Archeage

Archeage is a 2014 MMORPG, and pairing a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the current-generation NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 produces a wide spread of performance that hinges heavily on resolution and settings. The measured data shows a system that delivers smooth frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but struggles to maintain high-refresh play at 4K, especially with the more demanding presets. This combination ranks in the 72nd percentile of all tested combos for this title (493rd out of 1727), indicating a solid but not top-tier pairing where the aging CPU often dictates the ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic shift in bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 159.4 FPS, but moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 142.1 FPS (a ~11% reduction). Pushing further to 3840x2160 Low yields 88 FPS, which is a steep 38% drop from the 1440p result. This pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the 4K resolution begins to saturate the GPU's capabilities.

The situation changes dramatically with the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 94.3 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 66.2 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 38 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is substantial—88 FPS versus 38 FPS—which shows that the RTX 5070's raw power is being heavily taxed by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical features. Conversely, the relatively small gap between Low and Medium at 1440p (142.1 vs 135 FPS) suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU is the limiting factor, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs. The data clearly shows that 4K is the GPU's domain, while 1080p is where the CPU holds things back.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 1727 tested combinations for Archeage, this CPU-GPU pairing lands at rank 493. This places it in the top third of all configurations, which is respectable given the CPU's age. The i5-9400 sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs in our database, with an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, both scoring 2300 (a 0.2% delta), and the Intel Xeon E-2134 at 2295 (0.4% delta). It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G, which scores 2319.

The GPU, however, is a different story. The RTX 5070 ranks at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41687. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41610, 0.2% slower), and it slightly edges out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (41441, 0.6% slower). This massive disparity in relative performance—a mid-pack CPU paired with a top-tier GPU—explains why the combo doesn't rank higher. The overall rank of 493 suggests that in many scenes, the CPU is preventing the system from achieving the frame rates that the GPU alone could deliver, particularly at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a Coffee Lake Refresh part with 6 cores and 6 threads. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This is a 14 nm part with a 65 W TDP, and it supports DDR4 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 803 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 113 in single-core, 3346 in R20 multi-core and 472 single-core, and 7969 in R23 multi-core with 1125 single-core.

For a game like Archeage, which is known for being CPU-intensive in crowded areas, the 6-thread limit is a concern. The benchmark data reflects this. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 159.4 FPS. This is likely near the ceiling for this CPU in this title. When you raise the resolution to 1440p, the frame rate only drops to 142.1 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is still the primary constraint at that resolution. The fact that 1080p Medium (155.7 FPS) and 1080p High (131.9 FPS) are both lower than 1080p Low (159.4 FPS) indicates that the CPU is not the only factor, but its 6-thread configuration will likely cause frame rate dips in large-scale battles or heavily populated zones. The i5-9400's performance is adequate for maintaining playable frame rates, but it lacks the headroom to push past the 160 FPS mark, regardless of GPU capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a detailed look at performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 159.4 FPS, Medium drops to 155.7 FPS, High falls to 131.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 94.3 FPS. The step from Medium to High is the largest single drop at this resolution (23.8 FPS), indicating that High settings introduce a significant graphical load that taxes the CPU more heavily.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low at 142.1 FPS, Medium at 135 FPS, High at 91.3 FPS, and Ultra at 66.2 FPS. The gap between Medium and High here is even more pronounced (43.7 FPS), showing that the GPU is starting to become more involved, but the CPU is still holding the system back from reaching the higher frame rates that the RTX 5070 is capable of.

At 3840x2160, the GPU finally takes over as the primary bottleneck: Low averages 88 FPS, Medium drops to 77.9 FPS, High falls to 55.3 FPS, and Ultra sinks to 38 FPS. The scaling here is more linear, with each settings tier costing roughly 10-20% performance. This is the only resolution where the CPU's limitations are masked by the GPU's workload. The 4K data shows that the RTX 5070 is powerful enough to handle the resolution, but the Ultra preset is simply too demanding for a smooth experience, averaging below 40 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines. It has a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. It comes with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This card has a TDP of 250 W and is an active production part.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5070 scores 5077 in 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), 185269 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 179413 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark G3D score is 29137, and its GPU compute score is 15787. These numbers place it well ahead of the average GPU, which is reflected in its 83rd percentile ranking.

For Archeage, the GPU's role is clear at 4K. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures, and the 672.0 GB/s bandwidth prevents memory bottlenecks. The performance data shows that the card can handle 4K High at 55.3 FPS, which is playable. However, the leap to Ultra (38 FPS) suggests that the Ultra preset uses features that the card's 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 compute power cannot handle at that resolution. The GPU is also responsible for the strong 1440p performance, where it achieves over 90 FPS on High settings. The card's capability is evident, but it is often hamstrung by the i5-9400 at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For a 1080p display, the data shows that Medium settings offer the best balance, hitting 155.7 FPS. High settings still provide a very good experience at 131.9 FPS, but Ultra at 94.3 FPS is the only setting that dips below the 100 FPS threshold. Given that the CPU is the limiting factor here, choosing Medium or High allows you to maximize visual quality without sacrificing much frame rate, but Ultra is best avoided if you want to stay above 100 FPS.

At 1440p, the recommended setting is High, which delivers 91.3 FPS. This is a solid experience for a fast-paced MMORPG. Medium is also viable at 135 FPS, but the visual jump to High is worth the 43.7 FPS loss. Ultra at 66.2 FPS is playable, but it is not ideal for competitive play. Low at 142.1 FPS offers the highest frame rates, but the visual trade-off is significant for a game with detailed environments.

At 4K, the choice is more constrained. Medium settings provide the best playable experience at 77.9 FPS. High is acceptable at 55.3 FPS, but it may feel less smooth. Ultra at 38 FPS is not recommended for any serious play. Low at 88 FPS is the fastest, but it defeats the purpose of owning a high-end GPU. For most users, 4K Medium is the sweet spot, offering a high frame rate while still looking significantly better than Low. This combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium to High settings, where the GPU has ample headroom and the CPU can keep up.