Archeage

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a very specific performance profile in Archeage, one that is heavily constrained by the graphics solution. The data shows a combination that can handle the game at lower settings and resolutions, but which falls apart quickly as visual demands increase. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, explains what the numbers mean for playability, and places this combo within the broader context of tested hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent penalty as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 71 FPS at 1080p to 48 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 23 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the average falls further to 28 FPS, another 20 FPS drop. This pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B390, with its system-shared memory and 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, is the limiting component at every step. The CPU, a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake part with a 4.60 GHz boost clock, has ample headroom in this MMORPG scenario; the frame rate collapses in a way that tracks directly with pixel count, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance.

At High settings, the scaling is even more punishing. The average FPS at 1080p is 43, which drops to 29 at 1440p, and then to 17 at 4K. That represents a 60% loss from 1080p to 4K. The gap between Low and High at the same resolution is also informative: at 1080p, Low produces 71 FPS while High produces 43 FPS, a 28 FPS difference. At 4K, that same settings gap shrinks to 11 FPS (28 vs 17), which suggests that at 4K the GPU is so saturated that even reducing settings offers diminishing returns—the pixel throughput limit is hit before the shading complexity becomes the primary bottleneck. This is typical of a GPU with a narrow memory interface and shared system memory, where fill-rate limits dominate.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground in scaling. At 1080p, Medium averages 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 and maximum of 73. At 1440p, it drops to 43 FPS (min 36, max 49), and at 4K it reaches 25 FPS (min 21, max 28). The min-to-max range at Medium is tight, within 7-10 FPS across resolutions, which indicates relatively stable frame pacing when the GPU is not completely overwhelmed. Ultra settings, by contrast, are nearly unplayable at any resolution tested: 29 FPS at 1080p, 20 FPS at 1440p, and 11 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is a mere 15% of the 1080p Low result, showing that the combination of maximal pixel load and maximal shading work brings the Arc B390 to its knees.

What does this scaling tell us about the system? The CPU is not the limiting factor. The i5-13400F scores 22604 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3191 in single-core, with a PassMark single-thread score of 3634. In an MMORPG like Archeage, which relies heavily on single-thread performance for game logic and draw calls, this CPU is far above the threshold needed for the frame rates observed. The evidence is in the 1080p Low result: 71 FPS is a solid number, but it is not a high-refresh-rate result, and the FPS does not increase dramatically when the GPU is less loaded at lower resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect 1080p Low to be significantly higher than 4K Low, but the gap (71 vs 28) is entirely consistent with GPU rasterization limits. The Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores only 1.3% lower in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12—this is entry-level territory, and Archeage’s demands quickly outstrip it.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the best experience on this combo is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average FPS is 71. That is the only configuration that approaches a smooth 60+ FPS experience. For players who want slightly better visuals, 1080p Medium delivers 64 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS, which is acceptable for a casual MMORPG session, though frame drops into the mid-50s may be noticeable in crowded areas. The data indicates that 1080p High at 43 FPS is borderline; it is playable in the sense that it is above 30 FPS, but the margin is thin and any heavy combat or large player gatherings will likely push it lower. Ultra at 1080p (29 FPS) is not recommended—the visual uplift over High is not worth halving the frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the situation worsens. Low settings produce 48 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium at 1440p averages 43 FPS with a minimum of 36, which is the best balance for that resolution if you must use it. High at 1440p (29 FPS) and Ultra (20 FPS) are both below the threshold for comfortable play. The data shows that 1440p is only viable with Low or Medium presets, and even then, the average frame rate is below 60. For 4K, the results are stark: Low averages 28 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, High 17 FPS, and Ultra 11 FPS. None of these are playable in a meaningful sense; 4K should be avoided entirely with this hardware.

The practical recommendation is clear: run Archeage at 1080p with Low or Medium settings. Low gives the highest average of 71 FPS, while Medium offers 64 FPS with a slightly better visual quality and a minimum of 54 FPS that is still above the 30 FPS floor. The Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot—it provides a 7 FPS penalty versus Low but reduces the visual aliasing and texture pop-in that often plague MMORPGs. If the player prioritizes frame rate above all, Low at 1080p is the only setting that ensures a consistent 60+ FPS experience. The measured data does not support any higher resolution or preset combination without accepting sub-30 FPS averages, which are generally considered unplayable for a game with real-time combat.

FAQ

Q: What is the playable resolution for this combo in Archeage?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average FPS stays above 60 (71 FPS at Low, 64 FPS at Medium). At 2560x1440, the best average is 48 FPS at Low settings, and at 3840x2160, the best average is 28 FPS at Low settings. Therefore, 1080p is the only recommended resolution for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Low at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 29 FPS while Low averages 71 FPS. That is a 42 FPS difference, meaning Ultra delivers only 41% of the frame rate of Low. The minimum FPS at Ultra is not recorded, but the average is below the 30 FPS playability threshold.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-13400F holding back the Arc B390 in Archeage?

A: No. The i5-13400F has 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191. The frame rate scaling across resolutions (71 FPS at 1080p Low vs 28 FPS at 4K Low) indicates GPU-bound performance. The CPU is capable of far more than the 71 FPS ceiling observed.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium averages 43 FPS (min 36, max 49) while High averages 29 FPS. That is a 14 FPS penalty for High, which is a 33% reduction. The Medium preset is the highest setting that maintains an average above 40 FPS at 1440p.

Q: Can this combo run Archeage at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not playably. At 3840x2160, the highest average is 28 FPS at Low settings, and Ultra drops to 11 FPS. All 4K results are below 30 FPS, which is insufficient for a responsive gameplay experience.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Arc B390 scores 1482. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% lower). The Arc B390 is the fastest of this entry-level group, but only by a small margin.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 3297 out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage. That places it in the bottom 11% of all combinations in this database. This low rank is almost entirely attributable to the GPU. The CPU itself is in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25292. The Arc B390, by contrast, is in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. The massive disparity between the CPU’s relative strength and the GPU’s relative weakness creates a system where the graphics card is a severe bottleneck.

To contextualize the rank, consider that the combo sits below the vast majority of tested systems. A rank of 3297 out of 3708 means that only 411 combos perform worse in Archeage. That is a clear signal that this is not a gaming-oriented configuration. The CPU’s nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (0% delta), Intel Core 5 120 (-0.3%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (-0.3%), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (0.4%)—are all capable processors, but none of them can rescue the Arc B390 from its position at the bottom of the GPU performance chart. The GPU’s nearest rivals, including the GT 520MX and GT 710, are ancient, low-end parts; being 1.3% to 2.7% faster than those is not a meaningful achievement in a modern game.

The practical takeaway from the rank is that this combo is not designed for gaming performance. It might serve as a basic desktop system or for light productivity tasks, but in Archeage, it will struggle to provide a playable experience at any setting above 1080p Low or Medium. The rank also indicates that many other CPU+GPU pairings, even with weaker CPUs, would outperform this setup because they would have a more balanced GPU. The data suggests that if a user owns an i5-13400F, they would be far better served by pairing it with a more capable discrete GPU, as the CPU has ample headroom to drive higher frame rates in this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the 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 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3. This is a strong mid-range CPU, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and single-core score of 3191. In synthetic tests, it scores 7314 in 3DMark with 16 threads and 960 in single-thread, with a PassMark multithread score of 25032 and a single-thread score of 3634.

In Archeage, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, AI, and draw calls, which are largely single-threaded in many MMORPG engines. The i5-13400F’s single-core performance is more than sufficient for the frame rates observed. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 71 FPS, which is the highest average across all tested configurations. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see this 71 FPS ceiling persist across different resolutions. Instead, the FPS drops sharply as resolution increases: 48 FPS at 1440p Low and 28 FPS at 4K Low. This scaling is a clear indication that the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

The multi-threaded performance of the i5-13400F is also strong, with a Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2278 and a Geekbench multicore score of 11068. Archeage may use multiple threads for background tasks, but the measured FPS does not suggest any CPU limitation. The fact that the combo ranks 3297 out of 3708 is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability; rather, it is a reflection of the GPU’s inability to keep up. A user who upgrades the GPU while keeping the i5-13400F would likely see a dramatic improvement in Archeage, since the CPU has demonstrated it can handle the game’s demands at 71 FPS without being maxed out.

The CPU’s memory support includes both DDR4 and DDR5, which gives platform flexibility, but the GPU’s memory is system-shared, meaning the GPU borrows from system RAM. This shared memory architecture is a significant weakness for the Arc B390, as it lacks dedicated VRAM and relies on system memory bandwidth, which is system-dependent. The i5-13400F supports dual-channel memory, but the exact bandwidth is not specified in the data. The combination of a strong CPU and a weak, memory-sharing GPU is a classic imbalance; the CPU is ready to feed a much more powerful graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing 12 data points. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 71 FPS, Medium averages 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 and maximum of 73, High averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 42 FPS, with Low being the only setting that exceeds 70 FPS. The Medium preset offers a respectable 64 FPS average, and its minimum of 54 FPS ensures that most of the time the game will feel responsive. High at 43 FPS is playable but noticeably less smooth, while Ultra at 29 FPS falls below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable play.

At 2560x1440, the numbers drop significantly. Low averages 48 FPS, Medium averages 43 FPS (min 36, max 49), High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 1440p is just 5 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is already hitting a pixel-throughput limit where the extra shading work in Medium does not cost much additional performance. The jump from Medium to High is larger, at 14 FPS, which is a 33% reduction. Ultra at 20 FPS is nearly unplayable, with a frame rate that would feel stuttery in any combat scenario. The minimum FPS at Medium (36) is the only data point at 1440p that stays above 30, indicating that even Medium will have occasional dips below the average.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low averages 28 FPS, Medium averages 25 FPS (min 21, max 28), High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is only 3 FPS, and High to Ultra is 6 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (21) is below 30, and the maximum of 28 FPS is still below the playability threshold. This resolution is simply not viable for this combo; even the lowest settings produce an average frame rate that is less than half of the 60 FPS target. The data shows that the Arc B390’s fillrate and memory bandwidth are utterly insufficient for 4K rendering in Archeage.

The measured FPS also reveals how settings scale relative to each other. At 1080p, Low to Medium is a 7 FPS penalty (71 to 64), Medium to High is a 21 FPS penalty (64 to 43), and High to Ultra is a 14 FPS penalty (43 to 29). The largest jump is between Medium and High, which suggests that the High preset introduces significant shading or texture effects that the GPU cannot handle efficiently. At 1440p, Low to Medium is 5 FPS, Medium to High is 14 FPS, and High to Ultra is 9 FPS. At 4K, Low to Medium is 3 FPS, Medium to High is 8 FPS, and High to Ultra is 6 FPS. The diminishing returns at higher resolutions confirm that pixel count is the primary bottleneck, not the preset complexity. In summary, the data supports a single practical configuration: 1920x1080 with Low or Medium settings, where the combo delivers between 64 and 71 FPS average, with a minimum of 54 FPS at Medium. Everything else is a compromise that trades playability for visual fidelity or resolution, and the trade is rarely worth it.