Road 96

Road 96, an adventure title from 2021, presents an interesting case for hardware analysis. The benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination reveal a title that scales dramatically with resolution and settings, showcasing the immense power of the GPU while also exposing where the CPU's capabilities begin to surface. This pairing produces high frame rates across the board, but the data shows a clear hierarchy of performance that shifts depending on the target resolution and visual fidelity. The following sections detail the measured results and analyze what they indicate about the system's constituent parts.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results for Road 96 show a profound impact from resolution scaling on the average frame rate. The most revealing data comes from the "Low" settings preset, which removes the majority of the GPU's workload and allows the raw performance of the combination to shine. Here, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 shows a significant drop from 354 average FPS to 226 average FPS, a 128 frame-per-second reduction. Scaling further up to 3840x2160 at the same Low settings yields an average of 119 FPS, a 107 FPS drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern of diminishing returns indicates that while the graphics card is incredibly powerful, the demands of 4K at any setting level are substantial.

At High settings, the resolution scaling follows a similar but less steep curve. The average FPS at 1920x1080 is 209, which falls to 133 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 76 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160 further lowers the average to 71 FPS, a 62 FPS decrease from the 1440p result. The gap between the 1080p and 4K figures at High settings is 138 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference than the 235 FPS gap seen at Low settings. This suggests that as the visual complexity increases, the relative cost of each pixel increases, but the overall scaling is not a perfect curve.

The most demanding preset, Ultra, shows the most constrained performance. The 1920x1080 measurement is 164 average FPS, which is still high. Reducing the resolution to 2560x1440 gives an average of 104 FPS, and at 3840x2160, the average drops to just 55 FPS. The frame rate at 4K Ultra is less than half of what it is at 1080p Ultra. This data point clearly indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at the higher resolution and setting combination, as the workload becomes too intense for even a high-end graphics card to maintain a higher average. The results show that the combination is powerful enough to exceed 60 FPS at 4K on High settings, but the Ultra preset is a step too far for a perfectly smooth experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end graphics card with a robust feature set, but its performance in Road 96 is what the benchmark data captures. The card is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and is manufactured on a 5 nm process, with a die size of 379 mm². It has a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz. The memory subsystem is a key point: 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, producing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This large memory capacity and high bandwidth are more than sufficient for an adventure title like Road 96, which is not known for demanding high-resolution textures.

The GPU's role in the measured results is most evident when comparing the 3840x2160 Ultra preset. Here, the average FPS is 55, a low figure compared to the other settings. The 4K resolution output requires a massive amount of pixel throughput. The RTX 4080 has a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s, but even this is not enough to maintain a higher frame rate at Ultra settings. The data reveals that at the highest quality setting, the GPU is the absolute bottleneck.

In contrast, the Low settings at 1080p show the GPU's immense power, with an average of 354 FPS. This suggests that the card is not being fully taxed at this resolution and settings, and the frame rate is likely being capped by the CPU's ability to issue draw calls. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark score of 6567 is a further indicator of the card's overall capability, but the game-specific data shows that the performance is highly dependent on the workload. The GPU also features 9728 shading units and 76 RT cores, but the adventure genre does not typically stress these in the same way a first-person shooter would. The results show that for Road 96, the RTX 4080 is a high-performance part that excels at high refresh rate 1440p and is capable of 4K at higher settings, but it does have limits at the most extreme settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is a part of the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The cache structure is a 16 MB L3 and 512 KB per core L2. For a game like Road 96, the CPU's role is to manage the game logic, object interactions, and the rendering pipeline. The data indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck.

The most compelling evidence for the CPU's role comes from the 1920x1080 Low settings data. The average FPS is 354, which is a very high frame rate. At such a low resolution and low settings, the GPU is rendering a relatively small number of pixels and simple effects. The 354 FPS is likely a major result of the CPU's 8-core, 16-thread configuration and its 4.60 GHz boost clock, which can keep up with the game's logic at that speed. The CPU's performance in the Cinebench R23 multicore benchmark, scoring 20655, and its single-core score of 2916 are indicative of its strength in both multithreaded and single-threaded tasks.

However, the CPU's impact is lessened as the resolution increases. At 3840x2160, the CPU has to send frames to the GPU, but the GPU is taking much longer to render them. The result is that the average FPS at 4K High is 71, which is a massive drop from the 1080p Low figure. The CPU is waiting for the GPU to finish the work, which is a clear sign of a GPU-limited system. The results also show that the CPU is not a weak link, as its 1m benchmark scores are strong. The average benchmark score for the CPU is 25517, and its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon D-2752TER, is only 0.1% lower, showing that the CPU is a high performer. For a game like Road 96, the data shows that the CPU will not hold back the experience at any of the tested settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 260 FPS, with a minimum of 221 FPS and a maximum of 298 FPS.

Q: Is a 4K 60 FPS experience possible with this combo?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 71, which is above 60. However, at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average drops to 55 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much of a difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces an average of 226 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields an average of 104 FPS. This is a difference of 122 FPS.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates at the Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min and max data. At 1920x1080, the min is 221 FPS and the max is 298 FPS. At 2560x1440, the min is 140 FPS and the max is 190 FPS. At 3840x2160, the min is 74 FPS and the max is 101 FPS.

Q: What is the performance ranking of this combination in the database?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination has a rank of 257 out of 3713 tested combos.

Q: What is the GPU's average FPS at 1080p Low?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 354, which is the highest average FPS recorded in the dataset for this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination performs well in the overall database of tested combos. The data indicates a rank of 257 out of 3713 tested combos. This ranking places it in the top 7% of all tested combinations, indicating that this is a high-performing system. The GPU itself is a top-tier part, with a percentile of 86 among all GPUs, meaning it is higher than 86% of all graphics cards in the database. The CPU is also a strong performer, but its percentile of 78 shows it is not top of the line, but it is still a high-end part.

The combination's ranking in this specific game reflects the performance. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 is a strong result, but the CPU's performance in the same test is also important. The CPU's 3DMark Max Threads score is 6617, which shows good multithreaded performance. The GPU is the most powerful component in this system. Its 86th percentile is a great indicator of its ability, and the CPU's 78th percentile is also high. The ranking of 257 out of 3713 shows that this system is a top performer. The results show that the CPU is a good match for the GPU, but the GPU is the main driver in this combo.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the recommendation for the best experience depends on the user's resolution and refresh rate. For a 1920x1080 display, the Ultra preset is still able to achieve an average of 164 FPS, which is a great experience for any high-refresh-rate display. The Medium preset offers an average of 260 FPS, which is higher than the maximum refresh rate of most displays at this resolution. The Low setting at 354 FPS is unnecessary for most users.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is a great choice, with an average of 133 FPS. This is a high frame rate that will be smooth on a 144Hz monitor. The Medium preset average is 165 FPS, and the Ultra preset average is 104 FPS. All of these are playable, but the High preset offers the best combination of visual quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the High preset yields an average of 71 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target for a smooth experience. The Medium preset also does well, with an average of 87 FPS. The Ultra preset average of 55 FPS is not sufficient for a completely smooth 60 FPS experience. This data suggests that the High or Medium settings are the best choices for 4K, as they provide a higher average frame rate and are more consistent. The Ultra preset should only be used if the user is willing to accept a lower average frame rate and has a 60Hz display, where the dips are not a major issue.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete set of measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in Road 96.

At 1920x1080, the Low settings produce an average FPS of 354. The Medium settings produce an average FPS of 260, with a minimum of 221 and a maximum of 298. The High settings produce an average FPS of 209. The Ultra settings produce an average FPS of 164.

At 2560x1440, the Low settings produce an average FPS of 226. The Medium settings produce an average FPS of 165, with a minimum of 140 and a maximum of 190. The High settings produce an average FPS of 133. The Ultra settings produce an average FPS of 104.

At 3840x2160, the Low settings produce an average FPS of 119. The Medium settings produce an average FPS of 87, with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 101. The High settings produce an average FPS of 71. The Ultra settings produce an average FPS of 55.

The data shows a clear and consistent progression: lower resolutions and lower settings yield higher frame rates. The gap between the Low and Ultra settings is significant, especially at 4K, where the difference is 64 FPS. The only dataset with the minimum and maximum values is the Medium preset, which shows that the frame times are not perfectly consistent, but the average is still high. The results indicate that this combination is best used for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, and it is also capable for a good 4K experience, but with some compromises at the Ultra settings.