Archeage

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a high-performance Archeage experience across all tested resolutions, though the data reveals that the game's engine and CPU scaling create a distinct performance ceiling. The measured frames per second (FPS) show that this combination is capable of exceptionally high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra presents a significant challenge that requires careful settings management.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience for this hardware combination in Archeage. At 1920x1080, Medium achieves an average of 271 FPS with a minimum of 231 FPS and a maximum of 312 FPS, nearly matching the Low preset’s 288 average while providing substantially better visual quality. The High preset at 1080p drops to 184 FPS average, which is still smooth but represents a 32% reduction from Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 126 FPS average, which is the lowest 1080p result and suggests diminishing returns from the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, Medium again proves optimal. The 183 FPS average with a 155 FPS minimum and 210 FPS maximum comfortably exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate common on high-end monitors. The High preset at 1440p delivers 124 FPS average, which remains playable but loses the headroom that Medium provides. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 85 FPS average, indicating that the transition from Medium to Ultra carries a 54% performance penalty. For players prioritizing consistent frame delivery, Medium at 1440p is the strongest choice.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. Medium is the only preset that maintains a playable experience, with a 105 FPS average, 89 FPS minimum, and 120 FPS maximum. The High preset at 4K produces 71 FPS average, which is borderline for competitive play but acceptable for casual exploration. The Low preset at 4K reaches 117 FPS average, making it the highest-performing 4K option, though it sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 48 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and should be avoided with this configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units handle the geometric load of Archeage’s large-scale battles efficiently. The boost clock of 2407 MHz contributes to the GPU’s compute throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS FP32, which supports high frame rates at lower resolutions.

The GPU’s memory capacity is not a limiting factor in any tested configuration, as even the highest settings at 4K do not approach the 32 GB capacity. The data shows that the RTX 5090’s raw performance is sufficient to push frame rates beyond 270 FPS at 1080p Medium, indicating that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, at 4K Ultra, the 48 FPS average suggests that the combination of increased pixel count and the game’s heavy shader work begins to saturate the GPU’s capabilities.

The GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842, places it in the upper tier of graphics hardware. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with a 0.3% higher score and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with a 1.1% higher score, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X trails by 1.4%. These comparisons indicate that the RTX 5090 is competitive with professional-grade and high-end mobile GPUs in synthetic benchmarks, though Archeage’s real-world performance depends more on the CPU as resolutions decrease.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of shifting bottlenecks. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 271, which drops to 183 at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and further to 105 at 4K (a 61% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is less steep than what would be expected from pure pixel count increases, suggesting that CPU limitations cap the maximum achievable FPS at lower resolutions. The 1080p results—288 FPS at Low and 271 FPS at Medium—indicate the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU has headroom to render more frames.

The Low preset shows the most aggressive scaling: 288 FPS at 1080p, 205 FPS at 1440p (29% lower), and 117 FPS at 4K (59% lower). The High preset follows a similar pattern: 184→124→71 FPS across the three resolutions. The Ultra preset demonstrates the steepest relative drop: 126→85→48 FPS, with the 4K result being just 38% of the 1080p score. This indicates that the Ultra preset’s additional effects—likely including higher shadow quality and draw distances—place exponential load on the GPU as resolution increases.

The gap between Medium and High narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, Medium is 47% faster than High (271 vs 184). At 1440p, Medium is 48% faster (183 vs 124). At 4K, Medium is 48% faster (105 vs 71). This consistent ratio suggests that the High preset adds a fixed percentage of GPU workload that scales linearly with pixel count. Conversely, the Ultra preset’s penalty grows from 54% slower than Medium at 1080p to 54% slower at 1440p, reaching 54% slower at 4K, indicating a consistent additional load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 288, with Medium following at 271 (with 231 min and 312 max). High drops to 184 average, and Ultra falls to 126 average. The 1080p results show that this combination can easily drive high-refresh-rate displays, with even the Ultra preset exceeding 120 FPS. The minimum FPS of 231 on Medium confirms stable frame delivery, with the 312 maximum indicating headroom for occasional lighter scenes.

At 2560x1440, Low reaches 205 FPS average, Medium achieves 183 FPS (with 155 min and 210 max), High produces 124 FPS, and Ultra yields 85 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 155 FPS ensures consistent performance even during heavy combat sequences. The 1440p results demonstrate that the RTX 5090 remains the dominant factor, as the CPU constraint seen at 1080p is partially alleviated by the increased pixel workload.

At 3840x2160, Low produces 117 FPS average, Medium achieves 105 FPS (with 89 min and 120 max), High drops to 71 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS. The 4K Medium result is notable for maintaining a 89 FPS minimum, which keeps the experience fluid. The 4K High and Ultra results highlight the GPU’s limits, with Ultra’s 48 FPS average being the only sub-60 FPS result in the entire dataset. The 4K Low preset’s 117 FPS shows that even at maximum resolution, the GPU can deliver high frame rates when visual effects are minimized.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gameplay with this hardware?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 achieves a 105 FPS average with an 89 FPS minimum, making it the only 4K preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Low preset reaches 117 FPS average but sacrifices visual quality, while High (71 FPS) and Ultra (48 FPS) fall below the ideal smoothness threshold.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K, with 16 cores and 24 threads, becomes the limiting factor at 1920x1080. The difference between Low (288 FPS) and Medium (271 FPS) is only 6%, while the jump from Medium to High (184 FPS) is a 32% loss, indicating that the CPU cannot fully feed the RTX 5090 at the highest frame rates.

Q: Is the RTX 5090’s 32 GB VRAM sufficient for Archeage?

A: The measured data shows no VRAM-related performance issues at any resolution or settings preset. The 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth exceeds the requirements of even the 4K Ultra preset, which still runs without hitting memory capacity limits.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset delivers a 124 FPS average. This is significantly lower than Medium’s 183 FPS but still above the 120 FPS threshold, making it suitable for gamers who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum refresh rates.

Q: How does this combo’s performance compare to its rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU scores 46,881 average benchmark points, sitting 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 and 0.3% below the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, while leading the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX and Intel Xeon w3-2535 by 0.5%. The GPU scores 79,842 average points, trailing the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB by 0.3%.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so poorly at 4K?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces a 48 FPS average, which is 54% lower than the Medium preset’s 105 FPS. The Ultra settings add substantial GPU workload through enhanced shadows, effects, and draw distances, and at 3840x2160 pixel count, this load overwhelms the RTX 5090’s capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K features 16 cores (8 performance and 8 efficiency) with 24 threads, operating at a 3.40 GHz base clock and boosting to 5.40 GHz. The processor’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 per core provide ample storage for game assets and thread scheduling data. Its 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility position it as a mainstream high-end desktop part.

The CPU’s benchmark results show strong single-thread performance with a 3dmark single-thread score of 1,136 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,529. Multi-threaded performance is robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30,745 and a Passmark multithread score of 45,887. These scores place the i7-13700K in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,881.

In Archeage, the CPU’s role becomes evident in the 1080p results. The fact that Low and Medium presets produce similar frame rates (288 vs 271 FPS) while High drops to 184 FPS suggests that the game’s CPU-bound logic—such as network handling, entity updates, and physics calculations for large player populations—limits the maximum frame rate. The i7-13700K’s 24 threads help manage these tasks, but the 5.40 GHz boost clock is the key factor in achieving the high single-thread performance that MMORPGs typically require. The 16-core configuration ensures that background processing doesn’t interfere with the main game thread, contributing to the stable minimum FPS figures seen at 1080p Medium (231 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 60th out of 3,708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the top 1.6% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the hardware’s ability to deliver high frame rates across most settings, though the 4K Ultra result prevents a higher placement.

The ranking is driven primarily by the CPU’s strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Archeage’s engine. The i7-13700K’s 3dmark 2-thread score of 2,262 and 4-thread score of 4,469 indicate solid scaling in lightly-threaded workloads, matching the game’s typical CPU usage patterns. The GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs ensures that graphics processing is rarely a bottleneck, except at 4K Ultra.

The 60th position among 3,708 combos suggests that while this pairing is excellent, there are configurations that handle Archeage’s 4K Ultra settings better. The data shows that the combo’s weakest point is the 4K Ultra preset at 48 FPS, which likely prevents it from ranking higher. At lower resolutions and settings, the combo’s performance is exceptional, with 1080p Medium achieving 271 FPS and 1440p Medium reaching 183 FPS. The combination of the i7-13700K’s high clock speeds and the RTX 5090’s massive compute throughput creates a system that excels in CPU-limited scenarios while remaining competitive in GPU-heavy workloads, making it a top-tier choice for Archeage players who prioritize high refresh rates at 1080p or 1440p.