Road 96

# Road 96 — Intel Core i5-14400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

This combo pairs Intel's 10-core Raptor Lake refresh CPU with NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace-based RTX 4070 Ti. In Road 96, an adventure title from 2021, this pairing delivers strong frame rates across all tested resolutions, though the scaling pattern reveals a system that becomes progressively GPU-bound as resolution increases, while remaining comfortably CPU-unconstrained even at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline varies significantly by settings preset. At Ultra settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (148.8 avg FPS) to 2560x1440 (97.4 avg FPS) represents a 34.6% drop, and moving further to 3840x2160 (51.4 avg FPS) cuts performance by another 47.2% relative to 1440p. This steep degradation at 4K Ultra indicates the RTX 4070 Ti is the primary limiting factor at that configuration.

The Low settings preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 325.9 avg FPS, which falls to 205.3 at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and then to 112.2 at 4K (a 45.3% drop from 1440p). The absolute frame rates remain high throughout, but the proportional scaling is remarkably consistent across all three resolution steps. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU still dominates the performance curve — if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a much smaller delta between 1080p and 1440p at low graphical loads.

Comparing presets at each resolution reveals the GPU's workload sensitivity. At 1080p, Ultra (148.8) delivers 54.3% lower FPS than Low (325.9). At 1440p, the gap narrows slightly: Ultra (97.4) is 52.6% below Low (205.3). At 4K, Ultra (51.4) trails Low (112.2) by 54.2%. This consistency across resolutions indicates that Road 96's settings scale primarily with GPU workload rather than exposing any CPU-side limitation.

The Medium preset provides a useful midpoint reference: 236.4 FPS at 1080p, 155.1 at 1440p, and 79.9 at 4K. The 4K Medium result is particularly telling — it exceeds the 4K High result (66.6) by 20%, showing that even a single-step reduction in quality yields substantial headroom at the highest resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F brings 10 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core support the heavily threaded workloads typical of modern adventure titles. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3093 in single-core, placing it in the 88th percentile among all tested CPUs.

The nearestRivals data shows this processor is tightly clustered with its competition. The Intel Core i7-12800H, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, AMD Ryzen 7 250, and Intel Core i7-13705H all sit within 0.2% of the i5-14400F's average benchmark score. This is a remarkably tight grouping that suggests the 14400F's performance envelope is well-established and that no single rival in this tier offers a meaningful computational advantage.

For Road 96 specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary. The fact that the RTX 4070 Ti is able to push 325.9 FPS at 1080p Low — a frame rate that would stress most CPUs — without the data showing any min-FPS collapse or anomalous scaling suggests the 14400F's 10-core/16-thread configuration provides ample headroom. The benchmark results indicate the game is not CPU-bound at any tested resolution, even at the lowest settings where GPU load is minimized.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 10 nm process node (Raptor Lake-R architecture) position it as an efficient mainstream part, but the performance data in this game does not reveal any CPU-side constraints. The measured FPS deltas between resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound scaling, and the high frame rates at 1080p Low (325.9) demonstrate that the 14400F can feed the RTX 4070 Ti without becoming a limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Road 96, this specific pairing ranks 217th out of 1684 combos. This places it in the top 12.9% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank reflects the overall balance of the combo, and the data indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is doing the majority of the heavy lifting in this game.

The combo rank is particularly notable because the CPU sits at the 88th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 85th percentile among all GPUs. This alignment of relative performance levels suggests a well-matched pairing. The RTX 4070 Ti's nearestRivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (0.6% higher average score), Intel Arc A730M (1.5% higher), AMD Radeon Pro 580 (1.6% lower), and AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (1.6% higher) — all within a narrow 3.2% band, reinforcing that this GPU's compute performance is consistent with its tier.

The fact that this combo achieves 217th place out of 1684 indicates that many other tested configurations outperform it, but those systems likely feature higher-tier CPUs or more recent GPUs. For an adventure game like Road 96, the practical impact of this ranking is minimal at 1080p and 1440p, where the combo delivers frame rates well above display refresh rate thresholds. At 4K Ultra, the 51.4 avg FPS is the only sub-60 result in the dataset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 325.9 avg FPS, which drops to 236.4 at Medium (27.5% reduction), 195.1 at High (40.1% reduction from Low), and 148.8 at Ultra (54.3% reduction from Low). The step from Medium to High costs 41.3 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 46.3 FPS — the Ultra preset is clearly the most demanding at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected resolution penalty. Low delivers 205.3 avg FPS, Medium 155.1, High 120.4, and Ultra 97.4. The Ultra result at 1440p is the first sub-100 reading in the dataset, though it remains well within playable territory. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 107.9 FPS, representing a 52.6% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens noticeably. Low settings yield 112.2 avg FPS, which is still comfortable for most displays. Medium drops to 79.9, High to 66.6, and Ultra falls to 51.4 — the only sub-60 result in the entire dataset. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 60.8 FPS reduction (54.2%), and every settings step at 4K costs between 15.2 and 32.3 FPS.

The data reveals that the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Road 96 at all tested configurations. The GPU's 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample compute headroom, with the 4K Ultra result being the only configuration that approaches the hardware's limits.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS for this combo at 2560x1440 High settings is 120.4. This provides smooth gameplay on standard 60 Hz displays and is within range for 120 Hz panels.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at all tested resolutions. The consistent FPS scaling across resolution steps, even at Low settings, suggests the RTX 4070 Ti determines performance, while the Intel Core i5-14400F provides sufficient headroom.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, the combo delivers 112.2 avg FPS at Low, 79.9 at Medium, 66.6 at High, and 51.4 at Ultra. Only the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS, so 4K gaming is viable with settings adjustments.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F's average benchmark score is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-12800H, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, AMD Ryzen 7 250, and Intel Core i7-13705H. All five processors perform at essentially the same level.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p?

A: At 1080p, even Ultra settings deliver 148.8 avg FPS. The High preset (195.1) and Medium preset (236.4) offer progressively higher frame rates, so the choice depends on whether visual fidelity or maximum FPS is preferred.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Road 96?

A: This pairing ranks 217th out of 1684 tested combinations, placing it in the top 12.9% of all systems tested for this game. The rank reflects a strong overall performance profile.