Archeage

# Archeage with Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER in this Archeage benchmark set, producing a combo rank of 1972 out of 2761 tested combinations. The data shows a system that delivers playable frame rates at 1080p across most settings, but struggles significantly as resolution climbs to 4K. This pairing sits near the 71st percentile of all tested combos for this MMORPG, suggesting a mid-pack experience that leans more on the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance than on the GPU's aging Turing architecture.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER becomes the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 129 FPS average, but dropping to 2560x1440 Low reduces that to 87 FPS—a 32.6% decline. Moving further to 3840x2160 Low yields only 50 FPS, representing a 61.2% drop from the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count multiplies.

The Medium preset tells a similar story but with slightly different slopes. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 115 FPS with a min of 97 and max of 132. At 1440p Medium, that falls to 77 FPS (min 66, max 89), a 33.0% reduction. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 44 FPS (min 38, max 51), a 61.7% decline from 1080p. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium presets suggests a purely resolution-bound scaling behavior, where the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth dictate performance rather than any CPU limitation.

High settings present a more dramatic scaling curve. The 1080p High result of 78 FPS falls to 52 FPS at 1440p (33.3% drop) and then to 30 FPS at 4K (61.5% drop from 1080p). Ultra settings are the most punishing, with 53 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p (32.1% drop), and just 20 FPS at 4K (62.3% drop). The near-identical percentage reductions across all four presets strongly imply that the limiting component is resolution-dependent GPU throughput, not the CPU or memory subsystem.

What this scaling pattern reveals is that the RTX 2060 SUPER, with its 2176 shading units and 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance, has enough raw compute for 1080p gaming but runs out of headroom quickly. The 4K Ultra result of 20 FPS is barely interactive, while even 4K Low at 50 FPS would feel stuttery in a fast-paced MMORPG environment. The data suggests this combo is best suited for 1080p or perhaps 1440p with conservative settings, as the performance penalty for 4K is disproportionate to the visual gains.

FAQ

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

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080, where even Ultra settings achieve 53 FPS and Low reaches 129 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (87 FPS) and Medium (77 FPS) remain comfortably playable, while High drops to 52 FPS and Ultra to 36 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 18093, placing it 0.4% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It sits 1.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373) and 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A770M (18383).

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a strong match for this GPU?

A: The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 46062, placing it just 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030) and 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098). However, the GPU's 62nd percentile ranking means the system is likely GPU-bound in most scenarios.

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

A: The measured data shows 77 FPS average at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 66 FPS and maximum of 89 FPS. This represents a smooth experience for most gameplay, though large-scale PvP battles might push toward the lower end.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The 4K results suggest memory capacity may be a factor, but the more likely constraint is raw compute. The GPU's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the primary limits, as evidenced by the 30 FPS High and 20 FPS Ultra results at 3840x2160.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1972 out of 2761 tested combos for Archeage, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution. This reflects the GPU's age (2019 release) relative to newer options.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1972 out of 2761 tested combinations places this system in the 28.6th percentile of all pairings tested for Archeage. This is a surprising result given the CPU's strong 89th percentile standing, and it underscores how heavily the GPU drags down the overall ranking. The RTX 2060 SUPER's 62nd percentile among all GPUs means it falls behind many contemporary options, and in a game like Archeage—which is known for its demanding large-scale combat—this GPU performance gap becomes decisive.

Breaking down the ranking, the CPU contributes substantially more to the combo's potential than the GPU. The Core Ultra 5 235's average benchmark score of 46062 is nearly 2.5 times higher than the GPU's 18093 average, yet in gaming workloads the GPU typically dominates. The nearest rival combos would likely feature GPUs in the same performance tier as the RTX 2060 SUPER, but with newer CPUs that offer similar or better single-thread performance.

The rank position suggests that for Archeage specifically, the game's optimization favors systems with stronger GPUs relative to CPUs. The measured FPS data supports this, as the resolution scaling shows consistent GPU-bound behavior. Players looking to improve this combo's ranking would need to focus on GPU upgrades rather than CPU changes, as the 14-core, 14-thread processor provides ample headroom for this MMORPG's workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results across all presets. Low settings achieve 129 FPS average, which is exceptionally smooth for an MMORPG. Medium settings produce 115 FPS average with a narrow range of 97 to 132 FPS, indicating stable frame pacing. High settings drop to 78 FPS, still well within playable territory. Ultra settings yield 53 FPS, which is acceptable for less demanding scenarios but may struggle during crowded events.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degradation becomes noticeable. Low settings still manage 87 FPS, and Medium produces 77 FPS with a range of 66 to 89 FPS—the wider spread suggesting occasional dips during intense moments. High settings fall to 52 FPS, which is borderline for a game where reaction time matters. Ultra settings drop to 36 FPS, which will feel sluggish in combat.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. Low settings achieve 50 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium produces 44 FPS with a range of 38 to 51 FPS, showing significant variance. High settings fall to 30 FPS, and Ultra drops to 20 FPS—both effectively unplayable for serious gameplay. The 4K results clearly indicate that this resolution is beyond the RTX 2060 SUPER's comfortable operating range.

The Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame times across all resolutions, with the narrowest min-max ranges relative to average FPS. At 1080p, the 97-132 FPS range represents a 30.4% spread, while at 1440p the 66-89 FPS range is a 29.9% spread. This consistency suggests Medium is the sweet spot for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER's specifications paint a picture of a GPU that was capable at launch but has aged significantly. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but insufficient for 4K textures and effects. The GPU's base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz, combined with 2176 shading units, produce 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance—a figure that modern mid-range GPUs exceed by wide margins.

The Turing architecture's feature set includes 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, but Archeage does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, meaning these hardware units provide no benefit in this title. The 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs determine the pixel and texture fill rates (105.6 GPixel/s and 224.4 GTexel/s respectively), which directly impact how the GPU handles the game's visual complexity at different resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark performance places it in the 62nd percentile, with an average score of 18093. Its nearest rivals are all within 1.6% of its score, indicating a tight cluster of similar-performing GPUs. However, in Archeage specifically, the measured FPS data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at resolutions above 1080p. The 4K Low result of 50 FPS versus 1080p Low's 129 FPS demonstrates a 61.2% performance loss, which aligns with the pixel count increase from 2.07 million to 8.29 million pixels (a 300% increase).

The GPU's 12 nm process node and 175 W TDP mean it runs relatively hot and consumes more power than newer alternatives, but these factors don't directly affect measured FPS. The PCIe 3.0 x16 interface could theoretically bottleneck newer CPUs, but with the Core Ultra 5 235's 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, this is unlikely to be a practical limitation in Archeage.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium achieves 115 FPS average, which is 89.1% of the Low preset's performance while delivering noticeably better visuals. The frame time consistency is excellent, with a 97-132 FPS range that keeps gameplay smooth even during large-scale battles.

For 1440p gaming, Medium is the only sensible choice for serious play. The 77 FPS average is 88.5% of the Low preset's 87 FPS, and the visual improvement justifies the small performance cost. High settings at 52 FPS and Ultra at 36 FPS are both below the threshold for comfortable MMORPG gameplay, especially in PvP scenarios where reaction speed matters.

At 4K, no preset provides an ideal experience. Low settings at 50 FPS are the most playable, but even this feels marginal. Medium at 44 FPS and High at 30 FPS are borderline, while Ultra at 20 FPS is effectively unplayable. Players with 4K displays should either lower their expectations to 1080p or consider a GPU upgrade.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is never worth the performance cost. At 1080p, Ultra yields 53 FPS compared to Medium's 115 FPS—a 53.9% performance loss for what is typically a modest visual improvement in MMORPGs. The 4K Ultra result of 20 FPS is 54.5% slower than 4K Medium's 44 FPS, making it the worst value choice in the entire dataset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provides substantial processing power that largely goes untapped in Archeage's GPU-bound scenarios. With 14 cores and 14 threads, the CPU delivers strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085. The PassMark multi-thread score of 37816 and single-thread score of 4516 further confirm its capability, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's architecture features Arrow Lake-S on a 3 nm process node from TSMC, with a 24 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide excellent single-thread responsiveness, which is crucial for MMORPGs that often have significant CPU-side game logic. The 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

However, the measured FPS data reveals that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. The consistent resolution scaling pattern—where FPS drops by roughly 32% from 1080p to 1440p and another 43% from 1440p to 4K—is characteristic of a GPU-bound system. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see diminishing performance differences as resolution increases, but instead the gaps remain constant.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% faster), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% slower), AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% slower), and AMD EPYC 7303 (0.2% slower). This clustering indicates that the Core Ultra 5 235 is competitive with high-end laptop and server processors, providing far more computational headroom than Archeage requires. Players with this CPU could easily pair it with a much stronger GPU to achieve significantly higher frame rates, as the CPU would not hold back a more powerful graphics card.