Archeage

Archeage, a 2014 MMORPG, is not a demanding title by modern standards, but its performance on the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile combination still varies significantly across resolutions and quality presets. The measured data provides a clear picture of how this mobile platform handles the game, from high-refresh 1080p play to a playable 4K experience. The following analysis breaks down the benchmark results, offering guidance on the best settings and explaining the roles of the CPU and GPU in shaping the observed frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for Archeage shows a clear hierarchy across the four tested quality presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. For players targeting the smoothest experience, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 153 FPS. This is the highest frame rate recorded in the entire data set. However, the jump to Medium at the same resolution yields an average of 136 FPS, a drop of 17 FPS, but still exceptionally high and well above the refresh rate of most displays. High at 1080p produces an average of 92 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Ultra preset at 1080p, however, falls to an average of 63 FPS, representing a substantial performance cost.

The optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance is found at the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, Medium provides an average of 136 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS. This consistency is notable, as the minimum frame rate is still far above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset offers a significant visual improvement over Low while retaining a massive frame rate advantage over High and Ultra. At 2560x1440, Medium again proves to be the sweet spot, achieving an average of 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS. This resolution provides a crisper image, and the frame rates remain highly playable.

For users with a 4K display, the choice becomes more constrained. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. While this is playable, it is not as fluid as the lower resolutions. The High preset at 4K drops to an average of 36 FPS, which may feel sluggish for an MMORPG with fast-paced combat. The Low preset at 4K achieves 59 FPS average, which is just shy of the ideal 60 FPS mark. Given the data, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for the best overall experience. It provides the highest quality settings that still maintain an average FPS above 50 at 4K, a minimum above 40 FPS, and delivers excellent triple-digit performance at 1080p and near-triple-digit performance at 1440p. The Ultra preset, while visually the most demanding, causes a severe performance penalty at every resolution, with an average of 24 FPS at 4K and 63 FPS at 1080p, making it less suitable for consistent gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the primary driver of frame rates in Archeage, particularly as resolution increases. The GPU's specifications from the FACT PACK include 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for the textures and assets in a 2014 MMORPG, even at 4K resolution. The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed with a base of 1395 MHz and a boost of 1695 MHz. The benchmark results show that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. At 1920x1080 with the Low preset, the average FPS is 153, which drops to 103 at 2560x1440 and 59 at 3840x2160. This scaling indicates that at lower resolutions, the GPU is not the sole bottleneck. However, at 4K, the GPU's workload becomes much more significant. For instance, the difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is a 35 FPS gap (59 FPS vs 24 FPS average), highlighting the GPU's sensitivity to the increased pixel count and effects load.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in a competitive position. Its Passmark G3D score is 19587, and its average benchmark score is 27435. The nearest rivals in the FACT PACK include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT with an average score of 27425 and a deltaPct of 0, indicating virtually identical performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has an average score of 27565 and a deltaPct of -0.5, meaning the RTX 4070 Mobile is slightly slower. These comparisons are based on general compute benchmarks, but in Archeage, the measured FPS data provides the definitive performance picture. The GPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests it is a capable part, and the game data confirms it can handle Archeage well, though the Ultra preset at 4K pushes it to its limits.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this CPU and GPU combo in Archeage?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 153 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is the game playable at 4K resolution with this hardware?

A: Yes, but with compromises. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS, which is playable. The Low preset achieves an average of 59 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 4K produce averages of 36 FPS and 24 FPS, respectively, which are less fluid.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS. The High preset at the same resolution achieves an average of 62 FPS. This shows a 29 FPS advantage for Medium, making it a significantly better choice for maintaining a high refresh rate experience.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 153 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces an average of 63 FPS. This represents a 90 FPS difference, demonstrating that the Ultra preset is much more demanding on the GPU.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 Mobile perform similarly to any desktop GPUs according to benchmark scores?

A: According to the average benchmark score, the RTX 4070 Mobile (score of 27435) is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (score of 27425), with a deltaPct of 0. It is also slightly slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which has a score of 27565 and a deltaPct of -0.5.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the benchmark data?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 24 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high. The Low preset leads with an average of 153 FPS. The Medium preset follows with an average of 136 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 92 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at this resolution, with an average of 63 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the impact of the higher resolution is clear. The Low preset drops to an average of 103 FPS. The Medium preset maintains strong performance with an average of 91 FPS, a minimum of 78 FPS, and a maximum of 105 FPS. The High preset averages 62 FPS. The Ultra preset sees a significant drop to an average of 42 FPS.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 59 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. The High preset averages 36 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of only 24 FPS. This breakdown shows a clear pattern: the Medium preset offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality, providing a minimum of 115 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile combination ranks 2001 out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage. This places it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is a mid-pack performer for this specific game. This ranking might seem surprising given the hardware's specifications, but it reflects the fact that Archeage is an older title with performance characteristics that may not scale perfectly with modern high-end components.

The data shows that this combo is far from the top of the charts, but it is also not at the bottom. The rank suggests that many other system configurations, likely including desktop parts or more powerful mobile GPUs, can achieve higher frame rates in Archeage. However, the measured FPS data indicates that this combo still delivers a very playable experience at most settings, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. The rank is a relative measure across all tested combos, and the absolute performance numbers show that the system is more than capable of running the game smoothly. The combination of the CPU and GPU is sufficient to avoid severe bottlenecks, but the overall rank suggests there are more optimal pairings for maximizing performance in this specific title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It has a 24 MB shared L3 cache and a TDP of 45 W. In Archeage, an MMORPG, CPU performance is critical for handling game logic, network processing, and other background tasks. The CPU's benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17984.5 and a single-core score of 1810.5. Its average benchmark score is 35670, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the FACT PACK include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 with an average score of 35719 and a deltaPct of -0.1, and the Intel Core 7 250H with a score of 35728 and a deltaPct of -0.2. These comparisons show that the Core Ultra 9 185H is essentially on par with these other modern mobile processors. In the context of Archeage, the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance ensures that the game's simulation and world state updates are handled efficiently. The measured FPS data indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. For example, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium presets is 17 FPS (153 vs 136), which is less than the difference between Medium and High at 44 FPS (136 vs 92). This suggests that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as settings increase.

At 4K resolution, the CPU's role diminishes further, as the GPU's workload becomes dominant. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a significant drop, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint. However, the CPU's 16 cores and high boost clock provide ample headroom to prevent CPU-related frame drops, even in busy MMORPG scenarios with many players on screen. The CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 29376 and single-thread score of 3697 further corroborate its capability to feed the GPU with data efficiently.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across resolutions reveals the scaling behavior of this hardware combo in Archeage. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 153 at 1920x1080 to 103 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 50 FPS. From 1440p to 4K, the average FPS drops from 103 to 59, another 44 FPS decrease. This represents a total drop of 94 FPS from 1080p to 4K, or roughly a 61% reduction in performance.

At the Medium preset, the scaling is similar. The average FPS is 136 at 1080p, 91 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 84 FPS, or about a 62% reduction. The High preset shows an average of 92 FPS at 1080p, 62 at 1440p, and 36 at 4K, a total drop of 56 FPS, or a 61% reduction. The Ultra preset follows the same pattern, with averages of 63 FPS at 1080p, 42 at 1440p, and 24 at 4K, a drop of 39 FPS, or a 62% reduction.

This consistent scaling across all presets indicates that the performance drop is primarily due to the increased pixel count, which places a heavier load on the GPU. The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical across all settings suggests that the system is not hitting a CPU bottleneck at any resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would not drop as significantly when moving to higher resolutions, as the CPU workload would remain relatively constant. The data shows that the GPU is the dominant limiting component in this configuration for Archeage. The 4K resolution demands roughly 4 times the pixel count of 1080p, and while the FPS does not drop to a quarter, the substantial reduction confirms that the RTX 4070 Mobile's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint at higher resolutions.