Archeage

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B570 produces a playable, though not exceptional, experience in Archeage, with results that vary sharply between resolutions and quality presets. The data indicates that the most balanced experience is found at 1440p with Medium settings, where the combination delivers a 66 FPS average, positioning it as the sweet spot between visual fidelity and performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for this specific CPU-GPU pairing. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 110 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset to exceed the 100 FPS threshold. This represents a 12% improvement over the Medium preset's 98 FPS average, and a 40% improvement over the High preset's 66 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 45 FPS, which is less than half the Low preset's performance, indicating a significant performance cost for maximum visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. The Low preset averages 74 FPS, while Medium drops to 66 FPS, and High falls to 45 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages just 31 FPS, which falls below the generally accepted threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1440p, with a minimum FPS of 56 and a maximum of 76, offers the most consistent frame pacing in the dataset, suggesting that this is the optimal configuration for players seeking a balance between visual quality and smoothness.

At 3840x2160, all presets struggle. The Low preset achieves 42 FPS, Medium averages 38 FPS, and High drops to 26 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K averages just 17 FPS, which is barely playable in static scenes. The data strongly suggests that 4K gaming with this combination is not recommended beyond the Low preset, and even that preset shows clear limitations. The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally the 1440p Medium preset, which provides a playable average with tight minimum and maximum values that indicate stable performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's memory configuration is a critical factor in Archeage's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. The 10 GB capacity is sufficient for the game's textures at 1440p, but the bandwidth limitations become apparent at 4K, where the frame rate drops dramatically across all settings.

The GPU clocks are fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). This consistent clock speed means the GPU's performance is primarily dictated by its 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s provide a theoretical foundation, but the measured FPS data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

The Arc B570's benchmark scores place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores 20582, a difference of -0.1%, indicating near-identical performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, which is 0.1% lower, further confirming the B570's position in the mid-range segment. In Archeage specifically, the GPU's 10 GB VRAM appears adequate at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K data suggests that the memory bus width of 160-bit becomes a bottleneck, as the frame rates drop by more than 50% compared to 1440p across all settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 provide a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The processor holds an 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287.

The CPU's nearest rivals show remarkable closeness in performance. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, a -0.1% difference, while the Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 35365, a -0.2% difference. This indicates that the 12700K is essentially performance-equivalent to these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks. In Archeage, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at lower resolutions, but becomes more significant at 4K where the GPU is clearly overwhelmed.

The processor's multithreaded capabilities, evidenced by a 3DMark max threads score of 9979 and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784, should theoretically handle Archeage's MMO workload with ease. However, the measured FPS data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the 110 FPS average indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately, but the 12-core, 20-thread configuration does not translate into proportionally higher frame rates, likely due to the game's engine limitations rather than CPU performance constraints.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combination?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 110, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 100 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with the Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B570?

A: The data shows limited viability at 4K. The best 4K result is 42 FPS on Low settings, while Medium averages 38 FPS, High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages just 17 FPS. These values suggest that 4K is only playable on Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is below ideal smoothness.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 45 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 31 FPS. This represents a 31% performance drop for the Ultra preset, making it significantly less playable than High.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 has a minimum FPS of 83 and a maximum FPS of 112, with an average of 98 FPS. This tight range indicates consistent performance without major frame drops.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, while the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, a difference of -0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, which is 0.1% lower than the B570, indicating the B570 sits between these two in raw performance.

Q: Does the CPU's 12-core configuration help in Archeage?

A: The measured data suggests that the CPU's core count does not directly translate to higher FPS in this game. At 1080p Low, the combination achieves 110 FPS, but increasing to High settings drops this to 66 FPS, indicating that the GPU, not the CPU, is the limiting factor in most configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals the performance characteristics of this combination. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 110. Moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 74, a 33% reduction. At 4K Low, the FPS falls to 42, a 43% reduction from 1440p and a 62% reduction from 1080p. This pattern indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed as resolution increases.

For the Medium preset, the scaling follows a similar trend. At 1080p, the average is 98 FPS. At 1440p, this drops to 66 FPS, a 33% decrease. At 4K, the FPS falls to 38, a 42% decrease from 1440p and a 61% decrease from 1080p. The High preset shows 66 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p (32% drop), and 26 FPS at 4K (42% drop from 1440p).

The Ultra preset exhibits the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p, it averages 45 FPS. At 1440p, this drops to 31 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 4K, the FPS falls to 17, a 45% reduction from 1440p and a 62% reduction from 1080p. The consistent pattern of approximately 33% drops between 1080p and 1440p, followed by 42-45% drops between 1440p and 4K, strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's performance remains constant across resolutions, but the GPU's workload increases quadratically with pixel count, explaining the diminishing returns at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the dataset includes four presets. The Low preset averages 110 FPS, making it the most performant configuration in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS, showing a 29 FPS range. The High preset averages 66 FPS, which is exactly two-thirds of the Low preset's performance. The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS, representing a 59% reduction from the Low preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down noticeably. The Low preset averages 74 FPS, which is 33% lower than its 1080p counterpart. The Medium preset averages 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. This 20 FPS range is tighter than the 1080p Medium range, indicating more stable performance. The High preset averages 45 FPS, exactly matching the 1080p Ultra preset's performance. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 31 FPS, which is the lowest playable value in the dataset.

At 3840x2160, all presets fall below ideal playability. The Low preset averages 42 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration above 40 FPS. The Medium preset averages 38 FPS, with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 43 FPS. The High preset averages 26 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 17 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 60% reduction in performance, from 42 FPS to 17 FPS, highlighting the extreme cost of visual quality at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2222 out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage. This places the combination in the bottom 20% of all tested configurations, which is surprising given the individual component rankings. The CPU ranks in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU ranks in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, yet their combined performance in Archeage is below average.

This discrepancy suggests that Archeage's engine does not scale well with the hardware combination. The 12-core CPU and 10 GB GPU should theoretically provide solid performance, but the measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the combination only achieves 110 FPS, which is modest compared to what the individual component benchmarks would suggest. The 4K results, with a maximum of 42 FPS on Low settings, further confirm that this combination is not optimized for high-resolution gaming in this title.

The combo's rank of 2222 out of 2761 puts it in the lower third of tested configurations. This indicates that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve better results in Archeage, despite the 12700K's strong synthetic performance and the B570's mid-range GPU capabilities. The data suggests that Archeage may favor different hardware characteristics than those provided by this Intel-Intel pairing, resulting in a below-average ranking despite respectable individual component scores.