Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that, in this pairing, demonstrates a pronounced shift in performance characteristics as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produce frame rates that far exceed display refresh rate capabilities, while 4K Ultra settings bring the experience down to a more conventional console-like pace. The measured data reveals a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower settings where the frame rate ceiling is exceptionally high.

Resolution Scaling

The performance delta between 1080p and 4K is stark, indicating a classic GPU-bound scaling curve. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 209 FPS at 1920x1080 to 133 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 76 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average falls to 71 FPS, which is exactly one-third of the 1080p figure. This steep decline—a 66% loss from 1080p to 4K—shows that the RTX 4080's rendering load is the dominant constraint, as the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are capable of feeding frames at much higher rates.

The scaling pattern holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, the 1080p average of 354 FPS drops to 226 FPS at 1440p and then to 119 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still more than double the 4K Ultra result, which suggests that the GPU's raw throughput is being heavily taxed by the higher-resolution pixel count regardless of the visual complexity. At Medium settings, the frame rate progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is 260, 165, and 87 FPS respectively, with the 4K figure showing a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS.

The most telling data point for limiting component analysis is the gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution. At 4K, Low averages 119 FPS while Ultra averages 55 FPS, a difference of 64 FPS. This substantial spread indicates that the RTX 4080's shading units, texture mapping units, and render output units are the limiting factor, as the workload scales directly with the quality preset. Conversely, at 1080p, the Low-to-Ultra gap is 190 FPS (354 vs 164), which is a larger absolute difference but a smaller relative one, suggesting the CPU is beginning to impose a ceiling at the highest frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 12th-generation Alder Lake desktop processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, a base clock of 2.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide the memory hierarchy needed for game logic and draw call processing. In benchmark terms, this CPU scores 15,989 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,257 points in single-core, with a PassMark single-thread score of 3,456. These figures place it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, indicating solid mainstream performance.

The data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in Road 96, even at the highest frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system produces 354 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that would stress most CPUs. The fact that the RTX 4080 is able to push beyond 300 FPS in this scenario suggests the i5-12400's single-thread performance is adequate for the game's demands. However, the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (354 to 164 FPS) is not purely linear, which hints at a slight CPU influence when the GPU is not fully saturated.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-12400's average benchmark score of 18,683 is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 7643 (18,697, -0.1%) and the Intel Core i7-1355U (18,730, -0.3%). It is slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18,811, -0.7%) and the Intel Core i3-14100F (18,519, +0.9%). These tiny deltas indicate that the CPU's performance class is well-established, and in Road 96, the 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 4.40 GHz boost is more than sufficient to avoid limiting the RTX 4080 at standard gaming resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, it features 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 76 RT cores make it a high-end part, reflected in its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In Road 96, the RTX 4080's performance is clearly the deciding factor in the measured frame rates. The 4K High average of 71 FPS and the 4K Ultra average of 55 FPS are both well within the GPU's capability curve, but the drop from 4K Medium (87 FPS) to 4K Ultra (55 FPS) demonstrates that the most demanding preset imposes a significant rendering cost. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting, as the game is an adventure title without massive texture loads, but the sheer pixel throughput at 4K is what drives the frame rate down.

The RTX 4080's benchmark scores corroborate its high-end status. It scores 34,457 in PassMark G3D and 214,739 in Geekbench OpenCL, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 (0.1% delta), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (-1.1%). The fact that the 4080 is nearly identical in synthetic benchmarks to the 4080 SUPER, yet produces these specific frame rates in Road 96, suggests that the game's engine scales predictably with GPU compute resources.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver playable performance, with High averaging 209 FPS and Medium averaging 260 FPS. The Medium preset stands out as the best balance, as it provides a 51 FPS advantage over High while maintaining a minimum of 221 FPS, ensuring smooth frame pacing. Ultra at 1080p yields 164 FPS, which is still excellent but offers diminishing returns over Medium.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 133 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, while Medium achieves 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 104 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 29% reduction from High. For most users, High at 1440p is the recommendation, as it provides a strong visual experience without sacrificing the frame rate headroom needed for consistent performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. High averages 71 FPS, which is near the threshold for 60 Hz displays but not ideal for 120 Hz panels. Medium averages 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, making it the best choice for 4K gaming on this hardware. Ultra drops to 55 FPS, which may be acceptable for cinematic experiences but falls below the 60 FPS target. Low at 4K produces 119 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial. The data clearly indicates that Medium is the sweet spot at 4K, offering a 16 FPS improvement over High while maintaining a minimum above 70 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 257th out of 3,713 tested combos in Road 96. This places it in the top 7% of all configurations, which is a strong result given that the CPU is a mid-range part paired with a high-end GPU. The ranking reflects that the RTX 4080 is doing the heavy lifting, and the i5-12400 is not holding it back in this particular title.

The rank is notable because it sits well above the CPU's 72nd percentile and the GPU's 86th percentile individually. This suggests that Road 96 is not particularly demanding on the CPU, allowing the i5-12400 to perform near its peak while the RTX 4080's capabilities are fully utilized. The 4K Medium result of 87 FPS and the 1440p High result of 133 FPS are both strong indicators that this combo is well-balanced for the game's engine.

When compared to other combos in the database, this pairing's 257th rank out of 3,713 means it outperforms the vast majority of systems tested. The data implies that users with this configuration can expect high frame rates across all resolutions, with the only compromise being at 4K Ultra where the 55 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold. For an adventure game like Road 96, this rank indicates that the hardware is more than sufficient for a smooth experience at high visual fidelity.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 High settings deliver 133 FPS average, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 164 FPS, while at 3840x2160, only Medium (87 FPS) and Low (119 FPS) exceed 60 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i5-12400 produces 354 FPS at 1080p Low settings, indicating it can feed the RTX 4080 well beyond typical display refresh rates. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU-bound scaling.

Q: What is the frame rate at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. This is the only preset where the game dips below 60 FPS on this hardware.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54,247 in average benchmark score, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828).

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes. The 16 GB GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, and the measured frame rates show no indication of VRAM limitations at any resolution or settings preset.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS, with an average of 87 FPS, ensuring consistent performance above 60 FPS.