Road 96

The benchmark data for Road 96 with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER reveals a configuration that is heavily influenced by resolution and settings, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher loads. This pairing, ranking 1177 out of 1684 tested combos, offers a clear case study in how a mid-range Turing card interacts with a modern Zen 4 processor in a stylized adventure title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, clearly identifying the GPU as the limiting factor. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces an average of 101.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 66.9 FPS, a 34% reduction, and then to 4K, the average falls to just 31.6 FPS, a 69% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU with 8 GB of VRAM and a 256-bit memory bus, which is the RTX 2060 SUPER.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 169 FPS at 1080p to 108.8 FPS at 1440p and then to 57 FPS at 4K. The fact that 4K performance is nearly one-third of the 1080p performance, even at the lowest settings, indicates that the GPU's raw throughput is the primary constraint. The Ryzen 7 7700, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the limiting factor here. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance delta between resolutions, as the workload would stay relatively flat while the GPU waits for instructions.

This data suggests that for 4K gaming, this combination is only viable at Low settings, where it achieves a playable 57 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K costs 13.5 FPS, a significant hit, and from Medium to High another 11.9 FPS, making the Ultra preset at 4K essentially unplayable at 25.2 FPS. The data implies that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a 1080p and 1440p card for this title, with 4K requiring significant compromises.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this CPU and GPU combo in Road 96?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 169 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the combo's performance rank against all other tested configurations?

A: This specific configuration ranks 1177 out of 1684 tested combos for Road 96, placing it in the lower third of all tested systems.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 a significant performance outlier compared to its closest rivals?

A: No. The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40468, which is only 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365. It is also 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i9-13905H.

Q: What is the average frame rate at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with the Ultra preset, the average frame rate is 51.8 FPS, which is just above the 50 FPS threshold often considered acceptable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to the High preset at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 169 FPS, while the High preset delivers 101.7 FPS. This represents a performance increase of 67.3 FPS, or roughly 66% faster with the Low preset.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile rank among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER has a percentile rank of 63, meaning it performs better than 63% of all GPUs in the benchmark database.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1177 out of 1684 places it in the 30th percentile of all tested systems for Road 96. This is a surprisingly low position for a CPU that ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, suggesting that the GPU is heavily dragging down the overall result. The Ryzen 7 7700's performance is near-identical to its nearest rivals, with a delta of just 0.1% versus the Ryzen 9 7940H and 0.5% versus the Ryzen AI 9 365. This indicates that the processor is performing exactly as expected for its class.

The GPU, however, tells a different story. With a percentile rank of 63, it sits just above the median. Its average benchmark score of 19774 is barely higher than its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, which scores 19706, a 0.3% difference. This tight grouping shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is at the top of its performance tier, but that tier is simply not high enough to push the overall combo ranking up. The data suggests that for Road 96, the CPU is not a differentiator; the GPU is the anchor. A stronger GPU would likely move this combo up the rankings significantly, as the CPU has ample headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. The Low preset yields 169 FPS, Medium drops to 124 FPS, High to 101.7 FPS, and Ultra to 79.8 FPS. All presets are highly playable, with even the most demanding Ultra setting maintaining an average above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance is still solid. Low produces 108.8 FPS, Medium 80.1 FPS, and High 66.9 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 51.8 FPS, which is still playable but begins to show the GPU's limitations.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's struggle becomes evident. The Low preset is the only playable option, with an average of 57 FPS. Medium drops to 43.5 FPS, High to 31.6 FPS, and Ultra to a barely interactive 25.2 FPS. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 2060 SUPER is capable of delivering smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, but it is not a 4K-capable card for this title beyond the lowest settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a Zen 4 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz can boost up to 5.30 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 29302 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4136 in single-core. These strong results confirm that the CPU is not struggling to feed the GPU in Road 96.

The game's performance scaling with resolution points to a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU one. For example, at 1080p High, the combo hits 101.7 FPS. If the CPU were a limiting factor, we would see a less severe drop when increasing the resolution to 1440p. However, the frame rate drops by 34%, which is characteristic of a pixel-bound workload. The 16 threads of the Ryzen 7 7700 are more than sufficient for an adventure game like Road 96. The data indicates that the CPU has significant headroom, and its 65W TDP suggests an efficient design that doesn't compromise performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth 60+ FPS experience, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the sweet spot, delivering 66.9 FPS. If a higher refresh rate monitor is in use, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 124 FPS, which is a better balance of visual quality and speed.

For 4K gaming, the only viable option is the Low preset, which yields 57 FPS. This is a significant compromise in visual fidelity but is the only way to achieve a playable frame rate at that resolution. The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as it only manages 51.8 FPS at 1440p and 25.2 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that for the best experience, users should target 1440p High or 1080p Medium/High, where the RTX 2060 SUPER is most effective.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1470 MHz, with a boost clock of 1650 MHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 16462 in Passmark G3D, placing it in the 63rd percentile. This performance level is very close to its nearest rivals, such as the RTX 2070, which scores 19680 (a 0.5% difference).

The GPU's role as the system's bottleneck is clearly defined by the data. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 25.2 FPS, which is a 85% reduction from the 1080p Ultra score of 79.8 FPS. This demonstrates that the 8 GB of VRAM and the GPU's compute power are insufficient for the demands of 4K resolution with high detail settings in this game. The 175W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class. The data shows that while the RTX 2060 SUPER is a competent 1080p and 1440p card, its age and 12 nm process node limit its performance at higher resolutions, especially when paired with a far more modern and powerful CPU like the Ryzen 7 7700.