Road 96

Road 96 with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and Intel Arc B370 presents a unique bottleneck scenario. The data shows a system where the CPU is a high-end desktop part from 2020, while the GPU is a low-power integrated graphics solution from 2026. This pairing creates a massive performance disparity, and the benchmark results clearly illustrate that the GPU is the definitive limiting factor in every measurable scenario, regardless of resolution or settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and reveals a classic GPU-bound situation. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 85 FPS. Stepping up to 1440p Low drops this to 54 FPS, a reduction of 36.5%. Moving to 4K Low yields only 29 FPS, which is a 65.9% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep curve indicates that the rendering workload is overwhelming the Intel Arc B370's capabilities as pixel count increases.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 50 FPS at 1080p to 32 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop) and then to 17 FPS at 4K (a 66% drop from 1080p). The Medium preset shows a similar pattern, with averages of 62, 40, and 21 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 39 FPS at 1080p and collapsing to 25 FPS at 1440p and 13 FPS at 4K.

This behavior is characteristic of a system where the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are exhausted. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the constraint here; its processing power is far beyond what is needed for this title at these resolutions. The data suggests that the game's engine is not heavily CPU-bound, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with the number of pixels being rendered. The 4K results, which hover in the teens and low twenties, are clear evidence that the Arc B370, despite being a modern architecture, simply does not have the raw throughput to handle the increased resolution load in Road 96.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average frame rate remains consistently above 30 FPS across all settings. At 1440p, only the Low preset achieves a comfortable 54 FPS average, while higher presets fall into the 25-40 FPS range. The 4K resolution is not viable for smooth gameplay, with even the Low preset averaging only 29 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The difference is significant. At 1080p, the High preset averages 50 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS. This is a 22% reduction in average frame rate for the highest visual fidelity. The 11 FPS difference suggests that Ultra settings impose a substantial additional load on the GPU compared to High.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this system?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck. The Intel Arc B370 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. In contrast, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a high-end processor with an average benchmark score of 29123, placing it in the 81st percentile. The frame rates are consistently low, especially at higher resolutions, which points directly to the GPU's limitations rather than any CPU constraint.

Q: What are the frame time characteristics at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system produces an average of 40 FPS. The benchmark data also provides a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. This indicates a frame time variance of about 12 FPS, suggesting that while the experience is playable on average, there can be noticeable dips in performance during more demanding scenes.

Q: How does the Arc B370's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 1184 is nearly identical to its closest competitors. It sits just 0.2% below the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and 0.5% below the ATI Radeon HD 5770. It is 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000. This indicates that the Arc B370's raw compute performance is in the same class as these older, much less capable cards.

Q: Given the performance, what is the playable target for this combo?

A: The data suggests that 1080p is the target resolution for acceptable playability. At this resolution, the Low preset delivers 85 FPS, Medium delivers 62 FPS, and High delivers 50 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, the Medium or Low presets at 1080p are the only configurations that stay comfortably above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings optimization. For a target of 60 FPS or higher, the only viable options are at 1920x1080 resolution. The Low preset is the most performant, delivering an average of 85 FPS. The Medium preset also clears this threshold with an average of 62 FPS, making it the optimal balance of visual quality and performance for a standard display. The High preset at 1080p, averaging 50 FPS, is a compromise for those who prioritize visual fidelity over a high refresh rate, but it falls short of the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. Only the Low preset, with an average of 54 FPS, approaches a playable level. The Medium and High presets at this resolution produce averages of 40 and 32 FPS, respectively, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced adventure game but are not ideal for smooth motion. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended due to its significant performance cost; it yields a maximum average of 39 FPS at 1080p and drops to 13 FPS at 4K.

For an optimal experience, the data strongly suggests using the Medium preset at 1080p. It provides a 24% performance uplift over High at the same resolution while offering a significant visual improvement over Low. The 62 FPS average ensures a fluid gameplay experience. If a higher resolution is absolutely necessary, dropping to the Low preset at 1440p is the only configuration that maintains an average above 50 FPS, but it comes with the visual compromises of the lowest settings. The 4K resolution should be avoided entirely, as the best average achievable is 29 FPS at Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this configuration is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 85 FPS. This is the highest performance point recorded for this combo.
• Medium: Average 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 and a maximum of 72. This shows good frame pacing with a 19 FPS variance.
• High: Average 50 FPS. This is a solid playable frame rate for a narrative-driven game.
• Ultra: Average 39 FPS. This is the lowest average at 1080p, showing a significant hit from the highest settings.

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 54 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that remains above 50 FPS.
• Medium: Average 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 46. The frame time variance is narrower here than at 1080p Medium.
• High: Average 32 FPS. This is beginning to feel sluggish for consistent gameplay.
• Ultra: Average 25 FPS. This is below the threshold for comfortable play.

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 29 FPS. This is on the edge of playability and will feel stuttery.
• Medium: Average 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 24. This is a very constrained experience.
• High: Average 17 FPS. This is a slideshow-like performance.
• Ultra: Average 13 FPS. This is the lowest score in the entire dataset, rendering the game nearly unplayable.

The data shows a clear and consistent step-down in performance as settings and resolution increase. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial, highlighting the GPU's limited processing headroom.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is unequivocally the performance anchor in this system. Its benchmark data is stark: a single 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This means 95% of tested graphics cards perform better. Its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770, which reflects its low position in the performance hierarchy. The GPU's architecture is Xe3-LPG, built on a 3 nm process, and it features a boost clock of 2400 MHz. It has 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, which explains its limited pixel throughput of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is just 6.144 TFLOPS.

Crucially, the memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it uses a portion of the main system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which is a major disadvantage for gaming. In Road 96, this shared memory architecture likely contributes to the performance collapse at higher resolutions, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth. The 4K results, which show an average of 17 FPS at High settings, illustrate how the card's 20 ROPs are overwhelmed by the pixel fill rate required at 3840x2160. The GPU's low TDP of 25 W and IGP slot width confirm its design as an integrated or low-power mobile part, making it fundamentally unsuited for demanding desktop gaming workloads like 4K rendering.

CPU Role

In stark contrast to the GPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a high-performance desktop processor. Its benchmark results place it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 29123. It is a Zen 3 architecture part with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its multi-threaded capabilities are strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15476 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 27732. The single-thread performance is also robust, with a Passmark single-thread score of 3445. This CPU has a 32 MB L3 cache and supports PCIe Gen 4.

Given the low frame rates observed in the game, the 5800X is clearly not the limiting factor. In fact, the data suggests the CPU is massively over-provisioned for this workload. For example, at 1080p Low, the system only manages 85 FPS. A processor with this level of performance is typically capable of much higher frame rates in less demanding titles. The bottleneck is so severe on the GPU side that the CPU is likely idling much of the time, waiting for the graphics card to finish rendering each frame. The CPU's high benchmark scores, such as a Geekbench multi-core score of 11036, are irrelevant to the final frame rate here because the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's output. The performance of this combo is a case study in how a weak GPU can negate the potential of a strong CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The overall ranking for this specific combination in Road 96 is very poor. The data shows a combo rank of 2680 out of 2903 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 7.7% of all system configurations. This low ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance, which is in the 5th percentile. The CPU's high percentile ranking (81st) does little to boost the combo's standing because the game's performance is almost entirely dependent on the graphics solution.

The disparity between the two components is the defining characteristic of this pairing. The Ryzen 7 5800X's average benchmark score of 29123 is nearly 25 times higher than the Arc B370's average score of 1184. This massive gap means the system is profoundly unbalanced for gaming. While the CPU could easily power a high-end graphics card, it is paired with a component that ranks alongside the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570. Consequently, the system's in-game performance is representative of a budget or legacy system, not a modern desktop. The combo's rank of 2680 reflects this reality, indicating that users with this configuration will experience performance comparable to some of the lowest-scoring systems in the database, making it unsuitable for a game like Road 96 at any resolution above 1080p with high settings.