Road 96

Road 96 is a narrative-heavy adventure, and this pairing of an Intel Core i3-12100F with an AMD Radeon RX 7700 produces a broad spread of frame rates depending on how you configure it. The benchmark data places this specific combination at rank 1298 out of 2903 tested combos, which puts it in the upper-middle portion of the field. That ranking is not a statement about the game’s genre or art style—it is a direct reflection of how this CPU and GPU work together under the measured conditions. The combo sits comfortably ahead of the median tested setup, but it is not near the top tier, and the reason becomes clear when you examine the resolution scaling and the settings presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame value of 1298 out of 2903 means that roughly 55% of all tested combinations outperform this pair, while about 45% perform worse. That is a solid mid-pack result, but the context matters. Road 96 is not a demanding title in the same way as a modern first-person shooter or a heavy simulation game. The fact that this combo ranks where it does suggests that the hardware is more than adequate for the game’s core experience, but the measured FPS numbers show that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The ranking is derived from the full set of measured FPS rows, which include 1080p, 1440p, and 4K across four quality presets. The i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, and its benchmark scores—like a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674—indicate it is a capable modern chip. The RX 7700, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus, is a strong mid-range GPU. When you combine those two, the ranking reflects a system that can handle Road 96 smoothly at most settings, but with clear headroom at the top end.

The nearest rivals for the CPU show how close the i3-12100F sits to other processors in average benchmark score. The Intel Core 3 N355 has an average score of 13492, which is a 0% delta from the i3-12100F’s 13494. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, a 0.3% difference, while the Intel Core 5 120UL is 0.7% behind at 13594, and the Intel Core i7-1250U is 1.1% ahead at 13351. These are all within a few points, meaning the i3-12100F’s performance is extremely close to those chips in synthetic workloads. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are similarly tight: the AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862, a -0.1% delta from the RX 7700’s 15852, while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is 1% ahead at 16014, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 1.1% behind at 15679, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% ahead at 16129. The RX 7700’s average benchmark score is 15852, and its percentile vs all GPUs is 58, meaning it sits slightly above the median GPU. That aligns with the combo’s overall rank—neither component is a standout outlier, but together they deliver a coherent experience.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the primary driver of frame rates in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU has a base clock of 1900 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz. Memory runs at 2438 MHz, which translates to 19.5 Gbps effective, and the 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Those are substantial numbers for a mid-range card. The GPU’s benchmark results include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 and a Passmark G3D score of 20974, both of which are respectable. In Road 96, the GPU’s role is most evident when you look at the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 213 FPS, which is far beyond any display’s refresh rate for smooth play. At 4K with Ultra settings, that drops to 33 FPS, which is barely playable. The GPU is clearly the component that determines these limits—the CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates, but the RX 7700’s raw rendering power caps out at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s RDNA 3.0 architecture and 5 nm process node from TSMC are relevant because they influence efficiency and clock behavior. The RX 7700 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 236.1 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 393.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS. Those numbers translate directly to how quickly the card can fill pixels and process textures in a game like Road 96, which has a stylized art style that does not demand extreme geometry or effects. The measured FPS at 1440p High is 80 FPS, which is smooth for an adventure game. At 4K High, it drops to 42 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less fluid. The GPU’s 16 GB of VRAM is more than enough for Road 96 at any resolution, so memory capacity is not a bottleneck here—the limiting factor is raw compute throughput at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 213 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 136 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 72 FPS. That is a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The pattern is consistent across all presets. For High settings, 1080p yields 126 FPS, 1440p yields 80 FPS, and 4K yields 42 FPS—a 67% drop. Medium settings show 156 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K, a 66% reduction. Ultra settings produce 98 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, a 66% drop. The consistency of that ~66-67% reduction across all presets indicates that the game’s rendering load scales almost linearly with pixel count, and the GPU is the component doing the heavy lifting. The CPU’s workload does not increase proportionally with resolution, so the RX 7700 is clearly the limiting factor as you move toward 4K.

The implication is that at 1080p, the CPU and GPU are both contributing meaningfully, but the frame rates are so high—126 to 213 FPS depending on settings—that the CPU could be holding back the GPU in some scenarios. At 4K, the GPU is fully saturated, and the CPU has plenty of headroom. The data shows that the combo is most balanced at 1440p, where FPS ranges from 63 to 136 depending on settings. At 1080p, the i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads might limit the GPU’s potential in lighter scenes, but the measured FPS values are so high that it does not matter for playability. The resolution scaling also reveals that Road 96 is not a particularly heavy game—even at 4K Ultra, the combo still produces 33 FPS, which is low but not a slideshow. The drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but the absolute numbers at each resolution are what matter for a practical recommendation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting with 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. At Low settings, the average FPS is 213, which is exceptionally smooth and far beyond any standard 60 Hz display. Medium settings drop that to 156 FPS, with a minimum of 133 and a maximum of 179. High settings produce 126 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 98 FPS. All of these values are playable, and even the Ultra average of 98 FPS is above 90, which is smooth for most users. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 115 FPS, showing that the settings preset has a significant impact on performance, but the GPU has enough power to keep even the most demanding preset above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers become more moderate. Low settings average 136 FPS, which is still very high. Medium settings average 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 114. High settings average 80 FPS, and Ultra settings average 63 FPS. The Ultra result is just above the 60 FPS threshold, meaning you can run the game at max settings at 1440p without dropping below smooth playback in most scenes. The Medium preset’s minimum of 84 FPS is also reassuring—it shows that even in demanding moments, the frame rate stays well above 60. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 73 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become more of a limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 72 FPS, which is playable but not as buttery as lower resolutions. Medium settings average 53 FPS, with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 60. High settings average 42 FPS, and Ultra settings average 33 FPS. The 4K results show that the RX 7700 can handle Road 96 at 4K, but only at Low settings for a consistently smooth experience. Medium settings at 4K produce a minimum of 45 FPS, which is borderline for an adventure game where frame pacing matters less than in action titles. High and Ultra settings are below 60 FPS and approach the lower bounds of playability. The measured min FPS values are only provided for Medium settings, but those numbers—45 at 4K, 84 at 1440p, and 133 at 1080p—show that the GPU’s performance is consistent without major stutters.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience depends on your display resolution, but a clear pattern emerges. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is the obvious choice. The average FPS of 98 is well above 60, and the visual quality improvement over High is worth the 28 FPS drop from 126 to 98. There is no reason to use Low or Medium at 1080p, as even Ultra maintains a high frame rate. For users with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor, the High preset at 1080p delivers 126 FPS, which is close to that refresh rate, but Ultra at 98 FPS is still smooth and provides the best image quality. The data suggests that 1080p Ultra is the sweet spot for this combo.

At 1440p, the choice is between High and Ultra. Ultra averages 63 FPS, which is just above 60, and the minimum is likely around the 50s (though not measured). High averages 80 FPS, which provides more headroom for dips. If you have a 60 Hz monitor, Ultra is the way to go, as 63 FPS average will feel smooth. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, High is the better pick, as 80 FPS is a more comfortable margin above 60 and still looks great. Medium at 1440p produces 99 FPS, but the visual downgrade from High is noticeable, and the extra 19 FPS over High does not justify losing the graphical fidelity. Low at 1440p is unnecessary, as even Ultra is playable.

At 4K, the recommendation narrows. Low settings average 72 FPS, which is the only preset that keeps the frame rate above 60. Medium averages 53 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game with any camera movement. High and Ultra are too slow at 42 and 33 FPS respectively, and they are not recommended unless you prioritize visuals over smoothness. For a 4K display, Low settings provide the best balance, and the game’s art style means that Low still looks acceptable. Medium is a compromise if you can tolerate a 53 FPS average, but the minimum of 45 FPS suggests occasional dips below 50, which can be distracting. The data clearly points to Low at 4K for this combo.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake generation, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.30 GHz, and it boosts to 4.30 GHz. The CPU has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and its TDP is 58 W. These specs are modest by modern standards, but they are more than sufficient for Road 96. The CPU’s benchmark scores include a Passmark single-thread score of 3444 and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860. The single-thread performance is strong, which matters for a game that likely relies on a few main threads. The multi-core score is lower than higher-end chips, but Road 96 is not a multi-threaded monster, so the 4 cores and 8 threads are adequate.

The CPU’s role in this pairing becomes clear when you look at the FPS at 1080p. At 213 FPS on Low, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU could push even higher frame rates if the processor could feed it faster. However, 213 FPS is so high that this limitation is irrelevant in practice. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck, and the CPU has spare capacity. The i3-12100F’s nearest rivals in benchmark score—the Intel Core 3 N355 at 13492, the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452, the Intel Core 5 120UL at 13594, and the Intel Core i7-1250U at 13351—are all within 1.1% of its average score of 13494. That means the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. The 3DMark scores show a single-thread score of 893 and a max-thread score of 4023, which are consistent with a budget quad-core. In Road 96, the CPU does not introduce any stutter or bottleneck that would reduce the measured FPS below what the GPU can deliver. The game runs smoothly at all resolutions, and the CPU’s 12 MB of L3 cache and high boost clock ensure that frame times remain consistent. The combo’s rank of 1298 out of 2903 is a fair assessment—the CPU is not holding the GPU back at typical gaming resolutions, and the overall experience is solid.