Road 96

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces a striking performance curve in Road 96, where the GPU's immense headroom is progressively revealed as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combination is heavily CPU-limited, but by 4K, the system transitions to a GPU-bound state, making this combo a high-refresh-rate powerhouse at lower resolutions and a solid high-fidelity option at 4K. The benchmark data shows that this pairing ranks 6th out of 3713 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.2% of all tested systems for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic shift in system bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 428 FPS, but this drops to 272 FPS at 1440p and 144 FPS at 4K. The performance decline from 1080p to 1440p is substantial (a 36% reduction), and the drop from 1440p to 4K is equally steep (47% reduction), indicating that the GPU is not yet fully saturated at lower resolutions. The CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the i5-12400F's single-thread performance of 909 in 3DMark cannot feed the RTX 5090 D's enormous rendering capability at such low resolution.

At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate falls to 67 FPS, which is a 53% reduction from the 4K Low result of 144 FPS. This scaling pattern suggests that at 4K, the GPU is now the dominant constraint, with the RTX 5090 D's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance being fully exercised. The 1440p results sit in between, with the Ultra preset achieving 126 FPS, demonstrating that the combo remains highly playable even at the highest settings. The data shows that the 1080p results are largely academic for this pairing, as the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 4.40 GHz boost clock cannot feed the GPU enough data to reach its full potential.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 6 out of 3,713 tested combinations places this system in the 99.8th percentile, which is exceptionally high for a mid-range CPU paired with a top-tier GPU. The i5-12400F itself holds a 73rd percentile rank among all CPUs, while the RTX 5090 D holds a 92nd percentile rank among all GPUs. This disparity highlights the CPU's relative weakness compared to the GPU's absolute strength, yet the combined result is still exceptional because Road 96 is not a CPU-intensive title at higher resolutions.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with an average score of 19,047 (0% delta) and the Intel Core 3 201E at 19,056 (-0.1% delta), showing that the i5-12400F is right at the average for this performance tier. For the GPU, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76,904 (1.1% delta), while the RX 6850M XT is 1.6% faster. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants are 2.1-2.4% ahead, indicating that the RTX 5090 D sits in a competitive segment despite its high absolute score. The fact that this combo achieves rank 6 despite the CPU's modest single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark (vs. a max-thread score of 5,912) suggests that Road 96's engine is not heavily threaded, and the GPU's dominance at 4K compensates for the CPU's relative weakness.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Road 96's textures at any resolution. The memory clock runs at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective), and the base clock is 2,017 MHz with a boost of 2,407 MHz. The GPU's 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. These specifications translate directly to the frame rate results: at 4K Ultra, the GPU is able to maintain 67 FPS, while at 4K High it reaches 85 FPS.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database show that its average score of 77,712 is only 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and 2.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, despite the RTX 5090 D being a desktop card with a 575W TDP. This suggests the benchmark database's scores are heavily influenced by drivers and the specific game workload. In Road 96, the GPU's 32 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor, as the game's texture requirements are modest even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 92nd percentile rank among all GPUs confirms that it is one of the most powerful cards in the database, and the measured FPS at 4K Medium (106 FPS) shows that the GPU can comfortably drive high refresh rates even at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 428 FPS, which is the highest frame rate measured in this dataset. The Medium preset drops to 313 FPS with a minimum of 266 FPS and a maximum of 360 FPS, while High yields 253 FPS. The Ultra preset produces 198 FPS. This 2.16x difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p indicates that the CPU is the bottleneck, as the GPU has ample headroom to render more frames if the CPU could supply them.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 272 FPS, Medium drops to 200 FPS (min 170, max 229), High reaches 161 FPS, and Ultra settles at 126 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: Low drops 37%, Medium drops 36%, High drops 36%, and Ultra drops 36%. This uniform scaling suggests the GPU is now becoming the limiting factor, but the CPU still has some influence. The 1440p Ultra result of 126 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 144 FPS, Medium drops to 106 FPS (min 90, max 121), High achieves 85 FPS, and Ultra falls to 67 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 53%, which is steeper than the 36% drop at 1440p, confirming that the GPU is now the primary limiting factor. The 4K Medium result of 106 FPS is notable for its min/max range of 90-121 FPS, showing a 31 FPS variance that suggests occasional frame pacing issues in heavier scenes. The 4K Ultra result of 67 FPS is just above the 60 FPS target, making it viable for slower-paced gameplay, but the Medium preset provides a more stable experience.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers 106 FPS average with a minimum of 90 FPS, which provides a smooth experience with a margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K yields 85 FPS, which is still very playable, but the 21% drop from Medium to High is significant. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 67 FPS, which is playable but does not leave much headroom for demanding scenes. The data indicates that Medium at 4K is the optimal balance of frame rate and visual quality, as the 106 FPS average ensures consistent 60+ FPS even in the worst-case 90 FPS minimum.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 126 FPS is the clear choice for high-refresh-rate displays, as it provides a 126 FPS average with no recorded minimum below 100 FPS. The High preset at 1440p yields 161 FPS, which is ideal for 165Hz monitors, but the 35 FPS difference between High and Ultra is small enough to justify the higher quality. For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 198 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, as the 428 FPS Low preset is beyond any monitor's refresh rate, and the 313 FPS Medium preset is equally excessive. The data suggests that users with 1080p displays should max out the settings, as the Ultra 198 FPS still far exceeds any display's capabilities.

FAQ

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

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with Ultra settings provides 126 FPS, which is the highest frame rate at which the Ultra preset remains playable. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance, while at 4K, the GPU is the bottleneck. The 1440p Ultra result offers a good balance between visual fidelity and frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data indicates that at 1080p, the frame rate difference between Low (428 FPS) and Ultra (198 FPS) is only 2.16x, whereas the difference in GPU load is much higher. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and multi-thread score of 5,912 suggest it cannot keep up with the GPU's rendering capability at lower resolutions.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS recorded is 90 FPS, with an average of 106 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS. This gives a 16 FPS variance, which is within an acceptable range for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rival in the database?

A: The RTX 5090 D's average score of 77,721 is 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and 2.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT is 1.1% slower than the RTX 5090 D.

Q: Is the 32 GB VRAM necessary for Road 96?

A: No, the 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is not fully utilized in Road 96. The game's frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K (144 to 67 FPS) is driven by the GPU's compute units and clock speed, not memory capacity. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is ample for this game.

Q: Can this combo run Road 96 at 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 67 FPS, which is above 60 FPS but with no minimum FPS recorded. The 4K Medium setting provides a more stable 90 FPS minimum, while 4K Ultra relies on the GPU's boost clock of 2,407 MHz to maintain performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core contribute to a single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark, which is modest compared to its multi-thread score of 5,912. The CPU's percentile rank of 73 among all CPUs indicates it is an above-average processor, but the RTX 5090 D's percentile rank of 92 highlights the GPU's superiority.

In Road 96, the CPU's role is limited to game logic and draw call submission, which is not heavily demanding. The 3DMark multi-thread score of 5,912 and Cinebench R23 multi-core of 12,380 show that the i5-12400F can handle moderate workloads, but its 2-thread score of 1,699 is relatively low. The game's performance at 1080p Low (428 FPS) is capped by the CPU's single-thread throughput, as the GPU could theoretically render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. At 4K, the CPU's workload decreases relative to the GPU, and the frame rate becomes GPU-bound, as seen by the 4K Ultra result of 67 FPS, which is limited by the GPU's rendering of the higher resolution.

The CPU's 65W TDP and 10nm process node make it an efficient choice, but its 6 cores are sufficient for Road 96's thread usage. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, matches its average score of 19,047, while the Intel Core 3 201E is 0.1% faster. The 4K results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the frame rate scaling from 1440p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior. For this game, the i5-12400F provides enough single-thread performance to avoid stutters, and the 12 threads handle background tasks, but the CPU's bottleneck at 1080p means users with 1080p monitors will not get the full benefit of the RTX 5090 D.