Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, presents an interesting case study for modern hardware. The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination delivers a wide spectrum of performance that is heavily dictated by the chosen graphics preset. The data reveals a system capable of extreme high-refresh-rate play at lower settings, yet one that can be brought to its knees by the game's most demanding visual options at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings to understand the balance between this 10-core processor and the Ada Lovelace GPU.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It operates on the Intel Socket 1700 platform with a 65 W TDP, a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The processor's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 cache. While its clock speeds are respectable, the data suggests that Archeage's performance ceiling in this combo is not solely defined by the CPU. The benchmark scores for the i5-14400F show it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093.

Despite this strong synthetic showing, the measured FPS in Archeage reveals that the processor's impact is most evident at lower graphical settings where the GPU is less burdened. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 248.4 FPS, a figure that is less than double the 151 FPS seen at 1080p High. This indicates that while the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high rates, the performance scaling is not linear with the CPU's capabilities. In comparison to its nearest rivals, the i5-14400F is practically tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, with deltaPct values of 0 and 0.2 respectively. This suggests that in a CPU-bound scenario, this processor's performance is mainstream, which is consistent with its role as a non-unlocked, desktop-oriented chip.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The data places this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER at rank 169 out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the top 10% of all systems benchmarked, indicating a high-performing pairing for this title. The rank is a holistic measure, considering the average FPS across all tested settings and resolutions. The fact that this combo is not higher, despite the powerful GPU, points to the game's engine and its interaction with the CPU as a potential limiting factor in certain scenarios. The GPU itself sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 31811, but the system's overall rank in this game is a function of how well the two components work together under Archeage's specific load. The deltaPct of the GPU's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA CMP 50HX at -0.7 and the RTX A2000 at 1.6, shows the 4070 Ti SUPER is firmly in a competitive tier, yet the game's rank suggests other factors are at play.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Analyzing the FPS drop across resolutions is key to identifying the bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS moves from 151 at 1080p to 100.9 at 1440p, a drop of 33.2%. Moving to 4K, the FPS falls to 57.3, a further 43.2% decrease from the 1440p result. This pattern shows that the GPU is becoming progressively more saturated as resolution increases. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario at the highest resolution.

Conversely, at Low settings, the FPS drops from 248.4 at 1080p to 167.8 at 1440p (a 32.4% decrease) and then to 94.1 at 4K (a 43.9% decrease from 1440p). The fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is nearly identical between Low and High settings (32.4% vs 33.2%) suggests that at 1080p, the system is not purely CPU-bound; otherwise, the FPS would remain more constant. However, the substantial absolute FPS at 1080p Low (248.4) indicates the CPU is doing its job. The data implies that neither component is a strict bottleneck at all times, but the GPU's load becomes the dominant constraint as resolution climbs, particularly at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The most comprehensive performance profile comes from the measured FPS data. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 248.4 FPS, Medium 221.1 FPS, High 151 FPS, and Ultra 103.3 FPS. This demonstrates a wide spread of 145.1 FPS between the lowest and highest quality presets, showing that the game's settings have a massive impact on performance at this resolution. The jump from Medium to High is particularly significant, representing a 70.1 FPS drop, which suggests that High settings introduce a substantial increase in graphical workload.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 167.8 FPS for Low, 150.4 FPS for Medium, 100.9 FPS for High, and 68.1 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium narrows to just 17.4 FPS here, while the drop from High to Ultra is 32.8 FPS. Finally, at 3840x2160, the system produces 94.1 FPS on Low, 86.4 FPS on Medium, 57.3 FPS on High, and 39.2 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the performance hierarchy is compressed, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 54.9 FPS. The data shows that at 4K, even Low settings struggle to maintain a high refresh rate, and Ultra settings are essentially unplayable for competitive play, falling below 40 FPS.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is 2610 MHz, and it contains 8448 shading units. These specifications are substantial, but the measured FPS in Archeage suggests that raw compute power is not the only factor. The significant FPS drop at 4K Ultra (39.2 FPS) compared to 4K High (57.3 FPS) points to the GPU's rendering load being the primary constraint.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 31811 places it in the 86th percentile, and its nearest rival is the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, which is only 0.7% faster. This indicates that the 4070 Ti SUPER is a high-end performer. However, the data shows that in Archeage, the GPU's performance is heavily modulated by the preset. The difference between 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra is 145.1 FPS, a 58.4% reduction, which is a massive performance tax for the higher visual fidelity. This suggests that while the GPU has ample VRAM and bandwidth, the game's engine uses these resources inefficiently at higher settings, leading to the observed frame rate collapse.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the data, the 1440p Medium preset appears to offer a strong balance, delivering 150.4 FPS. This is nearly 50 FPS higher than the High preset at the same resolution (100.9 FPS) and remains comfortably above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold common on many monitors. The 1080p High preset at 151 FPS is also a solid option for those prioritizing smoothness over resolution, but it does not offer a significant advantage over the 1440p Medium result.

For users with a 4K display, the Medium preset at 86.4 FPS is the only viable option for a playable experience above 60 FPS. The High preset at 4K (57.3 FPS) is borderline, while Ultra is not recommended. The data clearly shows that selecting Ultra settings provides a disproportionately large performance penalty for the visual gain, making it the least efficient choice across all resolutions. The most rational recommendation from the data is to prioritize a resolution and preset combination that keeps the average FPS above 100, which points to 1440p Medium or 1080p High as the sweet spots for this hardware.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 248.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average FPS of 39.2, which is below the threshold for smooth, playable performance.

Q: Is the system more CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the 248.4 FPS result indicates high throughput, but the significant drop to 221.1 FPS at Medium shows that the GPU's workload increases immediately, suggesting the system is not purely CPU-bound even at the lowest settings.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 100.9 at 2560x1440 to 57.3 at 3840x2160 with High settings, a decrease of 43.6 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-14400F compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H's score of 32513, showing a 0% deltaPct.

Q: Which settings preset shows the largest relative performance drop?

A: The transition from Medium to High settings at 1080p results in a 70.1 FPS drop (from 221.1 to 151), which is the largest single-setting penalty observed in the data.