Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, presents a demanding workload for integrated graphics. The measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the AMD Radeon 760M shows a combination that is severely limited by the GPU at higher settings and resolutions, yet it finds a playable niche at lower presets. The benchmark results indicate that this combo ranks 2753 out of 2761 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the bottom percentile of all systems measured.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across all resolutions makes it clear that the "Ultra" preset is not a viable option for this hardware configuration. At 1080p, the Ultra preset yields an average of 18 FPS, which falls below the threshold for acceptable gameplay in a genre that requires quick reactions during combat. The situation worsens at higher resolutions, with the 1440p Ultra preset producing just 12 FPS and the 4K Ultra preset dropping to a slideshow-like 7 FPS. These numbers suggest that the visual fidelity gains from the Ultra preset come at an unacceptable performance cost.

The "High" preset offers a marginal improvement but remains largely unplayable. At 1080p High, the combo achieves an average of 27 FPS, which is still below the 30 FPS minimum generally considered playable. The 1440p High preset drops to 18 FPS, and the 4K High preset falls to 10 FPS. Based on this data, the High preset is only suitable for players who prioritize visuals over smoothness and are willing to tolerate significant frame pacing issues.

The optimal experience is found in the "Medium" preset at 1080p. This configuration delivers an average of 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS. The minimum frame rate being above 30 FPS is a critical data point, as it indicates the combo can maintain a relatively stable experience without major dips. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth. The data clearly shows that the "Low" preset at 1080p is the only configuration that provides a comfortable performance margin, averaging 44 FPS, though the Medium preset at 1080p offers a better balance of visual quality and playability. For players seeking the best experience per the measured rows, the 1080p Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it is the highest quality setting that maintains an average above 30 FPS and a minimum above 30 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 760M is the primary bottleneck in this configuration for Archeage. The GPU's performance characteristics, as measured by its benchmark scores, align with the FPS results observed in-game. The Radeon 760M has an average benchmark score of 6019, which places it in the 35th percentile of all GPUs. This relatively low percentile ranking corresponds to the struggles seen at higher settings. The GPU's nearest rivals in average score include the AMD Radeon RX 6400, which scores 6001 with a deltaPct of 0.3, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M, which scores 6000 with a deltaPct of 0.3. These rivals are also older or lower-tier parts, reinforcing the 760M's position as an entry-level solution.

The GPU's architecture is RDNA 3.0, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It features 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The clock speeds show a base of 800 MHz and a boost of 2599 MHz. The pixel rate is 41.58 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 83.17 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 5.323 TFLOPS. These raw specifications, while modest, are what the game has to work with. The memory configuration is "System Shared," which means the GPU uses the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory setup often incurs a performance penalty in bandwidth-sensitive scenarios, which is typical for an IGP. In Archeage, the data suggests that the GPU's rendering capabilities are exhausted quickly as resolution and settings increase. The transition from 1080p to 4K at the same settings shows a dramatic drop in FPS, which is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario where the fill rate and pixel processing power are insufficient for the increased pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 44 FPS at 1080p, to 30 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 17 FPS at 4K. This represents a 61% drop from 1080p to 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 39, 26, and 15 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The High preset averages are 27, 18, and 10 FPS across the same resolutions. This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as a CPU-bound scenario would show less variation with resolution changes.

The relationship between resolution and frame rate is not linear. From 1080p to 1440p, the resolution increases by 1.78 times the pixel count, but the FPS drops by roughly 30-35% across all presets. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 2.25 times, and the FPS drops by approximately 40-45%. This disproportionate scaling suggests that the GPU is hitting memory bandwidth or fill rate limits. The data further supports this by showing that the gap between the Low and Ultra presets widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 26 FPS (44 vs 18). At 4K, the difference shrinks to 10 FPS (17 vs 7). This convergence indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that even reducing settings has diminishing returns, as the sheer pixel count overwhelms the processing units.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear hierarchy. The Low preset delivers an average of 44 FPS, which is the highest frame rate achieved by this combo. The Medium preset averages 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 and a maximum of 45. The High preset averages 27 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 18 FPS. The 1080p Medium setting is the only configuration where the minimum FPS stays above 30, making it the most stable playable option.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 30 FPS, which is exactly at the playability threshold. The Medium preset averages 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 and a maximum of 30. The High preset averages 18 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 12 FPS. None of the 1440p settings maintain a minimum frame rate above 30 FPS, indicating that gameplay will have noticeable stutters.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. The Low preset averages 17 FPS. The Medium preset averages 15 FPS, with a minimum of 13 and a maximum of 17. The High preset averages 10 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 7 FPS. The 4K resolution data shows that this combo is simply not designed for this workload, as even the lowest settings cannot reach a playable frame rate. The Medium preset at both 1080p and 1440p shows the only recorded min/max values, which helps gauge frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 12 FPS (33-45), while at 1440p Medium, the spread is 8 FPS (22-30), indicating that the higher resolution actually compresses the frame range but at a lower absolute level.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Archeage?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with the Medium preset is the optimal choice, yielding an average of 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS. This is the highest quality setting that maintains a minimum frame rate above 30 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run Archeage at 4K?

A: The measured results indicate that 4K is not a viable option. The best 4K result is 17 FPS on the Low preset, with the Ultra preset dropping to 7 FPS. These frame rates are well below acceptable playability standards.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the Low preset in terms of performance?

A: At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 18 FPS, which is 26 FPS lower than the Low preset's 44 FPS average. At 4K, the difference narrows to 10 FPS (17 vs 7), indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at high resolutions regardless of settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The resolution scaling data points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck. Frame rates drop by roughly 30-45% with each resolution step up, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's performance, as measured by its benchmarks, is comparatively stronger.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum of 33 FPS, at 1440p it has a minimum of 22 FPS, and at 4K it has a minimum of 13 FPS. These are the only settings with recorded minimum FPS values in the data.

Q: How does this combo's performance rank among other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2753 out of 2761 tested combinations for Archeage. This places it in the bottom fraction of a percent of all systems, confirming that it is a low-performance configuration for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU's benchmark results show a strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759. The Passmark multi-thread score is 25933, and the single-thread score is 3509. These scores place the CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34083. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H with a score of 33989 (deltaPct 0.3) and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with a score of 34260 (deltaPct -0.5).

Despite the CPU's solid performance, the Archeage results indicate that it is not the limiting factor. The CPU's high percentile ranking and robust multi-threaded scores suggest it has ample headroom to feed the GPU. The game's engine, being from 2014, is likely not optimized for a 22-thread processor, meaning the CPU's additional cores may go underutilized. However, the data shows that the frame rates are consistently low across all settings, which would not be the case if the CPU were the bottleneck. If the CPU were limited, we would expect to see higher frame rates at lower resolutions and settings, but the 1080p Low preset only achieves 44 FPS. The L3 cache is 24 MB shared, and the memory bandwidth is 89.6 GB/s, which are sufficient for the game's needs. The CPU's role here is to provide a stable platform, which it does, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's lack of rasterization power in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 760M in Archeage is ranked 2753 out of 2761 tested combos. This places the system in the 0.29th percentile, meaning it outperforms less than one percent of all tested configurations. This ranking is a direct reflection of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU's individual ranking is in the 84th percentile. The disparity between the CPU's high percentile (84) and the combo's extremely low rank (2753/2761) highlights the severe bottleneck created by the integrated graphics.

The data shows that the combo's GPU, the Radeon 760M, ranks in the 35th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 6019. This score is closely matched by older or lower-tier discrete GPUs like the Radeon RX 6400 and the GTX 770M. The fact that an integrated GPU is competing with low-end discrete solutions from previous generations explains why the combo ranks so poorly in a game that can be demanding on GPU resources. The combo rank is not an anomaly but a consistent outcome of pairing a high-end mobile CPU with an entry-level IGP. While the CPU can handle the game's logic and physics, the GPU's 5.323 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 16 ROPs are insufficient for modern rendering workloads at playable frame rates. The measured FPS data confirms this, with the best case scenario being 44 FPS at 1080p Low, which is a playable but not smooth experience. For this game, the combo is firmly in the low-performance tier, and users should expect to make significant compromises in resolution and visual quality to achieve acceptable gameplay.