Archeage

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT in Archeage demonstrates a significant imbalance, where the 2018-era CPU consistently limits the potential of the 2025-era GPU, particularly at lower resolutions. The data indicates that this combination ranks 1150th out of 3708 tested combos, placing it in the 31st percentile of all system pairings for this MMORPG. While the RX 9070 XT is capable of producing very high frame rates, the system's overall performance is held back by the 6-core, 6-thread processor, which leads to a paradox where lowering graphical settings does not yield the expected massive gains at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a classic CPU bottleneck at 1080p, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor only as the resolution increases. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings results in a drop from 127 FPS to 86 FPS, a 32% reduction. However, the subsequent step to 3840x2160 at High settings shows a further decrease from 86 FPS to 49 FPS, which is a 43% cut. This pattern suggests that at 1080p, the Core i5-9400 is unable to feed the RX 9070 XT enough frames, capping performance; as resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows, and the bottleneck shifts away from the CPU.

The scaling becomes more telling when examining the Low settings preset. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 161 FPS, but this only rises to 141 FPS at 2560x1440 and 81 FPS at 3840x2160. The relatively small difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings, just 20 FPS, indicates that the CPU is still the limiting factor at both resolutions, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly. The substantial drop to 81 FPS at 4K, however, shows that the GPU's fill rate and shading power become the constraining factor at that extreme resolution, even with minimal graphical load.

For the Medium preset, the frame rate falls from 155 FPS at 1080p to 126 FPS at 1440p, and then to 72 FPS at 4K. This scaling shows a more consistent degradation, with each resolution step costing roughly 20-30% performance. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, sees a dramatic collapse from 87 FPS at 1080p to 58 FPS at 1440p, and then to just 33 FPS at 4K. This steep decline at Ultra settings suggests that the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical features overwhelms the GPU, making it the clear performance limiter despite the CPU's age.

The data implies that for this specific hardware pairing, the optimal resolution for a smooth experience is 2560x1440, where the balance between CPU and GPU load is more equitable. At 1080p, the CPU holds back the GPU, and at 4K, the GPU struggles with the most demanding presets. The overall scaling pattern is non-linear, which is a hallmark of a system where neither component is fully utilized across all settings and resolutions, but rather each takes turns being the bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data reveals a clear hierarchy in settings presets, with the Medium preset offering the best balance between visual quality and playable frame rates across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 155 FPS, which is only 6 FPS less than Low (161 FPS) but provides a significantly better visual experience. The High preset at 1080p drops to 127 FPS, which is still respectable, but the 28 FPS difference between High and Medium suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combination.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 126 FPS, which is a very playable frame rate for an MMORPG, while the High preset drops to 86 FPS and Ultra falls to 58 FPS. The difference between Medium and High at 1440p is 40 FPS, a substantial margin that makes Medium the recommended choice for maintaining fluid gameplay. The Ultra preset at 1440p, while visually impressive, dips to 58 FPS, which may be acceptable for some players but is not ideal for fast-paced combat scenarios.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Medium preset produces 72 FPS, which is just above the threshold for smooth gameplay, while High drops to 49 FPS and Ultra falls to 33 FPS. Low at 4K achieves 81 FPS, but the visual quality compromise is severe. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the only viable option that balances performance and visuals, as it stays above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra fall below playable thresholds.

The data strongly suggests that the Medium preset is the recommended choice for this hardware combination. It consistently provides the highest frame rates that remain above 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, and it is the only preset that achieves over 60 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, while tempting, incurs a massive performance penalty that is not justified by the visual improvements, especially given the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions. Players seeking the highest frame rates should use Low, but Medium offers the best overall experience per the measured rows.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a powerful graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The card's specifications include 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, which contribute to its high pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz, and it operates on a 4 nm process node from TSMC.

In the context of Archeage, the GPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the frame rate differences between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution. At 1920x1080, the RX 9070 XT delivers 161 FPS on Low and 87 FPS on Ultra, a difference of 74 FPS, which shows the card's raw capability and how much headroom exists when the CPU is not the bottleneck. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as even the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K does not appear to cause memory-related stuttering, although the average frame rate of 33 FPS indicates the GPU's compute limits are being reached.

The RX 9070 XT's benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 26795 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260, indicating strong synthetic performance. However, in this specific game, the GPU's potential is often untapped due to the CPU limitation. The fact that the GPU's average benchmark score of 13543 places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, yet the combo ranks in the 31st percentile for Archeage, highlights the degree to which the processor holds back the overall system.

The GPU's clock speeds and memory bandwidth are not the limiting factors in this pairing; rather, the card is frequently waiting for the CPU to provide draw calls and game logic updates. This is particularly evident at 1080p, where increasing the resolution from 1080p to 1440p only reduces frame rates by 20-30% at Low and Medium settings, which is less than expected if the GPU were the sole bottleneck. The RX 9070 XT is capable of much higher frame rates than what is being achieved, and the data suggests that a more powerful CPU would unlock significantly more performance in Archeage.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all resolution and setting combinations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its highest frame rates: 161 FPS on Low, 155 FPS on Medium, 127 FPS on High, and 87 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum frame rate of 131 FPS and a maximum of 178 FPS, indicating some variability but generally smooth performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p, despite being the most visually demanding, still maintains an average of 87 FPS, which is playable but shows a significant drop from the other presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down as expected: 141 FPS on Low, 126 FPS on Medium, 86 FPS on High, and 58 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p records a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS, demonstrating that even with a higher resolution, the system can maintain high frame rates when settings are not maxed out. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops below 60 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering in a game like Archeage where large group battles can occur.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit: 81 FPS on Low, 72 FPS on Medium, 49 FPS on High, and 33 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended for this combination, as they fall well below playable frame rates. The Low preset at 4K is the only other option that stays above 60 FPS, but it sacrifices most visual quality.

The data reveals that the system is capable of high frame rates, but only when the settings are not overly demanding. The sweet spot is clearly at 1080p and 1440p with Medium or High settings, where the system can deliver over 100 FPS. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer, with frame rates that are roughly half of the Medium preset at each resolution. This breakdown underscores the importance of settings management for this hardware pairing, as the gap between Low and Ultra is substantial across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT ranks 1150th out of 3708 tested combos for Archeage, placing it in the top 31% of all systems. This ranking is notably lower than what the GPU alone would suggest, given that the RX 9070 XT sits in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. The discrepancy between the GPU's percentile and the combo's percentile in this game indicates that the CPU is dragging down the overall performance rating.

The CPU itself has an average benchmark score of 2254, which places it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 2259 (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i7-10710U, which scores 2248 (0.3% lower). These close scores suggest that the i5-9400 is a mid-tier processor that is adequate for general tasks but may struggle in CPU-intensive game scenarios. The fact that the combo ranks in the 31st percentile for Archeage, while the CPU is in the 47th percentile and the GPU is in the 55th percentile, suggests that this game is particularly sensitive to CPU performance.

The ranking also reflects the age of the CPU relative to the GPU. The i5-9400 was released in 2018 with 6 cores and 6 threads, while the RX 9070 XT was released in 2025 with much more advanced architecture. This generational gap means that the CPU cannot keep up with the GPU's frame generation capabilities, especially at lower resolutions. The combo's rank of 1150 suggests that there are many better-performing combinations, likely those with newer CPUs that can better feed the RX 9070 XT.

The data indicates that this combo is not optimal for Archeage, but it is far from the worst. The ranking in the top 31% means that the system can still provide a playable experience, but it is leaving performance on the table. For users with this pairing, the recommendation would be to play at 1440p with Medium settings to maximize the GPU's potential while minimizing the CPU bottleneck. The combo's rank is a clear indicator that the CPU is the weak link in this system for this particular game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, which are modest by modern standards.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and draw calls, which can be demanding in an MMORPG with many players on screen. The data suggests that the i5-9400 is a limiting factor in this system, particularly at 1080p where frame rates are capped. The fact that the CPU's average benchmark score of 2254 places it in the 47th percentile, while the combo ranks in the 31st percentile for this game, suggests that Archeage is more CPU-dependent than average.

The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for most games, but Archeage may not be well-optimized for multi-threading, meaning the single-core performance is critical. The i5-9400's single-core score of 935 in Cinebench R23 is not exceptional, and this may be why the system struggles to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions. The CPU's boost clock of 4.10 GHz is decent, but it cannot compensate for the lack of additional threads that newer CPUs offer.

The comparison with its nearest rivals shows that the i5-9400 is competitive with the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (which scores 2259, 0.2% higher) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (which scores 2246, 0.4% lower). These close scores indicate that the i5-9400 is a solid mid-range CPU, but it is not powerful enough to fully utilize the RX 9070 XT in a CPU-bound scenario. The CPU's role is to provide the frames for the GPU to render, and in this case, it is not providing enough.

The data clearly shows that the CPU is the bottleneck in this combination, especially at 1080p and 1440p with lower settings. Upgrading to a CPU with higher single-core performance and more threads would likely result in significantly higher frame rates in Archeage. However, for the current combination, the CPU's limitations are the primary reason the combo ranks only in the 31st percentile, despite the GPU's strong performance. The i5-9400's end-of-life status and lack of an unlocked multiplier mean that overclocking is not an option to mitigate this bottleneck.