Archeage

Archeage is an older MMORPG, but it remains demanding at high settings due to its large-scale world and player interactions. With the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, the benchmark data shows a clear pattern: this combination is capable of smooth performance at mainstream resolutions, but it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with high visual fidelity. The measured results indicate that the best experience is found by prioritizing resolution over maximum settings, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for settings at each resolution. For the smoothest experience at 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 126 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. This is ideal for fast-paced combat or large-scale raids where frame rate consistency is key. However, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a strong balance, with an average of 112 FPS and a minimum of 95 FPS, ensuring that frame drops remain minimal even in busy scenes. The High preset at 1080p still provides a very playable 76 FPS average, making it a viable choice for users who want better visual quality without sacrificing responsiveness.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more nuanced. The Low preset achieves an 85 FPS average, which is excellent for a higher resolution. The Medium preset drops to 75 FPS average with a 64 FPS minimum, which is still acceptable for most players, but the margin for error in demanding moments is thinner. The High preset at 1440p yields 51 FPS, which is playable but begins to feel less fluid. For the best experience at 1440p, the data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, as it retains a significant portion of the visual fidelity while keeping the average FPS above 70.

At 3840x2160, the results are more challenging. The Low preset is the only one that provides a playable experience, with a 49 FPS average. The Medium preset drops to 43 FPS, which is on the edge of playability, and the High preset falls to 29 FPS, which is not smooth enough for an MMORPG. The Ultra preset at 4K is effectively unplayable at 20 FPS. Therefore, if you are using a 4K display, you must use the Low preset to get a reasonably fluid experience, and even then, the frame rate is not ideal for competitive play.

The data strongly suggests that the optimal configuration is 1080p with Medium or High settings, or 1440p with Medium settings. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs 24 FPS on average, which is a significant loss for a modest visual upgrade. Similarly, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs only 14 FPS, making Medium a superior choice over Low for most users. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it consistently produces the lowest frame rates and is likely to cause stuttering in crowded areas.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Archeage at 4K smoothly?

A: No, not with high visual quality. The measured data shows that at 3840x2160, only the Low preset (49 FPS average) approaches a playable frame rate. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 29 FPS and 20 FPS respectively, which are too low for smooth gameplay in an MMORPG.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the strongest choice. At this resolution, the Medium preset delivers a 112 FPS average with a 95 FPS minimum, and the High preset still manages 76 FPS. This ensures a stable and responsive experience. 2560x1440 is also viable with Medium settings (75 FPS average), but the frame rate is lower and more susceptible to dips.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The loss is substantial. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 76 at 1920x1080 to 51 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 25 FPS. At Low settings, the drop is from 126 FPS to 85 FPS, a 41 FPS difference. This indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the increased pixel count.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using with this hardware?

A: No. The data shows that Ultra is the poorest performer at every resolution. At 1080p, it averages 52 FPS, which is lower than the High preset. At 1440p, it falls to 35 FPS, and at 4K, it is 20 FPS. The performance cost is not justified by the marginal visual improvements, making it a poor choice.

Q: How does the frame rate at Medium settings compare to Low settings?

A: The difference is moderate. At 1080p, Low averages 126 FPS while Medium averages 112 FPS, a 14 FPS difference. At 1440p, Low averages 85 FPS and Medium averages 75 FPS, a 10 FPS difference. At 4K, Low averages 49 FPS and Medium averages 43 FPS, a 6 FPS difference. The trade-off is consistent, but the gap narrows as resolution increases, suggesting the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck.

Q: What does the minimum FPS data tell us about stability?

A: The only configurations with reported minimum FPS are the Medium presets. At 1080p, the minimum is 95 FPS, which is excellent. At 1440p, the minimum is 64 FPS, which is still playable. At 4K, the minimum is 37 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. This data suggests that Medium settings provide a stable frame rate at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 76 at 1920x1080 to 51 at 2560x1440, and then to 29 at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear; the cost of each additional pixel is amplified, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is struggling to keep up with the pixel throughput demands of 4K.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The average FPS drops from 126 at 1080p to 85 at 1440p (a 33% reduction) and then to 49 at 4K (a 42% reduction from 1440p). This consistent pattern suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck for resolution scaling. The CPU, a 6-core Intel Core i5-9400 with a 4.10 GHz boost clock, appears to have sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but as the resolution increases, the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth become the limiting factor.

The gap between 1440p and 4K is particularly severe. For example, at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 75 at 1440p to 43 at 4K, a 32 FPS loss. This indicates that the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on the RX 5700 XT, while sufficient in capacity, is not fast enough to handle the massive data throughput required at 4K. The pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are simply overwhelmed. Therefore, the data strongly suggests that this combo is not designed for 4K gaming in Archeage, and users should target 1080p or 1440p for a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080:

• Low: 126 FPS (average)
• Medium: 112 FPS (average), 95 FPS (minimum), 129 FPS (maximum)
• High: 76 FPS (average)
• Ultra: 52 FPS (average)

2560x1440:

• Low: 85 FPS (average)
• Medium: 75 FPS (average), 64 FPS (minimum), 87 FPS (maximum)
• High: 51 FPS (average)
• Ultra: 35 FPS (average)

3840x2160:

• Low: 49 FPS (average)
• Medium: 43 FPS (average), 37 FPS (minimum), 50 FPS (maximum)
• High: 29 FPS (average)
• Ultra: 20 FPS (average)

The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy, with Low and Medium being the only presets that exceed 100 FPS. The High preset is still very usable, but the Ultra preset is noticeably weaker. At 1440p, the Medium preset provides a solid experience, but the High preset drops below 60 FPS, which is a common threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K results are universally poor, with only the Low preset staying above 40 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is a non-starter, as the 20 FPS average makes the game feel like a slideshow.

The minimum FPS data, where available, shows that the Medium preset is the most stable. At 1080p, the minimum of 95 FPS is only 17 FPS below the average, indicating minimal frame time variance. At 1440p, the minimum of 64 FPS is 11 FPS below the average, which is still acceptable. However, at 4K, the minimum of 37 FPS is 6 FPS below the average, and the overall low numbers make it an unpleasant experience. This data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best frame pacing, which is critical for an MMORPG with frequent UI elements and large groups of players.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations for Archeage, this pairing of an Intel Core i5-9400 and an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks at position 2762 out of 3708 total combos. This places it in the lower half of the database, indicating that while it is not a weak system, it is far from the top tier for this specific game. The rank suggests that many other CPU and GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions.

The GPU's individual performance percentile is 59, meaning it outperforms 59% of all GPUs in the benchmark database. This is a respectable position, but not a dominant one. The CPU's percentile is 47, which is slightly below the median, indicating that the Intel Core i5-9400 is an average performer in synthetic tests. The combo rank of 2762 reflects the combined effect of these two components. The data suggests that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing, as its percentile is higher than the CPU's.

The ranking implies that users with this combo will have a playable experience at 1080p, but they will be outclassed by systems featuring higher-end GPUs or CPUs with more threads. The 6-core, 6-thread CPU, while adequate for many titles, may struggle in heavily populated areas of the game where CPU-bound physics and AI calculations are more prevalent. The benchmark results confirm that this combo is a mid-range solution that is best suited for 1080p gaming, rather than a high-end setup for 1440p or 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This configuration is typical for a mid-range desktop CPU from its era. The CPU's benchmark scores are modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935. These numbers indicate that the CPU has enough processing power for most games, but it lacks the multi-threading capabilities of its higher-end counterparts.

In the context of Archeage, an MMORPG, the CPU plays a significant role in handling game logic, player positions, and network data. The 6 physical cores are beneficial, as many games can utilize them effectively. However, the lack of Hyper-Threading means the CPU can only handle 6 threads simultaneously. In crowded areas with many players, this can lead to stuttering or frame drops, even if the GPU is not fully utilized. The data from the measured FPS shows that at 1080p, the CPU is able to feed the GPU well enough to achieve 126 FPS on Low settings, but the frame rate drops to 76 FPS on High settings, which could be due to increased CPU load from more complex scene calculations.

The CPU's memory bandwidth is 42.7 GB/s, which is standard for dual-channel DDR4. This is not a bottleneck for this game, as the GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the more critical factor. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache is also adequate. The benchmark data suggests that the CPU is not the primary limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU is still able to achieve high frame rates. However, at higher resolutions, the CPU's role diminishes, and the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The i5-9400's performance is comparable to rivals like the Intel Core i7-10710U and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, with the i5-9400 being 0.3% faster than the former and 0.4% faster than the latter in average benchmark scores. This indicates that the CPU is a solid, if unremarkable, performer. For this game, the CPU is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its 6-thread limit may cause issues in the most demanding scenarios.