Road 96

The data for Road 96 with the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080, the combination delivers a robust 84.1 FPS on High settings, a figure that drops to 52.5 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 30.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 37.6% performance loss from 1080p to 1440p, and a 64.1% loss from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is steep but not catastrophic, indicating that the GTX 1070 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the i5-11400F provides sufficient headroom at 1080p.

The drop from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p is equally instructive. The 140.8 FPS at Low falls to 63.9 FPS at Ultra, a 54.6% reduction. At 1440p, the same settings swing from 86.3 FPS to 43.5 FPS, a 49.6% reduction. At 4K, the range tightens to between 47.6 FPS (Low) and 24.4 FPS (Ultra), a 48.7% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions suggests that the game's quality presets scale uniformly with pixel count, placing equal stress on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. The 1080p results, particularly the 140.8 FPS at Low, confirm that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title; the 6-core, 12-thread processor with a 4.40 GHz boost clock is more than adequate for Road 96's adventure-game workloads.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in Road 96 follows a predictable trajectory for this combo. At 1080p, the GTX 1070 has enough raw throughput to push frame rates well past the 60 FPS mark on most presets, with only Ultra dropping to 63.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the frame rate at High falls to 52.5 FPS, a level that is still playable but begins to show the GPU's age. At 4K, the situation becomes more constrained: High settings yield just 30.2 FPS, and Ultra dips to 24.4 FPS. The data indicates that the GPU's 256-bit memory bus and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth are the limiting factors at 4K, as the pixel fill rate and texture rate are overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels of 3840x2160.

The performance delta between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases, but the relative gap remains stable. At 1080p, Ultra is 54.6% slower than Low; at 1440p, the gap is 49.6%; at 4K, it is 48.7%. This consistency suggests that Road 96's settings primarily affect lighting and shadow complexity, which scale linearly with pixel count rather than introducing additional algorithmic overhead. The 30.2 FPS at 4K High is the only sub-30 result outside of 4K Ultra, indicating that the combo can handle 4K only at Low settings, where 47.6 FPS is achievable. For most users, 1440p represents the sweet spot, offering a 52.5 FPS experience at High that is smooth enough for a narrative-driven adventure game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 plays the dominant role in these results, as expected for a Pascal-generation card with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory. The GPU's 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs are well-suited to Road 96's stylized visuals, but the 150 W TDP and dual-slot cooler suggest a card designed for 1080p gaming. The 8 GB frame buffer is not a limiting factor at any tested resolution, as the game's asset streaming is modest by modern standards. The GPU's boost clock of 1683 MHz, up from a 1506 MHz base, provides a modest performance uplift, but the real constraint is memory bandwidth. At 4K, the 256.3 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient to maintain playable frame rates at High or Ultra, but it handles Low settings adequately.

The GTX 1070's benchmark scores place it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 12331. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 and GeForce GTX 880M, with deltaPct values of 0.7% and -1.3%, respectively. This indicates that the GTX 1070 is a mid-pack performer in 2024, but its age shows in demanding titles. In Road 96, the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU is rarely stressed. The i5-11400F's 12 threads and 12 MB of L3 cache are more than sufficient for this game's single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads, as evidenced by the 140.8 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM is a comfortable fit for the game's textures, which do not appear to exceed 4 GB even at Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the optimal balance of visual fidelity and frame rate for this combo is at 1080p with High settings, delivering 84.1 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for drops during intense scenes. At 1440p, High settings at 52.5 FPS are playable, but Medium at 63.8 FPS is a better choice if smoothness is prioritized over minor visual improvements. At 4K, the only viable option is Low settings at 47.6 FPS, which is acceptable for a slow-paced adventure game but not ideal. Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution, as they produce 63.9 FPS at 1080p, 43.5 FPS at 1440p, and 24.4 FPS at 4K—the latter being unplayable.

For users with a 60 Hz monitor, the 1080p High preset is the clear winner, as it provides a 24.1 FPS margin over the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, Medium settings at 63.8 FPS offer a similar margin, while High at 52.5 FPS falls short of 60 FPS. The data also indicates that the jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 16.7 FPS (from 100.8 to 84.1), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 20.2 FPS (from 84.1 to 63.9). This suggests diminishing returns beyond High settings, as the visual improvements are not proportional to the frame rate loss. The 4K Low preset, while playable at 47.6 FPS, is a compromise that sacrifices too much visual detail for a resolution that the GTX 1070 cannot fully drive.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 140.8 FPS, Medium produces 100.8 FPS, High produces 84.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 63.9 FPS. These figures show a clear linear progression, with each settings tier costing roughly 15-20% of the previous tier's performance. The 1080p results are the only resolution where all presets remain above 60 FPS, making it the most versatile option for this combo. At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low at 86.3 FPS, Medium at 63.8 FPS, High at 52.5 FPS, and Ultra at 43.5 FPS. Here, only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS, and Medium barely does so. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 47.6 FPS, Medium at 32.3 FPS, High at 30.2 FPS, and Ultra at 24.4 FPS. Only Low is playable, and even it falls short of 60 FPS.

The consistency of the scaling is notable. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 38-39% across all settings, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is roughly 42-43%. This indicates that the game's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count, and the GTX 1070's performance degrades uniformly. The 1080p Low result of 140.8 FPS is particularly impressive, suggesting that the CPU can sustain high frame rates when the GPU is not constrained. The 4K Ultra result of 24.4 FPS is the only sub-25 FPS score in the entire dataset, confirming that this preset is not viable for the combo. The 1440p Medium result of 63.8 FPS is the best balance of resolution and frame rate for users with 1440p monitors, while 1080p High remains the overall recommendation.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of Road 96 benchmarks, the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination ranks 1421st out of 1684 tested combos, placing it in the 15.6th percentile. This rank reflects the GPU's age and the CPU's mid-range positioning. The combo sits in the bottom quarter of all tested configurations, which is expected given that the GTX 1070 is a 2016-era card with a 51st percentile GPU ranking. The i5-11400F, by contrast, ranks in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (deltaPct 0%) and Intel Core i7-1260P (deltaPct -0.2%), indicating that the CPU is competitive with modern mid-range parts.

The combo's rank of 1421 out of 1684 suggests that most tested configurations outperform it, likely due to newer GPUs with higher memory bandwidth and more shading units. However, the data shows that the combo is still capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p in Road 96, which reflects the game's optimized engine. The GTX 1070's nearest GPU rivals, such as the GTX 1650 SUPER, have deltaPct values of -1.4%, meaning the 1070 is slightly faster on average. This places the combo in a competitive position among older hardware, but it cannot compete with modern mid-range or high-end cards. For a game like Road 96, which is not graphically demanding, the combo's rank is acceptable, but users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to look at newer GPUs with higher memory bandwidth and more compute units.