Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, is not typically used as a stress test for modern hardware, but the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination reveals a clear performance hierarchy. The dataset shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the processor provides ample headroom. The transition from 1080p to 4K creates a dramatic shift in frame rates, illustrating where the bottleneck lies within this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. At the High settings preset, the average frame rate drops from 71 FPS at 1920x1080 to 48 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 27 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 62% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent, with each step up in resolution costing roughly 20-25 FPS, indicating that the RTX 2060 is the primary limiting factor. The data suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline is saturated by the increased pixel count, leaving the CPU with significant spare capacity.

The scaling pattern holds across other settings, but the absolute drops are smaller at lower presets. For example, with Low settings, the frame rate goes from 117 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p, and then to 45 FPS at 4K. This is a 62% drop from 1080p to 4K as well, but the higher base frame rate means the experience remains more fluid at intermediate resolutions. The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 104 FPS at 1080p, 70 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical across all settings strongly suggests that the scaling is purely a function of pixel throughput, not shader complexity or memory bandwidth.

The most telling data point is the 4K Ultra setting, which yields an average of just 19 FPS. This is a 60% drop from the 48 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra, and it confirms that the RTX 2060 is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity. The 4K High setting is not much better at 27 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo, even at lower quality presets, as the GPU simply lacks the raw fill rate and shader power to maintain playable frame rates. The 1080p to 1440p transition, however, is much more manageable, with High settings dropping from 71 to 48 FPS, a 32% reduction that still leaves the game in a playable range for many users.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a Turing-architecture card with 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its boost clock is listed at 1680 MHz, and it has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications are directly reflected in the benchmark results. The GPU's average benchmark score is 15290, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-range card by modern standards, and its performance in Archeage aligns with that positioning.

The most significant limitation exposed by the data is the 6 GB VRAM capacity. While the game does not show a hard crash or texture pop-in in the measured rows, the steep performance drop at 4K Ultra (19 FPS) suggests that memory pressure is likely compounding the compute bottleneck. The 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the data throughput required to feed the frame buffer likely exceeds what the card can efficiently deliver. The measured results show that the GPU's performance is heavily dependent on the workload, with Passmark DirectX 11 scores of 110 versus DirectX 12 scores of 53, indicating that this card is better optimized for older APIs.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Radeon 680M at 0.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM at 0.6%. These are all within a 1% performance margin, meaning the RTX 2060 is essentially on par with these cards in synthetic tests. However, in real-world gaming, the measured FPS shows that the RTX 2060 is able to deliver 117 FPS at 1080p Low, which is a solid result for a game from 2014. The card's 80.64 GPixel/s pixel rate and 201.6 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for the game's visual complexity, but they become the limiting factor when resolution scales up.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2192 out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the bottom 21% of all tested configurations, which is a surprisingly low ranking given the individual component scores. The CPU itself sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile. The low combo rank suggests that the GPU is dragging the overall system performance down significantly, as the CPU is not the bottleneck in most scenarios.

The gap between the CPU's strong standing and the combo's low rank highlights a fundamental imbalance. The Core Ultra 5 245 has a multi-core score of 32924 in Cinebench R23, which is a strong result, but this raw processing power is not being utilized in Archeage due to the GPU constraint. The combo rank is more indicative of the gaming experience, as it reflects the actual frame rates achieved in this specific title. With 2761 total combos, being at position 2192 means there are 569 combos that perform worse, but a vast majority of tested systems deliver better results in this game.

This ranking is not a reflection of the CPU's capability, but rather of the GPU's age and tier. The RTX 2060 is an end-of-life product, and its 58th percentile standing shows it is below average in the current GPU landscape. When paired with a top-10% CPU, the result is a system that is severely limited by its graphics card. The data indicates that to improve the combo's rank, a GPU upgrade would be far more impactful than any CPU change, as the Core Ultra 5 245 has ample headroom to support a more powerful graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset provides an average of 71 FPS, which is a smooth experience for an MMORPG. The Medium preset offers 104 FPS, which is better for high-refresh-rate monitors, and the Low preset hits 117 FPS. For most users, the High preset is the sweet spot, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 48 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive in fast-paced combat.

At 2560x1440, the High preset drops to 48 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal. The Medium preset yields 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it the best choice for a smooth experience at this resolution. The Low preset at 79 FPS is also viable, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 33 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the playable threshold for most users. The data suggests that Medium is the highest quality setting that maintains a consistent 60+ FPS at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset averages 45 FPS, which is borderline playable, but the Medium preset drops to 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 27 FPS and 19 FPS respectively are not recommended for any serious gameplay. The only viable option for 4K is the Low preset, and even then, users should expect occasional dips below 40 FPS. Given the game's age, lowering resolution to 1440p or 1080p is the better path to a consistently smooth experience.

The measured rows indicate that the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering 70 FPS average with a 60 FPS minimum. For users with 1080p displays, the High preset at 71 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium without a substantial performance penalty. The data clearly shows that avoiding the Ultra preset is wise, as it incurs a massive performance hit for marginal visual gains.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset provides a clear picture of the combo's capabilities across all measured configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 117 FPS, the Medium preset averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS, the High preset averages 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS. The 1080p results show a wide range of performance, from highly fluid at Low to merely acceptable at Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 79 FPS, the Medium preset averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS, the High preset averages 48 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 33 FPS. The 1440p results show a tighter grouping, with the gap between Low and Medium being only 9 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is a steep 15 FPS drop. This indicates that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 45 FPS, the Medium preset averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, the High preset averages 27 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 19 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly low, with even the Low preset struggling to maintain 45 FPS. The lack of minimum FPS data for the Low and High presets at 4K suggests that the frame times may be inconsistent, further diminishing the playability at this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 34 FPS highlights the risk of stuttering in crowded areas.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. It sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. This positions it as a high-end desktop processor.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is largely to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this system. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 117 FPS, which is a good indicator of the CPU's ability to process the game's single-threaded workload. The Core Ultra 5 245's single-core performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 score of 4648, is more than sufficient for this task. The game from 2014 is unlikely to leverage the CPU's 14 cores fully, but the high boost clock of 5.10 GHz ensures strong per-core performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G with a deltaPct of -0.4%, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at -0.5%, and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at 0.6%. These rivals are all within a 1% performance margin, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 245 is competitive with other high-end processors. However, this CPU performance does not translate into higher frame rates in Archeage because the RTX 2060 becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data suggests that the CPU could comfortably drive a much faster GPU, as it shows no signs of struggle even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least taxed.

The 14 threads and 24 MB of L3 cache are more than adequate for an MMORPG, which typically has many concurrent players and entities. The CPU's 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth and DDR5 support further ensure that memory latency is not a concern. In this specific combo, the CPU is a silent partner, performing its duties without ever becoming a limiting factor. The data confirms that any performance issues in Archeage are solely attributable to the GPU, not the processor.