despite the CPU being mid-range relative to the GPU, highlights the importance of GPU performance in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 4K (3840x2160), the Low preset delivers 125 FPS average, which is the highest at this resolution. The Medium preset produces 112 FPS average (95 min, 128 max), and the High preset drops to 76 FPS average. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding only 52 FPS average.

At 1440p (2560x1440), the Low preset achieves 219 FPS average, a 75% improvement over the 4K Low result. The Medium preset delivers 195 FPS average (166 min, 224 max), the High preset reaches 132 FPS average, and the Ultra preset produces 90 FPS average. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is consistent across all settings, with improvements ranging from 73% to 83%.

At 1080p (1920x1080), the Low preset hits 260 FPS average, the Medium preset achieves 250 FPS average (213 min, 288 max), the High preset delivers 197 FPS average, and the Ultra preset produces 134 FPS average. The scaling from 1440p to 1080p is less uniform, with improvements ranging from 19% to 49%. The Low and Medium presets show the smallest gains, indicating that the CPU is limiting performance at these settings.

The minimum FPS figures are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 95 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 166 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it is 213 FPS. These minimums suggest that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains playable, with the 1080p Medium minimum exceeding 200 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this configuration depend on the target resolution. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 112 FPS average with a minimum of 95 FPS, it provides a smooth experience with significantly better visuals than the Low preset (125 FPS). The High preset at 76 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid in fast-paced combat, while the Ultra preset at 52 FPS is only suitable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.

At 1440p, the High preset is the recommended choice. It delivers 132 FPS average, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 195 FPS offers even higher performance, but the visual improvement from Medium to High is substantial in Archeage, and the 63 FPS difference is less noticeable above 120 FPS. The Ultra preset at 90 FPS is also viable for players who want maximum visual quality at this resolution.

At 1080p, the High preset at 197 FPS average is the sweet spot. The Medium preset at 250 FPS provides a higher frame rate, but the gap between 197 and 250 FPS is less perceptible than the visual difference between Medium and High settings. The Ultra preset at 134 FPS is still playable and may be preferred by players with high-refresh-rate monitors who want the best visuals without sacrificing too much performance. The Low preset at 260 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is paramount.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and has 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12600KF demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 23391, and its single-core score is 3302. In 3DMark tests, it scores 7956 for 16 threads, 1995 for 2 threads, 3806 for 4 threads, 6128 for 8 threads, 7952 for max threads, and 1016 for single thread. Passmark tests show a multithread score of 27575 and a single-thread score of 3925.

The CPU's role in Archeage is critical, particularly at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rate is limited by the CPU's ability to process game logic and draw calls. The 10-core, 16-thread configuration is well-suited for modern games, but Archeage's engine, released in 2014, may not fully utilize all threads. The near-identical average benchmark scores with rivals like the i9-10900K and Ryzen 7 5800X3D suggest that the i5-12600KF is well-matched to these processors in general compute tasks.

The scaling data reveals that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p when the GPU is powerful enough to render frames faster than the CPU can prepare them. The difference between 1440p Low (219 FPS) and 1080p Low (260 FPS) is only 41 FPS, while the difference between 4K Low (125 FPS) and 1440p Low (219 FPS) is 94 FPS. This pattern is repeated across all settings, confirming that the CPU's performance ceiling is reached around 260 FPS in Archeage.

The CPU's boost clock of 4.90 GHz is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, as Archeage's single-threaded performance is often the primary constraint in MMORPGs. The single-thread benchmark scores of 1016 in 3DMark and 3302 in Cinebench R23 indicate strong per-core performance, which helps mitigate the CPU bottleneck. However, the data clearly shows that even with this capable CPU, the RTX 5090 D is underutilized at 1080p with lower settings, as the GPU cannot reach its full potential due to CPU limitations.