Archeage

The benchmark data for Archeage, running on an Intel Core i5-9400 paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, presents a distinct performance profile. This combination of a six-core Coffee Lake CPU from 2018 and a flagship Ada Lovelace GPU from 2022 yields interesting scaling behavior across resolutions and settings. The measured frames per second across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K provide a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie and how the hardware responds to different graphical loads.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a significant shift in performance characteristics. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 162.2 FPS, but this drops to 140.4 FPS at 1440p and further to 116.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.4% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is still scaling well even in the most demanding resolution.

The scaling pattern changes notably when examining High settings. The average FPS at 1080p is 132.3, which decreases to 119.3 at 1440p and then to 67.4 at 4K. The substantial drop from 1440p to 4K—a 43.5% decrease—suggests that the RTX 4090 is hitting a performance wall at 4K with High settings, likely due to the game's rendering demands at that resolution.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p, the system manages 114.2 FPS, which falls to 81.8 at 1440p and plummets to 45.2 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is less than half of the 1080p Ultra figure, demonstrating that the combination of maximum graphical fidelity and 4K resolution creates a substantial load. The data indicates that while the RTX 4090 is clearly the dominant component, Archeage's engine at 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits, with the 45.2 FPS result falling below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider playable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 scores of 7969 multi-core and 1125 single-core place it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, indicating a mid-range processor. The benchmark results show that this CPU is sufficient to keep the RTX 4090 well-fed at lower resolutions, but its influence becomes apparent at 4K.

At 1080p Low, the 162.2 FPS result suggests the CPU is keeping pace with the GPU's output. However, the relatively modest single-core performance of 1125 in Cinebench R23 may limit frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios typical of MMORPGs, which often rely on single-threaded game logic. The 4.10 GHz boost clock helps mitigate this, but the six-thread configuration could be a constraint in heavily populated areas of Archeage.

The fact that 4K Ultra produces only 45.2 FPS while 4K Low reaches 116.1 FPS indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at high settings, but the CPU's performance ceiling is still relevant. The benchmark data shows the combo ranks 308 out of 1727 tested combinations, a position in the top 18% of all tested combos, which reflects the balance between a mid-range CPU and a flagship GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows, the most efficient performance-to-quality trade-off appears at 1440p with High settings. The 119.3 FPS average provides smooth gameplay while maintaining visual fidelity, and it represents a 45.9% improvement over 4K High's 67.4 FPS. For players prioritizing frame rate over absolute visual quality, 1440p Low delivers 140.4 FPS, which is only 13.4% lower than the 1080p Low result of 162.2 FPS.

At 4K, the choice becomes more nuanced. Medium settings yield 102 FPS, which is 51.4% higher than 4K High's 67.4 FPS and more than double 4K Ultra's 45.2 FPS. This suggests that 4K Medium offers the best balance for 4K displays, providing a playable frame rate without the steep performance penalty associated with higher presets. The 4K Ultra result of 45.2 FPS would be difficult to recommend for competitive or action-oriented gameplay, though it may suffice for slower-paced content.

For 1080p users, Ultra settings at 114.2 FPS are perfectly playable and offer the full visual experience. The difference between 1080p Ultra and 1080p High is only 18.1 FPS, making High a reasonable choice if slightly lower GPU load is desired. The data clearly shows that Medium settings at 4K (102 FPS) outperform High at 4K (67.4 FPS) by a substantial margin, making it the recommended preset for 4K displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 308 out of 1727 tested combos, placing it in the 82nd percentile of performance. This ranking is notable given the age of the CPU relative to the GPU, as the i5-9400 was released in 2018 while the RTX 4090 launched in 2022. The result indicates that the GPU's raw power can compensate for the CPU's age in this particular game.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 2305 places it slightly above the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, deltaPct 0.2%) and Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, deltaPct 0.2%), and just below the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, deltaPct 0.4%). This clustering shows the i5-9400 is performance-equivalent to several newer mid-range processors, with the largest delta being only 0.6% behind the Intel Core i7-8809G (2319).

The GPU's average benchmark score of 66473 is remarkably close to its nearest rivals, with the NVIDIA Tesla T4 scoring 66733 (deltaPct -0.4%), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 scoring 66127 (deltaPct 0.5%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scoring 67097 (deltaPct -0.9%). This tight grouping suggests the RTX 4090's raw compute performance is consistent with professional-grade cards, though its gaming-specific features are more relevant to Archeage.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a massive GPU, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores support advanced rendering features, while its 16384 shading units deliver 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The GPU's clock speeds are notably high, with a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz. These clocks, combined with the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, explain why the RTX 4090 can deliver 116.1 FPS at 4K Low and 102 FPS at 4K Medium in Archeage. The 24 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game's requirements, ensuring no memory-related bottlenecks at any tested resolution or setting.

The RTX 4090's benchmark scores reflect its dominance, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 317684. Its Passmark G3D score of 38194 and GPU compute score of 26613 further demonstrate its capabilities. The GPU's percentile rank of 91 among all GPUs places it in the top tier, though the nearest rivals in the data are professional cards like the Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000, which are not optimized for gaming workloads.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Archeage?

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p High offers the best balance with 119.3 FPS, while 4K Medium provides 102 FPS for those prioritizing 4K resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 45.2 FPS is below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: Why is the 4K High frame rate so much lower than 1440p High?

A: The average FPS drops from 119.3 at 1440p High to 67.4 at 4K High, a 43.5% reduction. This indicates the RTX 4090 is heavily taxed by the combination of 4K resolution and High settings, suggesting the game's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 bottlenecking the RTX 4090?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125 and multi-core score of 7969 show it is a mid-range processor. At 1080p Low, the 162.2 FPS result suggests the CPU can keep up, but the 50th percentile ranking indicates it may limit performance in CPU-intensive scenarios.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 308 out of 1727 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 18% of all configurations. This is a strong result given the CPU's age relative to the GPU.

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

A: The measured data shows 114.2 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is 18.1 FPS lower than 1080p High's 132.3 FPS. This is still above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's performance compare to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 66473 is within 1.3% of the nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, deltaPct -0.4%) and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67320, deltaPct -1.3%). This indicates the GPU's raw compute power is comparable to professional cards.