Road 96

Road 96 presents a curious case for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G paired with the Intel Arc B390. The measured data reveals a configuration that is heavily constrained by its graphics solution, yet the CPU's strong multi-threaded pedigree ensures the experience is consistent across the board. The benchmark results indicate that this is a pairing where the user must be deliberate about their graphical expectations, as the differences between presets and resolutions are substantial and telling.

The Intel Arc B390, despite its modern architecture, posts scores that place it in the lowest percentile of tested GPUs, directly influencing the playability of this adventure title. The data shows a clear hierarchy: the Ryzen 7 5700G is a competent processor, ranking in the 79th percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B390 finds itself in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. This massive disparity in relative performance is the defining characteristic of this combo, making the GPU the unequivocal bottleneck in virtually every scenario.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience for this combo in Road 96 is achieved with the Low preset at 1920x1080. This is the only settings and resolution combination that delivers a frame rate comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, with an average of 94 FPS. This provides the smoothest and most responsive gameplay experience possible with this hardware. While the visual fidelity will be reduced, the data strongly suggests that prioritizing frame rate is the correct choice, as the GPU simply lacks the headroom for higher quality settings at playable speeds.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is also a viable option, averaging 69 FPS with a recorded minimum of 59 FPS. This preset offers a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining an average frame rate that is generally considered smooth. However, the minimum FPS dipping just below 60 indicates that there may be occasional stutters in more demanding scenes. For users who prefer visual quality over a rock-solid frame rate, Medium at 1080p is the recommended compromise. The High preset at this resolution averages 56 FPS, which is playable but does not guarantee a consistently smooth experience. The Ultra preset, with an average of 43 FPS, should be avoided if smoothness is a priority.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the data shows that only the Low preset achieves a playable average frame rate of 60 FPS. This is a borderline result, and any scene complexity could cause it to dip below that mark. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 44 FPS, which is acceptable for a slower-paced adventure game, but the High and Ultra presets at this resolution become increasingly difficult to recommend, with averages of 35 and 28 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, the data indicates that all presets are effectively unplayable for a fluid experience, with even the Low preset only managing an average of 32 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the worst-performing configuration measured, pulling in just 15 FPS.

The data suggests a clear strategy: for the best experience, stick to 1920x1080. The jump from Low to Medium at this resolution costs a significant 25 FPS, but the jump from Medium to High costs another 13 FPS. The scaling is not linear, and the performance penalties for each step up in quality are steep. This indicates a GPU that is overwhelmed by the incremental increases in rendering load.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: According to the measured data, the only configuration that achieves a 60 FPS average or higher is the 1920x1080 Low preset, which averages 94 FPS. The 2560x1440 Low preset is the only other option to reach a 60 FPS average, but it does so right at the threshold.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Road 96?

A: No. The benchmark results indicate that all measured 3840x2160 presets fail to reach a playable 30 FPS average, with the High preset at 19 FPS and the Low preset at 32 FPS. This resolution is not a viable option for this hardware.

Q: How large is the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 94 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 43 FPS. This represents a 51 FPS drop, or roughly a 54% reduction in frame rate, for the maximum visual quality.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 5700G scores in the 79th percentile of all CPUs and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-9900K, is only 0.2% faster. The massive frame rate drops when increasing settings and resolution point directly to the GPU as the limiting component.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its immediate rivals in terms of raw GPU score?

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3% slower. It is also 2.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM, which scores 1446. This places its raw compute performance in a very low tier.

Q: What is the best frame rate I can expect at 1440p?

A: The highest average frame rate at 2560x1440 is achieved with the Low preset, which averages 60 FPS. The High preset at this resolution averages 35 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 28 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a GPU that is severely bandwidth and compute limited. Comparing the Low preset across all three resolutions shows a clear and consistent degradation in performance. At 1920x1080, the combo averages 94 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440, that number falls to 60 FPS, a reduction of 36%. At 3840x2160, the average plummets to 32 FPS, which is a 66% drop from the 1080p result. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU with limited fillrate and pixel throughput capabilities.

This pattern is even more pronounced at higher quality settings. For the High preset, the frame rate drops from 56 FPS at 1080p to 35 FPS at 1440p (a 37.5% drop) and then to 19 FPS at 4K (a further 45.7% drop from 1440p). The scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU's resources are being exhausted more quickly as pixel count increases. The fact that the CPU is comparatively powerful means that it is likely waiting on the GPU to complete its rendering tasks, making the Arc B390 the sole determinant of performance.

The data implies that this combo is designed for 1080p gaming. The performance per pixel is so low that any move to a higher resolution results in a disproportionate loss of frame rate. The 2560x1440 Low preset is the only playable option at that resolution, and it barely achieves a 60 FPS average. This suggests that the system's memory bandwidth, which is "System Shared" and "System Dependent," is a critical bottleneck, as the GPU must contend with the CPU for memory access. This architectural limitation is the most likely reason for the rapid performance falloff as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested configurations for Road 96, this specific combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and Intel Arc B390 ranks at 2575 out of 2903 total combinations. This places it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems, which is a poor showing. This ranking is a direct reflection of the GPU's low absolute performance. The CPU's relatively high percentile ranking (79th) is unable to compensate for the GPU's low ranking (9th), resulting in a system that is fundamentally unbalanced for this game.

The combo rank is more indicative of the GPU's limitations than the CPU's capabilities. The data suggests that the Ryzen 7 5700G has the processing power to handle the game's logic and physics with ease, but it is rendered irrelevant by the Arc B390's inability to keep up with the rendering pipeline. In a game like Road 96, which is an adventure title that is not typically known for being CPU-intensive, the GPU is almost certainly the sole factor in this low rank. The performance data across all presets and resolutions is consistent with a system that is entirely GPU-bound.

The fact that this combo ranks so low, despite having a top-quartile CPU, is a strong argument that the Intel Arc B390, with its 9th percentile GPU score, is a severe performance liability. The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals are all within a few percent, but they are all also very low-performing parts. This means the Arc B390 is not just slow relative to modern GPUs; it is in the same performance class as decade-old entry-level discrete graphics cards, which is a poor match for a modern 8-core processor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is a powerful 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance, scoring 12,830.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 9,950 in Geekbench multi-core. Its single-thread performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,494. These results indicate that the CPU has ample processing power for gaming workloads.

However, the measured FPS data in Road 96 suggests that this CPU power is largely untapped. The performance deltas between the Ryzen 7 5700G and its nearest rivals are minimal; it is only 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i9-9900K and 0.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445. In a game where the GPU is the bottleneck, this level of CPU performance is more than sufficient. The 16 threads and high boost clock ensure that the game's main thread and background tasks are handled without introducing a CPU-side frame rate limit.

The CPU's role in this combo is to provide a stable and fast platform, which it does. The data implies that the Ryzen 7 5700G is not the cause of any performance issues seen in the benchmarks. The frame rates are dictated entirely by the GPU, and the CPU is effectively waiting for the graphics card to finish its work. The fact that the CPU has a 65W TDP and is a desktop part with a 16 MB L3 cache means it is well-equipped to feed the GPU data, but the GPU's low throughput negates this advantage. The CPU is a capable performer, but its capabilities are squandered in this pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance. At 1920x1080, the settings scale as follows: Low averages 94 FPS, Medium averages 69 FPS (with a min of 59 and max of 79), High averages 56 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. This shows a clear step-down in performance for each quality increase. The Medium preset is the only one at 1080p that provides both a visual upgrade over Low and an average frame rate above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are significantly lower. The Low preset averages 60 FPS, exactly on the target. The Medium preset averages 44 FPS (with a min of 37 and max of 50), the High preset averages 35 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 28 FPS. The data shows that only the Low preset is suitable for a smooth experience at this resolution, and even then, it is right at the boundary.

At 3840x2160, the performance is critically low across the board. The Low preset averages 32 FPS, the Medium preset averages 23 FPS (with a min of 20 and max of 27), the High preset averages 19 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 15 FPS. None of these settings provide a playable experience. The data shows a clear and consistent trend: the Arc B390 is only capable of delivering acceptable frame rates when the rendering resolution is kept at 1080p and the graphical settings are kept at Low or Medium.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the definitive bottleneck in this system. Its benchmark data is sparse, with only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1,463, 1.3% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1,443, 2.7% faster). This shows that the Arc B390's raw rasterization performance is on par with very old, entry-level graphics cards, which explains the low frame rates in Road 96.

The GPU has a boost clock of 2500 MHz and 1,536 shading units, but its memory configuration is "System Shared" with "System Dependent" bandwidth. This is a critical weakness, as the GPU does not have its own dedicated VRAM. It must share the system's main memory with the CPU, which is a slow process and likely the primary cause of the poor performance scaling. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, but this theoretical number is not realized in practice due to the memory bottleneck.

The measured FPS data is a direct consequence of this GPU's limitations. The steep frame rate drops when increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K are a classic sign of a GPU with insufficient memory bandwidth and fillrate. The fact that the Ultra preset at 4K manages only 15 FPS, while the Low preset at 1080p manages 94 FPS, shows that the GPU's performance is highly sensitive to both pixel count and shading complexity. The Arc B390 is simply not designed for the demands of modern gaming at high resolutions, and even at 1080p, its performance is only acceptable at the lowest settings. This GPU caps the entire system's potential, turning a powerful CPU into a passenger in a poorly performing combo.