Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, responds strongly to the hardware driving it, and the measured data for the Intel Core i5-14600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 shows a system capable of high frame rates across most settings, with clear scaling patterns that reveal the role of each component. The benchmark results indicate that this pairing sits in the 203rd position out of 3708 tested combos, placing it in the top 5.5% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a game of this era.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for the four available presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 269 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo at any resolution. However, this comes with the expected visual compromises. The Medium preset still delivers an excellent 240 FPS average, with a minimum of 204 FPS and a maximum of 276 FPS, indicating that even in dense scenes, the frame rate will not dip below the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The High preset drops to 163 FPS average, while the Ultra preset brings the average down to 111 FPS.

For the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, the High preset at 1080p appears to be the optimal choice. The average of 163 FPS is well above the 144Hz threshold, and the visual upgrade from Medium to High is typically more noticeable than from Low to Medium. While Ultra offers the highest quality, the 111 FPS average is still playable but may not be ideal for competitive play on high-refresh-rate displays. At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats. Medium yields a 161 FPS average, which is nearly identical to the 1080p High result, making it the recommended preset for 1440p gaming. The High preset at 1440p delivers 110 FPS, which is still suitable for a 120Hz display. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 75 FPS, which is a more significant compromise.

At 4K (3840x2160), the situation changes. The High preset produces a 63 FPS average, which is just on the edge of the 60 FPS target for a smooth experience. The Medium preset offers a more comfortable 92 FPS average, making it the clear recommendation for 4K play. The Low preset at 4K provides 104 FPS, but the visual downgrade is severe. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 43 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. Therefore, for a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option that does not require significant visual compromises. The data suggests that this combo is best utilized with the High preset at 1080p and 1440p, and the Medium preset at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit memory bus, yielding a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is 2505 MHz. The memory clock is listed as 1400 MHz, which translates to 22.4 Gbps effective. This high-bandwidth memory configuration is crucial for feeding the GPU's 9728 shading units. The benchmark results show that the GPU's average benchmark score is 54247, with a percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average score of 54209, which is a 0.1% delta, indicating that the 4080 is effectively at parity with its immediate successor.

In Archeage, the GPU's role becomes more critical as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to suggest that the CPU is the primary limiter, as the GPU has plenty of headroom. The 269 FPS at Low settings and 163 FPS at High settings are far above what would be needed for a smooth experience, and the GPU is not fully utilized. However, as the resolution increases to 1440p and then to 4K, the GPU's workload increases. The frame rate drop from 1080p High (163 FPS) to 1440p High (110 FPS) is substantial, and the further drop to 4K High (63 FPS) shows a classic resolution scaling pattern. The 4K Medium preset, with a 92 FPS average, is likely where the GPU is being pushed to its limits while still maintaining a good frame rate. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for all settings in this game, even at 4K, as Archeage is not typically a VRAM-heavy title. The data shows that the RTX 4080 is the dominant component at 4K, where its performance dictates the playable settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has a combo rank of 203 out of 3708 tested configurations in Archeage. This places it in the top 5.5% of all tested combos, which is a strong result. The high ranking is likely due to the combination of a strong CPU and a very strong GPU. The CPU, the i5-14600KF, has a 90th percentile rank among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49394. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, has a score of 49228, a delta of 0.3%, meaning the two are statistically tied. The GPU, the RTX 4080, has an 86th percentile rank among all GPUs.

The ranking in Archeage suggests that this combo is well-suited for the game. The 203rd position out of 3708 combos is impressive, but it also indicates that there are 202 other configurations that perform better. These are likely to include higher-end CPUs like the Core i9 or Ryzen 9 series, paired with the RTX 4090 or similar top-tier GPUs. The data shows that the i5-14600KF and RTX 4080 are both strong performers individually, and their combination is greater than the sum of its parts in this specific game. The high ranking confirms the balanced nature of this setup, which avoids the bottleneck that can occur when one component is significantly weaker than the other. The delta between this combo and the top-ranked ones is not provided, but the 203rd rank out of 3708 puts it in the 94.5th percentile, which is an excellent position for a mid-range to high-end build.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 60+ FPS experience at 4K resolution?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 is the only option that consistently delivers above 60 FPS, with an average of 92 FPS. The High preset averages 63 FPS, which is close to 60 but may dip below in demanding scenes, while the Ultra preset drops to 43 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49394, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900's score of 49228. This makes the two processors effectively equal in general performance.

Q: At which resolution does the GPU become the limiting factor?

A: The frame rate scaling suggests the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K. The drop from 1440p High (110 FPS) to 4K High (63 FPS) is a 43% reduction, which is significant. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor due to the very high frame rates.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 137 FPS, with an average of 161 FPS and a maximum of 186 FPS. This indicates that even in the most demanding moments, the frame rate stays well above 120 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's average benchmark score compare to the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is 2.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB's score of 55698. This is a notable difference, suggesting the AMD card performs better in synthetic benchmarks, though the in-game results for this combo are still strong.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 1080p?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1920x1080 produces an average of 111 FPS. While not as high as the High preset's 163 FPS, it remains well above the 60 FPS threshold and is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors, though the High preset is recommended for maximum smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, the High preset averages 163 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 110 FPS, a reduction of 32.5%. This is a significant drop, but the resulting frame rate is still very high. Moving from 1440p High to 4K High, the average falls to 63 FPS, another 42.7% reduction. This pattern is consistent across all presets. The Low preset goes from 269 FPS at 1080p to 181 FPS at 1440p (a 32.7% drop) and then to 104 FPS at 4K (a 42.5% drop). The Medium preset goes from 240 FPS to 161 FPS (a 32.9% drop) and then to 92 FPS (a 42.9% drop). The Ultra preset goes from 111 FPS to 75 FPS (a 32.4% drop) and then to 43 FPS (a 42.7% drop).

The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets is notable. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistently around 32-33%, and the drop from 1440p to 4K is consistently around 42-43%. This uniform scaling indicates that the performance is being limited by the GPU's rendering output at all settings. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at all resolutions, and the FPS is primarily dictated by the GPU's fill rate and pixel processing power. The RTX 4080's pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s, which are the key metrics for this type of scaling. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU can keep up with the GPU, but the GPU is not fully stressed. As the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor, and the FPS scales inversely with the number of pixels. The 32% drop from 1080p to 1440p is slightly less than the 44% increase in pixel count (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million), which suggests that the CPU is still providing some benefit at 1440p. The 42% drop from 1440p to 4K is much closer to the 44% pixel increase, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF has 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU's cache configuration includes an L3 cache of 24 MB shared. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The CPU's benchmark results are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594. In PassMark, the multithread score is 38697, and the single-thread score is 4273. The CPU's average benchmark score is 49394, and it ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p with the Low preset, the average FPS is 269, which is exceptionally high. This high frame rate is only possible if the CPU can process the game's logic and draw calls quickly enough to keep the GPU fed. The i5-14600KF's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 4594 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is crucial for this task. MMORPGs like Archeage often have a single main game thread that can become a bottleneck. The data shows that even at 1080p High, the CPU manages to deliver 163 FPS, which suggests it is not a significant bottleneck at this resolution. However, the fact that the FPS does not scale linearly with GPU power at 1080p suggests the CPU is still a limiting factor, preventing the RTX 4080 from reaching its full potential. The CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample multi-threading capability, which helps with background tasks and other game systems. The 24 MB of L3 cache helps with data locality, reducing memory latency. Overall, the CPU is a strong partner for the RTX 4080, ensuring that the GPU is not starved of data at 1080p and 1440p, while the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at 4K. The CPU's 90th percentile rank and its performance in the Cinebench and PassMark tests confirm its capability for gaming workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete breakdown of measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset:

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 269 FPS
• Medium: Average 240 FPS, Minimum 204 FPS, Maximum 276 FPS
• High: Average 163 FPS
• Ultra: Average 111 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 181 FPS
• Medium: Average 161 FPS, Minimum 137 FPS, Maximum 186 FPS
• High: Average 110 FPS
• Ultra: Average 75 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 104 FPS
• Medium: Average 92 FPS, Minimum 79 FPS, Maximum 106 FPS
• High: Average 63 FPS
• Ultra: Average 43 FPS

The data shows a clear progression. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset is playable, with 111 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p (240 FPS) has a higher average than the Low preset at 1440p (181 FPS), highlighting the impact of resolution. The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data for all three resolutions, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1440p, the Medium preset's minimum of 137 FPS is still very high, indicating a smooth experience. At 4K, the Medium preset's minimum of 79 FPS is above the 60 FPS target, but the High preset's average of 63 FPS may dip below 60 in intense scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 43 FPS, is the only setting that is not consistently playable. The scaling from 1080p to 4K for each preset is consistent, with the Medium preset dropping from 240 to 161 to 92 FPS, which shows a pattern of roughly 33% and 43% reductions respectively. This data reinforces the conclusion that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU holds up well at all settings. The 4K Low preset, at 104 FPS, is actually higher than the 1080p Ultra preset at 111 FPS, which reflects the GPU's raw power and the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates even at lower settings.