Road 96

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2680th out of 2903 tested combos in Road 96, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This is a profoundly weak result for a game that is not graphically demanding by modern standards, and the data indicates the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck. The combo’s percentile ranking among all CPUs is 84th, but the GPU sits at the 5th percentile, a stark imbalance that dictates the entire performance profile. Benchmark results show that no settings preset at any resolution achieves a consistently smooth 60 FPS, with the playable range confined to lower resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 3700X and Arc B370 lands at rank 2680 out of 2903 tested combinations in Road 96. This places it in the bottom 8 percent of all systems tested, a position that reflects the GPU’s severe limitations rather than any shortcoming of the processor. The CPU itself is a strong performer in general benchmarks, holding an 84th percentile ranking against all CPUs, but the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking drags the entire combo down. The delta between the CPU’s capability and the GPU’s output is the defining characteristic of this pairing.

When compared to its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark hierarchy, the Arc B370 is essentially at the bottom of the barrel. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 is within 0.7% of the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and within 0.5% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570. This means the integrated graphics solution in this combo is performing at a level comparable to discrete graphics cards from over a decade ago. The data shows that in Road 96, this historical performance gap translates directly into a playability gap, as the combo fails to reach 60 FPS at 1080p on any preset.

The combo’s rank suggests that for this specific title, the user experience will be one of constant compromise. The processor is more than capable of handling the game’s logic and physics, but the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize that capability. This results in a system where the weakest link is so dominant that the strengths of the other component are effectively nullified. The performance is not just low; it is consistently low across all settings, indicating a hard ceiling imposed by the graphics processor.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the primary limiting factor in this configuration. Its specifications reveal a component designed for low-power, portable devices rather than desktop gaming. The GPU has a TDP of just 25 W, which is a fraction of what traditional desktop graphics cards consume, and it uses system shared memory, meaning its VRAM and bandwidth are dependent on the system’s DDR4 memory. The base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz, but the performance data shows these clocks do not translate into playable frame rates in Road 96.

The GPU’s raw compute capabilities are minimal: it offers 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 puts it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, a figure that aligns with its performance in Road 96. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all legacy ATI parts, which underscores how far behind modern standards this GPU is. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are insufficient for demanding rendering tasks.

In Road 96 specifically, the GPU’s limitations are exposed immediately. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo manages 85 FPS, which is the only time it approaches a smooth experience. However, this is the absolute ceiling. The data shows that the GPU simply cannot maintain higher frame rates as the resolution or settings increase. The system shared memory configuration means the GPU is competing with the CPU for bandwidth, which further hampers performance in a title that requires constant data streaming for its procedural road segments.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU that is completely overwhelmed by pixel count. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 85 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 54 FPS, a 36.5% reduction. At 4K Low, the frame rate collapses to 29 FPS, which is a 65.9% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the sole bottleneck, as the CPU’s performance does not change with resolution.

The same trend is visible at High settings. From 50 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 32 FPS at 1440p and then to 17 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is a 46.9% decline, which is slightly less severe than the Low setting drop but still indicates that the GPU is struggling to fill the extra pixels. The data indicates that the limiting component is definitively the GPU, as the Ryzen 7 3700X’s 8 cores and 16 threads are not being taxed by the resolution increase.

The scaling also shows that the game’s settings have a compounding effect with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 46 FPS (85 to 39). At 1440p, that difference narrows to 29 FPS (54 to 25). At 4K, the difference is just 16 FPS (29 to 13). This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that changing settings has diminishing returns, as the pixel fill rate becomes the primary constraint rather than the shading or texture work.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Road 96 with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the combo can achieve a playable frame rate. At 1080p Low, it averages 85 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it averages 62 FPS. At 1440p, the maximum average is 54 FPS on Low, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to other GPUs?

A: The Arc B370 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7% delta). This indicates it performs at a level similar to early 2010s discrete graphics.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for this game?

A: No. The CPU has an 84th percentile ranking and averages 34260 in benchmark scores. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13450HX, has an average score of 34333, which is a -0.2% delta. The benchmark results indicate the CPU is far more capable than the GPU, making the GPU the definitive bottleneck.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 4K?

A: At 4K, the combo averages 29 FPS on Low, 21 FPS on Medium, 17 FPS on High, and 13 FPS on Ultra. These are all well below playable thresholds, and the Medium preset shows a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS, indicating inconsistent performance.

Q: Does the combo have any settings where it reaches 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the average is 85 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. This is the only configuration in the measured data that breaks the 60 FPS barrier.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low preset compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p Low preset averages 85 FPS, while the 4K Ultra preset averages 13 FPS. This represents a 72 FPS difference, meaning the 1080p Low preset is approximately 6.5 times faster than the 4K Ultra preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of presets, and the only viable option for a smooth experience is the Low preset at 1080p. At this setting, the combo averages 85 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 1080p is a secondary option, averaging 62 FPS, but it dips to a minimum of 53 FPS, which may be noticeable in scenes with heavy particle effects or dense geometry. For users who prioritize frame rate stability, the Low preset is the safest choice.

At 1440p, the Low preset averages 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but may be acceptable for some players. However, the Medium preset drops to 40 FPS, and High drops to 32 FPS, making these presets less desirable for a game that relies on smooth movement. The data indicates that the game’s art style, which features stylized visuals and long road stretches, does not benefit significantly from higher settings in a way that justifies the frame rate cost.

For users willing to accept lower frame rates, the 1080p High preset at 50 FPS is a compromise, offering better visual fidelity than Low while maintaining a mostly playable frame rate. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields a maximum average of 39 FPS at 1080p and drops to 13 FPS at 4K. The performance data clearly shows that the GPU’s 5th percentile ranking limits the combo to the lowest settings for a consistent experience, and the 1080p Low preset is the only configuration that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a Zen 2 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Matisse codename. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor’s benchmark scores are robust: it achieves 2092 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 204 in single-core, and its Geekbench scores are 8899 multi-core and 1593 single-core. These figures place the CPU in the 84th percentile of all processors, indicating it is a strong performer for its generation.

In the context of Road 96, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s procedural generation and physics calculations. The game is not known for being CPU-intensive, and the data confirms that the Ryzen 7 3700X is not the limiting factor in this combo. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 with a 0.1% delta and the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H with a 0.5% delta, all have similar average benchmark scores, indicating that the 3700X is competitive with newer processors in general compute tasks.

The CPU’s 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support provide ample bandwidth for the GPU’s system shared memory architecture. However, the benchmark results show that the CPU’s capabilities are wasted in this pairing, as the GPU cannot produce enough frames to utilize the CPU’s processing power. The PassMark multi-thread score of 22458 and single-thread score of 2656 demonstrate that the CPU can handle demanding workloads, but in Road 96, the frame rate is entirely dependent on the GPU’s output, which maxes out at 85 FPS on the lowest settings.