Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that scales surprisingly well across a wide range of hardware, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces results that are remarkable for their consistency and headroom. The data places this specific pairing at rank 152 out of 3713 tested combinations, which puts it in the top 4.1% of all systems evaluated for this game. That ranking alone signals a configuration that is far more capable than the average, but the measured frame rates reveal a story about where the true bottleneck lies at each resolution and preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 152 out of 3713 represents a strong position, indicating that this hardware pairing is optimized for high-refresh-rate play in Road 96. The percentile placement suggests that the vast majority of tested systems fall behind this configuration, which is consistent with the performance class of both the CPU and GPU. The Intel Core i5-14400F sits in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, so the combined result is predictably high-tier.

When looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows a tightly packed group. The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, which is only 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores slightly higher at 32354, a 0.2% delta, while the Intel Core i7-12800H trails by 0.5%. This clustering indicates that the i5-14400F is firmly competitive within its segment, and the minor differences between these chips are unlikely to translate into noticeable gameplay disparities in Road 96.

The GPU's nearest rivals paint a similar picture of tight competition. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60347 is virtually identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60's 60326, with a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is a mere 0.3% behind, while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M leads by 2.5% and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 trails by 2.9%. Despite the massive performance difference implied by the RTX 4090's name, these benchmark scores show that the raw compute index is closely matched with several professional-grade cards, though the gaming-specific results in Road 96 are where the 4090's advantages in memory bandwidth and driver optimization become apparent.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo suggests that the Ultra preset is the most balanced choice for a premium experience, though the High preset offers a better trade-off for competitive refresh rates. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 181 FPS on average, which is already well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, but dropping to High raises that figure to 231 FPS. The Medium preset pushes further to 287 FPS, and Low reaches a staggering 392 FPS.

For 2560x1440, the pattern continues with Ultra at 115 FPS, High at 147 FPS, Medium at 183 FPS, and Low at 249 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset dips to 61 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for a high-refresh-rate display, while High maintains a solid 78 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K yields 97 FPS with a minimum of 82 and a maximum of 111, making it the most consistent option for 4K gaming.

Given that Road 96 is an adventure game where frame pacing matters more than raw speed, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot across all resolutions. It provides a significant jump over Ultra in terms of average FPS — 50 FPS higher at 1080p, 32 FPS higher at 1440p, and 17 FPS higher at 4K — while retaining enough visual fidelity to appreciate the game's stylistic presentation. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users who prioritize maximum image quality over frame rate, and the data shows it is the only preset that fails to maintain a 60 FPS floor at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160 reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern that points to the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 231 at 1080p to 147 at 1440p, a reduction of 84 FPS, and then to 78 at 4K, another 69 FPS reduction. This represents a 36% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 47% decrease from 1440p to 4K, which is consistent with the pixel count increases of 78% and 125%, respectively.

The Low preset shows even more dramatic scaling, with FPS falling from 392 at 1080p to 249 at 1440p and then to 132 at 4K. The relative drop from 1440p to 4K is 47%, identical to the High preset, suggesting that the GPU is fully saturated at both settings. The Medium preset follows the same trajectory, going from 287 FPS at 1080p to 183 FPS at 1440p and 97 FPS at 4K.

These scaling ratios indicate that the RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this configuration. The i5-14400F has ample processing headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the massive frame rates at 1080p, but the sheer pixel throughput required at 4K overwhelms even this flagship GPU. The fact that the FPS nearly halves when pixel count doubles is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of performance depending on the preset. The Low preset achieves an average of 392 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure for this combo in any configuration. Moving up to Medium, the average drops to 287 FPS with a minimum of 244 and a maximum of 330, providing a wide frame window that suggests some scenes are more demanding than others. The High preset delivers 231 FPS on average, while Ultra settles at 181 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset still manages an impressive 249 FPS, while Medium produces 183 FPS with a minimum of 155 and a maximum of 210. High achieves 147 FPS, and Ultra drops to 115 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 134 FPS, which is substantial but not as wide as the 211 FPS gap seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 132 FPS, Medium provides 97 FPS with a minimum of 82 and a maximum of 111, High delivers 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 61 FPS. The 4K results show that this configuration can handle the game at high frame rates even with demanding settings, but the Ultra preset is the only one that approaches the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset's minimum of 82 FPS is particularly noteworthy, as it indicates that the game remains smooth even in the most demanding scenes at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node and features 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. Its memory subsystem is substantial, with 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The core clock runs at a base of 2235 MHz and boosts to 2520 MHz, with memory operating at 1313 MHz or 21 Gbps effective. These specifications place the GPU in the 88th percentile among all graphics cards, and the benchmark data supports this ranking with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and a Passmark G3D score of 38194.

In Road 96, the GPU's role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns. The 24 GB of VRAM is far more than this game requires, but it ensures that there is no memory-related stuttering even at 4K with the highest presets. The 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth allows the GPU to handle the game's textures and shaders without bottlenecking the frame pipeline. The high boost clock of 2520 MHz helps maintain the 392 FPS seen at 1080p Low, a scenario where the GPU is not fully stressed but still needs to push an enormous number of frames per second.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores, such as the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, have similar average scores but far less gaming-oriented feature sets. The RTX 4090's advantage in raw throughput, combined with its massive memory allocation, makes it exceptionally well-suited for this title, even though the game itself is not graphically demanding by modern standards.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the specific bandwidth is not listed in the data. It sits in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32279.

In Road 96, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough draw calls and game logic to maintain high frame rates. The benchmark results indicate that the i5-14400F is more than capable of this task. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 392 FPS, which is a scenario where the CPU's single-thread performance becomes critical. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3055 and Geekbench single-core score of 2058 show that the processor has strong per-core performance, which is essential for this type of game.

The multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a Passmark multithread score of 25470. However, the data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in Road 96, as the frame rate scales proportionally with resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain constant regardless of resolution, but instead it drops significantly from 1080p to 4K. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and Intel Core i9-11900, have nearly identical average scores, which suggests that swapping between these processors would yield similar results in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset offers the most balanced experience at 3840x2160, with an average of 97 FPS, a minimum of 82, and a maximum of 111. The High preset provides 78 FPS, while Ultra dips to 61 FPS.

Q: How much FPS does the Ultra preset cost compared to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 115 FPS, which is 32 FPS lower than the High preset's 147 FPS. This represents a 22% reduction in frame rate for the visual upgrade.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor, as indicated by the resolution scaling. The average FPS drops by roughly 47% from 1440p to 4K at the High preset, which aligns with the increased pixel count, confirming the GPU is fully saturated.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with all settings maxed?

A: Yes, but barely. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 61 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset provides a more comfortable margin with an average of 97 FPS.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 392, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration tested that breaks the 390 FPS barrier.

Q: How does the i5-14400F compare to its closest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS leads by 0.2%, while the Intel Core i7-12800H trails by 0.5%.