Road 96

Road 96, a stylized adventure game released in 2021, shows a wide range of performance across the tested configurations. With the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the data reveals a system that is strongly capable at 1080p, but which will face challenges at higher resolutions and maximum settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second (FPS) data shows a clear and predictable relationship between resolution and performance. As the resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 (4K), the average FPS drops significantly across all settings, indicating that the system is becoming increasingly constrained by the graphical workload.

At Low settings, the 1080p average is 277 FPS. This high frame rate is cut to 176 FPS at 1440p, a substantial reduction. At 4K, the average plummets to 93 FPS. This represents a drop of about 66% from 1080p to 4K, showing that the game is very sensitive to the number of pixels rendered. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 100 FPS, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 83 FPS.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but the floor is lower. The 1080p average is 164 FPS, which falls to 104 FPS at 1440p, and then to 55 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is a 49 FPS reduction. The 4K result of 55 FPS is notable, as it is below the 60 FPS threshold often used as a target for smooth gameplay.

The Ultra settings paint the most demanding picture. The 1080p average is 128 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 82 FPS. At 4K, the system only manages an average of 43 FPS. This is a 65% decrease from 1080p, and it makes 4K Ultra essentially unplayable for those seeking a stable, high-frame-rate experience.

The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the system is capable of high frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU becomes a significant limiting factor. The scaling pattern across the settings is consistent, pointing to a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck when pixel count goes up.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The card's base clock is 1920 MHz, and it boosts to 2475 MHz. This configuration is well-suited for 1080 and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results indicate that the memory bandwidth and raw compute are not enough to maintain high frame rates at the highest settings.

The GPU's performance in the game can be directly observed in the measured FPS. At 1080p Low, the 277 FPS average shows a system that is largely not limited by the GPU. As the resolution increases, the GPU's workload increases, and the FPS drops proportionally. The 4K High result of 55 FPS, compared to the 1080p High result of 164 FPS, shows the GPU is struggling to keep up with the pixel shader and memory requirements.

The RTX 4070's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the NVIDIA Tesla P4, AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile. The data shows the RTX 4070 is about 0.1% faster than the Tesla P4 and 0.4% faster than the RX Vega 56. It is 1.3% slower than the RTX 4080 Mobile, and 1.3% faster than the AMD Radeon PRO W6400. These deltas are small, indicating that the GPU sits in a specific performance tier.

The 12 GB of VRAM is a substantial amount. The game's settings, even at Ultra, are unlikely to exceed this capacity, so VRAM is not a bottleneck. The GPU's role is to process the graphics pipeline, and the data shows that at 4K, the GPU is the primary constraint. The high FPS at 1080p and 1440p indicates the GPU is not the limiting factor at the lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The data identifies the Medium settings as a key point for this hardware. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 203 FPS, with a minimum of 172 and a maximum of 233, a very playable range. At 1440p, Medium averages 129 FPS, with a minimum of 110 and a maximum of 149. This ensures that the frame rate stays well above typical refresh rates of 60 Hz or 144 Hz.

Comparing Medium to other presets shows its value. At 1440p, Medium is 25 FPS faster than High (129 vs 104), and 47 FPS faster than Ultra (129 vs 82). The gap between Medium and High is more pronounced at 4K, where Medium averages 68 FPS while High averages 55 FPS and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The Medium preset provides a playable experience at 4K, while High and Ultra do not.

For those with a 4K display, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it is the only one to break the 60 FPS average mark from the measured data. At 1080p, the Low preset at 277 FPS is for high-refresh-rate displays, but the Medium preset at 203 FPS is probably enough for most users. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and its 43 FPS at 4K shows it is not a viable option, while at 1440p it still offers 82 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with the High preset?

A: The average FPS at 4K with the High preset is 55 FPS.

Q: How does the 1080p Low average compare to the 1440p Low average?

A: The 1080p Low average is 277 FPS, while the 1440p Low average is 176 FPS, a difference of 101 FPS.

Q: At what resolution and preset does the system achieve the highest FPS?

A: The highest FPS is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, averaging 277 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 110 FPS.

Q: What is the average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 43 FPS.

Q: Is there a single number that shows the difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium?

A: The 1080p Medium average is 203 FPS, while the 4K Medium average is 68 FPS, a difference of 135 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on Zen 4 architecture. It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU has a 32 MB shared L3 cache, and its performance in this game is sufficient to feed the GPU at all settings.

The benchmark results for the CPU, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15236 and single-core score of 1965, indicate a strong processor. The game's frame rates at 1080p are very high, reaching 277 FPS at Low settings. This suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at these frame rates, as the GPU is able to render frames quickly without being held back by the CPU.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, Intel Core i5-12600K, AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE, and AMD Ryzen 7 5800. The data shows the 7600X is 0.2% faster than the 5700X and 0.2% faster than the 12600K. It is 0.3% slower than the 8500GE, and 0.4% faster than the 5800. These small deltas suggest that any of these processors would perform similarly in this game, making the 7600X a solid but not unique choice.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when looking at the 4K results. At 4K, the CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU is. The 4K FPS values are consistently lower than the 1080p values, but the CPU is still able to keep up with the frame times. The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this game, as the system is GPU-bound at all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a complete set of measured FPS values for each resolution and preset.

1920x1080:

• Low: 277 FPS average
• Medium: 203 FPS average, 172 min, 233 max
• High: 164 FPS average
• Ultra: 128 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 176 FPS average
• Medium: 129 FPS average, 110 min, 149 max
• High: 104 FPS average
• Ultra: 82 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 93 FPS average
• Medium: 68 FPS average, 58 min, 79 max
• High: 55 FPS average
• Ultra: 43 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max FPS values. At 1080p, the range is 172 to 233 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 110 to 149. At 4K, the range is 58 to 79. This provides a stable frame time experience, which is a good indicator of consistent performance.

The Low preset offers the highest frame rates across the board, but it comes at the cost of visual quality. The High and Ultra presets offer lower frame rates but better graphics. The data shows a clear hierarchy of performance, with the game scaling from 277 FPS at the lowest to 43 FPS at the highest.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 885th out of 3713 tested combinations in Road 96. This places it in the top 24% of all tested systems. This is a strong showing, indicating that this combo is well-suited for the game.

The rank is a relative measure of how well this pairing performs against all other CPU and GPU combinations. A rank of 885 means that there are 884 combos that perform better, and 2828 that perform worse. This puts this combo in the upper echelon of systems, suggesting it will provide a good experience for most players.

The high FPS at 1080p and 1440p, and the ability to get a playable 4K experience at Medium settings, are likely the reasons for this strong ranking. The system is not the absolute best, but it is a highly capable computer for this game. The rank of 885 reflects a system that is well-balanced, with the GPU and CPU working together to deliver high frame rates without any significant bottleneck. The data supports the conclusion that this combo is a good choice for anyone looking to play Road 96 at high settings.