Archeage

Archeage is a 2014 MMORPG, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D represents an extreme modern pairing for it. The data shows this system delivers very high frame rates across most settings, but the game’s engine and the CPU's role become apparent at lower resolutions and higher presets. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, how the components interact, and where the bottlenecks lie.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Archeage?

A: The highest measured average is 300 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only row that hits the 300 FPS mark, with the next closest being 288 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: It ranks 19th out of 3708 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.5% of all systems tested for Archeage performance.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this game?

A: It depends on the settings. At 1080p Low, the GPU is clearly over-provisioned, and the CPU becomes the primary limiter, as frame rates do not scale much from Low to Medium. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is the bottleneck, with the frame rate dropping to 52 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 219 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 90 FPS. This is a 129 FPS drop, or roughly 41% of the Low preset's performance.

Q: Is the CPU's average benchmark score similar to any direct competitors?

A: Yes, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 scores 46062 on average. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, scores 46030, which is only a 0.1% difference, making them effectively identical in aggregate CPU benchmarks.

Q: Does the GPU's benchmark score align with its in-game performance ranking?

A: No. While the RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77712 places it at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, its nearest rivals based on that score (AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT) would suggest a much higher in-game ranking than 19th place. This shows Archeage's specific engine limits the GPU's potential.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is an absolute monster on paper. It has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding a massive 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2017 MHz, boosting up to 2407 MHz. With 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs, it is arguably overkill for a game from 2014. In Archeage, this hardware translates to very high frame rates, but the data suggests the game cannot fully utilize its potential.

The GPU's role is most clearly defined at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the system only manages 52 FPS. This is a scenario where the sheer pixel-pushing requirements of 3840x2160 combined with the Ultra preset's demands finally create a load that makes the GPU work hard. The fact that the GPU has more memory bandwidth than the CPU's memory support (1.79 TB/s vs 102.4 GB/s) highlights the extreme imbalance of this pairing for a 2014 MMORPG.

In contrast, at lower settings, the GPU is often idle-waiting. The benchmark scores for the GPU (e.g., 44065 in Passmark G3D) are exceptionally high, but the in-game results show that the CPU or the game engine's single-threaded nature becomes the limiting factor long before the GPU's compute or memory resources are saturated. The data indicates that the GPU is never a bottleneck at 1080p Low, Medium, or High. It only becomes the primary performance constraint at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate finally drops to a level that reflects the GPU's workload.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a classic CPU-bound scenario at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 300 FPS. When moving to 1440p Low, it drops to 219 FPS (a 27% decrease). At 4K Low, it falls to 125 FPS (a further 43% decrease from 1440p). This scaling pattern shows that as resolution increases, the GPU workload increases, but the frame rate is still very high, suggesting the CPU is still managing to feed the GPU enough data.

However, the story changes with the settings preset. At Ultra settings, the scaling is more dramatic. From 1080p Ultra (134 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (90 FPS) is a 33% drop. From 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (52 FPS) is a further 42% drop. This steeper decline indicates that the Ultra preset adds significant GPU load, and at 4K, the GPU finally becomes the limiting component.

The most telling data point is the scaling between Low and Medium at 1080p. The Low preset runs at 300 FPS, but the Medium preset runs at 288 FPS, a drop of only 12 FPS. This is despite the Medium preset adding more visual effects and geometry, which should increase GPU load. The fact that the frame rate barely drops suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, and the GPU has enough headroom to handle the extra work without a significant performance penalty. The bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU only when the resolution increases to 4K, where the pixel fill rate and shading demands become too high for even the RTX 5090 D to maintain the triple-digit frame rates seen at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear grid of performance for this combo in Archeage.

At 1920x1080, the system is mostly CPU-bound. The Low preset achieves an average of 300 FPS. The Medium preset is close behind at 288 FPS, with a minimum of 245 FPS and a maximum of 331 FPS. The High preset drops to 197 FPS. The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding, averaging 134 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium (12 FPS) is small, but the gap between High and Ultra (63 FPS) is substantial, showing the Ultra preset's heavy GPU cost.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset averages 219 FPS. The Medium preset averages 195 FPS, with a minimum of 166 FPS and a maximum of 224 FPS. The High preset delivers 132 FPS, a significant drop from the 197 FPS seen at 1080p. The Ultra preset averages 90 FPS. This resolution shows a more balanced load, with the frame rate drops from 1080p reflecting the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the defining factor. The Low preset still manages an average of 125 FPS, which is respectable. The Medium preset drops to 112 FPS (with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS). The High preset averages 76 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, averaging just 52 FPS. The spread between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 73 FPS, the largest absolute spread across all resolutions, indicating the Ultra preset is extremely demanding at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of an Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 19th out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage. This is a top-tier placement, placing it in the 99.5th percentile of all systems tested. The data shows that this is not a mid-pack performer; it is a system that sits near the very top of the pile.

However, the ranking is interesting when compared to the individual component benchmarks. The CPU is in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 92nd percentile. If the game scaled perfectly with these components, one might expect a higher combo rank. The 19th place ranking suggests that Archeage's engine is not able to fully leverage the top-tier power of the RTX 5090 D, likely due to a CPU bottleneck in certain scenes or a lack of multi-threaded optimization.

The nearest rivals for the CPU in aggregate benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% slower). The GPU's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% faster) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (2.1% faster). If the combo rank were solely based on these aggregate scores, the system would rank higher. The fact that it is 19th, not higher, underscores the game's specific performance quirks. This is a case where the sum of the parts is slightly less than the individual component scores would suggest, purely because the game cannot fully utilize the hardware.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience depends on the target resolution and the user's preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity.

For 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. It delivers 288 FPS, which is close to the 300 FPS cap of the Low preset, but with better visuals. The High preset at 197 FPS is also excellent if a user prefers higher quality, but the jump to Ultra costs 63 FPS for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a 2014 title. The Low preset is unnecessary unless a user has a 300 Hz monitor and wants to push the absolute maximum frame rate.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 132 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a high frame rate that is smooth on any high refresh rate monitor while offering a significant visual upgrade over Medium. The Medium preset at 195 FPS is also a valid choice for competitive play, but the High preset offers a better balance. The Ultra preset at 90 FPS is playable but represents a large performance hit for the highest settings.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 112 FPS is the best balance, as it is the highest preset that stays comfortably above 100 FPS. The High preset at 76 FPS is also viable for a 60 Hz display, but it is a substantial drop from Medium. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is only recommended for users who prioritize maximum visual quality over smoothness, as it is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 125 FPS is the choice for high-refresh-rate 4K gaming, but it sacrifices most of the visual enhancements.