Archeage

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers a playable, though not flawless, Archeage experience. The data shows a system where the GPU is the dominant constraint at higher resolutions, but the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance keeps frame rates acceptable at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, examines the roles of the processor and graphics card, and contextualizes the combo’s standing among the 1,727 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 66.3 FPS, but moving to 1440p drops that to 41.3 FPS, a 37.7% reduction. Pushing to 4K further craters the average to 27.2 FPS, which is just 41% of the 1080p High result. This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, confirming that the GTX 1070’s rendering throughput is the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically with resolution. At 1080p, the spread from Low (106.6 FPS) to Ultra (45.9 FPS) is 60.7 FPS. At 1440p, that spread shrinks to 37.9 FPS (68.8 Low vs 30.9 Ultra), and at 4K it narrows further to 28.6 FPS (43.2 Low vs 14.6 Ultra). This compression indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that even lowering settings cannot fully compensate for the increased pixel workload. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users must accept either Low settings for a barely playable 43.2 FPS or Ultra for a slideshow-like 14.6 FPS.

Interestingly, the scaling from 1440p to 4K is less severe than from 1080p to 1440p for most presets. For High settings, the drop from 1440p to 4K is 34.1%, while the 1080p to 1440p drop is 37.7%. This non-linear behavior hints that the GTX 1070’s 256-bit memory bus and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth begin to throttle performance more uniformly once the resolution exceeds the 8 GB frame buffer’s comfortable capacity, though the exact threshold cannot be determined from these aggregate numbers alone.

GPU Role

The GeForce GTX 1070, built on the 16 nm Pascal architecture with the GP104 chip, is clearly the bottleneck in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for 1080p but strained at 4K. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is just 14.6, a figure that aligns with the GPU’s 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its PassMark G3D score of 13,498. The card’s base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1683 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is taxed heavily by Archeage’s High and Ultra presets at elevated resolutions.

The measured data shows the GPU’s limits most starkly at 4K. Even at Low settings, the average FPS of 43.2 is barely above the 30 FPS threshold many consider minimum playability, and it falls far short of the 60 FPS target for smooth MMO combat. At 1440p, the GTX 1070 manages a respectable 61.7 FPS on Medium and 68.8 FPS on Low, suggesting that this resolution is the practical ceiling for this card in Archeage. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is not explicitly tested in the measured rows, but the sharp performance drop between Medium (36.3 FPS at 4K) and High (27.2 FPS at 4K) implies that texture-heavy settings exceed the card’s comfortable memory allocation, forcing slower data transfers.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Quadro K4200 (0.7% faster) and GTX 880M (1.3% slower), but these comparisons do not translate directly to gaming performance. The GTX 1070’s 51st percentile standing means it sits near the median of all GPUs, which explains why it delivers playable 1080p results but struggles with 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides a robust foundation for Archeage, with 10 cores and 16 threads running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost up to 4.70 GHz. This Raptor Lake Refresh part scores an 88th percentile among all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21,914 and a single-core score of 3,093. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB L1 cache per core help maintain consistent frame delivery in MMO scenarios where many entities and player actions must be processed.

The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the primary limiter at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 106.6 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s practical ceiling for this game, as the GPU is not fully utilized at such a low graphical load. However, the CPU’s strong multi-threading does not prevent the 4K Ultra frame rate from collapsing to 14.6 FPS, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck in that scenario. The i5-14400F’s PassMark multithread score of 25,783 and single-thread score of 3,723 indicate ample headroom for Archeage’s MMO workloads, which typically favor higher single-core performance for game logic.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Core i7-12800H (0% delta) and Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2% faster), have nearly identical average benchmark scores, suggesting that the i5-14400F is positioned well for gaming. The 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory give system builders flexibility, but these factors do not directly appear in the measured FPS rows. The data implies that users seeking higher frame rates should focus on GPU upgrades, as the CPU already provides a strong baseline.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1,448th out of 1,727 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 16% of all systems. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GTX 1070, which is now end-of-life and has a 51st percentile GPU score. The i5-14400F’s 88th percentile CPU score is far above average, but the pairing with a mid-range Pascal GPU drags the overall result down. This rank suggests that while the CPU is capable of driving higher frame rates, the GPU cannot keep pace in demanding scenarios.

Comparatively, the CPU’s nearest rivals — the Core i7-12800H, Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, Ryzen 7 250, and Core i7-13705H — all score within 0.2% of the i5-14400F in average benchmarks. This indicates that swapping the CPU for any of these would yield nearly identical gaming performance when paired with the same GTX 1070. The GPU’s nearest rivals, including the GTX 1650 SUPER (1.4% faster) and Tesla K20Xm (1.7% faster), are similarly close, suggesting that the combo’s rank is not an outlier but representative of mid-range hardware from the 2016-2020 era.

The 1,448th rank out of 1,727 means there are 279 combos that perform worse, but the vast majority of tested systems are faster. This places the combo in the lower quartile of performance, which aligns with its measured inability to hit 60 FPS at 4K on any setting. The data suggests that users with this combo should target 1080p or 1440p gaming, where the rank is less indicative of playability.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1080p is the only resolution where all settings presets achieve at least 45.9 FPS (Ultra). At 1440p, only Low (68.8 FPS) and Medium (61.7 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while 4K fails to reach 43.2 FPS even on Low.

Q: How does the GTX 1070’s performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12,331, which is 0.7% lower than the Quadro K4200, 1.3% higher than the GTX 880M, and 1.4% lower than the GTX 1650 SUPER. These differences are small enough that gaming performance would be nearly identical.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the low 4K frame rates?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU scores in the 88th percentile, but the 4K Ultra average of 14.6 FPS is far below playable, indicating the GTX 1070 cannot handle the pixel workload. The CPU’s strong multi-threading does not help when the GPU is saturated.

Q: What is the highest FPS this combo can achieve?

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 106.6, achieved at 1080p with Low settings. This is the only setting that breaks 100 FPS, while 1080p Medium (95.2 FPS) and High (66.3 FPS) are also above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 1,448th out of 1,727 total combos, placing it in the bottom 16%. This rank is driven by the GPU’s mid-range performance, despite the CPU’s above-average standing.

Q: Can this combo handle Archeage at Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 45.9 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 30.9 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 14.6 FPS. Ultra is only recommended for 1080p, and even then, users may prefer Medium for higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 106.6 FPS on Low, 95.2 FPS on Medium, 66.3 FPS on High, and 45.9 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear progression, with the gap between Low and Medium being 11.4 FPS, Medium to High being 28.9 FPS, and High to Ultra being 20.4 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly: Low averages 68.8 FPS, Medium 61.7 FPS, High 41.3 FPS, and Ultra 30.9 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium is a modest 7.1 FPS loss, but Medium to High costs 20.4 FPS, and High to Ultra loses another 10.4 FPS. This suggests that the High preset is a poor value at 1440p, offering only 41.3 FPS compared to Medium’s 61.7 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal: Low averages 43.2 FPS, Medium 36.3 FPS, High 27.2 FPS, and Ultra 14.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 6.9 FPS, Medium to High is 9.1 FPS, and High to Ultra is 12.6 FPS. Notably, the 4K Ultra result is less than half the 1080p Ultra result, illustrating the GPU’s severe strain at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and playability, the Medium preset at 1080p is the standout choice, delivering 95.2 FPS while retaining more detail than Low. This is nearly 30 FPS higher than High (66.3 FPS) and over 49 FPS higher than Ultra (45.9 FPS), making it the clear sweet spot for this combo. Users prioritizing smoothness over visuals could opt for Low at 1080p for 106.6 FPS, but the gain over Medium is only 11.4 FPS, which may not justify the visual downgrade.

At 1440p, Medium (61.7 FPS) is the only preset that maintains a 60 FPS average, making it the recommended choice for this resolution. Low (68.8 FPS) is slightly faster but sacrifices visual fidelity, while High (41.3 FPS) and Ultra (30.9 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the upper limit for a consistently smooth experience.

At 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS, and only Low (43.2 FPS) approaches playability. Medium (36.3 FPS) and High (27.2 FPS) are borderline, while Ultra (14.6 FPS) is effectively unplayable. Users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept Low settings and frame rates in the 40s. The measured data makes it clear that this combo is best suited for 1080p Medium or High, with 1440p Medium as a viable alternative for those with higher-resolution monitors.