Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that, on this AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + Intel Arc B370 configuration, shows a clear and consistent pattern: the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck at every resolution and settings level. The data measured for this combo places it at rank 2680 out of 2903 tested combinations in this game, putting it in the bottom tier of performers, and the frame rates confirm a system that struggles to maintain playable smoothness at higher demands. The Intel Arc B370, with its integrated graphics class performance, sits at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, and the benchmark results for this game reflect that positioning across the board.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and uniform, indicating that the GPU is saturated at all tested resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 85 at 1920x1080 to 54 at 2560x1440, a 36% reduction, and then further to 29 at 3840x2160, which is a 66% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 25 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 31 FPS, showing that the GPU's fill rate and shading resources are exhausted quickly as pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the same pattern holds: 62 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The percentage losses are consistent at roughly 35% and 48% for each successive resolution step. This consistency suggests that the bottleneck is purely pixel-bound, with the CPU (a 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 5900X) sitting idle while the Arc B370 struggles to keep up. For High settings, the numbers are 50, 32, and 17 FPS respectively, and at Ultra, the configuration manages 39, 25, and 13 FPS.

The 4K results are particularly telling: even at Low settings, the average FPS of 29 is barely playable, and at Ultra it drops to 13 FPS. The data indicates that 4K is not a viable resolution for this game on this hardware, as the GPU's 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs are simply not enough to drive that many pixels. The scaling pattern across all four settings presets is nearly identical, which reinforces that resolution, not graphical complexity, is the primary factor limiting performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the only setting preset that delivers a consistently smooth experience is Low at 1080p, where the average FPS of 85 provides ample headroom. At 1440p, Low is still serviceable at 54 FPS, but the 4K Low result of 29 FPS falls below the threshold for comfortable play. For players prioritizing frame rate, Low at 1080p is the clear choice, as it is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS by a significant margin.

Medium at 1080p, with an average of 62 FPS, is also playable and offers a better visual balance, but the minimum FPS of 53 indicates occasional dips that could be noticeable in action sequences. At 1440p, Medium drops to 40 FPS, which is acceptable for a slow-paced adventure game but not ideal. High at 1080p averages 50 FPS, which is playable but not smooth, and at 1440p it falls to 32 FPS, which starts to feel sluggish. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution, as even 1080p Ultra only reaches 39 FPS, and the 1440p and 4K results of 25 and 13 FPS respectively are too low for a responsive experience.

The data suggests that the best experience per the measured rows is Low at 1080p, with Medium at 1080p as a secondary option if visual fidelity is more important than the extra 23 FPS. Dropping to Low at 1440p is a viable compromise for higher resolution, but the 54 FPS average will show occasional stutter. The 4K resolution should be avoided entirely, as even the lowest preset fails to reach 30 FPS.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the defining component in this system's performance, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output pipelines, with a boost clock of 2400 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. The FP32 throughput is 6.144 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, with a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. These are modest figures for a modern GPU, and they align with the 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Memory bandwidth is system-dependent, as the Arc B370 uses shared system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This means the GPU's performance is tied to the system's DDR4 memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, which is low compared to dedicated graphics cards. In a game like Road 96, which appears to be texture-heavy, this shared memory configuration can cause additional bottlenecks beyond raw compute. The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all older or lower-tier parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 is 0.2% behind, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 is 0.5% behind, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M is 0.7% behind, while the AMD FirePro M2000 is 1.4% ahead. This places the Arc B370 in the same performance class as a decade-old discrete GPU, which explains the low frame rates in this game.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is the only benchmark recorded, and it confirms that this is an entry-level part. The 25 W TDP and integrated graphics form factor (IGP) mean it is never going to compete with dedicated solutions, and the measured FPS in Road 96 reflects that. At 1080p Low, the GPU is likely the limiting factor at 85 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it is completely overwhelmed at 13 FPS. The 10 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are present, but they do not help in this title, which is not ray-traced.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration delivers 85 FPS on Low, 62 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 53 and maximum of 72), 50 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 46 FPS, showing that the GPU has some headroom at 1080p but that Ultra settings tax it heavily. The Medium preset's minimum of 53 FPS suggests that even the 62 FPS average is not entirely stable, with dips that could be felt during scene transitions.

At 2560x1440, the results are 54 FPS on Low, 40 FPS on Medium (minimum 34, maximum 46), 32 FPS on High, and 25 FPS on Ultra. The Low setting is the only one that remains above 50 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 29 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming the absolute constraint. The Medium minimum of 34 FPS shows that 1440p is pushing the hardware to its limits.

At 3840x2160, the configuration manages 29 FPS on Low, 21 FPS on Medium (minimum 18, maximum 24), 17 FPS on High, and 13 FPS on Ultra. No setting reaches 30 FPS at 4K, and the Low preset is the only one that comes close. The Medium minimum of 18 FPS is nearly unplayable, and the Ultra result of 13 FPS is a slideshow. The data shows that 4K is not a supported resolution for this combo, and even the lowest settings cannot salvage a playable frame rate.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the configuration achieves playable frame rates across multiple presets. At 1080p, Low averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS, and High averages 50 FPS. At 1440p, only Low exceeds 50 FPS at 54, and at 4K, no preset reaches 30 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score of 1184 places it nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which is 0.2% behind, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, which is 0.5% behind. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M is 0.7% behind, while the AMD FirePro M2000 is 1.4% ahead.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5900X bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The Ryzen 9 5900X has 12 cores and 24 threads with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, and its benchmarks are strong (Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16262). The frame rates are consistently low across all resolutions, which indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Q: What is the playable setting at 1440p?

A: The only 1440p preset that stays above 50 FPS is Low at 54 FPS average. Medium drops to 40 FPS, High to 32 FPS, and Ultra to 25 FPS. For a stable experience, Low at 1440p is the only viable option, though it may still exhibit occasional dips.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 62 at 1080p to 40 at 1440p, a 35% reduction, and then to 21 at 4K, a 66% drop from the 1080p baseline. The minimum FPS at 4K is 18, compared to 53 at 1080p.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using at any resolution?

A: No. The Ultra preset yields 39 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 13 FPS at 4K. These results are all below the 60 FPS target for smooth play, and at 1440p and 4K, they fall below acceptable playability thresholds.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer) built on a 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boosting to 4.80 GHz, and it carries 64 MB of L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 16262 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 1527 in single-core, and 14118 in Geekbench multicore, with a Passmark multithread score of 39002. Its average benchmark score of 41376 places it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of its score, including the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% ahead), Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (0.4% ahead), and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 (0.4% ahead), while the Intel Core i7-14650HX is 0.5% behind.

Given this CPU's capabilities, it is clear that the processor is not the limiting factor in Road 96. The game's measured frame rates are almost entirely dependent on the GPU, as evidenced by the consistent performance drops across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 85 FPS average is likely near the CPU's maximum for this title, but at 4K Ultra, the 13 FPS result is purely a GPU limitation. The Ryzen 9 5900X's single-threaded performance, which is strong with a 3DMark single-thread score of 941 and Passmark single-thread score of 3469, ensures that even the most demanding game logic is handled without issue.

The CPU's 24 threads provide ample parallel processing headroom, and the 64 MB L3 cache helps with data locality, but none of this matters when the GPU can only produce 17 FPS at 4K High. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield massive improvements, while the CPU would remain underutilized. The 105 W TDP and AM4 socket configuration are standard for a desktop part, and the memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is shared with the GPU, but this does not appear to be a CPU-side constraint. In short, the Ryzen 9 5900X is more than capable of feeding this GPU, but the Arc B370 cannot translate that CPU power into playable frame rates at higher resolutions.