Road 96

Road 96 is a narrative-driven adventure game, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 shows a combination that is fundamentally constrained by its graphics solution. The measured frames per second across all resolutions and settings reveal a system that struggles to maintain smooth gameplay, particularly at higher graphical presets. The data indicates that this pairing is best suited for low-resolution, low-detail play, and even then, it only approaches acceptable frame rates. This analysis will break down the performance characteristics, focusing on how the system scales with resolution, where the optimal settings lie, and what the benchmark results say about the roles of the CPU and GPU in this specific game.

Resolution Scaling

The most telling data from the benchmark results is the dramatic impact of resolution on the average FPS. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 85 FPS, which is a playable frame rate for an adventure game. However, this performance rapidly deteriorates as the resolution increases. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings drops the average to 54 FPS, a significant 31 FPS decrease. At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS falls to 29, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. This steep decline is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload at higher pixel counts overwhelms the graphics processor's capabilities.

The scaling pattern holds true across all settings presets. With High settings, the average FPS drops from 50 at 1080p to 32 at 1440p, and finally to just 17 at 4K. Similarly, the Medium preset shows a decline from 62 FPS at 1080p to 40 FPS at 1440p and 21 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, yields only 39 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and an unplayable 13 FPS at 4K. The consistent pattern of roughly halving the frame rate for every step up in resolution (from 1080p to 1440p, and again to 4K) strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B370's fill rate and shading power are the primary limiting factors. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.40 GHz, is not the bottleneck here; the GPU simply cannot keep up with the increased pixel throughput demanded by higher resolutions.

The data shows that 1080p is the only viable resolution for this combo in Road 96. Even at 1080p, only the Low preset breaks the 60 FPS barrier. The 1440p results are mostly marginal, with only the Low preset achieving a playable 54 FPS. The 4K results are universally poor, confirming that this system is not intended for high-resolution gaming in this title. The scaling tells a clear story: the Arc B370 is a low-power, integrated-grade GPU whose performance is heavily dependent on keeping the resolution low.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1080p with the Low preset, which delivers an average of 85 FPS. This is the only configuration that provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target, ensuring smooth and responsive gameplay for a story-driven title. The Low preset at 1440p, yielding 54 FPS, is a secondary option if a higher resolution is desired, but it comes at the cost of a noticeably lower frame rate. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a compromise at 62 FPS, which is still playable and provides a better visual experience than Low. The measured minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 1080p is 53, indicating that even in heavier scenes, the frame rate remains within a reasonable range.

The High preset at 1080p drops the average to 50 FPS, which is a more significant sacrifice for visual gains that may not be substantial in an adventure game with a stylized art direction. The Ultra preset at 1080p is not recommended, as its 39 FPS average is below the smoothness threshold and represents a poor trade-off for the extra graphical detail. The data suggests that the "sweet spot" is the Medium preset at 1080p. It provides a 62 FPS average, which is 23 FPS higher than High and 3 FPS lower than Low, while offering a better visual presentation than Low. For a game like Road 96, which focuses on atmosphere and story, the Medium preset at 1080p seems to be the best balance of performance and visual quality.

If a player insists on 1440p, the Low preset is the only acceptable choice, and even then, the 54 FPS average is not ideal for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 1440p, with its 40 FPS average and a minimum of 34 FPS, will likely feel stuttery. All 4K presets are effectively unplayable and should be avoided. The benchmark results are clear: this hardware combination is designed for 1080p gaming, and the settings should be adjusted accordingly to prioritize frame rate.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear bottleneck in this system. Its benchmark results show a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This puts it in the same performance tier as legacy cards like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770, which are over a decade old. The GPU's specifications paint a picture of a low-power integrated solution: it has 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. Its clock speeds are listed as a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz, and its memory is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the system's main memory. The memory bandwidth is also listed as "System Dependent," further confirming its reliance on shared resources.

This lack of dedicated video memory is a major factor in the game's performance. In Road 96, the GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is insufficient for handling the game's rendering at high resolutions, as evidenced by the 4K results. The low ROP count of 20 directly limits the pixel fill rate, which explains the steep performance drop when moving to higher resolutions. The GPU's 25 W TDP and IGP slot width confirm that this is an integrated graphics processor, not a discrete solution. The fact that it is compared to a mobile GPU like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and a budget desktop card like the Radeon HD 5770 underscores its position at the very bottom of the performance spectrum.

The data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is around 85 FPS at 1080p Low. Any increase in graphical load, whether through higher settings or resolution, causes a disproportionate drop in frame rate. This is a direct result of its limited computational and memory resources. The "System Shared" memory is particularly problematic, as it introduces latency and bandwidth contention with the CPU, which can further degrade performance. In this pairing, the GPU is the definitive limiting component, and its capabilities dictate that the system is only suitable for low-demand gaming scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the Intel Core i5-11400F and Intel Arc B370 in Road 96 is ranked 2680 out of 2903 tested combos. This places the system in the bottom 8% of all tested hardware configurations, underscoring its low-end positioning. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's weak performance, as the CPU is a much more capable component. The combo's rank is a stark indicator that while the system is functional, it is far from being a competitive gaming platform for this title.

The CPU itself, the i5-11400F, is a solid mid-range processor. Its average benchmark score is 17177, placing it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs. It trades blows with the AMD EPYC 7H12 and Intel Core i5-12450H, showing that its processing power is not the issue. However, when paired with a GPU that is in the 5th percentile, the overall system performance is dragged down to the bottom of the rankings. This is a classic example of a CPU being held back by a severely mismatched GPU. The combo rank of 2680 out of 2903 is not a reflection of the CPU's capabilities, but rather a signal of the GPU's inability to utilize the CPU's potential.

This pairing is a poor match for gaming. The data clearly shows that for Road 96, the GPU is so weak that it prevents the entire system from performing anywhere near the level its CPU could otherwise support. The rank suggests that this combination would be more suitable for basic productivity tasks or as a low-power media center, rather than for a gaming rig. The 2903 tested combos include a wide range of hardware, and this system's position in the bottom 8% indicates that almost any other dedicated GPU would provide a better experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. In terms of raw processing power, the CPU is more than capable of handling the demands of an adventure game like Road 96. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and single-core score of 2024 are respectable figures that indicate it can handle modern game logic, physics, and AI calculations without breaking a sweat.

The benchmark data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 85 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game, but the frame rate drops are far more correlated with GPU load. For instance, the drop from 85 FPS at 1080p Low to 54 FPS at 1440p Low is a 36% reduction, which is a typical GPU-bound scaling curve. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to remain more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU workload would be similar regardless of the resolution. The fact that the frame rate scales so dramatically with resolution is a clear sign that the CPU is not being fully utilized and that the GPU is the primary constraint.

The CPU's performance, as measured by its 3DMark scores, shows a strong scaling from 2 threads (1691) to 8 threads (4691), and it peaks at 5652 with max threads. This indicates that the processor has good multi-threading capabilities, but in Road 96, the GPU is so weak that the CPU's extra headroom is irrelevant. The CPU's role in this system is to feed the GPU with data, and in this case, the GPU is so slow that it cannot process the data fast enough to create a bottleneck on the CPU side. The i5-11400F is a good, capable CPU that is wasted in this configuration, as its performance potential is far beyond what the Arc B370 can deliver.

FAQ

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

A: The benchmark data shows that 1080p is the only resolution that provides playable frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 85, while at 1440p, the best average FPS is 54 (Low settings), and at 4K, it drops to 29 FPS (Low settings).

Q: Which settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p is the best balance, delivering an average of 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS. This is significantly smoother than the High preset (50 FPS) and offers better visuals than the Low preset (85 FPS).

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F or the Intel Arc B370 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the Intel Arc B370 is the primary bottleneck. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 is in the 5th percentile, and its performance drops dramatically with resolution, a classic sign of a GPU limit. The CPU, with a 71st percentile average score, is not being fully utilized.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of raw GPU performance?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad benchmark, the Arc B370 scores 1184, which is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190). It is slightly ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168) by 1.4%.

Q: Can this system run Road 96 at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS for 4K Ultra is 13 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 4K Low, the average FPS is only 29, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in Road 96?

A: This combo ranks 2680 out of 2903 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems. This low ranking is driven entirely by the GPU's weak performance, as the CPU is a capable mid-range processor.