Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that behaves more like a traditional 3D renderer than its genre might suggest, and the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable experience across most settings, though 4K Ultra remains a challenge. The benchmark data shows a clear pattern: this combo is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom at 1080p. The measured frame rates indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER, a Turing-generation card, is the limiting factor when pushing pixel counts, but the i5-13400F’s strong multi-threaded performance ensures the system never feels bottlenecked at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, revealing the GPU as the primary constraint. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 112 at 1920x1080 to 70.7 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 37%, and then further to 37.2 at 3840x2160, which is a 67% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is running out of fillrate and memory bandwidth as resolution climbs, particularly with the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (184.6 FPS) and Ultra (84.3 FPS) is 100 FPS, but at 4K that gap shrinks to 32.4 FPS (64.2 vs 31.8). This compression at 4K indicates that the GPU is saturated by pixel throughput rather than shader complexity; the card simply cannot push more than ~64 FPS even on Low at 4K, suggesting a hard computational ceiling for this resolution. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the 184.6 FPS figure shows the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far beyond what the RTX 2070 SUPER can render at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing ranks 1017 out of 1684 combos for Road 96, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all systems tested. This rank is surprisingly modest given the hardware, but it reflects that Road 96’s performance is not particularly demanding on the CPU side, and the GPU’s age (released in 2019) holds it back in a game that scales heavily with resolution. The combo’s percentile position suggests that many newer mid-range GPUs outperform it, even if the i5-13400F is a strong modern processor.

The CPU itself ranks in the 82nd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% faster), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% slower), and AMD EPYC 9474F (0.5% faster), indicating that the i5-13400F is exceptionally well-balanced for its class. However, the GPU’s 65th percentile ranking (average score 22206) drags the overall combo ranking down, as the RTX 2070 SUPER sits close to the NVIDIA RTX A400 (0.5% slower) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (2.5% faster). The data suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU is what limits the combo’s standing in Road 96.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the TU104 chip with a 12 nm process and features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, boosting to 1770 MHz, and it has 40 RT cores and 320 Tensor cores, though Road 96 does not appear to leverage ray tracing based on the measured data. The card’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 31.8 FPS average suggests the memory subsystem is strained.

The GPU’s compute capabilities are modest by modern standards, with FP32 performance at 9.062 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s. These figures translate directly to the measured results: at 4K High, the 37.2 FPS average is just above playable, while 4K Ultra drops to 31.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target most gamers expect. The card’s PassMark G3D score of 18169 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 confirm it is a mid-range performer in 2025, but its 65th percentile ranking shows it still outpaces a quarter of all GPUs tested. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed is a bottleneck at high resolutions, as evidenced by the steep FPS drop from 1440p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo excels across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 184.6 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth and indicates the CPU is not holding back. Medium averages 134.9 FPS, High drops to 112 FPS, and Ultra still maintains a comfortable 84.3 FPS. These numbers suggest that for 1080p gaming, the RTX 2070 SUPER has ample headroom, and even Ultra settings provide a high-refresh-rate experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the GPU starting to strain. Low averages 121.1 FPS, Medium 89.8 FPS, High 70.7 FPS, and Ultra 55.5 FPS. The Ultra figure is notable because it falls below the 60 FPS threshold, meaning gamers targeting 1440p Ultra would need to lower settings to maintain smoothness. At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically: Low averages 64.2 FPS, Medium 47.2 FPS, High 37.2 FPS, and Ultra 31.8 FPS. These numbers confirm that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is barely acceptable for a non-competitive adventure title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides robust multi-threaded performance that is more than sufficient for Road 96. With 10 cores (6 performance and 4 efficiency) and 16 threads, it has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and single-core score of 3004 place it well above the needs of this game, which is not CPU-intensive by design. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory further ensure it does not bottleneck the GPU in any of the measured scenarios.

The benchmark data supports this assessment: at 1080p Low, the 184.6 FPS average is likely near the CPU’s frame generation limit, but it still exceeds what the GPU can deliver at higher settings. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Geekbench single-core score of 2301 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for game logic and draw calls. However, since Road 96 is an adventure title with relatively simple scenes, the CPU’s 82nd percentile ranking is overkill for this workload, and the data shows no evidence of CPU-induced frame drops, as even the lowest 4K FPS figures align with GPU limitations rather than CPU stutter.

FAQ

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

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 64.2 on Low settings, but Medium drops to 47.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31.8 FPS. None of the 4K settings achieve a stable 60 FPS.

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

A: 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, as even Ultra settings average 84.3 FPS, and Low reaches 184.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS (121.1 and 89.8 FPS respectively).

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

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The i5-13400F ranks in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 2070 SUPER ranks in the 65th percentile. The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU limitations, not CPU constraints.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 22206, which is 0.5% slower than the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307) and 2.5% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670). It is also 2.3% slower than the RTX 4060 Mobile.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 184.6 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 31.8 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for Road 96 at 4K?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory is sufficient for the game to load, but the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears to limit performance at 4K, where even Low settings only reach 64.2 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the 2560x1440 Medium preset is the recommended starting point, as it averages 89.8 FPS and remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. If a higher refresh rate is desired, dropping to 1080p High (112 FPS) offers a significant visual upgrade over Low without sacrificing smoothness. For players with 4K displays, the Low preset at 64.2 FPS is the only playable option, but it requires accepting reduced fidelity; Medium at 47.2 FPS is borderline, and High or Ultra are not recommended due to sub-40 FPS averages.

At 1080p, Ultra is fully viable at 84.3 FPS, making it the best choice for players with standard monitors who want maximum detail. At 1440p, Ultra at 55.5 FPS may be acceptable for a slower-paced adventure game, but Medium provides a safer margin. The data indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium-to-High settings, where the GPU’s strengths are fully realized without hitting the memory bandwidth wall seen at 4K.