Archeage

# Archeage Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + AMD Radeon RX 9070

This combo delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but the data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions while showing surprising CPU headroom at 1080p. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, pairs with the AMD Radeon RX 9070's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory to produce a mixed bag of results in this 2014 MMORPG. The measured FPS numbers suggest that Archeage's engine rewards raw GPU throughput at lower settings but becomes increasingly demanding on the graphics subsystem as resolution climbs, with the CPU rarely appearing as the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the system delivers 120 FPS at 1920x1080, drops to 81 FPS at 2560x1440, and falls to 46 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 62% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a pattern that strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The RX 9070's 16 GB frame buffer and 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are being pushed to their limits, but the sheer pixel count at 4K overwhelms the rendering pipeline.

Low settings show an even steeper relative decline: 198 FPS at 1080p, 134 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. The absolute FPS values are higher, but the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 62%, identical to High settings. This consistency suggests that resolution scaling is proportional regardless of preset, meaning the GPU's compute units (3584 shading units) are the primary constraint rather than memory bandwidth or texture throughput.

Medium settings present the only complete data set with min and max FPS values. At 1080p, the average is 177 FPS with a range of 150 to 203. At 1440p, that average drops to 119 FPS with a range of 101 to 137. At 4K, the average falls to 68 FPS with a range of 58 to 78. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, which is curious—it suggests that at 4K, the system is more consistently hitting its performance ceiling rather than experiencing variability from scene complexity or CPU hiccups.

Ultra settings are brutal at 4K, with the average FPS collapsing to 32. That is a 61% drop from 1080p Ultra (82 FPS) and a 42% drop from 1440p Ultra (55 FPS). The data implies that Ultra presets at 4K are simply beyond what this GPU can handle for smooth gameplay, though the 32 FPS average is still technically playable for a slower-paced MMORPG.

The resolution scaling pattern across all four presets points to a GPU-bound scenario at 1440p and 4K. The CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock and 36 MB of shared L3 cache are not the limiting factor here; the RX 9070's 2520 MHz boost clock is what determines frame rates at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets. At 1080p, Low settings deliver 198 FPS, Medium delivers 177 FPS, High delivers 120 FPS, and Ultra delivers 82 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs only 11% performance, while the jump from Medium to High costs 32%, and High to Ultra costs 32% again. This suggests that Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1080p, especially given that the Medium preset shows a min FPS of 150, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the picture changes. Low delivers 134 FPS, Medium delivers 119 FPS, High delivers 81 FPS, and Ultra delivers 55 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 32%, which is substantial. For a 1440p monitor, Medium is the recommended preset—it maintains an average above 100 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS, ensuring no noticeable stutter. High at 81 FPS is still playable, but the 47% performance drop from Medium is hard to justify unless the visual improvements are critical.

At 4K, the options narrow significantly. Low delivers 76 FPS, Medium delivers 68 FPS, High delivers 46 FPS, and Ultra delivers 32 FPS. For a 4K display, Medium is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, with a minimum of 58 FPS that is borderline but acceptable. High at 46 FPS is marginal for an MMORPG where combat responsiveness matters, and Ultra at 32 FPS is likely to feel sluggish.

The data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions. It is the only preset where the minimum FPS stays above 58 at every resolution, and the average FPS at 4K (68) is higher than the High preset at 1440p (81) by a mere 19%. Players prioritizing frame rate consistency should stick with Medium, while those with 1080p displays can safely push to High for better visuals without dropping below 120 FPS average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and single-core score of 7303 place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, indicating exceptional performance. However, in Archeage, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at all measured resolutions.

The fact that FPS scales so dramatically with resolution—from 198 FPS at 1080p Low to 76 FPS at 4K Low—suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the GPU is clearly the constraint, which means the 290K Plus has ample headroom in this game.

The CPU's 24 cores and 24 threads are likely overkill for a 2014 MMORPG, which probably uses only a handful of threads. The single-core performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303, is what matters most for games that rely on a primary game thread. The 5.80 GHz boost clock ensures that this core can handle the game's logic without becoming a limiting factor.

Interestingly, the CPU's PassMark multithread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 show a strong balance between multi-core and single-core performance. In Archeage, where the engine likely has a single main thread, the single-thread performance is what maintains high FPS at lower resolutions. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 198 FPS, which is high enough that any CPU bottleneck would manifest as frame pacing issues, yet the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 150, indicating stable delivery.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support also contribute to smooth performance, though these are not directly measured in the FPS data. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial and likely helps with game asset caching, but again, the FPS data shows the GPU as the primary constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 1107 out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage. That places it in the 70th percentile of all tested systems, which is respectable but not top-tier. The rank suggests that while this combo performs well, there are many other combinations that achieve higher FPS in this specific game.

The CPU alone ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83807, a delta of just 0.2%—essentially identical performance. The AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85072, which is 1.3% higher, while the AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83090, 1.1% lower. These small deltas indicate that the 290K Plus is well-positioned among high-end CPUs.

The GPU, however, ranks only in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, scores 24170, which is 1.2% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 24063, 0.8% higher. The RX 9070's percentile is notably lower than the CPU's, which explains why the combo rank (70th percentile) is dragged down by the GPU.

The disparity between CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that this combo is CPU-heavy relative to the GPU. In Archeage, where the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, a stronger GPU would likely improve the combo's rank significantly. The data implies that the 290K Plus is not the limiting factor in this pairing, and the RX 9070's 69th percentile ranking is what holds the combo back from a higher position.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 48 chip, featuring 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 raster operation pipelines. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory operates on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The base clock is 1330 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz.

In Archeage, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The FPS scaling with resolution is the primary evidence: at every preset, the FPS drops by roughly 60% from 1080p to 4K. This is consistent with a GPU that is being pushed to its limits by increasing pixel counts. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a 2014 MMORPG, which likely has modest texture requirements, so the limitation is compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

The FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS is substantial, but Archeage's engine may not be optimized for modern GPU architectures. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 281 and DirectX 12 score of 74 show that the GPU performs well in older APIs, which is relevant since a 2014 game likely uses DirectX 11. The DirectX 10 score of 141 and DirectX 9 score of 343 are lower, but these are legacy APIs.

The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz is high, but the fact that FPS drops so steeply at 4K suggests that the chip is hitting thermal or power limits under sustained load. The 220 W TDP and dual-slot cooler are adequate, but the 2x 8-pin power connectors indicate a power-hungry design. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 is a measure of modern gaming performance, yet Archeage's FPS at 4K Ultra (32 FPS) shows that the GPU struggles with the game's specific rendering requirements at maximum settings.

The GPU's 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs is telling. It is not a top-tier card, and its nearest rivals include the older NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER and AMD Radeon RX 6800S, which are within 1.2% of its average score. This suggests that the RX 9070 is a mid-to-high-end GPU that performs well in modern benchmarks but may not excel in older games like Archeage that rely on specific rendering paths.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the measured results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 76 FPS, Medium yields 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 and maximum of 78, High yields 46 FPS, and Ultra yields 32 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with Medium being the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS. The minimum FPS of 58 at Medium is the only data point below 60 FPS at 4K, indicating that even the recommended preset can dip below the smoothness threshold in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the results are: Low settings average 134 FPS, Medium averages 119 FPS with a minimum of 101 and maximum of 137, High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS. The Medium preset again stands out, with a minimum FPS of 101 that ensures no frame drops below 100 FPS. The High preset at 81 FPS is acceptable but shows a 32% drop from Medium, while Ultra at 55 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the results are: Low settings average 198 FPS, Medium averages 177 FPS with a minimum of 150 and maximum of 203, High averages 120 FPS, and Ultra averages 82 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an excellent experience with a minimum of 150 FPS, while High at 120 FPS is also smooth. Ultra at 82 FPS is playable but shows a 32% drop from High, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects come at a significant cost.

The data shows that the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience across all resolutions, with average FPS ranging from 68 at 4K to 177 at 1080p. The High preset is viable at 1080p and 1440p but drops below 60 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is only truly playable at 1080p, where it achieves 82 FPS, but even then, the 32 FPS at 4K makes it unsuitable for anything beyond static scenes.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the best resolution for this combo, as it achieves at least 82 FPS on Ultra settings and 120 FPS on High. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset maintains 119 FPS, while at 3840x2160, only Low (76 FPS) and Medium (68 FPS) stay above 60 FPS.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The FPS drops by approximately 62% from 1080p to 4K across all presets, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The GPU's 3584 shading units and 2520 MHz boost clock are insufficient to maintain frame rates as pixel count quadruples.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus a bottleneck in this game?

A: No, the data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck. The FPS scales consistently with resolution, which would not happen if the CPU were limiting. The 24-core processor with a 5.80 GHz boost clock provides ample single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303.

Q: Which settings preset gives the smoothest experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 119 FPS average with a minimum of 101 FPS, making it the smoothest option at that resolution. High settings drop to 81 FPS, which is still playable but shows a 32% performance penalty.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1107 out of 3708 tested combos in Archeage, placing it in the 70th percentile. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 69th percentile, indicating that the GPU is the weaker component in this pairing.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: No, the data shows 32 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Even High settings at 4K only achieve 46 FPS, so players should use Medium (68 FPS) or Low (76 FPS) for a playable 4K experience.