Archeage

Archeage, the 2014 MMORPG, presents an interesting scaling pattern for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a system that is heavily influenced by the graphics settings, with a significant performance cliff appearing at the Ultra preset.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 shows a substantial but expected drop in frame rates across all settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 269.6 FPS at 1080p to 178.0 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 34%. The High preset sees a similar relative decline, dropping from 162.4 FPS to 108.1 FPS, which is a 33.4% decrease. This consistent scaling suggests that at these settings, the rendering pipeline is still able to feed the GPU adequately, and the bottleneck is shifting towards the graphics processor.

The jump from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 is where the RTX 4080 SUPER begins to show its limits more clearly. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 108.1 FPS at 1440p to 63.9 FPS at 4K, a 40.9% reduction. This is a larger relative drop than the 1080p to 1440p transition, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at 4K. The data supports this: the 4K High result of 63.9 FPS is still playable, but it is far from the high-refresh-rate territory that the 1080p results occupy.

The most striking scaling behavior is observed with the Ultra preset. At 1080p, Ultra yields 109.0 FPS, which is 48.6% lower than the Low preset's 269.6 FPS. At 1440p, the Ultra preset manages 72.8 FPS, and at 4K, it collapses to 44.1 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K on Ultra is 39.4%, which is a massive demand on the GPU. This indicates that the Ultra preset in Archeage introduces rendering features that are disproportionately heavy, making the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 52.22 TFLOPS of compute power insufficient for a smooth 4K experience at those settings.

Overall, the resolution scaling profile shows a system that is GPU-bound at 4K and CPU-bound at 1080p. The Intel Core i5-14600K, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, appears to be more than capable of driving high frame rates at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 269.6 FPS result at 1080p Low. The bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU as resolution increases, which is the expected behavior for a high-end processor paired with a powerful graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest possible refresh rate, the Low preset at 1080p provides the best measured performance, achieving an average of 269.6 FPS. This is ideal for competitive or fast-paced gameplay where frame time consistency is more important than visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1080p is also a strong option, delivering 236.6 FPS, which is only 12.2% slower than Low while presumably offering better visual quality.

At 1440p, the Medium preset offers a compelling balance, with an average of 162.7 FPS. This is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold for many monitors and provides a significant visual upgrade over Low. The High preset at 1440p still delivers a respectable 108.1 FPS, which is suitable for 100 Hz displays, but the Medium preset offers more headroom for maintaining a stable frame rate.

For 4K gaming, the High preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, with an average of 63.9 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 92.4 FPS, which is notably better, but the visual difference between Medium and High may be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as the 44.1 FPS average will likely result in a stuttery and less responsive experience. The data suggests that the "sweet spot" for this combination is the Medium preset at 1440p, which offers a high frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 with the Medium preset provides the best combination of high frame rate and visual quality, achieving an average of 162.7 FPS. This is significantly higher than the 4K results and offers a more immersive experience than 1080p.

Q: How does the Ultra preset affect performance compared to High?

A: The Ultra preset causes a massive performance drop across all resolutions. At 1080p, it is 32.9% slower than High (109.0 FPS vs 162.4 FPS). At 4K, the gap widens, with Ultra producing 44.1 FPS compared to High's 63.9 FPS, a 31.0% reduction. The Ultra preset appears to introduce a heavy rendering load that the RTX 4080 SUPER struggles to handle.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The bottleneck shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates (up to 269.6 FPS on Low) suggest the Intel Core i5-14600K is capable of feeding the GPU quickly, making the graphics card the limiting factor. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only with the High preset, which averages 63.9 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is better, at 92.4 FPS, but the Ultra preset falls short at 44.1 FPS, failing to maintain a 60 FPS average.

Q: How does the combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 102nd out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 5.9% of all tested systems. This indicates that the i5-14600K and RTX 4080 SUPER pair is a very high-performing configuration for this game.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 178.0 FPS, while the High preset achieves 108.1 FPS. This represents a 39.3% decrease in performance when moving from Low to High, a substantial cost for the visual upgrade.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured performance data for Archeage with the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is detailed below. All values represent the average frame rate in FPS.

1920x1080:

• Low: 269.6 FPS
• Medium: 236.6 FPS
• High: 162.4 FPS
• Ultra: 109.0 FPS

At 1080p, the scaling from Low to Ultra is steep. The Medium preset retains 87.8% of the Low preset's performance, while High drops to 60.2% of Low. The Ultra preset only reaches 40.4% of the Low preset's frame rate, highlighting the severe cost of the highest settings.

2560x1440:

• Low: 178.0 FPS
• Medium: 162.7 FPS
• High: 108.1 FPS
• Ultra: 72.8 FPS

The 1440p results show a similar trend. Medium is 91.4% of Low's performance, which is a minor penalty for better visuals. High is 60.7% of Low, and Ultra is 40.9% of Low. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first point where the frame rate drops below 100 FPS, indicating a heavy GPU load.

3840x2160:

• Low: 100.4 FPS
• Medium: 92.4 FPS
• High: 63.9 FPS
• Ultra: 44.1 FPS

At 4K, the system finally shows its limitations. The Low preset is just above the 100 FPS mark, but the High and Ultra presets fall significantly. The Ultra preset's 44.1 FPS is the lowest measured result, showing a 56.1% drop from the Low preset's 100.4 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Archeage, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER holds a rank of 102 out of 1727 tested system configurations. This places it in the 94.1st percentile of all tested combos, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of systems tested in this game.

The ranking suggests that this hardware pairing is exceptionally well-suited for Archeage. The high frame rates measured across all resolutions, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, contribute to this strong position. The data shows that while the Ultra preset is demanding, the system's overall capability allows it to excel in most scenarios, solidifying its top-tier status. The performance headroom provided by the i5-14600K's high single-thread performance, as seen in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642, likely helps in an MMORPG environment where many game logic threads can bottleneck on a single core.