Archeage

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc B580 combo rank in Archeage?

A: This combo ranks 2091 out of 2761 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems for this specific game.

Q: What is the best performance this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 124 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 111 FPS, High settings 75 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 51 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Archeage?

A: At 3840x2160, the combo only manages 48 FPS on Low settings, 43 FPS on Medium, 29 FPS on High, and 20 FPS on Ultra. It is not suitable for smooth 4K play at higher presets.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072) by 1.3%.

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

A: The Intel Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061) and 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172). It outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895) by 0.6%.

Q: What is the best setting to use for a balance of quality and performance?

A: At any resolution, Medium settings provide the best balance, with 111 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. This preset also has recorded minimum FPS values, indicating more stable frame pacing.

How This Combo Ranks

The data clearly shows that this combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Intel Arc B580 is not optimized for Archeage. With a rank of 2091 out of 2761 tested combos, the system falls into the bottom quarter of all configurations. This is surprising given the hardware's specifications, but the measured results are unambiguous.

The CPU itself is a top-tier performer. Its average benchmark score of 84003 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and it sits within 1.3% of its nearest rivals in either direction. The GPU, however, is more modest. The Arc B580's average score of 23021 puts it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include older cards like the RX 580 2048SP and the RTX 2080.

The combination of a top-4% CPU with a mid-tier GPU creates a system that is heavily imbalanced for this MMORPG. Archeage appears to be more GPU-bound at higher settings, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops when moving from Medium to High to Ultra presets. At 1440p, the difference between Low (84 FPS) and Ultra (35 FPS) is 49 FPS, a 58% reduction in performance. This suggests that the B580's compute capabilities are the limiting factor, not the 24-core CPU.

Interestingly, the combo's rank is not a simple average of its components' percentiles. If it were, one might expect a rank closer to the 82nd percentile (average of 96 and 68). Instead, the rank of 2091 out of 2761 (24.3rd percentile) indicates that Archeage's specific engine and workload characteristics do not favor this pairing. The game likely benefits from different architectural strengths than what Intel's Battlemage GPU provides.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience in Archeage, Medium settings are the clear recommendation across all resolutions. The data shows that Medium provides the most balanced performance while maintaining playable frame rates. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 111 FPS average with a minimum of 94 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in crowded areas. This is only 13 FPS less than Low settings (124 FPS) but offers significantly better visual quality.

At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 75 FPS average with a minimum of 63 FPS. This is the highest preset that remains comfortably above 60 FPS, making it ideal for players with 144Hz monitors who want to stay in the 60+ range consistently. The jump from Medium to High at this resolution is a 24 FPS loss (75 to 51), which is not worth the marginal visual improvement.

For 4K, Medium is the only viable option for playable performance, yielding 43 FPS average with a minimum of 36 FPS. While this is below the 60 FPS ideal, it is significantly better than High (29 FPS) and Ultra (20 FPS). Players with 4K displays should accept the Medium preset or consider lowering to Low (48 FPS) if they prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity.

Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, Ultra drops to 51 FPS, which is the same as High at 1440p. At 1440p, Ultra falls to 35 FPS, and at 4K it becomes nearly unplayable at 20 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra over Medium is substantial: a 54% reduction at 1080p (111 to 51 FPS), a 53% reduction at 1440p (75 to 35 FPS), and a 53% reduction at 4K (43 to 20 FPS). This consistent ~53% penalty is not justified by the visual gains.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 124 FPS on Low, 111 FPS on Medium (94 min, 127 max), 75 FPS on High, and 51 FPS on Ultra. This resolution is clearly the sweet spot for this hardware, with all presets except Ultra maintaining 60+ FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops predictably. The combo achieves 84 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium (63 min, 86 max), 51 FPS on High, and 35 FPS on Ultra. Notably, the difference between Low and Medium at this resolution is only 9 FPS, suggesting that the Medium preset's additional graphical features are handled efficiently by the B580. However, the jump from Medium to High costs 24 FPS, indicating a significant increase in GPU workload.

At 3840x2160, the limitations of the Arc B580 become apparent. The combo only manages 48 FPS on Low, 43 FPS on Medium (36 min, 49 max), 29 FPS on High, and 20 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium narrows to just 5 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 14 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is essentially unplayable, with an average of 20 FPS that would feel stuttery in any combat scenario.

The pattern across all resolutions shows a consistent performance cliff between Medium and High settings. At 1080p, the drop is 36 FPS (111 to 75); at 1440p, it is 24 FPS (75 to 51); at 4K, it is 14 FPS (43 to 29). This suggests that High settings introduce a specific rendering feature or texture quality that disproportionately impacts the B580's 12 GB VRAM buffer or its 160 TMUs.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the primary bottleneck in this combo for Archeage. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which should be sufficient for most MMORPG textures. However, the measured FPS data indicates that the GPU's compute capabilities are strained at higher settings. The B580's 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs deliver a maximum pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s. These figures translate to 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is modest for a modern GPU.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable: both base and boost clocks are identical at 2670 MHz. This means the card does not have thermal or power headroom to dynamically increase clocks under load, which could explain the steep FPS drops at higher settings. The 190W TDP and single 8-pin power connector suggest a power-constrained design that cannot sustain higher clock speeds when the GPU is fully utilized.

In Archeage specifically, the B580's performance relative to its rivals is telling. The GPU's average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the RX 580 2048SP (23061) and RTX 2080 (22895). Yet in this game, the measured FPS at 1080p High (75 FPS) is respectable but not exceptional. The 4K results, however, show the GPU's limitations: even at Low settings, it only achieves 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is likely not the limiting factor in Archeage, as even Ultra settings at 4K would struggle to exceed 8 GB of texture data. Instead, the GPU's raw rasterization throughput appears to be the constraint. The 80 ROPs are relatively few for a card in this class, and the 213.6 GPixel/s pixel fill rate may be insufficient for 4K resolutions at higher presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is an exceptionally powerful processor that is not the limiting factor in this combo. With 24 cores and 24 threads, it provides substantial multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and Passmark multi-thread score of 60860. The CPU's 3.70 GHz base clock and 5.80 GHz boost clock ensure strong single-threaded performance, reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and Passmark single-thread score of 4823.

In Archeage, an MMORPG that traditionally relies on single-threaded performance for game logic and network processing, the CPU's excellent single-core capabilities should provide significant headroom. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is crucial for maintaining consistent frame times in MMO environments with many NPCs and players.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 1.3% of its average score of 84003. This indicates that the 290K Plus is at the top of its class, with no meaningful competition from any other desktop or server processor. The 125W TDP and 3nm process node from TSMC allow for high clock speeds without excessive power draw, though the 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die suggest a dense design that could benefit from more thermal headroom.

Despite the CPU's prowess, the measured FPS data shows that it does not compensate for the GPU's limitations. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 124 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate its capabilities. However, at 1080p Ultra, the FPS drops to 51, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck even at lower resolutions. The CPU's 24 threads are more than sufficient for Archeage's workload, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth provides adequate data transfer rates.

The CPU's Passmark data compression score of 698346 and encryption score of 52563 indicate strong general-purpose performance, but these are not directly relevant to gaming. In Archeage, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and network synchronization, which it does effectively. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, and any upgrade path for this combo would involve replacing the Arc B580 with a more powerful graphics card to unlock the CPU's full potential in this game.