Archeage

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second across the three resolutions reveal a classic pattern where the graphics load increases faster than the pixel count. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces average frame rates by roughly 33-34% across all settings, while the jump from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 imposes an additional 46-47% performance penalty. This scaling behavior points to a system that remains largely GPU-bound at higher resolutions, given the consistent proportional drops.

At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 268.9 FPS, which drops to 178.4 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 100.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is still highly playable, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is substantial: 100.5 FPS versus 40 FPS, a 60.5 FPS spread. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant, as the frame rates exceed what most displays can refresh, indicating headroom rather than a bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU's shading and memory throughput dominate the equation, as evidenced by the steep decline in Ultra settings.

The scaling from Medium to High at each resolution is relatively modest—for example, at 2560x1440, Medium delivers 158.8 FPS while High achieves 109.8 FPS, a 49 FPS difference. However, the jump from High to Ultra is disproportionately larger: at the same resolution, High's 109.8 FPS falls to 75.3 FPS on Ultra, a 34.5 FPS reduction. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces rendering features that are particularly taxing on the GPU's resources, likely related to shadow quality or post-processing effects common in MMORPG environments with many characters.

The overall trend confirms that this hardware combination scales predictably with resolution changes, with no anomalous spikes or collapses. The limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p Low (where the 268.9 FPS ceiling suggests CPU instruction throughput) to the GPU at 4K Ultra (where the 40 FPS floor indicates pixel and texture throughput saturation). For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, 4K High is just below that threshold at 59.6 FPS, while 4K Medium comfortably exceeds it at 91.2 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER brings 16 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is directly relevant to Archeage's performance at high resolutions, where large texture sets and draw distances consume significant VRAM. The 4K High result of 59.6 FPS suggests that the memory subsystem is adequate for the game's demands, as no min FPS data indicates stutter or frame time spikes that would signal VRAM overflow.

Clock speeds for this GPU are 2295 MHz base and 2550 MHz boost, with memory running at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). The boost clock behavior is critical for understanding the 1080p results: at 1920x1080 Low, the 268.9 FPS figure likely allows the GPU to maintain high boost clocks, but the frame rate is capped by the CPU's ability to feed draw calls. The 14-core, 20-thread Intel Core i5-14600KF with a 5.30 GHz boost clock provides the single-thread performance needed to drive those high frame rates, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4643.

The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are put to the test in Ultra settings, where the 4K result drops to 40 FPS. This 60% reduction from High at the same resolution (59.6 FPS) indicates that the Ultra preset engages additional pixel shading work that saturates the 112 ROPs. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but unlikely to be heavily utilized in a 2014-era MMORPG, so their impact on these results is minimal.

Comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals based on aggregate benchmark scores, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 53610, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414). The deltaPct values are small, indicating that in synthetic benchmarks, these cards are nearly interchangeable, though the measured FPS in Archeage would depend on driver optimizations and game-specific workloads. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the upper tier, but the 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS shows that even top-tier hardware faces challenges with maxed settings in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimal playability. At 1920x1080, all settings exceed 100 FPS, with Low at 268.9 FPS, Medium at 237.9 FPS, High at 163.8 FPS, and Ultra at 108.4 FPS. For competitive or fast-paced gameplay, Medium offers a strong balance: 237.9 FPS is only 31 FPS behind Low but likely includes visual improvements that justify the slight performance cost. High at 163.8 FPS is still well above the 144 Hz refresh common on gaming monitors, making it a viable choice for those prioritizing image quality without sacrificing smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to High, which delivers 109.8 FPS. This is above the 100 FPS threshold that many players consider smooth, and it is only 49 FPS below Medium (158.8 FPS) while providing better visual fidelity. Ultra at 75.3 FPS is playable but introduces a noticeable drop from High, suggesting that the extra visual features are not worth the 34.5 FPS penalty for most users. Low at 178.4 FPS remains an option for those who prioritize maximum frame rates, but the visual downgrade is substantial.

For 3840x2160, the data strongly favors Medium as the best experience. Medium delivers 91.2 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS standard for 4K gaming, while High drops to 59.6 FPS—just under that threshold—and Ultra falls to 40 FPS, which is below what most would consider acceptable for smooth gameplay. Low at 100.5 FPS is technically the fastest, but the visual compromise at 4K likely defeats the purpose of the resolution. The 31.6 FPS gap between Medium and High at 4K suggests that High's additional effects are disproportionately expensive, making Medium the sweet spot for this resolution.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Ultra presets offer diminishing returns relative to High, while Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. The 1080p Ultra result of 108.4 FPS is the only Ultra setting that remains above 100 FPS, but even that is 55.4 FPS below High, indicating that the Ultra preset's demands are not justified at any resolution for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 111th out of 1727 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 6.4% of all configurations tested. This high percentile is consistent with the individual component rankings: the CPU sits in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 88th percentile among all GPUs. The combo's performance is stronger than either component's individual percentile might suggest, indicating that these two parts complement each other well in this game.

The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 49166 in aggregate benchmarks, a mere 0.4% behind the 14600KF's 49367. This near-identical performance means that the KF variant's lack of integrated graphics does not impact gaming results, as the discrete RTX 4080 SUPER handles all rendering. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scoring 49062, is 0.6% behind, showing that the 14-core Intel part holds its own against a 16-core AMD processor in this workload, likely due to superior single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core of 4643).

For the GPU, the RTX 4080 SUPER's 53610 average score places it 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086) and 2.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (52505). However, the nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is only 0.2% behind at 53489, meaning that in synthetic tests, these two cards are functionally equivalent. In Archeage specifically, the measured FPS would depend on how well the game engine utilizes NVIDIA's specific feature set versus AMD's architecture, but the 4K results suggest that the RTX 4080 SUPER's memory bandwidth (736.3 GB/s) is a decisive factor.

The rank of 111 out of 1727 indicates that while this combo is excellent, it is not at the absolute top, likely because Archeage is an older title (released in 2014) that may not fully utilize the latest hardware features. The 40 FPS at 4K Ultra shows that the game's Ultra preset has rendering paths that challenge even top-tier hardware, but the combo's overall rank reflects strong performance across all measured settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo for a 60 FPS target?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium settings deliver 91.2 FPS, while High falls just below 60 FPS at 59.6 FPS. For a strict 60 FPS floor, 4K Medium is the safest choice, but 4K High is borderline acceptable with 59.6 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest competitor in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 49367 in aggregate benchmarks, which is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K (49166) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062).

Q: Is the GPU's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in Archeage?

A: The measured data shows no min FPS drops or stutter indicators at 4K, with the lowest average being 40 FPS at Ultra. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth appears adequate for the game's texture demands at 4K.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 108.4 FPS, which is the only Ultra preset across all resolutions that exceeds 100 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 111th out of 1727 combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 6.4% of all tested systems, with the CPU in the 93rd percentile and GPU in the 88th percentile individually.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High at 2560x1440?

A: Medium delivers 158.8 FPS while High achieves 109.8 FPS, a difference of 49 FPS. This makes Medium the better choice for high-refresh monitors, while High is still viable for 100 Hz displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average FPS by settings: Low at 268.9, Medium at 237.9, High at 163.8, and Ultra at 108.4. The spread from Low to Ultra is 160.5 FPS, with the largest single-step drop occurring between High and Ultra at 55.4 FPS. This resolution shows the CPU's strength, as even Ultra maintains triple-digit frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 178.4, Medium at 158.8, High at 109.8, and Ultra at 75.3. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced on Low (90.5 FPS reduction) and least on Ultra (33.1 FPS reduction), indicating that higher settings are already GPU-limited at 1080p, while lower settings were CPU-bound. The gap between Medium and High here is 49 FPS, and the High to Ultra gap is 34.5 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 100.5, Medium at 91.2, High at 59.6, and Ultra at 40. The 4K resolution compresses the spread to 60.5 FPS, with High to Ultra being the largest single drop at 19.6 FPS. Notably, 4K Low is nearly identical to 1440p Ultra (100.5 vs 75.3 FPS is actually a 25.2 FPS difference, but 4K Low is faster than 1440p Ultra), which suggests that resolution scaling is more efficient than settings scaling in this game. The 4K Medium result of 91.2 FPS is the only 4K setting above 90 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays.

The full data set shows a consistent pattern: each resolution increase of roughly 1.78x pixel count (1080p to 1440p) or 2.25x (1440p to 4K) results in a proportional frame rate reduction, with the exact percentage varying by settings. Across all twelve measured rows, no anomalies or outliers appear, indicating a stable and predictable performance profile for this CPU-GPU combination in Archeage.