Archeage

# Archeage with Intel Core i7-12700KF + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT produces a distinctive performance pattern in Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG. The measured data reveals a system that handles lower resolutions with ease but encounters significant strain at 4K Ultra settings. With a combo rank of 2418 out of 3708 tested combinations, this pairing sits in the lower-middle portion of the database, suggesting that while it delivers playable framerates in many scenarios, it is not optimized for maximum fidelity in this particular title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and informative. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 134 at 1920x1080 to 90 at 2560x1440, then to 52 at 3840x2160. That represents a 33% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 42% drop from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative loss from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 61%, which points to the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the pattern holds: 119 FPS at 1080p, 80 at 1440p, and 46 at 4K. The percentage decreases are 33% and 43% respectively, almost identical to the Low setting deltas. This consistency suggests that the resolution scaling is largely independent of the graphics preset, reinforcing the notion that the RX 6650 XT's rendering throughput is the limiting factor.

High settings show a similar trajectory: 81 FPS at 1080p, 54 at 1440p, and 31 at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 33%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 43% — again matching the earlier pattern. However, the absolute values are lower, indicating that the increased shading and texture work at High settings adds a fixed cost on top of the resolution burden.

Ultra settings reveal the most extreme scaling. At 1080p, the average FPS is 55; at 1440p it falls to 37; at 4K it collapses to 21. The 1440p-to-4K reduction here is 43%, but the 1080p-to-1440p reduction is 33%, meaning the relative penalty remains consistent. Yet the absolute numbers tell a clearer story: 21 FPS at 4K Ultra is not playable, and even 37 FPS at 1440p Ultra is borderline. The data suggests that the CPU, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is not the limiting factor at these settings; rather, the GPU's 8 GB of memory and 128-bit bus width struggle with the higher fidelity demands.

The scaling behavior indicates that Archeage becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution rises. The consistent percentage drops across presets imply that the RX 6650 XT's compute units and memory bandwidth are the constraining elements, while the i7-12700KF's strong single-thread performance keeps the CPU from becoming a bottleneck until very low resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends entirely on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 119 FPS average with a minimum of 101 and maximum of 137. This is the sweet spot: it provides a 47% improvement over High settings' 81 FPS while maintaining a framerate well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Low settings at 1080p reach 134 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial, and the Medium preset's 119 FPS is close enough that the fidelity gain is worth the small performance cost.

At 2560x1440, Medium remains the best choice. The 80 FPS average with a 68 FPS minimum keeps gameplay fluid, while High settings drop to 54 FPS — a 33% reduction that might introduce noticeable stutter in busy MMORPG scenes. Low settings at 1440p produce 90 FPS, which is excellent, but Medium's 80 FPS is still comfortably above playable thresholds and offers better visual clarity. Ultra at 1440p, at 37 FPS, is not recommended for any action-heavy content.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Medium settings yield 46 FPS with a 39 FPS minimum, which is marginal for an MMORPG. Low settings achieve 52 FPS, providing a more stable experience. High settings at 31 FPS and Ultra at 21 FPS are both below acceptable playability thresholds. For 4K, the data suggests that Low settings are the only reliable option, while Medium could be considered for less demanding activities. The 46 FPS at 4K Medium is technically playable, but the 39 FPS minimum during peak effects could be problematic.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is Medium at 1080p or 1440p. This preset balances the GPU's capabilities against the visual demands of the game, delivering framerates that avoid the steep penalties of High and Ultra settings while offering better fidelity than Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 2418 out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the 65th percentile of the database — meaning roughly 35% of tested configurations perform worse. This rank is moderate but not impressive, reflecting the RX 6650 XT's position in the GPU hierarchy rather than any CPU deficiency.

The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 65, and its average benchmark score is 19765. Its nearest rivals in the GPU database are the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (avg score 19885, deltaPct -0.6%), AMD FirePro D300 (avg score 19637, deltaPct 0.7%), AMD FirePro W7000 (avg score 19905, deltaPct -0.7%), and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (avg score 19602, deltaPct 0.8%). These deltas are all within 1% of the RX 6650 XT's score, indicating that the GPU sits in a tightly clustered performance band. The RX 6650 XT's score is 0.6% below the Tesla K40m and 0.7% above the FirePro D300, meaning it is essentially equivalent to these professional-grade cards in raw benchmark terms.

The CPU, meanwhile, ranks in the 85th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-13700T (avg score 35403, deltaPct -0.1%), Intel Core i5-13600T (avg score 35305, deltaPct 0.2%), Intel Core 5 213PE (avg score 35428, deltaPct -0.2%), and Intel Core i7-12700K (avg score 35287, deltaPct 0.2%). The CPU's score is 0.1% below the i7-13700T and 0.2% above the i5-13600T, showing that the i7-12700KF is well-positioned within its performance tier.

The combo rank of 2418 out of 3708 suggests that the pairing's in-game performance is dragged down by the GPU's mid-tier standing. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately, but the RX 6650 XT's 65th percentile rank means that many other GPU options would produce higher framerates in Archeage. The rank is neither a disaster nor a triumph; it is a reflection of a balanced but not exceptional mid-range system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 134 FPS average
• Medium: 119 FPS average, 101 FPS minimum, 137 FPS maximum
• High: 81 FPS average
• Ultra: 55 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 90 FPS average
• Medium: 80 FPS average, 68 FPS minimum, 92 FPS maximum
• High: 54 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 52 FPS average
• Medium: 46 FPS average, 39 FPS minimum, 53 FPS maximum
• High: 31 FPS average
• Ultra: 21 FPS average

The 1080p data shows a clear hierarchy: Low and Medium are both well above 100 FPS, while High drops to 81 and Ultra to 55. The 26 FPS gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is substantial, indicating that Ultra settings impose a heavy penalty on the GPU. The Medium preset's 119 FPS with a 101 FPS minimum is the most consistent performer, as the minimum never dips below the 100 FPS mark.

At 1440p, the Medium preset's 80 FPS average and 68 FPS minimum suggest that this resolution is still manageable, but the margin narrows. High settings at 54 FPS are borderline, and Ultra at 37 FPS is unsuitable for fast-paced gameplay. The Low preset at 90 FPS is the only other option that maintains a comfortable framerate.

At 4K, the data reveals the GPU's limitations. Even Low settings only reach 52 FPS, and Medium dips to 46 FPS with a 39 FPS minimum. The High and Ultra presets, at 31 and 21 FPS respectively, are effectively unplayable. The 4K results confirm that the RX 6650 XT is not designed for this resolution in Archeage, regardless of the CPU's capabilities.

The minimum FPS data, available only for Medium settings, shows that the 1080p preset maintains a 101 FPS floor, the 1440p preset drops to 68, and the 4K preset falls to 39. These minimums indicate that the frame time variance increases with resolution, making the 4K Medium experience less stable than the average suggests.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It contains 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, with a transistor density of 46.7M per mm². The GPU operates with a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. Memory runs at 2190 MHz, or 17.5 Gbps effective, across an 8 GB GDDR6 interface with a 128-bit bus width, yielding a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s.

The GPU has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 32 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 168.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 337.3 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 10.79 TFLOPS, while FP16 reaches 21.59 TFLOPS (2:1). The card has a TDP of 176 W and requires a 450 W PSU, drawing power through a single 8-pin connector. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, with a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface.

In Archeage, the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are likely contributors to the steep performance drop at 4K. The game's textures and effects at High and Ultra settings may exceed the memory bandwidth available, causing the framerate to fall from 81 FPS at 1080p High to 31 FPS at 4K High. The 280.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and even 1440p, but the 4K data shows that the RX 6650 XT is overwhelmed by the pixel throughput demands.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-tier status. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1859, while Geekbench scores are 97969 for Metal, 10111 for OpenCL, and 81306 for Vulkan. PassMark scores include 17166 for G3D, 7532 for GPU compute, and lower scores for older DirectX versions: 215 for DX9, 169 for DX11, 109 for DX10, and 62 for DX12. The G2D score is 918. These numbers place the GPU in the 65th percentile, confirming that it is a capable 1080p and 1440p performer but not a 4K solution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12th Gen Alder Lake processor with 12 cores and 20 threads. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1700 and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The chip is built on a 10 nm process by Intel, with a die size of 215 mm² and PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 28838 for multi-core and 4071 for single-core, while R20 scores are 12111 and 1709 respectively. Geekbench scores are 14367 for multi-core and 2255 for single-core. PassMark scores include 34092 for multi-thread, 3984 for single-thread, and various math scores: 113521 for integer math, 87449 for floating point math, and 441960 for data compression.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample processing power, but the game's 2014 release date suggests it may not fully utilize many threads. The strong single-thread performance, evidenced by the 4071 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is likely more important for MMORPG gameplay, where the main game thread often becomes the limiting factor.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 134 FPS, which is high enough to suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 55 FPS average indicates that the CPU can sustain the frame rate, with the GPU being the limiting component. The CPU's 85th percentile rank versus all CPUs confirms that it is a high-performing part, and its nearest rivals — the i7-13700T, i5-13600T, Core 5 213PE, and i7-12700K — all have average scores within 0.2% of the i7-12700KF, showing that this processor is well-matched to its contemporaries.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings delivers 119 FPS average with a 101 FPS minimum, making it the most consistent experience. At 2560x1440, Medium still achieves 80 FPS, but 3840x2160 drops to 46 FPS on Medium, which is marginal.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2418 out of 3708 tested combinations in Archeage, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The GPU's 65th percentile rank drags the overall combo down, while the CPU's 85th percentile rank shows it is not the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RX 6650 XT capable of 4K gaming in Archeage?

A: The measured data indicates no. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 52, and at 4K Medium it is 46 with a 39 FPS minimum. High and Ultra settings fall to 31 and 21 FPS respectively, which are not playable.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, which is 0.1% below the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403) and 0.2% above the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305). It is also 0.2% above the i7-12700K (35287) and 0.2% below the Core 5 213PE (35428).

Q: What settings provide the best balance of performance and quality?

A: Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p offer the best measured experience. At 1080p, Medium achieves 119 FPS; at 1440p, it achieves 80 FPS. Low settings provide higher framerates but with reduced visual fidelity, while High and Ultra impose significant penalties.

Q: Is the GPU's memory bandwidth sufficient for this game?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, as shown by the 119 and 80 FPS Medium results. However, at 4K, the bandwidth appears insufficient, with framerates dropping to 46 FPS on Medium and 21 FPS on Ultra.