Archeage

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER lands at rank 1211 out of 1727 tested combinations for Archeage, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This position reflects a substantial gap from top-tier setups, but the data reveals a system that is consistently playable at mainstream resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom while the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1211 out of 1727 indicates that roughly 30% of tested configurations deliver higher average frame rates in Archeage. This is not a top performer, but the ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s position in the broader hardware landscape. The RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the i7-13700K is at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. This asymmetry is the defining characteristic of the pairing: a very strong processor paired with a mid-range graphics card.

Benchmark results confirm this imbalance. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 47282, placing it within 0.5% of rivals like the AMD EPYC 4364P and Intel Core i9-12900F. The GPU’s average score is 19774, which is virtually tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (0.3% delta) and slightly behind the RTX 2070 (0.5% delta). Consequently, in a game like Archeage, which responds to both CPU and GPU load depending on settings, the combo’s rank is dragged down by the GPU’s mid-pack standing rather than the CPU’s top-tier potential.

The practical impact is visible in the measured frames. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 129.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 19.8 FPS. The rank of 1211 represents an average across all these scenarios, meaning the system excels in CPU-light, low-resolution situations but struggles when the GPU is fully stressed. For users upgrading from older hardware, this rank signals a capable 1080p machine, but not one designed for 4K gaming.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic tests, it scores 39000 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5505 in single-core, with a PassMark multithread score of 45887. These figures place it in the top 7% of all CPUs, according to its 93rd percentile ranking.

In Archeage, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 129.4 FPS, which is 61% higher than the 80.5 FPS at 1080p High. This jump suggests that at Low settings, the game’s frame rate is constrained by the GPU’s ability to process simple scenes, not the CPU’s ability to feed it data. The 16 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for an MMORPG’s typical workload, which often involves many players and NPCs but rarely scales beyond a few threads.

The CPU’s single-thread performance, reflected in a PassMark single-thread score of 4333 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5505, is critical for Archeage’s game logic and physics. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that these tasks are handled quickly, preventing CPU bottlenecks even in crowded areas. However, the data shows that at Ultra settings, the frame rate drops to 51.6 FPS at 1080p, indicating that the GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the ceiling. The CPU is never the primary constraint; it provides a stable foundation that the GPU cannot fully utilize at higher graphical loads.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Archeage?

A: The data strongly favors 1080p. At 1080p High, the combo averages 80.5 FPS, while at 1440p High it drops to 54.3 FPS. The 1440p result is still playable, but the 1080p experience is smoother and closer to the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 2070?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is 0.5% lower than the RTX 2070’s 19680. In practice, this difference is negligible, meaning the two cards perform nearly identically in Archeage.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a consistent frame rate?

A: At 1080p, Medium provides 116.2 FPS, which is 44% higher than High’s 80.5 FPS and only 10% lower than Low’s 129.4 FPS. Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking help at 4K resolution?

A: No. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 19.8 FPS, and at 4K High it is 31.5 FPS. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K, making the CPU’s high performance irrelevant at this resolution.

Q: How much faster is Low settings compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low averages 88.1 FPS, while Ultra averages 38.7 FPS. This represents a 127% increase in frame rate when switching from Ultra to Low, highlighting the GPU’s sensitivity to graphical load.

Q: Is the i7-13700K bottlenecked by the RTX 2060 SUPER in this game?

A: Yes, but only at higher settings. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 129.4 FPS, which is near the CPU’s potential. At 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 51.6 FPS, showing that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings average 129.4 FPS, Medium averages 116.2 FPS, High averages 80.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 51.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 13.2 FPS (11%), while the gap between Medium and High is 35.7 FPS (31%). Ultra is the only preset that falls below 60 FPS at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low averages 88.1 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS, High averages 54.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 38.7 FPS. At this resolution, only Low and Medium maintain playable frame rates above 60 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is 26.2 FPS (33%), indicating a substantial GPU load increase.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low averages 48.4 FPS, Medium averages 43.6 FPS, High averages 31.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 19.8 FPS. No preset at 4K achieves 60 FPS, and only Low comes close to playable territory. The data shows a clear progression: the RTX 2060 SUPER is a 1080p card that can handle 1440p at reduced settings, but 4K is beyond its capabilities.

The FPS drop from Low to Ultra at each resolution is consistent. At 1080p, the drop is 77.8 FPS (60%); at 1440p, it is 49.4 FPS (56%); at 4K, it is 28.6 FPS (59%). This consistency suggests that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with graphical settings, regardless of resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling as resolution increases. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 80.5 to 54.3, a 32.5% decrease. From 1440p to 4K at High, it drops from 54.3 to 31.5, a 42% decrease. This accelerating decline indicates that the GPU is becoming the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the trend is similar but less severe. From 1080p to 1440p, FPS drops from 129.4 to 88.1 (32%), and from 1440p to 4K, it drops from 88.1 to 48.4 (45%). The fact that the percentage drop increases at each step suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) and 8 GB capacity are insufficient for 4K textures, causing a disproportionate performance loss.

The CPU’s role in resolution scaling is minimal. Since the i7-13700K’s performance is consistent across resolutions, the FPS drops are entirely attributable to the GPU. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 129.4 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for this game’s draw calls. At 4K Low, the same CPU is paired with a GPU that can only manage 48.4 FPS, meaning the CPU has 63% more headroom that goes unused. This confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p Low.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the data points to 1080p Medium as the optimal preset. At 116.2 FPS, it provides a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience that is 44% faster than High (80.5 FPS) and only 11% slower than Low (129.4 FPS). The visual quality improvement from Low to Medium is significant enough to justify the small FPS cost.

At 1440p, Medium is also the recommended preset, averaging 75 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a good balance between visual fidelity and performance. Low at 88.1 FPS is viable for competitive play, but Medium offers a noticeably better image without sacrificing smoothness. High at 54.3 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive, and Ultra at 38.7 FPS is not recommended.

At 4K, no preset is ideal. Low at 48.4 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. Medium at 43.6 FPS and High at 31.5 FPS are too choppy for an MMORPG, and Ultra at 19.8 FPS is unplayable. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p.

Across all resolutions, Ultra is the worst choice. At 1080p, it drops to 51.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, it falls to 38.7 FPS, and at 4K, it bottoms out at 19.8 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra is not justified by the visual gains, especially when Medium provides a much smoother experience at a fraction of the GPU load.