Road 96

# Road 96 — Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

This combination of a 6-core/12-thread Intel Core i5-12400 and an 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers solidly playable performance in Road 96 across most settings, but the data reveals a clear ceiling at 4K Ultra. The combo ranks 1253rd out of 1684 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database — a position driven more by the GPU's 63rd percentile standing than the CPU's stronger 77th percentile. The measured FPS shows that this pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can comfortably exceed 100 FPS at high settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and consistent across all settings, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, average FPS falls from 100 at 1920x1080 to 61.7 at 2560x1440 — a 38% reduction — and then to 33.7 at 3840x2160, a further 45% decline. The scaling pattern at Low settings is even steeper: 167.8 FPS at 1080p drops to 109.1 at 1440p and then to 56.7 at 4K, showing that even with minimal graphical load, the GPU cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K.

The Medium preset tells a similar story: 126.2 FPS at 1080p, 80.1 at 1440p, and 39.4 at 4K. Ultra settings show the most severe degradation, dropping from 76.8 FPS at 1080p to 52.7 at 1440p and finally to 24.8 at 4K — the only sub-30 FPS result in the entire dataset. These numbers indicate that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in this title, regardless of preset. The CPU, with its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 4.40 GHz boost clock, is not the bottleneck at 4K; the GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 64 ROPs are what limit high-resolution performance.

Settings Recommendations

The data strongly favors High or Medium settings for the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 100 FPS average — a smooth experience that leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Medium settings push this to 126.2 FPS, offering a 26% improvement over High while likely sacrificing some visual fidelity. Low settings at 1080p reach 167.8 FPS, but the jump from Low to Medium (126.2 FPS) is only a 25% drop, making Medium the better choice for those who prefer visual polish without sacrificing responsiveness.

At 2560x1440, High settings produce 61.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings provide a safer margin at 80.1 FPS, while Ultra drops to 52.7 FPS — noticeably below smoothness expectations. For 4K, the situation is more constrained: Medium (39.4 FPS) and High (33.7 FPS) are both below 60 FPS, but Low (56.7 FPS) comes closest to playable territory. The recommendation for this combo is clear: use High at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K if you must use that resolution. Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, where 76.8 FPS remains playable, though the 23% drop from High suggests diminishing returns.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1253 out of 1684 tested configurations places this pairing in the 74th percentile overall, meaning roughly a quarter of tested combos perform worse. This rank reflects the GPU's position: the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the Core i5-12400 ranks at the 77th percentile among CPUs. The discrepancy suggests that the GPU is dragging the overall combo performance down relative to what the CPU could support.

The CPU's nearest rivals illustrate its mid-range positioning: the Intel Core i7-9700 scores 19831 (0.1% ahead), the Intel Core i7-8700 scores 19894 (0.2% behind), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX scores 19928 (0.4% behind). The GPU's nearest rivals show similar clustering: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN scores 19706 (0.3% ahead), the RTX 2070 scores 19680 (0.5% ahead), and the Quadro K5200 scores 19623 (0.8% ahead). These tight margins indicate that both components perform within a narrow band of their direct competitors, making the combo's rank a product of the GPU's lower absolute standing rather than any specific deficiency.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is playable: Low delivers 167.8 FPS, Medium 126.2 FPS, High 100 FPS, and Ultra 76.8 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 41.6 FPS (25%), Medium to High costs 26.2 FPS (21%), and High to Ultra costs 23.2 FPS (23%). These relatively even drops suggest the GPU scales predictably with graphical load at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong: Low hits 109.1 FPS, Medium 80.1 FPS, High 61.7 FPS, and Ultra 52.7 FPS. The gaps widen slightly: Low to Medium drops 29 FPS (27%), Medium to High drops 18.4 FPS (23%), and High to Ultra drops 9 FPS (15%). The smaller High-to-Ultra gap at 1440p compared to 1080p suggests the GPU is nearing its limits, compressing the difference between these two presets.

At 3840x2160, only Low (56.7 FPS) approaches playability. Medium (39.4 FPS) and High (33.7 FPS) fall below 40 FPS, while Ultra (24.8 FPS) is essentially unplayable. The 4K Low result is notable because it shows the GPU can still produce above-30 FPS when graphical demands are minimized, but the 39% drop from Low to Medium at this resolution indicates that any visual upgrade comes at a severe cost.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p in Road 96 but insufficient for 4K. The GPU's 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs process the game's geometry and textures, with a boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz. The 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but likely unused in this adventure title, which does not appear to leverage ray tracing or DLSS based on the measured results.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range status: a Passmark G3D score of 16462 places it at the 63rd percentile, while its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 shows DirectX 12 capability. The nearest rival, the GTX TITAN, scores 19706 (0.3% higher), indicating the RTX 2060 SUPER is marginally behind a much older flagship in raw compute. The 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate explain why 4K High (33.7 FPS) struggles: the GPU simply lacks the fill rate and shading power for that resolution class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, backed by 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core. The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance — a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 — which matters for Road 96's adventure gameplay that likely relies on single-threaded logic. The multi-threaded scores are equally solid: Cinebench R23 multi-core at 15935 and Passmark multithread at 18747.

The CPU's 77th percentile ranking and nearest rivals (i7-9700 at 0.1% ahead, i7-8700 at 0.2% behind) demonstrate that it is not a bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low (167.8 FPS), the CPU is clearly capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates. The fact that 4K performance drops to 24.8 FPS at Ultra — while the CPU's scores remain constant — confirms the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 10 nm process make it efficient, but its DDR4/DDR5 memory support and PCIe Gen 5 interface are forward-looking features that do not impact Road 96's current performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Road 96 at 4K?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 56.7 FPS. At Medium (39.4 FPS), High (33.7 FPS), and Ultra (24.8 FPS), performance falls below smooth playability thresholds.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 produce 80.1 FPS, offering the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. High settings (61.7 FPS) are also viable, but Ultra drops to 52.7 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival?

A: It scores 19774 on average, placing it 0.3% behind the GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2070 (19680). These margins are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor, especially at 4K. The CPU ranks at the 77th percentile (avg score 19850), while the GPU ranks at the 63rd percentile (avg score 19774). At 1080p Low (167.8 FPS), the CPU keeps up, but 4K Ultra (24.8 FPS) shows the GPU's limits.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p High settings?

A: The measured average is 100 FPS, which is smooth for this adventure title. Medium settings increase this to 126.2 FPS, while Ultra drops to 76.8 FPS.

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

A: It ranks 1253rd out of 1684 combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier. This rank reflects the GPU's 63rd percentile standing more than the CPU's stronger 77th percentile.