Archeage

# Archeage — Intel Core i5-14400F + AMD Radeon RX 6600

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable but uneven Archeage experience, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and preset selection. The measured data shows a combo that excels at 1080p and remains serviceable at 1440p, but drops below acceptable thresholds at 4K, particularly under demanding settings. This pairing ranks 2887th out of 3708 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which reflects its mixed capability profile across the tested scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that transitions from GPU-bound to increasingly constrained as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 71 FPS at 1920x1080 to 48 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 23 FPS, then further to 27 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 62% decline from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the Radeon RX 6600’s rendering throughput becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern becomes more telling when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 118 FPS, which drops to 79 FPS at 1440p (a 33% reduction) and then to 45 FPS at 4K (a 62% reduction from 1080p). The fact that Low settings still see such a steep 4K penalty suggests that even with reduced shading work, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface struggle to feed the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth and 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate become bottlenecks when the render target quadruples in size.

Medium settings exhibit the most linear scaling of the four presets. The average FPS goes from 105 at 1080p, to 71 at 1440p, to 40 at 4K — a consistent drop of roughly 33% per resolution step. This linearity indicates that Medium settings place balanced demands on the GPU, allowing the RX 6600 to scale predictably as resolution increases. The minimum FPS at Medium also tracks this pattern: 89 at 1080p, 60 at 1440p, and 34 at 4K, with the 4K minimum representing a 62% drop from the 1080p minimum.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling failure. From 49 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate collapses to 33 FPS at 1440p (a 33% drop) and then to 19 FPS at 4K (a 61% drop from 1080p). The 4K Ultra result is barely above single digits, making it effectively unplayable for any real-time interaction. The data suggests that the RX 6600’s 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs are simply insufficient for the combination of high geometric complexity and 4K pixel count that Ultra presets demand.

The overall scaling behavior points to a GPU-limited scenario across all resolutions. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is unlikely to be the constraining factor given that even at 1080p Low — where CPU overhead would typically surface — the combo still achieves 118 FPS. The steep declines at 4K across all settings confirm that the Radeon RX 6600’s compute and memory resources are the primary determinants of frame rate in Archeage.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 105 FPS average with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS, providing smooth gameplay with headroom for occasional dips. This preset also maintains a minimum of 60 FPS at 1440p, which is the threshold for consistent playability. The 4K Medium result of 40 FPS average with a 34 FPS minimum is marginal, but it remains the highest playable setting at that resolution.

The Low preset is the only option that achieves consistently high frame rates across all tested resolutions. At 1080p, it produces 118 FPS; at 1440p, 79 FPS; and at 4K, 45 FPS. For players prioritizing frame rate stability over visual fidelity, Low is the recommended choice, particularly at 1440p and above. The jump from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 8 FPS (from 79 to 71), which is a modest penalty for improved visuals, making Medium the better trade-off at that resolution.

High settings present a middle ground that works well only at 1080p. The 71 FPS average at 1920x1080 is acceptable, but the drop to 48 FPS at 1440p and 27 FPS at 4K makes High a poor choice for higher resolutions. The 4K High result is below the 30 FPS playability floor, so it should be avoided unless the user prioritizes image quality over responsiveness.

Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. Even at 1080p, the 49 FPS average is borderline, and the 33 FPS at 1440p and 19 FPS at 4K are clearly unplayable. The performance cost of Ultra over High is substantial — 22 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K — without a corresponding benefit in the measured data. For the best experience per the measured rows, Medium at 1080p or 1440p provides the optimal combination of frame rate and visual quality, with Low as a fallback for higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the primary driver of Archeage’s frame rate, and its specifications explain the observed scaling behavior. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration becomes a significant constraint at 4K, where the larger frame buffer and texture working set exceed what the relatively narrow bus can efficiently feed. The 8 GB capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but may cause the game to rely on system memory at 3840x2160, which would explain the disproportionate performance drop.

The clock speeds of the RX 6600 — a base of 1626 MHz, a boost of 2491 MHz, and a game clock of 2044 MHz — provide a strong foundation for 1080p performance. The boost clock of 2491 MHz is notably high, allowing the GPU to maintain high throughput in less demanding scenes. However, at 4K, the sustained load likely prevents the GPU from holding its maximum boost, reducing effective performance. The 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 279.0 GTexel/s texture rate are respectable for a mid-range card but clearly insufficient for 4K Ultra workloads.

The GPU’s compute capabilities — 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs — contribute to its 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. This raw compute is well-suited to Archeage’s relatively modest graphics demands at 1080p, where the combo achieves 118 FPS on Low. The 28 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) indicate modern API compatibility, though the game’s 2014 release date suggests these features are unlikely to be heavily utilized.

The RX 6600’s benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492 and Passmark G3D score of 15096 place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, which is consistent with its mid-range positioning. The nearest rivals — the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 with a 0% delta, the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at -0.1%, and the Tesla K20m at -0.3% — all show nearly identical average scores, indicating that the RX 6600 sits in a tightly competitive performance band. The 19036 average benchmark score reflects a GPU that is capable for 1080p gaming but not designed for high-resolution workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset achieves 118 FPS average, the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium produces 105 FPS average with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS, showing good frame pacing. High drops to 71 FPS, still well within playable range. Ultra is the weakest at 49 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced gameplay but acceptable for an MMORPG’s slower combat.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades predictably. Low maintains a solid 79 FPS, while Medium drops to 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS. High falls to 48 FPS, and Ultra collapses to 33 FPS. The 1440p results show that Medium is the sweet spot, with a minimum FPS that exactly meets the 60 FPS playability threshold. The gap between Low and Medium is only 8 FPS, making Medium the better choice for visual quality without sacrificing much performance.

At 3840x2160, the RX 6600 struggles. Low produces 45 FPS, Medium yields 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, High drops to 27 FPS, and Ultra falls to 19 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly below the 60 FPS target, and only Low and Medium exceed the 30 FPS minimum playability threshold. The Medium preset’s 34 FPS minimum is particularly telling — it indicates that even the most forgiving settings cannot prevent frame drops below 30 FPS at this resolution.

The comparison between resolutions reveals consistent scaling patterns. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 33% across all presets. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe at approximately 44%, reflecting the GPU’s diminishing ability to handle the pixel count increase. The minimum FPS values, where available, show similar scaling: Medium goes from 89 at 1080p to 60 at 1440p to 34 at 4K, a 62% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 combination ranks 2887th out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the 22nd percentile of all tested configurations. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the CPU is comparatively stronger in synthetic benchmarks. The combo’s standing suggests that it outperforms roughly one-fifth of tested systems but is significantly outpaced by the majority, particularly at higher resolutions.

The CPU’s individual ranking provides context for the combo’s performance. The i5-14400F sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32279. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U at 0.1% delta, the Intel Core i9-11900 at 0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-12800H at 0.5% — all show minimal performance differences, indicating that the CPU is competitive with upper-mid-range processors. This suggests that the combo’s low rank is attributable to the GPU rather than the CPU.

The GPU’s individual percentile of 63rd places it below the CPU’s standing, confirming that the RX 6600 is the weaker component in this pairing. The combo rank of 2887th out of 3708 is consistent with a GPU that sits in the lower half of the performance distribution for this game. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation — at 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 105 FPS, which is respectable, but the steep 4K decline limits its overall ranking.

The delta between the CPU and GPU percentiles — 83rd versus 63rd — highlights an imbalance that affects the combo’s rank. In Archeage, where GPU load dominates at higher resolutions, the CPU’s strength cannot compensate for the GPU’s limitations. The combo’s performance is thus capped by the RX 6600, and its rank reflects this bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides substantial processing headroom that is not fully utilized in Archeage. With 10 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 2.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, the CPU is well-equipped to handle the game’s thread demands. The 20 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core provide ample caching for game data, reducing memory latency and improving frame pacing.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmark scores demonstrate its capability. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645 and single-core score of 3055 place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. The Passmark multithread score of 25470 and single-thread score of 3701 further confirm its balanced performance profile. These results indicate that the i5-14400F is unlikely to be a bottleneck in Archeage, as even the highest measured FPS of 118 at 1080p Low remains well below the CPU’s theoretical frame generation capacity.

The CPU’s nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U at 0.1% delta, the Intel Core i9-11900 at 0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-12800H at 0.5% — all show nearly identical average scores, suggesting that the i5-14400F performs competitively with other mid-range to high-end processors. The Ryzen 7 6800HS at -0.2% delta is the only rival with a lower score, though the difference is negligible. This tight clustering indicates that the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo’s performance.

The evidence that the CPU is not limiting comes from the scaling data. If the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would plateau at lower resolutions regardless of settings. Instead, the data shows that 1080p Low produces 118 FPS while 1080p Ultra produces 49 FPS — a 69 FPS spread that is entirely attributable to GPU load. The fact that the CPU can push frame rates to 118 FPS at 1080p Low while the GPU limits 4K Ultra to 19 FPS confirms that the RX 6600 is the constraining component in this pairing.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all presets remain playable, with Low achieving 118 FPS and Medium achieving 105 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (79 FPS) and Medium (71 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with Low and Medium barely exceeding 40 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6600's memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. This configuration limits 4K performance, as the 4K High preset produces only 27 FPS and Ultra drops to 19 FPS. The memory bandwidth is insufficient to feed the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a bottleneck for this GPU in Archeage?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is not limiting. The i5-14400F scores in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, and the FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p (118 vs 49 FPS) shows GPU-bound behavior. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for the game's demands.

Q: What is the recommended preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium is the recommended preset at 2560x1440, delivering 71 FPS average with a 60 FPS minimum. Low achieves 79 FPS but with reduced visuals, while High drops to 48 FPS and Ultra to 33 FPS. Medium offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 2887th out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The RX 6600's 63rd percentile GPU ranking is the primary factor, as the CPU's 83rd percentile ranking is comparatively stronger.

Q: Is the Ultra preset viable at any resolution?

A: Ultra is only marginally playable at 1080p, where it achieves 49 FPS. At 1440p it drops to 33 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 19 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra over High is significant — 22 FPS at 1080p — making it not recommended for this combo.