Archeage

# Archeage with Intel Core Ultra 7 165H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

Archeage, the 2014 MMORPG, presents an interesting benchmark scenario when paired with Intel's Core Ultra 7 165H mobile processor and NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090. The measured data shows a combo that ranks 815th out of 3,708 tested configurations, placing it in the top 22% of all tested combos. This pairing of a 16-core, 22-thread Meteor Lake mobile CPU with the 24 GB Ada Lovelace GPU produces a wide spread of results across resolutions and settings, with average framerates ranging from 34 FPS at 4K Ultra to 212 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 127 FPS average with a minimum of 108 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth MMORPG gameplay. At 1920x1080, the same settings yield 188 FPS average, but the visual fidelity improvement at 1440p is substantial for only a 61 FPS cost.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM affect Archeage performance?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is far beyond what Archeage requires, even at 4K Ultra settings. The measured FPS drops at higher settings (from 82 FPS at 4K Low to 34 FPS at 4K Ultra) suggest the bottleneck is not memory capacity but rather the game's engine and the CPU's ability to feed the GPU at higher graphical loads.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 7 165H holding back the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate CPU limitation is present at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 212 FPS average, while at 1440p Low it drops to 143 FPS — a 69 FPS difference that points to the GPU becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. The 16-core, 22-thread configuration with 5.00 GHz boost clock provides strong single-thread performance, but Archeage's older engine may not fully utilize the available threads.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 815th out of 3,708 tested combos for Archeage, placing it in the 78th percentile. This ranking reflects that while the RTX 4090 is a top-tier GPU (88th percentile among all GPUs), the Core Ultra 7 165H's 84th percentile CPU ranking and mobile platform constraints prevent this combo from reaching the very top tiers of performance.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most balanced experience?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 offer the best measured balance. The 127 FPS average with a 108 FPS minimum and 146 FPS maximum shows consistent frame delivery. At 4K, Medium yields 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum, which is playable but with less headroom. The jump from Medium to High costs 41 FPS at 1440p (127 to 86) and 24 FPS at 4K (73 to 49), making Medium the most efficient preset.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In average benchmark score, the Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34,083. It sits 0.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (33,989) and 0.4% below both the AMD EPYC 4244P (34,220) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34,222). The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X trails at 34,260, putting the 165H 0.5% behind that desktop part.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings selection. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver playable framerates, but the difference between Low (212 FPS) and Ultra (87 FPS) is substantial. Medium at 1080p offers 188 FPS with a 160 FPS minimum, making it the recommended preset for high-refresh-rate displays. The 217 FPS maximum at Medium shows there is headroom for occasional spikes without dropping below the 160 FPS floor.

At 2560x1440, Medium stands out as the best overall choice. The 127 FPS average with 108 FPS minimum and 146 FPS maximum indicates stable performance that will satisfy both competitive and visual quality needs. High settings drop to 86 FPS average, which is still playable but loses the safety margin of the Medium preset's 108 FPS minimum. Ultra at 1440p falls to 59 FPS average, which is borderline for smooth MMORPG combat.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests Medium is the maximum viable preset. At 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum, it provides a playable 4K experience. High settings at 49 FPS average risk noticeable stutter in crowded areas, while Ultra at 34 FPS average is not recommended for active gameplay. Low settings at 82 FPS average are actually higher than Medium, but the visual trade-off is significant for only a 9 FPS gain.

The recommended preset hierarchy: 1080p Medium for maximum smoothness, 1440p Medium for the best balance of visual quality and performance, and 4K Medium for those who prioritize resolution above all else. Avoid Ultra at any resolution, as the 53 FPS drop from Medium to Ultra at 1440p (127 to 59) and 39 FPS drop at 4K (73 to 34) represent poor returns for the increased graphical load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings substantial hardware to this pairing. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the GPU delivers 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The AD102 chip contains 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units, backed by 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores. The 5 nm TSMC process allows a 2,235 MHz base clock boosting to 2,520 MHz, producing 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

In the benchmark suite, the RTX 4090 scores 38,194 in Passmark G3D and 26,613 in Passmark GPU Compute. Its 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its position as a top-tier product, though the nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% delta), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, 2.9% delta). The GPU's 60,347 average benchmark score places it well above mainstream parts.

In Archeage specifically, the GPU's role shifts dramatically across resolutions. At 1080p, the RTX 4090 is rarely the bottleneck — the CPU and game engine limit framerates to 212 FPS at Low and 188 FPS at Medium. At 4K, the GPU becomes more relevant: the 82 FPS at Low settings drops to 73 FPS at Medium, 49 FPS at High, and 34 FPS at Ultra. This scaling pattern indicates that even the RTX 4090's immense compute resources are challenged by Archeage's engine at 4K Ultra, though the 24 GB VRAM never becomes a limiting factor.

The 450 W TDP and triple-slot design with a 16-pin power connector suggest this is a desktop-class GPU, and its 88th percentile ranking confirms its capability. However, in this game, the data shows that the RTX 4090's performance ceiling is only reached at 4K Ultra settings, where it produces 34 FPS average — a figure that suggests the engine's limitations rather than GPU deficiency.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 815th out of 3,708 tested configurations for Archeage, placing it in the top 22% of all tested combos. This ranking reflects the combined capabilities of the Core Ultra 7 165H and RTX 4090, but the position is lower than the GPU's individual 88th percentile would suggest. The discrepancy indicates that the CPU and platform constraints limit the overall system performance in this MMORPG.

The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and the GPU's 88th percentile ranking would ideally combine to place this system higher than 78th percentile overall. The 815th rank out of 3,708 combos means there are 814 configurations that achieve better Archeage performance, which likely include desktop CPUs with higher single-thread performance and similar or better GPUs.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking analysis. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 212 FPS, which is strong but not exceptional for an RTX 4090. Comparable systems with faster desktop CPUs would likely exceed this figure due to reduced CPU bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the 34 FPS result places this combo in a performance tier that is respectable but not top-tier, as dedicated high-end desktop configurations would likely push higher.

The ranking also reflects the mobile nature of the Core Ultra 7 165H. With a 28 W TDP and Intel BGA 2049 socket, this processor is designed for laptops and compact systems. The 7 nm Meteor Lake architecture with 16 cores and 22 threads provides solid multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by Cinebench R23 scores of 14,551 multi-core and 1,759 single-core, but the power envelope limits sustained performance compared to desktop alternatives.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 7 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 28 W TDP that classifies it as a mobile part. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability. Cinebench R23 scores of 14,551 multi-core and 1,759 single-core, along with Passmark scores of 25,933 multi-thread and 3,509 single-thread, place it in the 84th percentile among all CPUs. The average benchmark score of 34,083 sits within 0.5% of several rivals: 0.3% above the Core Ultra 5 338H, 0.4% below the EPYC 4244P and Ryzen AI 7 350, and 0.5% below the Ryzen 7 3700X.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. At 1080p Low, the 212 FPS average likely approaches the engine's or CPU's frame delivery limit. The 143 FPS at 1440p Low and 82 FPS at 4K Low show a clear scaling pattern where the GPU becomes more dominant as resolution increases. The 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample parallelism for MMORPG workloads, which often involve many NPCs and player characters.

The boost clock of 5.00 GHz is critical for Archeage's single-threaded components, and the measured FPS at High settings (128 at 1080p, 86 at 1440p, 49 at 4K) suggests the CPU can maintain adequate frame pacing. The Passmark single-thread score of 3,509 indicates solid per-core performance, while the physics score of 1,806 shows the CPU can handle game physics calculations without becoming a bottleneck at moderate settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest framerates. Low settings produce 212 FPS average, while Medium achieves 188 FPS with a 160 FPS minimum and 217 FPS maximum. High settings drop to 128 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 87 FPS average. The gap between Medium and High (60 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Ultra (41 FPS), suggesting diminishing returns at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low settings yield 143 FPS average, Medium produces 127 FPS with a 108 FPS minimum and 146 FPS maximum, High drops to 86 FPS, and Ultra falls to 59 FPS. The Medium preset's 108 FPS minimum is notable — it ensures that even in demanding scenes, the framerate stays above the 60 FPS threshold. The 19 FPS gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is smaller than the 24 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more involved.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090's workload increases substantially. Low settings produce 82 FPS average, Medium achieves 73 FPS with a 62 FPS minimum and 84 FPS maximum, High drops to 49 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. The Medium preset's 62 FPS minimum is barely above the 60 FPS playability threshold, while High and Ultra averages fall below it. The scaling from Low to Medium (9 FPS loss) is modest, but the jump from Medium to High (24 FPS loss) and High to Ultra (15 FPS loss) shows the increasing strain on the GPU.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best balance of average and minimum framerates. The 4K Medium result of 73 FPS average with 62 FPS minimum provides a playable 4K experience, while 1440p Medium at 127 FPS average delivers high-refresh-rate capability. The data confirms that this combo's peak performance is at 1080p, but its most practical usage is at 1440p Medium, where it maintains smooth framerates without sacrificing visual quality.