Archeage

# Archeage Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The measured results for Archeage with this combination place it at rank 2624 out of 3708 tested combos, indicating a mid-to-lower tier position in the database. The data set covers 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings, providing a comprehensive view of how this CPU-GPU pairing handles the 2014 MMORPG. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K brings 20 cores and 20 threads with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER offers 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Together, they produce a wide FPS spread that reveals clear performance ceilings and bottlenecks depending on the resolution and quality preset selected.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings, but the magnitude varies significantly by preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 129 at 1920x1080 to 87 at 2560x1440, then further to 50 at 3840x2160. That represents a 61.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 115 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K — a 61.7% drop from the lowest to highest resolution. High settings follow with 78 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K, a 61.5% decline. Ultra settings exhibit the steepest relative falloff, going from 53 FPS at 1080p to 36 FPS at 1440p and 20 FPS at 4K, a 62.3% reduction.

These consistent percentage drops across all presets strongly suggest that the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering throughput, not the CPU, is the primary constraint when moving to higher resolutions. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is relatively moderate — roughly 32-36% FPS loss depending on settings — while the jump from 1440p to 4K incurs another 42-45% loss. This progressive degradation aligns with the GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate, which become increasingly taxed as the pixel workload expands. Notably, the 4K Ultra result of 20 FPS is barely playable, while 4K Low at 50 FPS shows the GPU can still deliver acceptable frame rates when visual fidelity is sacrificed.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for Archeage's texture and geometry demands at 1080p and 1440p. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed, and the GPU operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz with a boost of 1650 MHz. These specifications place the card at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, scores 18159 (0.4% higher), while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 sits 0.5% lower at 18189.

The measured FPS data reveals that the GPU's VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly struggling with only 20 FPS average, the 8 GB frame buffer appears sufficient for Archeage's asset sizes given the game's 2014 release date. The bottleneck at higher resolutions is raw shading and rasterization throughput rather than memory capacity. The GPU's 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s, which translates to increasingly strained performance as resolution climbs. DirectX 12 results in PassMark show a score of 61, while DirectX 11 scores 130, indicating the card's API efficiency varies, though Archeage likely benefits from the older API's maturity.

How This Combo Ranks

At rank 2624 out of 3708 tested combinations, this pairing sits in the 29th percentile of all CPU-GPU combos tested in Archeage. This relatively low ranking reflects the GPU's age and position in the market — the RTX 2060 SUPER was released in 2019 and is now end-of-life, while the CPU is a 2024 flagship-tier processor. The combination's percentile position is dragged down by the GPU's 62nd percentile standing among all GPUs, which lags behind the CPU's much stronger 94th percentile among all CPUs. This imbalance suggests that pairing this high-end 20-core processor with a mid-range GPU from the previous generation creates a system where the CPU's potential is largely unrealized in this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6511P (0.2% lower average score), Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (0.7% lower), Intel Core i7-14700KF (1% higher), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (1.3% higher). These small deltas indicate the Ultra 7 265K is competitively positioned among strong processors. The GPU's nearest rivals show similarly tight clustering, with the RTX 3060 Mobile, Radeon Pro 5700, Radeon RX 460, and Arc A770M all within 1.6% of its average score. This tight grouping suggests the GPU delivers performance consistent with its tier, but that tier itself is well below what the CPU could support in a more balanced pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results show a clear hierarchy across settings. Low settings deliver the highest average at 129 FPS, followed by Medium at 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 and maximum of 132, High at 78 FPS, and Ultra at 53 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 76 FPS, representing a 59% performance penalty for maxing out visual quality. This wide spread indicates the GPU has headroom at 1080p but becomes progressively more taxed as quality settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same ordering persists but with reduced absolute values. Low settings average 87 FPS, Medium averages 77 FPS with a range of 66 to 89, High drops to 52 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra narrows to 51 FPS (58.6% penalty), showing that resolution scaling compresses the settings-based performance differences. The Medium preset's minimum of 66 FPS remains above playable thresholds, while Ultra's 36 FPS average borders on marginal for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become pronounced. Low settings still manage 50 FPS on average, but Medium falls to 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 51, High drops to 30 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 20 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap shrinks to 30 FPS (60% penalty), yet all presets except Low fall below the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for fluid MMORPG gameplay. The 4K Medium result of 44 FPS is the best balance of visual quality and playability at this resolution, while 4K High at 30 FPS and 4K Ultra at 20 FPS are best avoided for serious play.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the Medium preset at 115 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum provides an excellent experience, offering smooth frame rates with moderate visual enhancements. High settings at 78 FPS still deliver solid performance, but the 37 FPS penalty versus Medium may not be worth the visual gain for most players. Ultra at 53 FPS is playable but sacrifices the fluidity that MMORPG combat benefits from, making Medium the optimal choice at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 87 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, though Medium at 77 FPS with a 66 FPS minimum also remains comfortably above playability thresholds. High at 52 FPS is acceptable for less demanding scenarios but may cause stutter in crowded areas. Ultra at 36 FPS is not recommended for active gameplay. The Medium preset offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance at this resolution, maintaining a minimum above 60 FPS.

For 3840x2160, only Low at 50 FPS approaches acceptable playability, while Medium at 44 FPS with a 38 FPS minimum can work in non-combat situations. High at 30 FPS and Ultra at 20 FPS are effectively unplayable for most users. Players prioritizing 4K should select Low or Medium, understanding that neither will deliver consistently smooth frame rates. The data indicates this combination is best utilized at 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium, where the GPU can leverage its capabilities without being overwhelmed.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 Medium at 115 FPS average (97 minimum, 132 maximum) offers the best balance of smoothness and visual quality. At 2560x1440, Medium at 77 FPS is also viable, while 4K requires Low at 50 FPS for playable frame rates.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: 4K Ultra yields only 20 FPS average, which is the lowest measured result in the dataset. This is not suitable for gameplay. The GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for this workload at that resolution and quality level.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Archeage?

A: Based on resolution scaling, the GPU is the limiting component. FPS drops by roughly 61-62% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, indicating the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering capacity, not the 20-core CPU, constrains performance at higher resolutions.

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

A: Its average benchmark score of 18093 is 0.4% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile, 0.5% lower than the Radeon Pro 5700, 1.5% lower than the Radeon RX 460, and 1.6% lower than the Arc A770M. Performance is closely clustered within 1.6% of these competitors.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average FPS is 77 with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 89. The 23 FPS spread between minimum and maximum suggests moderate frame time variance, but the minimum remains above 60 FPS for acceptable stability.

Q: Does the CPU's 20-core configuration benefit Archeage?

A: The CPU scores place it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35850. However, Archeage's performance scales primarily with the GPU, as shown by the resolution-based FPS degradation, so the CPU's high core count does not translate into higher frame rates in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K brings 20 cores and 20 threads across an Arrow Lake-S architecture built on TSMC's 3 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz, combined with 30 MB of shared L3 cache, position it as a high-end desktop processor. The CPU's average benchmark score of 70879 places it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon 6511P (0.2% lower), Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (0.7% lower), Intel Core i7-14700KF (1% higher), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (1.3% higher). These tight margins indicate the Ultra 7 265K performs as expected for its tier.

In Archeage specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary given the GPU-bound nature of the performance scaling. However, the processor's capabilities ensure it does not bottleneck the GPU at any measured setting or resolution. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35850 and single-core score of 2020 demonstrate strong computational throughput, while PassMark single-thread results of 4928 confirm solid per-core performance. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 support allows for efficient data transfer to the GPU, and its PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 CPU lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 2060 SUPER's PCIe 3.0 x16 connection.

The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier indicate this processor targets enthusiasts, yet its 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors across a 243 mm² die size offer efficiency that complements the GPU's 175 W TDP. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU provides a fallback display option, though the discrete GPU handles all gaming workloads. The CPU's release in 2024, five years after the GPU's 2019 launch, creates a generational gap that manifests in the combo's rank of 2624 out of 3708 — the CPU is overqualified for the GPU's capabilities in this title, leaving significant untapped headroom should the GPU be upgraded in the future.