Road 96

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Road 96 reveals a steep and consistent performance penalty as resolution climbs, which is a textbook indicator of GPU-bound scaling. At the High preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 drops the average frame rate from 117.3 FPS to 78.7 FPS — a loss of roughly one-third of the performance. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at High yields just 41.1 FPS, meaning the 4K result is roughly half of the 1440p figure and barely a third of the 1080p figure. This pattern of diminishing returns at higher pixel counts strongly suggests the RTX 4060 is the primary constraint once resolution increases, as the CPU's workload does not scale with pixel count.

The Low preset tells an even clearer story. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 200.6 FPS, which is an exceptionally high ceiling for this pairing. Dropping to 1440p Low still produces 129.4 FPS, but the 4K Low result tumbles to 68.5 FPS. The fact that 4K Low (68.5 FPS) is slower than 1080p High (117.3 FPS) is revealing — it shows that even reducing graphical complexity cannot fully compensate for the raw pixel throughput demanded at 3840x2160. The delta between Low and High at each resolution also widens as resolution increases, from a 83.3 FPS gap at 1080p (200.6 vs 117.3) to a 27.4 FPS gap at 4K (68.5 vs 41.1). This compression of the settings spread at higher resolutions is a classic sign that the GPU is saturating its shading and memory bandwidth limits.

Curiously, the Medium preset at 4K (52.0 FPS) sits almost exactly halfway between the Low and High results, suggesting a smooth, linear scaling curve for this game's renderer. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing 33.9 FPS at 4K, 57.9 FPS at 1440p, and 90.6 FPS at 1080p. For a narrative adventure title, these numbers indicate that the game is not particularly heavy on CPU logic; the Ryzen 5 2600's 6-core, 12-thread configuration appears sufficient even at the lower resolutions where the frame rate ceiling is highest. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the 1080p Low result to plateau well below 200 FPS, which it does not.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 947th out of 1684 tested combos in Road 96, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This percentile standing is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths. The GPU alone sits at the 66th percentile against all GPUs, and the CPU at the 77th percentile against all CPUs. Yet the pairing lands below the midpoint of the combo list, which suggests that the game's performance scaling is not perfectly aligned with raw component benchmarks.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 2600 posts an average benchmark score of 19616, which is within 0.7% of the Intel Core i7-10700F (19485) and 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (19508). The Intel Core i5-1345U scores 19691 (0.4% higher), and the Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19740 (0.6% higher). These deltas are negligible in real-world terms, yet the combo rank in this specific game may be influenced by factors beyond CPU compute, such as memory latency or PCIe bandwidth. The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar tight cluster: the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23321 (-0.6%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338 (-0.7%), the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021 (+0.7%), and the AMD Radeon 760M scores 22999 (+0.8%). The RTX 4060's own average benchmark score is 23181.

The rank of 947 out of 1684 implies that roughly 44% of tested combos perform better in this game. This is not a poor result, but it does indicate that the Ryzen 5 2600's older Zen architecture, despite its 12 threads, may hold back the RTX 4060 in certain scenarios. The game's adventure genre typically involves variable scene complexity, and the data suggests that frame pacing or minimum frame times may suffer in CPU-intensive moments. It is worth remembering the combo rank is specific to Road 96; other titles may show a different ordering.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Road 96?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the strongest resolution, with the High preset delivering 117.3 FPS and the Low preset reaching 200.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset still manages 78.7 FPS, which is playable, but the 3840x2160 results (41.1 FPS on High) fall below the typical 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset produces 90.6 FPS versus 117.3 FPS for High, a difference of 26.7 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra settings impose a meaningful overhead, likely from additional shading or post-processing effects, but the result remains well above 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck at 4K?

A: The scaling pattern suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at 3840x2160. The FPS drops from 68.5 on Low to 33.9 on Ultra, a 34.6 FPS spread, which is a large swing driven by GPU load. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads appear adequate, as even the lowest 4K result is not near single-digit frame rates.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for the RTX 4060, and how does it compare to its rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 23321, which is only 0.6% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338 (0.7% higher), while the Intel Arc B580 and AMD Radeon 760M score 23021 and 22999 respectively, both slightly lower.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 2600's age affect its performance in this game?

A: The CPU's benchmark data shows a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11186 and a single-core score of 1579. These are moderate figures, and the CPU ranks at the 77th percentile overall. In Road 96, the 1080p Low result of 200.6 FPS indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, so age does not appear to be a major drawback here.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 4060, and does it matter for this game?

A: The RTX 4060 has a memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s over a 128-bit bus. Given the large FPS drops at 4K, it is plausible that memory bandwidth constrains performance at high pixel counts, although the 8 GB VRAM capacity is not specified as a limiting factor in the measured data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive matrix. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 200.6 FPS, followed by Medium at 150.1 FPS, High at 117.3 FPS, and Ultra at 90.6 FPS. This ordering is intuitive, with each step up in settings costing roughly 20-30% performance. The 1080p results are uniformly above 90 FPS, making this resolution comfortable for high-refresh displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still achieves 129.4 FPS, which is a strong result for a 1440p panel. The Medium preset drops to 92.2 FPS, while High falls to 78.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 57.9 FPS is the only 1440p configuration that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that Ultra is borderline for smooth gameplay at this resolution. The step from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 37.2 FPS, while Medium to High costs another 13.5 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 20.8 FPS — an uneven progression that hints at specific rendering features tied to the Ultra preset.

At 3840x2160, all settings produce sub-70 FPS results. The Low preset averages 68.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a 4K display's typical 60 Hz refresh. Medium drops to 52.0 FPS, High to 41.1 FPS, and Ultra to 33.9 FPS. The 4K results show that even the lowest settings cannot maintain a solid 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset at 33.9 FPS is less than half the speed of the 1080p Low result. This breakdown confirms that 4K is only viable with Low settings, and even then, the margin above 60 FPS is thin (8.5 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting a consistent 60 FPS experience, the data points to 1920x1080 with the High preset as the sweet spot, delivering 117.3 FPS with substantial headroom above the target. The Ultra preset at 1080p (90.6 FPS) is also viable if visual fidelity is prioritized, as it remains well above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset (78.7 FPS) is the recommended choice for a balance of quality and smoothness, while the Medium preset (92.2 FPS) offers extra headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 1440p (57.9 FPS) falls slightly short of 60 FPS, so it is only advisable for players who tolerate minor dips.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset (68.5 FPS) is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS on average, but the margin is slim. Players seeking higher visual quality at 4K may prefer the Medium preset (52.0 FPS) if they can accept a lower frame rate, but the data does not support a stable 60 FPS at this resolution. Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p High or 1440p High, depending on the display's native resolution. The gap between Medium and High at 1080p (32.8 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Ultra (26.7 FPS), suggesting that High is the most efficient tier for performance per visual increment.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Zen architecture, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. It has a 16 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. Its benchmark results include a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11186 and a single-core score of 1579, with a Passmark multithread score of 13160 and a single-thread score of 2239. These figures place it at the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19616.

In Road 96, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, given that the 1080p Low result reaches 200.6 FPS without apparent CPU limitation. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is likely sufficient for the game's logic and physics, which are not typically demanding in a narrative adventure title. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-1345U and Intel Core i5-11600KF, have average scores within 0.6% of the Ryzen 5 2600, indicating that the CPU's compute capability is competitive with newer mobile and desktop parts. However, the combo rank of 947 out of 1684 suggests that the CPU may not fully exploit the RTX 4060's capabilities in all scenarios, possibly due to memory latency or the older PCIe Gen 3 interface (16 lanes) limiting data transfer rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its average benchmark score is 23181, ranking at the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 101030.

In Road 96, the GPU's performance scaling with resolution is the dominant factor. The 4K results, ranging from 33.9 FPS on Ultra to 68.5 FPS on Low, indicate that the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are taxed heavily at high pixel counts. The 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest for 4K workloads, and the data suggests that memory throughput, rather than raw shading power, limits performance at 3840x2160. At 1080p, the GPU has ample headroom, as shown by the 200.6 FPS Low result. The nearest GPU rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and Intel Arc B580, have average scores within 0.8% of the RTX 4060, confirming that this GPU is a mid-range part that excels at 1080p and 1440p but struggles with 4K in this title.