Road 96

Road 96 is a narrative-driven adventure, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER shows that this combination is decisively GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet capable of extreme frame rates that far exceed the needs of its genre. The measured results across twelve settings and resolution permutations reveal a system that scales predictably, offering a smooth experience at 4K Ultra while providing headroom for high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing a flawless experience at 4K, the High preset presents the optimal balance, delivering an average of 62.6 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Pushing to Ultra drops the average to 47.7 FPS, a significant 23.8% reduction from High that introduces noticeable stutter in a game where narrative pacing matters more than graphical extremes. The data suggests that the Ultra preset is not worth the performance cost at 2160p, as the visual uplift in an adventure title is unlikely to justify the frame rate penalty.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 115.3 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the Medium preset at 145.2 FPS offers a more substantial performance buffer, and the step from Medium to High only yields a 20.6% frame rate increase. For competitive or fast-paced scenes, the Medium preset provides a superior experience by ensuring frame times remain consistently low, while still delivering a visually rich image. The Low preset at 197.7 FPS is unnecessary unless targeting a 240Hz display, but it demonstrates the sheer headroom this combo has at this resolution.

At 1080p, the system is clearly not bottlenecked by the GPU. The High preset produces 182.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any current display. The Medium preset at 223.4 FPS is the sweet spot for 240Hz panels, providing a 22.1% uplift over High while maintaining visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 145.8 FPS is still highly playable, but the performance gap between Ultra and High is a 20.3% loss, making High the more sensible choice for those who want to maximize frame rates without sacrificing too much quality. The Low preset's 310.5 FPS is a theoretical maximum, showcasing the CPU's ability to feed the GPU at this resolution, but it is not a recommended setting for normal play.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the performance ceiling observed in the data. Equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, the card provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is ample for Road 96's textures at all tested settings. The 5 nm AD104 chip, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, drives the frame rates, and its 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is more than enough for this adventure title.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly critical as resolution scales up. At 4K, the frame rates are heavily dependent on the card's raw throughput. The transition from Low to Ultra at 3840x2160 results in a performance drop from 103.5 FPS to 47.7 FPS, a 54% reduction that highlights the immense load placed on the GPU by higher fidelity settings. The card's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs, based on an average benchmark score of 42576, places it in the upper echelon of performance. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scores 42653, a mere 0.2% difference, indicating that this consumer card trades blows with a professional workstation part in synthetic tests, but in gaming, the architecture is tailored for exactly these types of workloads.

The 220 W TDP and dual-slot cooler suggest that thermal throttling is unlikely to be a major factor in sustained gaming sessions. The card's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures that the CPU's Gen 5 lanes are not a limitation for data transfer. In Road 96, the GPU is the clear performance arbiter, and the data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER provides a robust foundation for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p and a viable 4K experience at High settings.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, confirming that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary limiting component. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 182.9 FPS to 115.3 FPS, a 37% reduction. This is a substantial loss, but the resulting 115.3 FPS is still exceptionally smooth. The drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings is even more pronounced, falling to 62.6 FPS, another 45.7% reduction. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the number of pixels being rendered quadruples.

At the Low preset, the scaling is more dramatic. The jump from 1080p's 310.5 FPS to 1440p's 197.7 FPS represents a 36.3% decrease, and then to 4K's 103.5 FPS is a further 47.6% decrease. These percentages are remarkably consistent, suggesting that the CPU has enough headroom at lower settings to keep the GPU fed, and the frame rate is dictated almost entirely by the GPU's pixel throughput. The fact that the i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, can sustain over 300 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the processor is not a bottleneck in this title.

The scaling pattern is a textbook example of GPU-bound performance. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient across all resolutions, but the sheer number of pixels at 4K overwhelms the shader units, causing the frame rate to plummet. For players, this means that resolution is the primary lever for performance. The CPU's performance, as indicated by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 893 and 3dmark_16_threads score of 4051, is more than adequate for the game's logic, but it is the GPU that determines the final output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a comprehensive matrix of performance. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves an average of 103.5 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K. Medium lowers this to 78.2 FPS, a 24.4% drop, and High to 62.6 FPS, a further 20% reduction. Ultra is the most demanding, yielding just 47.7 FPS, which is 54% slower than Low. The progression is smooth, but the gap between Medium and High is particularly notable, suggesting a significant increase in shader complexity.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are comfortably in high-refresh territory. Low produces 197.7 FPS, Medium 145.2 FPS, High 115.3 FPS, and Ultra 89.3 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is a 22.5% performance loss, making Ultra a less attractive option at this resolution unless the visual fidelity is paramount. The data indicates that 1440p Medium or High are the most balanced settings, offering a clear margin above 100 FPS while maintaining a detailed image.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its peak performance. Low hits 310.5 FPS, Medium 223.4 FPS, High 182.9 FPS, and Ultra 145.8 FPS. The CPU's capability is fully exposed here, as the frame rates are high enough to saturate most displays. The difference between Medium and High is a 18.1% reduction, and between High and Ultra is a 20.3% reduction. These are significant deltas, meaning that even at 1080p, the graphics settings have a major impact on performance. For a game like Road 96, which does not require lightning-fast reflexes, the High preset at 1080p provides an ideal balance of visual quality and performance, but the Medium preset is the best choice for those with 240Hz monitors seeking maximum fluidity.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER holds a rank of 310 out of 1684 tested combos in Road 96. This places it in the top 18.4% of all systems, a strong showing that reflects the GPU's high-end positioning. The rank is primarily driven by the RTX 4070 SUPER, which sits at the 84th percentile among all GPUs, while the i3-12100F is at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 puts it in close competition with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13534, a negligible 0.1% difference. This is a remarkable result for a quad-core part, as it outpaces or matches much more expensive and power-hungry processors in synthetic tests. The nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-7700K with a score of 13280, are 1.8% behind, confirming the i3-12100F's strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance for its class.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 42576 is slightly below the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE, which scores 42723, a 0.3% difference. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 is a 0.2% ahead, showing that the 4070 SUPER is firmly in the top tier of graphics cards. The combination of a surprisingly capable budget CPU and a high-end GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for gaming, with the GPU being the sole limiting factor at higher resolutions. The rank of 310 indicates that while there are many more powerful combinations, this pairing offers a level of performance that will handle Road 96 with ease, providing a high-quality experience across all settings and resolutions.