Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, behaves in a way that clearly reflects its age when paired with the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. The data shows a combination that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly CPU-sensitive at lower settings. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data, providing a methodical breakdown of how this specific hardware pairing handles the game across various configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about the limiting component in this system. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 149 FPS at 1920x1080 to 100 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 57 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 62% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, a pattern that strongly indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RX 7900 XTX, despite its high-end positioning, is being pushed to its limits by the pixel count at 4K, especially with the game's rendering demands.

The scaling pattern shifts when moving to lower settings. At Low settings, the drop is even steeper in absolute terms: from 242 FPS at 1080p to 165 FPS at 1440p, then down to 95 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 61%, similar to High settings, but the absolute numbers are much higher. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is still the dominant constraint at 4K, though the CPU begins to show its influence at 1080p where the frame rates exceed 200.

Medium settings show an intermediate pattern, with 219 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 33%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 43%. This non-linear scaling suggests a transition zone where both CPU and GPU are contributing to performance limits. Ultra settings, by contrast, show the most severe scaling, with 101 FPS at 1080p falling to 68 FPS at 1440p and just 39 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, confirming that this setting combination is simply too demanding for smooth gameplay at that resolution.

The data indicates that for this game, the RX 7900 XTX is the limiting factor at 4K across all settings, but at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, the i5-13400F's 10 cores and 16 threads become the ceiling. The game's engine, being a decade old, does not appear to scale perfectly with modern multi-core processors, which explains why frame rates at 1080p Low (242 FPS) do not go even higher.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 506 out of 3708 tested combos for Archeage. This places it in the top 14% of all configurations tested, a strong showing that reflects the high-end nature of both components. However, the rank is not higher due to the game's age and its apparent inability to fully utilize the available hardware resources.

The CPU itself, the i5-13400F, has an average benchmark score of 25292, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS with a score of 25284 (0% delta), the Intel Core 5 120 with 25362 (-0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with 25201 (0.4% delta). These rival processors are all within a fraction of a percent in performance, suggesting that the i5-13400F's processing power is well-matched with its peers for this workload.

The GPU, the RX 7900 XTX, shows a more peculiar benchmark profile. Its average benchmark score is 19410, placing it in the 64th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB with a score of 19334 (0.4% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 with 19602 (-1% delta), and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp with 19177 (1.2% delta). This is unusual, as the RX 7900 XTX is a far more modern and powerful card than these rivals in real-world gaming, yet its synthetic benchmark scores are closely matched. This discrepancy is likely due to the specific benchmark suite used, which may not fully capture the card's strengths in modern titles.

The combination rank of 506 indicates that while both components are individually strong, there are 505 other combinations that perform better in Archeage specifically. This could be due to other pairings that include CPUs with higher single-thread performance, which is often critical for MMORPGs, or GPUs that are better optimized for this particular game engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to play Archeage at High settings?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 High settings delivering 100 FPS average, which is smooth. At 3840x2160 High, the average drops to 57 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 242, while at 3840x2160 Ultra it is 39 FPS. This is a 6.2x difference in frame rate, demonstrating the massive performance cost of higher resolution and settings.

Q: Does the RX 7900 XTX bottleneck the i5-13400F in this game?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the 242 FPS average suggests the CPU is the limiting factor. At 4K with any settings, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when resolution increases.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 39 at 3840x2160 Ultra settings. The only recorded minimum FPS values are 72 at 4K Medium and 125 at 1440p Medium, with no minimums recorded for other settings.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 506 out of 3708 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top tier.

Q: Is the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of VRAM utilized well in Archeage?

A: The data does not include VRAM usage metrics. However, the game is from 2014, so it is unlikely to require anywhere near 24 GB, even at 4K Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings deliver an average of 242 FPS, Medium delivers 219 FPS with a minimum of 186 and maximum of 251, High delivers 149 FPS, and Ultra delivers 101 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 141 FPS, showing a clear performance hierarchy.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 165 FPS for Low, 147 FPS for Medium (with min/max of 125/169), 100 FPS for High, and 68 FPS for Ultra. The relative gaps between settings narrow slightly compared to 1080p, with a spread of 97 FPS from Low to Ultra. This indicates that the GPU is starting to become more of a factor, but the CPU still has headroom at the lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly: Low averages 95 FPS, Medium averages 84 FPS (with min/max of 72/97), High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The spread here is only 56 FPS, which is much narrower than at lower resolutions. This compression of the performance gap between settings at 4K suggests that the GPU is the sole limiting factor, and changing settings has a reduced impact on frame rates because the pixel throughput is already maxing out the card.

The Medium settings are the only ones with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 186 to 251 FPS, at 1440p it is 125 to 169 FPS, and at 4K it is 72 to 97 FPS. These ranges show that even at Medium settings, frame times are not perfectly consistent, but the variance is acceptable for an MMORPG.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a 5 nm part from TSMC with a massive 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. It features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1929 MHz, with a boost clock of 2498 MHz and a game clock of 2365 MHz. The memory runs at 2500 MHz, which translates to 20 Gbps effective. These specifications are far beyond what Archeage requires, given its 2014 release date.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a percentile rank of 64 against all GPUs, with an average score of 19410. Its closest rival in the data is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, which has an average score of 19334, a delta of 0.4%. This is a surprising comparison, as the RX 7900 XTX is a flagship card from a much later generation. The TITAN Xp is also a close rival with a score of 19177 (1.2% delta). These results suggest that the synthetic benchmarks used may not be representative of the card's true gaming capability, particularly for a game like Archeage.

In the actual game measurements, the GPU's role is clearly dominant at 4K. The fact that Low settings at 4K (95 FPS) are only slightly faster than Medium at 4K (84 FPS) indicates that the GPU is fully saturated. The 24 GB VRAM is likely never a limiting factor, as Archeage's textures and geometry from 2014 would fit comfortably within even a fraction of that capacity. The high bandwidth and pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s are more than sufficient for the game's rendering needs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, all settings deliver playable frame rates, with Low at 242 FPS and Ultra at 101 FPS. Given the high refresh rates possible, players with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors would benefit from Medium or High settings, which provide 219 and 149 FPS respectively, while still maintaining visual quality.

At 1440p, the data shows that High settings at 100 FPS is a solid choice for most players, offering a good balance between visual fidelity and smoothness. Ultra at 68 FPS is acceptable for those who prioritize image quality over frame rate, but the 32 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not be worth the visual gains in a game of this age. Low and Medium settings at 165 and 147 FPS respectively are excellent for competitive play or high refresh rate displays.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. High settings produce 57 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, while Ultra drops to 39 FPS, which is likely too choppy for most users. Medium settings at 84 FPS are the sweet spot for 4K, offering a playable experience with reasonable visual quality. Low at 95 FPS is the best option for those who prioritize frame rate above all else, but the visual downgrade may be noticeable. The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset for 4K on this combo.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications are robust for a modern mid-range processor, but Archeage's engine may not fully exploit all 16 threads.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores show a single-thread performance of 960 in 3dmark and 3191 in Cinebench R23 single-core. Multi-threaded performance is stronger, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and a Geekbench multicore score of 11068. The 3dmark scores scale from 1880 with 2 threads to 7314 with 16 threads, showing reasonable scaling but not perfect linearity. The CPU's percentile rank is 77, and its average benchmark score of 25292 places it just 0.3% behind the Intel Core 5 120 and equal to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS.

In the context of Archeage, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p with Low and Medium settings. The fact that 1080p Low produces 242 FPS while 1080p Medium produces 219 FPS suggests that even at these high frame rates, the CPU is managing the game's logic and draw calls efficiently. The 10 cores and 16 threads are likely sufficient for the game's multithreaded tasks, but the single-thread performance of 960 in 3dmark may be the limiting factor when frame rates exceed 200. The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, where GPU constraints dominate, but it is the ceiling for very high refresh rate 1080p gaming.