Archeage

Archeage is a 2014 MMORPG with a distinctive performance profile on modern hardware, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti produces a dataset that reveals clear bottlenecks. The measured FPS rows across resolutions and settings provide a complete picture of how this combination handles the game, from high-refresh 1080p play to the strain of 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's overall rank in Archeage is 306 out of 2761 tested combinations. This positions it in the top 11.1% of all tested setups for this specific game, which is a strong showing but not a top-tier result. The percentile placement indicates that while this is a high-performing pairing, there are many other configurations that achieve higher frame rates in Archeage, likely due to the game's particular engine limitations and the balance between CPU and GPU demands.

The CPU itself sits at the 96th percentile against all CPUs in the broader benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83807 (a 0.2% difference), and the AMD EPYC 4584PX, which scores 83090 (1.1% behind). Interestingly, the AMD EPYC 7F72 scores higher at 85072, putting this CPU 1.3% behind that server-class part. These deltas are very small, meaning the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is effectively tied with the best consumer and workstation CPUs in general compute, but in Archeage specifically, the rank of 306 suggests that the game does not fully utilize the CPU's potential to dominate the leaderboard.

The GPU ranks at the 84th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152, which is 0.8% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 45384 (1.3% higher), and the Intel Arc A730M scores 45592 (1.7% higher). The only rival it beats in this group is the NVIDIA RTX A6000, which scores 44075 (1.6% lower). This puts the RTX 4070 Ti in a narrow performance band relative to its immediate peers, but the combination's rank of 306 in Archeage suggests the game's optimization favors certain architectures, and this GPU is not the absolute best performer in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The memory configuration is 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, with an effective data rate of 21 Gbps. The base clock is 2310 MHz, and the boost clock is 2610 MHz.

In Archeage, the GPU's role becomes increasingly critical as resolution and settings increase. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 247, which is far beyond what the CPU can likely feed, indicating the GPU is not the limiting factor at this low load. As we move to 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 39, showing a massive demand on the GPU. The measured data shows the GPU's limits are tested heavily at 4K with high settings, where it averages 58 FPS. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is sufficient for this game, as no out-of-memory issues are indicated in the measured rows, but the sheer pixel count at 4K combined with Ultra settings overwhelms the GPU's compute throughput, leading to the lowest frame rates in the dataset.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores, such as a passmark G3D score of 31624 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024, confirm its general capability, but the Archeage results show a specific pattern. The delta between 4K High (58 FPS) and 4K Medium (85 FPS) is 27 FPS, while the delta between 4K Medium and 4K Low (95 FPS) is only 10 FPS. This suggests that the "High" preset introduces a significant computational load that the GPU struggles with at this resolution, while the step from Medium to Low is less demanding. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz is the maximum it can reach under load, but in Archeage, the actual sustained clock is not measured, only the resulting FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename and built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

In Archeage, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 247, which is a very high frame rate that indicates the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficient data at this resolution. However, the jump to 1080p Medium yields 220 FPS, and 1080p High yields 149 FPS. This is a significant drop of 71 FPS from Low to High, suggesting that the game's CPU-side logic, such as physics or AI calculations, becomes more demanding with higher settings, even at the same resolution.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The Passmark multithread score is 60860, and the single-thread score is 4823. These numbers indicate the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios. However, the combo's rank of 306 in Archeage suggests that the game may not scale perfectly with 24 cores, and that the boost clock of 5.80 GHz is not always sustained in gaming workloads, potentially due to power or thermal limits. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 39, which is a CPU-independent scenario where the GPU is clearly the limit, but at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU is underutilized at 247 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling across resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 247 at Low settings to 102 at Ultra settings. The Medium preset averages 220 FPS with a minimum of 187 and a maximum of 253. The High preset averages 149 FPS. This shows a clear trend: as settings increase, the FPS drops, but the drop is not linear. The gap between Low and Medium is 27 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 71 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 47 FPS. This indicates that the High preset has a disproportionately large impact on performance compared to the step from Low to Medium, likely due to increased draw distances or shadow complexity.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 166 at Low to 69 at Ultra. The Medium preset averages 148 FPS with a minimum of 126 and a maximum of 170. The High preset averages 101 FPS. The scaling is more gradual here: Low to Medium is 18 FPS, Medium to High is 47 FPS, and High to Ultra is 32 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings is consistent, with High dropping from 149 to 101 FPS (a 32% reduction), and Ultra dropping from 102 to 69 FPS (a 32% reduction).

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 95 at Low to 39 at Ultra. The Medium preset averages 85 FPS with a minimum of 72 and a maximum of 97. The High preset averages 58 FPS. The resolution scaling is severe: from 1080p High to 4K High, the FPS drops from 149 to 58, a 61% reduction. From 1080p Low to 4K Low, the FPS drops from 247 to 95, a 62% reduction. This demonstrates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the pixel throughput requirements outpace the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 247, achieved at Low settings. The Medium preset averages 220 FPS, while High and Ultra average 149 and 102 FPS, respectively.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 39. This is the lowest measured result in the dataset, indicating that the GPU is heavily stressed at this configuration.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the average FPS of 247 is very high, and the GPU is likely underutilized at this low graphical load. The CPU's high single-thread score of 7303 in Cinebench R23 supports its ability to drive high frame rates.

Q: What is the FPS range for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 148, with a minimum of 126 and a maximum of 170. This provides a playable range with some variance.

Q: How much does performance drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 149 at 1080p to 101 at 1440p and then to 58 at 4K. This represents a 61% reduction from 1080p to 4K, highlighting the GPU's struggle at higher resolutions.

Q: Which settings preset at 4K provides the highest average FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset provides the highest average FPS at 95. The Medium preset follows at 85 FPS, with High at 58 and Ultra at 39.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset offers an excellent balance, with an average FPS of 220 and a minimum of 187. This ensures smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 149 FPS is also viable for 144Hz displays, but the drop to 102 FPS at Ultra makes that preset less desirable unless visual fidelity is paramount and the user accepts a lower frame rate.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the best choice for most users, averaging 148 FPS with a minimum of 126. This provides a comfortable margin above 120 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play. The High preset at 101 FPS is also playable on 100Hz monitors, but the Ultra preset at 69 FPS is borderline, as it may not provide a consistently smooth experience on higher refresh rate panels.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 95 FPS is the only option that exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays. The Medium preset at 85 FPS is also playable, but the High preset at 58 FPS drops below the 60 FPS threshold, which can be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 39 FPS is not recommended for comfortable gameplay. Therefore, for the best experience, users should prioritize the Medium preset at 1080p and 1440p, and the Low or Medium preset at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling, indicating the limiting component at each step. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 149 to 101, a 32% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at High settings, the average FPS drops from 101 to 58, a 43% reduction. This increasing percentage drop as resolution increases is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The GPU is doing progressively more work per frame as the pixel count rises, and its compute capabilities are the bottleneck.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar: from 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops from 247 to 166 (a 33% reduction), and from 1440p to 4K, it drops from 166 to 95 (a 43% reduction). This consistency across settings indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints at higher resolutions, regardless of the graphical complexity. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, as it is able to feed the GPU with frames at a rate that exceeds the GPU's rendering capacity.

The CPU's influence is most pronounced at 1080p Low, where the FPS of 247 likely approaches the CPU's maximum frame generation limit. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the steep FPS declines. The data shows that this combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, and only the Low and Medium presets provide acceptable performance.