Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that rarely stresses high-end hardware, but the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination reveal a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and presets. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-limited at lower settings, transitioning to a more balanced load as resolution and visual fidelity increase. The benchmark results show exceptional headroom for high-refresh-rate displays, while also highlighting the diminishing returns of the Ultra preset at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, underscoring the GPU as the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 sees average FPS fall from 309.4 to 103.3, a reduction of roughly 66%. This scaling pattern is typical for a title where the RTX 4070 SUPER is not fully utilized at lower resolutions, allowing the CPU to push frame rates far beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher pixel counts.

Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 145.7 to 73.5, a 49.5% decrease. The High preset shows a similar trend: 117.2 FPS at 1440p falls to 59.6 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, however, exhibits the most dramatic scaling, with 142.5 FPS at 1080p collapsing to 48.4 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce shading and geometry workloads that scale disproportionately with resolution, placing a heavy burden on the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

The data indicates that 1080p is entirely GPU-bound at all presets, as even the Ultra preset achieves 142.5 FPS, which is below the Low preset's 309.4 FPS but still high enough to suggest the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 4K, the system becomes firmly GPU-limited, with the difference between Low and Ultra presets shrinking to a 54.9 FPS gap (103.3 vs. 48.4), compared to a 167 FPS gap at 1080p (309.4 vs. 142.5). This convergence at higher resolutions confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER’s compute throughput and memory subsystem dictate performance, rather than the CPU’s six cores.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings six cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 19850. In synthetic tests, the processor achieves a multi-threaded score of 15935 in Cinebench R23 and a single-thread score of 2249 in the same test. These numbers indicate a capable mid-range processor that can feed a high-end GPU in most scenarios.

In Road 96, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU, given the frame rates observed. At 1080p Low, the system hits 309.4 FPS, a figure that far exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors and suggests the CPU is still providing ample headroom. The i5-12400’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is nearly identical: it sits just 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.4% above the Intel Core i5-11600K, while trailing the Intel Core i7-8700 by 0.2%. This marginal delta indicates that any of these processors would yield similar results in this game, reinforcing that the GPU is the dominant factor.

The processor’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) are sufficient for the adventure genre’s typical workloads, which rely more on consistent frame pacing than on raw thread utilization. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, where the CPU has more time to prepare frames due to lower GPU throughput, the average FPS does not collapse below playable levels, suggesting the i5-12400 is not introducing a bottleneck. The single-thread score of 2249 in Cinebench R23 is particularly relevant, as Road 96 appears to benefit from strong per-core performance rather than multi-thread scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear performance driver in this configuration. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, the GPU offers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for handling the texture and geometry loads at higher resolutions. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz and 7168 shading units deliver a FP32 throughput of 35.48 TFLOPS, placing it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 42576.

The GPU’s measured performance in Road 96 shows a strong correlation with preset complexity. At 1440p, the jump from Low to Medium yields a 50.4 FPS increase (196.1 to 145.7, though this is a decrease, indicating the preset is more demanding). Correctly, the data shows Low at 196.1 FPS and Medium at 145.7 FPS, a 25.7% reduction in frame rate as settings increase. The transition from High to Ultra at 1440p similarly reduces FPS from 117.2 to 93.5, a 20.2% drop. These percentages highlight that each preset tier imposes a significant cost on the GPU, with Ultra being particularly demanding.

At 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER’s limits become apparent. The Ultra preset averages 48.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered ideal for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 4K averages 59.6 FPS, barely crossing that line. This indicates that while the GPU is powerful, Road 96’s Ultra settings at 4K push it to its limits. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% slower) and AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% slower), would likely exhibit similar scaling, as their raw compute scores are nearly identical. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not exceeded in this title, as the game’s art style does not demand excessive memory, but the bandwidth and shader throughput are the limiting factors at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 312th out of 1684 combos for Road 96. This places it in the top 18.5% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing given the game’s modest hardware requirements. The rank reflects the GPU’s high percentile standing (84th) more than the CPU’s (77th), as the data consistently shows the RTX 4070 SUPER driving frame rates.

The combo’s position suggests that while it is not an absolute top-tier configuration, it outperforms the vast majority of systems tested in this game. The gap between this combo and those ranked higher likely comes from more powerful GPUs, such as those with higher memory bandwidth or more shading units, rather than from the CPU. The i5-12400’s average benchmark score of 19850 is within 0.4% of its nearest rivals, but the RTX 4070 SUPER’s score of 42576 is a more significant differentiator. The data implies that upgrading the CPU would yield minimal gains in Road 96, whereas upgrading the GPU would provide a more substantial improvement, particularly at 4K Ultra where the current combo struggles to maintain 50 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance lies in the High preset for most resolutions. At 1440p, High delivers 117.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target and provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium’s 145.7 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 23.7 FPS (117.2 to 93.5), which is a steep price for marginal visual gains in an adventure game.

For 4K displays, the High preset is the only viable option for smooth gameplay, averaging 59.6 FPS. This is just below the 60 FPS ideal, but it is playable. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 48.4 FPS, which may introduce noticeable stutter in a narrative-driven game. The Low preset at 4K offers 103.3 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too severe for a game that emphasizes atmosphere. The Medium preset at 4K (73.5 FPS) is a reasonable middle ground if High proves too demanding, but the data suggests High is the sweet spot.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset’s 142.5 FPS is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, so users with 144Hz or 165Hz displays can safely enable Ultra. However, for those prioritizing frame rate consistency, the Medium preset’s 228.5 FPS or High preset’s 181.2 FPS offer considerable headroom. The Low preset’s 309.4 FPS is excessive for most displays and indicates a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4070 SUPER is underutilized. The recommendation is to use High at 4K and 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p, as this configuration maximizes the GPU’s capabilities without sacrificing playability.