Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, stresses hardware in a way that is distinct from modern shooters. The measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the AMD Radeon 760M reveals a system that is fundamentally constrained by its graphics processor at higher settings, while still offering a playable experience at its most basic configuration. Benchmark results indicate a steep performance cliff as visual fidelity increases, making preset selection the single most important decision for owners of this hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for playability. Across all three resolutions, the "Low" preset delivers the highest average frame rate, while "Ultra" delivers the lowest. At 1920x1080, the "Low" preset achieves an average of 44 FPS, which is the only configuration at any resolution that approaches a consistently smooth experience. The "Medium" preset at 1080p is measurably slower, yielding an average of 39 FPS, a 5 FPS drop that may be noticeable in fast-moving combat. The "High" preset at 1080p averages 27 FPS, which is a substantial 17 FPS reduction from "Low" and likely introduces stutter in crowded areas. The "Ultra" preset at 1080p is effectively unplayable, with an average of just 18 FPS.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the "Low" preset at 1920x1080 is the only defensible choice. It provides a 44 FPS average, which is the sole result above the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for acceptable playability in an MMORPG. The data implies that the graphical enhancements from "Low" to "Medium" are not worth the performance cost. The "Medium" preset at 1080p offers a 39 FPS average, but the 5 FPS loss may be a poor trade for marginal visual improvements. At higher resolutions, the "Low" preset becomes even more critical. At 2560x1440, "Low" averages 30 FPS, which is borderline playable, but the "Medium" preset at that resolution drops to 26 FPS. At 3840x2160, even "Low" averages only 17 FPS, making the game essentially unplayable regardless of settings. The verdict is straightforward: to play Archeage with this combo, use "Low" settings at 1080p. Anything else is a compromise that pushes the average frame rate into the teens or low twenties.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 760M is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. The GPU has a base clock of 800 MHz and a boost clock of 2599 MHz, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 4 nm process. It features 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, which are modest numbers for handling a demanding game like Archeage. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning the GPU relies on the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This system dependency is a critical weakness; the memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which means performance can vary wildly based on the laptop's RAM configuration.

The data suggests that the GPU's shared memory architecture and limited ROP count are the main reasons for the dramatic FPS drops when settings increase. At 1920x1080, raising the preset from "Low" to "Ultra" cuts the average frame rate from 44 FPS to 18 FPS, a 59% reduction. This is not a CPU limitation; the Core Ultra 9 is far more capable than what the GPU can feed. The GPU's passmark G3D score is 5310, and its percentile rank against all GPUs is 35, placing it in the lower third of available graphics processors. The nearestRivals data shows it is nearly identical in average score to the AMD Radeon RX 6400 (deltaPct 0.3) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (deltaPct 0.3), but the 760M is an integrated processor with system-shared memory, which puts it at a disadvantage in sustained gaming workloads. The GPU compute score of 2840 reinforces that this is a low-power part, designed for basic acceleration rather than high-end gaming. In Archeage, the GPU role is to provide a baseline of playability, and the data shows that baseline is only achievable at the lowest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and exposes the GPU as the limiting component. At "Low" settings, the average frame rate falls from 44 FPS at 1920x1080 to 30 FPS at 2560x1440, a 31.8% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160, the average drops from 30 FPS to 17 FPS, a further 43.3% decrease. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at "Low" settings is 61.4%. This scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the pixel count overwhelms the GPU's fill rate. The 760M's pixel rate is 41.58 GPixel/s, which is simply insufficient for the 8.3 million pixels at 4K.

At "Medium" settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The average FPS goes from 39 at 1080p to 26 at 1440p (a 33.3% drop) and then to 15 at 4K (a 42.3% drop). The "High" preset shows an even steeper cliff: 27 FPS at 1080p, 18 FPS at 1440p (33.3% drop), and 10 FPS at 4K (44.4% drop). The "Ultra" preset is the most punishing, starting at 18 FPS at 1080p and falling to 12 FPS at 1440p (33.3% drop) and 7 FPS at 4K (41.7% drop). The relative consistency of the percentage drops across settings suggests that the resolution scaling is driven by the GPU's raw pixel throughput, not by the complexity of the scene. The 4K results, with averages of 7 to 17 FPS, confirm that this resolution is not viable for this combo. The limiting component is unambiguously the GPU, as the CPU does not show signs of bottlenecking in the scaling pattern.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data paints a clear picture of a system struggling to maintain playability. The "Low" preset yields an average of 44 FPS, with no min/max data provided. "Medium" averages 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, indicating some frame pacing variability. "High" averages 27 FPS, a significant drop that suggests the increased shading and texture work overwhelms the 760M. "Ultra" averages just 18 FPS, making it unplayable for any action-oriented content. The data implies that "Medium" is the highest preset that can occasionally hit 40 FPS, but the average of 39 FPS with a 33 FPS minimum means it will dip below acceptable levels in busy scenes.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades further. "Low" averages 30 FPS, which is the target minimum for many players, but it is right on the edge. "Medium" averages 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS. This is a marginal experience, with the minimum dipping well below playable. "High" averages 18 FPS, and "Ultra" averages 12 FPS. The 1440p results suggest that players would need to lock to "Low" and accept occasional drops to 30 FPS or below. The gap between "Medium" and "Low" is 4 FPS, which is smaller than the 5 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint regardless of settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. "Low" averages 17 FPS, "Medium" averages 15 FPS (with a minimum of 13 FPS and a maximum of 17 FPS), "High" averages 10 FPS, and "Ultra" averages 7 FPS. None of these are playable by any standard. The "Medium" preset at 4K has a min FPS of 13, which means even the lowest frame rate is above the "Ultra" average of 7 FPS, but 13 FPS is still a slideshow. The data shows a monotonic decline in FPS as settings increase at every resolution, with the most dramatic relative drop occurring between "High" and "Ultra" at 4K, where the average falls from 10 to 7 FPS. This breakdown confirms that the only viable configuration is 1080p "Low," with 1440p "Low" as a compromise for those who prioritize resolution over smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and the AMD Radeon 760M ranks 2753 out of 2761 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the bottom 0.3% of all tested hardware combinations, which is a stark indicator of its performance ceiling. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU, which is a top-tier mobile processor, but rather the GPU, which is an integrated solution that is not designed for gaming. The nearestRivals for the CPU show it is comparable to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (deltaPct -0.1) and the Intel Core 7 250H (deltaPct -0.2), both of which are strong processors. The GPU is similarly comparable to the AMD Radeon RX 6400 (deltaPct 0.3) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (deltaPct 0.3), but those are dedicated graphics cards, not integrated.

The rank of 2753 out of 2761 means that only 8 other combos perform worse in this specific game. This is a damning result for anyone hoping to play Archeage on this hardware. The data implies that the combo is fundamentally mismatched for the game's demands. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 22 threads, is capable of handling the game's logic, but it is starved by the GPU's inability to render frames quickly. The percentile rank of the GPU is 35, meaning it is better than only 35% of all GPUs, and the combo rank reflects this by being near the bottom of the pile. For context, the CPU's percentile rank is 85, so the system is severely unbalanced. The high rank number (2753) is a warning to users that this setup is not viable for even moderate settings in Archeage, and that any expectation of a smooth experience is contradicted by the measured data.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 44, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the "Low" preset. This is the only measured configuration that exceeds 40 FPS.

Q: Can this combo play Archeage at 4K resolution?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 17 on the "Low" preset, and the "Ultra" preset averages only 7 FPS. None of the 4K results are playable.

Q: How does the "Medium" preset compare to "Low" at 1080p?

A: The "Medium" preset averages 39 FPS, which is 5 FPS lower than the "Low" preset's 44 FPS. The "Medium" preset also has a minimum FPS of 33, indicating it can dip below the 30 FPS threshold.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has a percentile rank of 85, while the GPU has a percentile rank of 35. The FPS scaling with resolution and settings is consistent with GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems in Archeage?

A: The combo ranks 2753 out of 2761 total tested combos, placing it in the bottom 0.3% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What are the FPS ranges for the "Medium" preset at different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080, the "Medium" preset has a min of 33 and a max of 45 FPS. At 2560x1440, it has a min of 22 and a max of 30 FPS. At 3840x2160, it has a min of 13 and a max of 17 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a high-end mobile processor, but its role in Archeage is largely to feed the GPU and avoid becoming a bottleneck. The CPU has 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It is built on the Meteor Lake architecture with a 7 nm process and features 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The benchmark data shows the CPU is exceptionally strong: its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 17984.5, and its single-core score is 1810.5. The Geekbench multi-core score is 11657, with a single-core score of 1794. The CPU's percentile rank against all CPUs is 85, meaning it is faster than 85% of all processors.

In the context of Archeage, the CPU's job is to handle the game's simulation, AI, and networking. The data suggests that the CPU is more than capable of this task. The nearestRivals show the CPU is within 0.7% of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X in average benchmark score, which is a desktop processor. The Core Ultra 9's Passmark multi-thread score of 29376 and single-thread score of 3697 indicate it can handle both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads effectively. However, the measured FPS in Archeage is not limited by the CPU. If it were, we would see inconsistent FPS drops at lower resolutions or when settings are reduced, but the data shows a linear scaling with GPU load. The CPU's high scores are irrelevant in this game because the GPU cannot keep up. The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel memory support are more than sufficient for the game's logic, but the GPU's "System Shared" memory means it is competing with the CPU for the same bandwidth. This shared memory arrangement means that the CPU's performance may degrade slightly in gaming scenarios, but the overall constraint remains the GPU. The CPU role here is to be a silent partner, providing enough compute headroom that the GPU is never waiting on the processor, which the data confirms is the case.