Road 96

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Road 96 with the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 reveals a clear pattern: this game is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the scaling from 1080p to 4K is far from linear. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers 154 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 98 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 52 FPS, which is a 66% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RX 9070's rendering workload is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The scaling behavior is even more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the combo produces 261 FPS at 1080p, 166 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent: 36% from 1080p to 1440p, and 47% from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that even when the GPU is less stressed by graphical effects, the raw pixel throughput at 4K remains a significant bottleneck. The RX 9070's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth is ample for this game, so the limitation is in the shader and rasterization throughput rather than memory capacity.

At Ultra settings, the pattern intensifies. The combo achieves 121 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and just 41 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth for action games, though Road 96 is an adventure title where frame rate demands are less strict. The data shows that the i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.40 GHz, is not the constraint here — if it were, we would see more consistent frame rates across resolutions. Instead, the GPU is clearly the limiting component at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU adequately.

The Medium preset tells a similar story: 191 FPS at 1080p, 122 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result includes a measured minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS, showing some frame pacing variance. This variance is likely due to the GPU occasionally hitting heavier scenes, not CPU limitations. Overall, the resolution scaling analysis indicates that for a 60 FPS target, 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, while 4K requires dropping to Medium or Low settings to maintain playable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth 60 FPS experience with this combo?

A: At 1440p High settings, the combo produces 98 FPS average, which is well above 60 FPS. At 4K Medium, it hits 64 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum. So 1440p High is the safest choice, while 4K Medium is viable if you accept occasional dips near 55 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9070 compare to its closest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 9070's average benchmark score is 23877. It sits 0.6% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23736), 1.1% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (23628), and 0.8% below the AMD Radeon RX 6800S (24063). It trails the RTX 2080 SUPER by 1.2% (which scores 24170).

Q: Is the i5-11400F a bottleneck for the RX 9070 in Road 96?

A: No. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial (e.g., 154 to 52 FPS on High), which is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiter, the 4K performance would be much closer to 1080p. The i5-11400F's single-thread score of 868 in 3dmark and 2981 in Passmark single-thread are sufficient for this game.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings yield 261 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 121 FPS. That is a 140 FPS difference, or about 54% lower performance on Ultra. The gap narrows at higher resolutions: at 4K, Low gives 88 FPS and Ultra gives 41 FPS, a 47 FPS difference.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM on the RX 9070 help in Road 96?

A: The data does not show VRAM capacity being a limiting factor in any measured configuration. The game is not VRAM-hungry enough to stress 16 GB, even at 4K Ultra. The bottleneck is raw GPU compute, as evidenced by the consistent FPS scaling pattern.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1130 out of 3713 tested combos for Road 96, placing it in the top 30% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the balance between the i5-11400F and RX 9070, though the 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS pulls the overall standing down.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data makes a clear case for the Medium preset as the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1440p Medium, the combo delivers 122 FPS average with a 104 FPS minimum and 140 FPS maximum. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. At 4K Medium, the average is 64 FPS with a 55 FPS minimum, which is acceptable for an adventure game where fast reflexes are not critical.

High settings are also viable at 1440p, hitting 98 FPS average, but the jump from Medium to High costs 24 FPS (from 122 to 98). The visual gain in Road 96's stylized art direction is modest, so Medium provides better frame rate stability. At 1080p, any preset works: even Ultra achieves 121 FPS, though Medium's 191 FPS is the best compromise for high-refresh displays.

For 4K, Low settings are the only way to stay well above 60 FPS, with 88 FPS average. Medium at 4K dips to 55 FPS minimum, which may cause occasional stutter on some displays. If 4K is the target, Low is recommended. If visual fidelity matters more than frame rate, Medium at 4K is playable, but High (52 FPS) and Ultra (41 FPS) are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The Ultra preset is only sensible at 1080p where it produces 121 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, the 77 FPS average is passable, but the 35% performance penalty over Medium (122 FPS) is not worth the marginal graphical improvements in this game. The data consistently shows that Medium offers the best performance-per-frame-rate ratio across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F + AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 1130 out of 3713 tested combos for Road 96, placing it in the 69th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong result, but not top-tier. The ranking reflects the fact that this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, where it delivers high frame rates, but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 71 places it above 71% of all CPUs tested, and its avgBenchmarkScore of 17177 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120, 0.3% higher). The i5-11400F also sits 0.4% below the Intel Core i5-12450H (17239) and 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278). These are marginal differences, indicating the CPU is well-matched to its peers.

The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 69 and avgBenchmarkScore of 23877 position it slightly above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23736, 0.6% higher) and RTX 3080 Mobile (23628, 1.1% higher), but below the RX 6800S (24063, 0.8% lower) and RTX 2080 SUPER (24170, 1.2% lower). This mid-pack GPU performance, combined with a solid mid-range CPU, explains the combo's 1130 rank.

The rank of 1130 out of 3713 means roughly 70% of tested combos perform worse, but 30% perform better. This is a respectable position for a combination built around a 6-core/12-thread CPU and a 4 nm GPU with 3584 shading units. The combo's weakness is clearly at 4K Ultra, where the 41 FPS result drags down its overall standing. If the ranking were based solely on 1080p and 1440p performance, the combo would likely sit much higher.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 plays the dominant role in determining this combo's Road 96 performance. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for this game's asset streaming. The memory clock runs at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), and the GPU has a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz.

The boost clock of 2520 MHz is particularly relevant for 1080p performance, where the GPU can sustain high frame rates (261 FPS at Low) without thermal throttling. At 4K, the GPU's 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs are the limiting factors. The pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s are respectable but not enough to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS is the key metric for this game's shader complexity. Road 96 uses stylized visuals that are not particularly demanding on ray tracing or compute, so the 56 RT cores are underutilized. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is present, but the game likely runs in standard rasterization mode.

Comparing to rivals, the RX 9070's Passmark G3D score of 25381 is 0.6% higher than the GTX TITAN Z (23736) and 1.1% higher than the RTX 3080 Mobile (23628), but 0.8% lower than the RX 6800S (24063). These small deltaPct values suggest the RX 9070 is performance-competitive with high-end GPUs from previous generations, but not a clear winner. In Road 96 specifically, the GPU's role is to push pixels efficiently, which it does well at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS shows its limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 261 FPS average. This is the highest measured result across all configurations, indicating the CPU and GPU have ample headroom.
• Medium: 191 FPS average, with a 163 FPS minimum and 220 FPS maximum. The variance shows some scenes are more demanding.
• High: 154 FPS average. This is 37 FPS lower than Medium, a 24% reduction for one preset level.
• Ultra: 121 FPS average. Still well above 60 FPS, making 1080p Ultra a viable option for high-refresh displays.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 166 FPS average. A 36% drop from 1080p Low (261 FPS), confirming GPU-bound scaling.
• Medium: 122 FPS average, with 104 FPS minimum and 140 FPS maximum. The minimum is close to the 100 FPS mark, providing smooth gameplay.
• High: 98 FPS average. This is the first configuration to drop below 100 FPS, but still far above 60 FPS.
• Ultra: 77 FPS average. Playable but approaching the 60 FPS threshold.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 88 FPS average. This is the only 4K setting that clears 60 FPS with margin.
• Medium: 64 FPS average, with 55 FPS minimum and 74 FPS maximum. The minimum dips below 60 FPS, indicating occasional stutter.
• High: 52 FPS average. Below the 60 FPS target, which may cause noticeable judder on standard displays.
• Ultra: 41 FPS average. This is the weakest result, 85% lower than the 1080p Low score. Not recommended for smooth play.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step down (from 4K to 1440p to 1080p) roughly doubles the frame rate at the same settings. For example, High settings go from 52 FPS (4K) to 98 FPS (1440p) to 154 FPS (1080p). This linear scaling indicates the GPU is the sole bottleneck, with the i5-11400F providing enough CPU throughput to avoid limiting performance. The Medium preset at 1440p (122 FPS) is the best overall measured configuration, balancing visual quality with frame rate stability.