Road 96

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER lands at rank 2154 out of 3713 tested combos in Road 96. That places this pairing in the 42nd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 58% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this adventure title. The ranking reflects a mid-pack position, which is consistent with the hardware's age — the CPU launched in March 2021 and the GPU in July 2019, both now end-of-life products.

This combo's position is not surprising given the game's release date of August 2021, which puts it squarely in the era when this hardware was current. The data shows a system that was competitive at launch but has since been overtaken by newer parts. The CPU sits at the 71st percentile against all CPUs tested, while the GPU is at the 65th percentile against all GPUs, so the pairing is reasonably balanced — neither component dramatically drags the other down in the overall ranking.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU104 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It packs 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. With 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the card also includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, giving it hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration capabilities.

Clock speeds are 1605 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost, producing a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 9.062 TFLOPS, with FP16 performance of 18.12 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio. These specifications directly influence Road 96's frame rates — the game is not especially demanding by modern standards, and the GPU's raw throughput is sufficient to drive high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range standing. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 1651, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 83358 and 90637 respectively. Passmark G3D gives 18169, and GPU compute scores 7557. The card's average benchmark score is 20282, placing it at the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average score are the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20480 (-1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (-1.2%), the Intel Arc B570 at 20556 (-1.3%), and the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (-1.5%). This means the RTX 2070 SUPER trails these four cards by roughly 1-1.5%, a negligible margin in practical terms.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It runs at a 2.60 GHz base clock with a 4.40 GHz boost clock, and its 65 W TDP makes it a modest power draw. The chip supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, and it connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU. Cache structure includes 80 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a shared 12 MB L3.

The CPU's benchmark results show solid multithreaded performance for its class. Cinebench R23 multicore scores 14340, while single-core is 2024. Geekbench multicore hits 7737 with single-core at 1777. In 3DMark tests, the chip scores 5619 at 16 threads, 4691 at 8 threads, 3171 at 4 threads, and 1691 at 2 threads, with max threads at 5652. Passmark results include a multithread score of 16908, single-thread of 2981, integer math at 57624, floating point at 34127, and data compression at 208472.

With an average benchmark score of 17177 and 71st percentile placement among all CPUs, the i5-11400F sits close to several rivals. The AMD EPYC 7H12 scores 17120 (+0.3% delta), the Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17239 (-0.4%), the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 17278 (-0.6%), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17074 (+0.6%). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the i5-11400F is effectively performance-equivalent to those parts in synthetic benchmarks.

For Road 96, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than adequate. The game is an adventure title with no heavy simulation or AI workloads, so the i5-11400F's single-thread performance, demonstrated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Passmark single-thread of 2981, plays a larger role than raw core count.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions — 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160 — each at four settings levels: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong performance across all settings. Low settings average 187 FPS. Medium settings average 137 FPS, with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 157. High settings average 110 FPS. Ultra settings average 86 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 101 FPS drop, but even at Ultra, the frame rate is well above 60 FPS, making 1080p playable at maximum settings.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but the gap between settings widens. Low settings average 119 FPS. Medium settings drop to 87 FPS, with a range of 74 to 100 FPS. High settings average 70 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 55 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is particularly steep — a 15 FPS loss — suggesting Ultra's additional effects tax the GPU more heavily at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the combo begins to struggle. Low settings average 63 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 and maximum of 53. High settings drop to 37 FPS. Ultra settings average only 29 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings maintain a playable frame rate, and even that is marginal. The drop from Low to Medium is 17 FPS, showing that the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for higher settings at this resolution.

The data reveals a clear pattern: this combo is best suited to 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p, even Ultra settings produce 86 FPS, leaving headroom for high refresh rate displays. At 1440p, High settings at 70 FPS is a good balance, but Ultra drops below 60. At 4K, the system is limited to Low settings for acceptable frame rates.

# FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Road 96?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the most comfortable experience, with all settings above 86 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings at 70 FPS is viable, but Ultra drops to 55 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low settings at 63 FPS stay above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 110 at 1080p to 70 at 1440p, a 40 FPS loss. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 86 to 55 FPS, a 31 FPS loss. The proportional loss is roughly 36% for High and 36% for Ultra.

Q: Is Ultra settings playable at any resolution?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 Ultra averages 86 FPS, which is smooth. At 2560x1440 Ultra averages 55 FPS, which is borderline but playable. At 3840x2160 Ultra averages 29 FPS, which is not smooth enough for comfortable play.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177. The AMD EPYC 7H12 is 0.3% higher, the Intel Core i5-12450H is 0.4% lower, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G is 0.6% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U is 0.6% higher. All are within 1% of each other.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 1% higher, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 1.2% higher, the Intel Arc B570 is 1.3% higher, and the Intel Arc A750 is 1.5% higher. The differences are minimal.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium averages 137 FPS with a range of 116-157. At 1440p Medium averages 87 FPS with a range of 74-100. At 4K Medium averages 46 FPS with a range of 39-53. The Medium preset provides a good balance of quality and performance at 1080p and 1440p.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on your target resolution and frame rate preference.

For 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 86 FPS average is the best choice. The game remains above 60 FPS even at maximum settings, and the visual quality improvement over High is worth the 24 FPS cost. If you have a 144 Hz or higher refresh rate monitor, High at 110 FPS is also viable, but Ultra still delivers acceptable frame rates for most players.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 70 FPS average represents the sweet spot. It stays above 60 FPS, providing smooth gameplay, while Medium at 87 FPS offers a higher frame rate if you prefer responsiveness over visual fidelity. Ultra at 55 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, so it is only recommended if you prioritize image quality over smoothness and can tolerate occasional dips.

For 3840x2160, Low settings at 63 FPS is the only preset that maintains a playable frame rate. Medium at 46 FPS is borderline, and High at 37 FPS or Ultra at 29 FPS are not recommended for comfortable play. If 4K is your target, the data suggests this combo is not well-suited for it — the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting factors at higher settings.

The measured data shows diminishing returns when pushing settings higher at 4K. The gap between Medium (46 FPS) and High (37 FPS) is 9 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra (29 FPS) is 8 FPS. The overall recommendation is to use 1080p or 1440p with this combo, where the GPU can flex its full capabilities. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers a high-quality experience with no compromises. At 1440p High, it offers a balanced experience that most players will find satisfactory. The 4K results indicate this hardware generation is not designed for that resolution in this game.

The combo rank of 2154 out of 3713 suggests that while this pairing is not at the top, it remains a capable configuration for Road 96. The game's modest requirements mean the i5-11400F's six cores and the RTX 2070 SUPER's 2560 shading units are sufficient for smooth play at mainstream resolutions. Given the end-of-life status of both components, this is a system that still holds its own in this title, particularly at 1080p where it can max out settings with ease.