Archeage

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti delivers a highly variable experience in Archeage, with performance dictated almost entirely by the graphics preset selected. The data shows that while the combination can achieve high frame rates at lower settings, enabling Ultra presets creates a severe performance bottleneck that makes the game nearly unplayable at higher resolutions. This pairing sits at rank 1255 out of 1727 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all systems benchmarked for this MMORPG.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 127.2 FPS, which is the highest measured average across all tested configurations. The 2560x1440 Low setting also delivers a playable 86.6 FPS, while 4K remains problematic for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, 0.2% faster) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, 0.2% faster). It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G slightly, which scores 2319, representing a -0.6% delta.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti sits at the 69th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the graphics cards in the database. Its average benchmark score is 25120, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 6700M at 25180 (-0.2% delta).

Q: Does raising settings from Low to Medium have a large impact on frame rate?

A: The impact is moderate. At 1920x1080, moving from Low (127.2 FPS) to Medium (117.1 FPS) costs roughly 10 FPS. At 2560x1440, the drop is similar, from 86.6 FPS on Low to 79.9 FPS on Medium, representing a 7.7 FPS decrease.

Q: What happens when switching from Medium to High settings?

A: The performance penalty is significant. At 1920x1080, High settings produce 75.6 FPS compared to 117.1 FPS on Medium, a drop of 41.5 FPS. The trend is even more pronounced at 2560x1440, where High yields 52 FPS versus 79.9 FPS on Medium.

Q: How severe is the Ultra preset penalty in this game?

A: Ultra settings cause a dramatic performance collapse. At 3840x2160, the game runs at just 23 FPS on Ultra, compared to 46 FPS on Medium. Even at 1920x1080, Ultra settings cap out at 52 FPS, which is identical to the High preset result at 2560x1440.

GPU Role

The RTX 3060 Ti brings substantial graphics hardware to this pairing, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The card operates at a base clock of 1410 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). With 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, the GPU also includes 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate.

Benchmark results indicate the GPU is a strong performer in isolation, with a Passmark G3D score of 20349 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 107543. However, the measured frame rates in Archeage reveal that the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings. The fact that Low and Medium presets at 1080p exceed 117 FPS suggests the graphics card has ample headroom, while the dramatic drop at Ultra settings points to other bottlenecks in the system.

The 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs places this card above the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235, -0.5% delta) and the AMD Radeon 890M (25246, -0.5% delta). Yet in Archeage specifically, the GPU's potential is only fully realized when the CPU can feed it enough data, which becomes questionable at higher presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the scaling is not uniform across settings. At Low settings, moving from 1920x1080 (127.2 FPS) to 2560x1440 (86.6 FPS) represents a 31.9% drop, while the further step to 3840x2160 (49.7 FPS) costs another 42.6%. This steep falloff indicates the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at 4K even on Low.

For Medium settings, the scaling is similar but slightly less severe in percentage terms: 117.1 FPS at 1080p drops to 79.9 FPS at 1440p (-31.8%), then to 46 FPS at 4K (-42.4%). High settings show a different pattern, with 75.6 FPS at 1080p falling to 52 FPS at 1440p (-31.2%) and then 27.6 FPS at 4K (-46.9%), suggesting the CPU begins to limit performance even at 1440p.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most erratic scaling, with 52 FPS at 1080p dropping to 35.3 FPS at 1440p (-32.1%) and then 23 FPS at 4K (-34.8%). The relatively smaller percentage drop from 1440p to 4K on Ultra suggests that at these settings, the CPU is already so constrained that additional resolution increases have diminishing returns on frame rate loss.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 127.2 FPS average, Medium follows at 117.1 FPS, High drops to 75.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 52 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is substantial at 41.5 FPS, indicating a major algorithmic or shader complexity jump between those presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates compress somewhat: Low achieves 86.6 FPS, Medium hits 79.9 FPS, High reaches 52 FPS, and Ultra manages 35.3 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium narrows to just 6.7 FPS at this resolution, suggesting the GPU is beginning to equalize the load across these settings.

At 3840x2160, all presets struggle to maintain playable frame rates. Low produces 49.7 FPS, Medium delivers 46 FPS, High drops to 27.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 23 FPS. Only the Low and Medium presets approach the 60 FPS threshold, and neither achieves it, confirming that 4K gaming is not viable with this combo regardless of settings.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1255 out of 1727 tested combinations, this system places in the bottom 27% of all configurations benchmarked for Archeage. This low ranking is surprising given the individual component strengths, as the RTX 3060 Ti alone sits at the 69th GPU percentile and the Core i5-9400 ranks at the 50th CPU percentile.

The discrepancy between component-level performance and in-game ranking suggests that Archeage presents unique challenges that this pairing handles poorly. The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, may struggle with the MMORPG's demanding single-threaded workloads, particularly when combined with the GPU's high output at lower settings.

The ranking implies that many other combos, despite having weaker individual parts, achieve better results in this specific game. This could be due to the game's engine favoring certain CPU architectures or the need for higher thread counts to handle the many concurrent players and entities typical of MMORPG environments.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides 6 physical cores and 6 threads, operating at a base clock of 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are standard for the Coffee Lake architecture. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 indicate moderate performance, placing it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs.

In Archeage, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate differences between settings. The fact that Ultra presets at 1080p (52 FPS) produce the same frame rate as High presets at 1440p (52 FPS) suggests a CPU bottleneck independent of resolution. When the GPU is not fully stressed, the CPU cannot generate enough frames, capping performance at around 52 FPS for these higher settings.

The nearest rival data confirms the CPU is an average performer, with the Core i3-10305 matching it within 0.2% and the Core i7-8809G edging ahead by 0.6%. The lack of hyperthreading, with only 6 threads for 6 cores, may limit performance in Archeage's heavily populated areas where many NPCs and player characters require simultaneous processing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings as the optimal configuration for this combo, particularly at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 117.1 FPS, which is only 10.1 FPS less than Low but provides significantly better visual quality. At 1440p, Medium achieves 79.9 FPS, which remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

High settings present a trade-off that few users would find worthwhile. The jump from Medium to High costs 41.5 FPS at 1080p and 27.9 FPS at 1440p, representing performance losses of 35.4% and 34.9% respectively. While High might offer improved shadows and textures, the frame rate hit is substantial enough to impact gameplay responsiveness in a fast-paced MMORPG environment.

Ultra settings should be avoided entirely with this combo. Even at 1080p, Ultra yields only 52 FPS, and at 1440p it drops to 35.3 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS is effectively unplayable. For users prioritizing visual fidelity, High at 1080p (75.6 FPS) is the maximum acceptable setting, but Medium provides the best balance of performance and quality across all resolutions.