Archeage

# FAQ

Q: What average frame rate does this combo deliver at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT produces an average of 121.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings in Archeage.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to its nearest rival, the RX 7600?

A: Based on the average benchmark score, the RX 7600 XT scores 20,146 against the RX 7600's 20,258, resulting in a deltaPct of -0.6%, meaning the RX 7600 is marginally ahead by less than one percent.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 2560x1440 for a balance of performance?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 88.5 FPS and Medium yields 79.3 FPS, while High drops to 57.5 FPS and Ultra falls to 37 FPS. The Medium preset offers the most balanced experience, staying above 60 FPS with improved visuals over Low.

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1146 out of 1727 total tested combinations in Archeage, placing it in the lower third of all tested systems.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-core performance stand out relative to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79,824, which is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900KF and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, but 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 7413.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Ultra and Low presets at 3840x2160?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 18.8 FPS while the Low preset delivers 51.1 FPS, representing a difference of 32.3 FPS in favor of Low settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. It features 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core, along with 80 KB of L1 cache per core. This processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and includes integrated UHD Graphics 770, though the discrete GPU handles rendering in this test.

In Archeage, an MMORPG with a 2014 release date, the CPU's role is primarily to manage game logic, player positions, and network processing. The benchmark results show that the i9-14900K's compute capabilities are substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49,872 and a single-core score of 7,040. The Passmark multi-thread score of 58,674 and single-thread score of 4,697 indicate strong performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads.

The processor's 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,824, places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. When compared to its nearest rivals, the deltaPct values are tight: the AMD EPYC 7413 is 0.3% ahead, while the Intel Core i9-14900KF and Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF are each 0.7% behind, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is 0.9% behind. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck in Archeage.

Given that the measured frame rates at 1920x1080 range from 52.8 FPS on Ultra to 132.9 FPS on Low, the CPU provides ample headroom for the GPU to be the limiting factor. The high boost clock of 6.00 GHz and 32 threads ensure that even busy MMORPG scenes with many players on screen will not strain the processor's capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings across three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 132.9 FPS, Medium achieves 121.2 FPS, High achieves 78.6 FPS, and Ultra achieves 52.8 FPS. The jump from Medium to High incurs a significant drop of 42.6 FPS, making Medium the recommended choice for high-refresh displays, while Low is suitable for maximum frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues with Low at 88.5 FPS, Medium at 79.3 FPS, High at 57.5 FPS, and Ultra at 37 FPS. Medium maintains a playable 79.3 FPS, while High dips below 60 FPS, so Medium is the best experience for smooth gameplay at this resolution. The drop from Medium to High of 21.8 FPS is substantial, and Ultra becomes difficult to justify at 37 FPS.

At 3840x2160, all presets struggle to maintain high frame rates: Low reaches 51.1 FPS, Medium reaches 44 FPS, High reaches 29.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 18.8 FPS. For 4K gaming, Low is the only preset that approaches playable territory, while Medium remains marginally acceptable. The step from Medium to High costs 14.9 FPS, and Ultra is effectively unplayable.

Across all resolutions, the data shows a consistent pattern: Medium settings offer the best trade-off between visual quality and performance, with only a 11.7 FPS difference between Medium and Low at 1080p, but a 42.6 FPS difference between Medium and High. The Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest frame rates and is only viable at 1080p where it still achieves 52.8 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 1146 out of 1727 tested combinations in Archeage. This places the system in the 66th percentile of tested combos, meaning approximately 581 combinations perform better. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than the CPU's high-end capabilities, as the RX 7600 XT sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs.

The CPU's 97th percentile ranking contrasts sharply with the GPU's 63rd percentile, indicating a significant performance imbalance. The i9-14900K's average benchmark score of 79,824 is nearly four times the RX 7600 XT's average score of 20,146, yet the combo's overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU. In Archeage, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the GPU still limits the system's frame rates, as evidenced by the measured FPS data.

When comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals, the RX 7600 XT is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460, 0.6% behind the RX 7600, 1.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, and 1.9% behind the RTX 3070 Mobile. These close margins highlight that the RX 7600 XT is positioned in a competitive mid-range segment, and the combo's rank reflects this positioning.

The practical impact of this rank is that users should expect mid-range frame rates, as confirmed by the measured results: 78.6 FPS at 1080p High and 57.5 FPS at 1440p High. The combo is not designed for high-refresh 4K gaming, which is consistent with its rank in the lower third of tested combinations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, manufactured on a 6 nm process at TSMC. It features 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz, a game clock of 2470 MHz, and a boost clock of 2755 MHz. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with memory clocked at 2250 MHz or 18 Gbps effective.

The GPU's pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s, along with FP32 performance of 22.57 TFLOPS, determine its rendering throughput. In Archeage, the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates, given the CPU's substantial headroom. The measured FPS data shows that at 1920x1080, the GPU delivers 132.9 FPS on Low but only 52.8 FPS on Ultra, indicating that higher settings place significant load on the GPU.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is noteworthy for an MMORPG, as it allows for high-resolution textures and large draw distances without memory pressure. However, the 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth may limit performance in memory-intensive scenarios, though the data does not show VRAM-related bottlenecks in the measured results.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 20,146 places it at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RX 7600, scores 20,258 and is 0.6% ahead, while the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 19,774 and is 1.9% behind. The Passmark G3D score of 17,132 and GPU compute score of 8,987 further characterize its mid-range positioning.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent, with even the Low preset only achieving 51.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 18.8 FPS demonstrates that the RX 7600 XT is not suited for 4K gaming with this title at maximum settings. The GPU's role in this combo is to provide solid 1080p and acceptable 1440p performance, which aligns with its benchmark results and percentile ranking.