Archeage

# Archeage with Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance at higher pixel counts, while lower resolutions expose the headroom available in the processor. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination produces an average of 159 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops that to 107 FPS, a reduction of approximately 33%. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 61 FPS, which is another 43% decline from the 1440p figure. This scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases, since the frame rate drops roughly in line with the increase in pixel count.

The Medium settings row provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum FPS values captured at each resolution. At 1080p, Medium averages 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 and a maximum of 162. At 1440p, the average falls to 95 FPS, with minimum and maximum readings of 81 and 109 respectively. At 4K, Medium produces an average of 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 and a maximum of 63. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS remains relatively consistent across resolutions, suggesting stable frame pacing rather than sudden spikes or drops.

High settings follow a similar trajectory: 96 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 32%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 43%. Ultra settings show the steepest scaling curve, with 65 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p, and only 25 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, indicating that this preset is beyond the comfortable operating range of the GPU at that resolution.

The scaling pattern across all four presets suggests that Archeage's rendering load scales heavily with resolution. At 1080p, even Ultra achieves a playable average of 65 FPS, which implies the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower pixel counts. As resolution climbs, the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become the dominant constraints, with the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB GDDR6 memory proving sufficient for Medium and Low at 4K but insufficient for maintaining high frame rates on High or Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 16129. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which scores 16014 with a deltaPct of 0.7, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M at 16351 with a deltaPct of -1.4. The RTX 3060 Ti's closest competition is remarkably tight, with the Radeon RX 5700 XT scoring 16361 (deltaPct -1.4) and the AMD Radeon R9 370X trailing at 15862 (deltaPct 1.7). This places the GPU in a competitive mid-range tier, though the measured results in Archeage show clear limitations at higher resolutions.

The GPU's memory configuration includes 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 1410 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The GA104 chip contains 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines. The card also features 38 ray tracing cores and 152 tensor cores, though Archeage's rendering engine from 2014 does not appear to leverage these specialized units given the game's genre and release timing.

In the context of Archeage, the GPU's role is most evident when comparing the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 1080p, Low produces 159 FPS while Ultra produces 65 FPS, a 59% reduction. At 1440p, the gap narrows slightly: 107 FPS on Low versus 44 FPS on Ultra, a 59% reduction as well. At 4K, Low yields 61 FPS and Ultra yields 25 FPS, again a 59% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a proportional load increase on the GPU regardless of pixel count, suggesting the additional settings affect shader complexity and fill rate demands uniformly.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 20349 and DirectX 12 score of 78 provide synthetic reference points. The Vulkan score of 47784 and OpenCL score of 78927 further characterize the card's compute capabilities. However, the measured FPS data in Archeage shows that the RTX 3060 Ti can handle 1080p Medium at 141 FPS average and 1440p Medium at 95 FPS average, making those the highest quality settings that maintain comfortable frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 159 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset at the same resolution reaches 141 FPS, while High produces 96 FPS and Ultra produces 65 FPS.

Q: Can this system run Archeage at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 4K, Low settings average 61 FPS, Medium averages 54 FPS, High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129, placing it at the 59th percentile. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014 (deltaPct 0.7), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M scores 16351 (deltaPct -1.4), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT scores 16361 (deltaPct -1.4).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 107 FPS while Ultra settings average 44 FPS, a reduction of 63 FPS or approximately 59%. Medium settings fall in between at 95 FPS, and High settings average 65 FPS.

Q: Does the i9-14900K bottleneck the RTX 3060 Ti in this game?

A: At lower resolutions and settings, the CPU's headroom is evident, with 1080p Low reaching 159 FPS. However, the consistent 59% drop from Low to Ultra across all resolutions suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor when settings are increased, rather than the processor.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded on Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset has minimum FPS values of 120 at 1080p, 81 at 1440p, and 46 at 4K. The corresponding averages are 141, 95, and 54 FPS respectively.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1848 out of 3708 tested combinations in Archeage. This places the pairing in the 50th percentile of all combos tested for this game, meaning roughly half of all tested systems perform better and half perform worse. The rank reflects the balance between a top-tier processor and a mid-range GPU, where the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions and settings cap the overall performance ceiling.

The CPU itself ranks at the 95th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 79097. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900KF at 79371 (deltaPct -0.3), the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at 79574 (deltaPct -0.6), and the AMD EPYC 7413 at 80041 (deltaPct -1.2). The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 trails at 77740 (deltaPct 1.7). This processor is clearly in the upper echelon of available CPUs, yet the combo's mid-pack ranking in Archeage underscores that the RTX 3060 Ti is the performance bottleneck for this specific game.

The discrepancy between the CPU's elite percentile ranking and the combo's median ranking in Archeage suggests that the game's performance is primarily GPU-bound. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings changes that affect GPU load, while the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads provide ample processing capacity that is not fully utilized by an MMORPG from 2014.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces the following averages: Low delivers 159 FPS, Medium delivers 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 and maximum of 162, High delivers 96 FPS, and Ultra delivers 65 FPS. The 1080p results are the strongest across all resolutions, with every preset except Ultra exceeding 90 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 120 FPS ensures consistent smoothness, while the maximum of 162 FPS approaches the refresh rate ceiling of many displays.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 107 FPS, Medium at 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 and maximum of 109, High at 65 FPS, and Ultra at 44 FPS. The 1440p results show a significant step down from 1080p, with the High preset dropping below 70 FPS and Ultra falling below 50 FPS. The Medium preset remains viable with a minimum of 81 FPS, though the gap between minimum and maximum FPS widens compared to 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 61 FPS, Medium at 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 63, High at 37 FPS, and Ultra at 25 FPS. The 4K results are the weakest in the dataset, with only Low and Medium reaching 60 FPS or close to it. High and Ultra both fall below 40 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset's minimum of 46 FPS indicates occasional dips below the 60 FPS threshold, which may be noticeable in crowded MMORPG environments.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium provides an average of 141 FPS with a minimum of 120 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS, still maintaining playable performance while offering improved visual fidelity over Low. At 4K, Medium averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS, which is marginally below 60 FPS but remains playable for many users.

The High preset is a reasonable choice at 1080p, where it achieves 96 FPS average, but at 1440p it drops to 65 FPS and at 4K it falls to 37 FPS. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it averages 65 FPS, but at 1440p it drops to 44 FPS and at 4K it produces a disappointing 25 FPS. Given the consistent 59% reduction from Low to Ultra across all resolutions, the additional visual features enabled by Ultra come at a steep performance cost.

For users prioritizing frame rate above all else, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 159 FPS and at 1440p delivers 107 FPS, both of which are excellent for competitive or fast-paced gameplay. However, the Medium preset provides a substantial visual upgrade over Low while maintaining high frame rates, making it the recommended starting point. At 4K, users should accept Medium as the maximum practical setting, since High and Ultra do not provide acceptable performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, with ECC memory support available.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i9-14900K scores 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2262.5 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 21697 multi-core and 2655 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score is 58674, with a single-thread score of 4697. These figures place the processor at the 95th percentile among all CPUs, indicating top-tier performance for both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.

In Archeage, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low reach 159 FPS, which is high but not limited by the processor. The consistent scaling pattern across resolutions and settings suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck, as frame rates decline proportionally with pixel count and rendering load. The CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads provide substantial headroom for an MMORPG that likely does not utilize more than a few threads effectively.

The processor's single-core performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and PassMark single-thread score of 4697, is particularly relevant for game logic and physics calculations. However, the measured data does not show evidence of CPU-bound behavior in Archeage, as even the highest frame rates at 1080p Low do not appear constrained by processor limits. The combination's mid-pack ranking of 1848 out of 3708 in this game further confirms that the RTX 3060 Ti, not the i9-14900K, is the limiting factor in this pairing.