Road 96

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a highly constrained experience in Road 96, with performance peaking at just 94 FPS on the lowest settings at 1080p. The data reveals a system where the graphics processor is the dominant bottleneck, struggling to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to show exactly how the resolution scaling, GPU capabilities, and CPU headroom interact in this adventure title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent drop as resolution increases across all four settings presets. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 94 FPS at 1920x1080 to 60 FPS at 2560x1440, representing a 36% reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields 32 FPS, which is a 66% decline from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B390's rendering throughput is being saturated well before the CPU becomes a limiting factor.

The High settings preset tells a similar story with lower absolute numbers. The average FPS at 1080p High is 56, dropping to 35 at 1440p and then to 19 at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a 46% performance loss, which is slightly less severe than the Low settings scaling but still shows a clear GPU-bound scenario. The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, shows averages of 69 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K, with the 4K minimum falling to 20 FPS.

The Ultra settings preset is the most demanding, with average frame rates of 43 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and just 15 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p High and 1080p Ultra is 13 FPS, while the gap between 1440p High and 1440p Ultra is 7 FPS. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is the limiting component; as resolution increases, the additional pixel workload overwhelms the processor regardless of the quality preset. The data suggests that Road 96 at 4K is only marginally playable at Low settings, and even then the 32 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target that the 1080p Low settings achieve.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process node. Its performance profile in Road 96 is severely limited, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of just 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with a score of 1463, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443. The Arc B390 leads these rivals by margins of 1.3% to 2.7%, which underscores its position at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum.

The GPU's clock speeds show a base frequency of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with the memory size, type, and bus width all listed as "System Shared" and bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This means the GPU relies on the system's DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, which likely contributes to the performance degradation at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth demands increase. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores.

The FP32 compute throughput is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. In Road 96, the data shows that the GPU's capabilities are simply insufficient for high-resolution gaming. The jump from 1080p Low at 94 FPS to 1080p Medium at 69 FPS represents a 27% drop for a single quality tier increase, indicating that the shading units and TMUs are quickly overwhelmed by increased texture and lighting complexity. The 4K Ultra result of 15 FPS is barely above a slideshow, confirming that this GPU is not designed for high-end gaming workloads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F provides a substantial amount of headroom that the Intel Arc B390 cannot utilize. This CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. The 65 W TDP and AMD Socket AM4 compatibility place it in the mainstream desktop segment. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache. The dual-channel DDR4 memory support with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s provides adequate memory throughput for the integrated GPU, though the "System Shared" GPU memory means the CPU and GPU compete for the same bandwidth.

In CPU benchmark scores, the Ryzen 5 5600F achieves a Passmark single-thread score of 2872 and a multi-thread score of 19236. The average benchmark score of 36945 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with an average score of 36938, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093, and the Intel Core i9-12900T at 37112. The delta percentages against these rivals are 0%, -0.2%, -0.4%, and -0.5% respectively, showing the 5600F is essentially performance-equivalent to these alternatives.

The CPU's role in Road 96 is best understood through the resolution scaling data. Since the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions, the CPU's strong single-thread performance of 2872 in Passmark ensures that it never limits frame rates. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 94 FPS while 1080p Ultra drops to 43 FPS shows that the CPU can maintain high frame rates when the GPU workload is light. The 5600F's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for this adventure title, which likely does not heavily utilize multi-threaded rendering. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 9th percentile ranking creates a massive imbalance, where the processor sits idle waiting for the graphics unit to complete its work.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Road 96?

A: The highest average FPS is 94, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 leads the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX by 1.3%, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M by 1.5%, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5%, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 by 2.7% in average benchmark scores.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F or the Intel Arc B390 the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs while the GPU ranks in the 9th percentile, and the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound rendering at all resolutions.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The lowest average FPS is 15, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture.

Q: Does the 4K Medium preset provide a consistent frame rate?

A: The 4K Medium preset has an average of 23 FPS with a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS, showing a narrow but low performance band.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2575th out of 2903 tested combinations in Road 96. This places the combo in the bottom 11.3% of all tested systems, reflecting the GPU's extremely low performance ceiling. The rank is driven almost entirely by the graphics processor, as the CPU's 85th percentile ranking would typically place a system much higher in the hierarchy if paired with a capable GPU.

The gap between the CPU and GPU performance percentiles is stark. The Ryzen 5 5600F's average benchmark score of 36945 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with deltas of 0% to -0.5%. In contrast, the Arc B390's 1482 average score is only 1.3% to 2.7% better than its nearest rivals, which are all legacy NVIDIA mobile and OEM parts. This means the combo's rank in Road 96 is constrained by the GPU's inability to translate the CPU's strong processing power into playable frame rates at higher settings.

The rank of 2575 out of 2903 indicates that the vast majority of tested combinations outperform this setup. The data suggests that while the CPU is a capable mid-range processor, the integrated GPU holds the system back in this adventure title. Users seeking higher frame rates would need to either reduce resolution and settings to the minimum or upgrade the graphics solution entirely, as the CPU has significant headroom to support a more powerful discrete GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the measured average frame rates are 94 FPS at Low settings, 69 FPS at Medium settings, 56 FPS at High settings, and 43 FPS at Ultra settings. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 79 FPS, providing a playable range for most of the scene complexity. The step from Low to Medium costs 25 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 13 FPS, and High to Ultra costs another 13 FPS. This scaling shows diminishing returns as settings increase, with the largest performance hit occurring between Low and Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440 resolution, the average frame rates drop to 60 FPS at Low, 44 FPS at Medium, 35 FPS at High, and 28 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS. The 1440p Low setting is the first resolution where the average falls to exactly 60 FPS, which is the threshold for smooth gameplay on standard refresh rate displays. The 1440p Ultra setting at 28 FPS is below the 30 FPS playability floor for many users.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the average frame rates are 32 FPS at Low, 23 FPS at Medium, 19 FPS at High, and 15 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS. None of the 4K settings achieve a 30 FPS average, with only the Low preset coming close at 32 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 15 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, making this resolution essentially unplayable at higher quality settings. The data shows a consistent pattern where each resolution step halves the performance headroom, leaving very little room for quality adjustments at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for settings selection based on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 94 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 69 FPS also exceeds the 60 FPS target and offers better visual quality with a minimum of 59 FPS, making it the recommended choice for most users at this resolution. The High preset at 56 FPS is slightly below the 60 FPS target but remains playable, while the Ultra preset at 43 FPS should be avoided if frame rate consistency is a priority.

For 2560x1440 resolution, the Low preset at 60 FPS exactly meets the standard refresh rate target, but the Medium preset at 44 FPS provides a better visual experience at the cost of 16 FPS. The High preset at 35 FPS and Ultra at 28 FPS are both below the 60 FPS threshold and may feel less responsive. Given that the 1440p Medium preset has a minimum of 37 FPS, users with variable refresh rate displays could find this acceptable, but the Low preset is the safest recommendation for maintaining a consistent 60 FPS experience.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the data shows that only the Low preset at 32 FPS approaches playability, and even this falls short of the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 23 FPS, High at 19 FPS, and Ultra at 15 FPS are all well below playable thresholds for most users. The recommendation for 4K is to use the Low preset if 4K output is required, but the 32 FPS average suggests that dropping to 1440p with Medium settings would provide a better overall experience. The best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions is the 1080p Medium preset, which offers an average of 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without compromising too heavily on visual fidelity.