Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that places narrative and atmosphere above raw graphical fidelity, yet the measured performance of the Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER reveals a system that is heavily dictated by the GPU at higher resolutions. The data shows a combo that can easily handle the game at 1080p with maximum settings, but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across three resolutions and four quality presets, interpreting what each number means for the overall experience.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its substantial L3 cache of 24 MB shared across the cores provides ample bandwidth for feeding the GPU in gaming workloads. In the broader CPU landscape, this chip sits in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs, indicating it is a high-end part that is unlikely to be the limiting factor in a game like Road 96, which is not known for being CPU-intensive.

Benchmark results confirm this processor's strength. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32,889 points in multi-core and 4,643 points in single-core tests. These numbers are strong, but for gaming, the single-core performance is often more critical. The single-core score of 4,643 is robust, and when looking at its nearest rivals, it is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-14600K, which has an average score of 49,166 and a delta of 0.4%. It also edges out the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X by 0.6% in average score, showing that this i5 is a top-tier performer for its class.

Given the measured frame rates, the CPU is never a bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work to do, the system achieves 168.5 FPS. This suggests the i5-14600KF has more than enough headroom to process the game's logic and draw calls. The data indicates that the processor's role here is entirely supportive; it provides a stable platform that allows the RTX 2060 SUPER to operate at its full potential, and the performance scaling between settings is purely a function of the GPU's workload.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the clear performance driver in this configuration. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 1650 MHz, and it has a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s. This GPU sits in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, which is a mid-range placement, and its benchmark scores reflect that. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2,011 points, and in Passmark G3D, it scores 16,462 points.

The GPU's importance is immediately visible in the measured data. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is dramatic, going from 168.5 FPS down to 75.9 FPS. This is entirely the GPU's rendering load increasing. The RTX 2060 SUPER is comparable to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which has an average score of 19,680 and a delta of just 0.5%. This close relationship means the 2060 SUPER is a solid performer, but it is not a high-end card designed for 4K gaming.

At 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 23.7 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 4K High, it only manages 36.3 FPS. This indicates that the 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures, but the raw compute power of the TU106 chip is insufficient to handle the pixel count at 4K with high-quality settings. The GPU's performance is the defining factor in this combo, and the data clearly shows where its limits lie.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The data provides a clear set of recommendations based on the target resolution. For players at 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is entirely viable. The measured 75.9 FPS average is above the standard 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth, visually rich experience. There is no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution, as even the High preset at 101.2 FPS sacrifices visual quality for a frame rate that is unnecessary for a narrative adventure game.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. The Ultra preset drops to 50.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a smooth experience. The High preset, however, delivers 61.4 FPS, which is right at the target. This is the sweet spot for 1440p, offering a balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Medium preset at 80.3 FPS is also acceptable, but the jump to High provides better image quality for a moderate FPS cost.

For 4K (3840x2160), the options are limited. Ultra is out of the question at 23.7 FPS, and High is borderline at 36.3 FPS. The only playable option is the Low preset, which achieves 57.3 FPS. This is a significant visual downgrade, but it is the only way to maintain a playable frame rate at this resolution. The data suggests that 4K is not a realistic target for this combo with any visual quality, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for the best experience.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the broader database of tested combinations for Road 96, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1,255 out of 1,684 combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, which is a direct reflection of the GPU's mid-range status. While the CPU is a top-tier part, the GPU limits the overall combo's performance in this game.

This ranking is informative when compared to the individual component scores. The CPU alone is in the 93rd percentile, but the combo rank is in the 74th percentile (1 - (1255/1684)). This discrepancy highlights that the GPU is the bottleneck. The data shows that while this processor is capable of much higher frame rates, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the anchor that drags the combo down in the rankings. Users with this setup should understand that an upgrade to the GPU would yield far more substantial gains in Road 96 than any CPU upgrade.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of GPU-bound performance. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 75.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 50.5 FPS, a 33.5% reduction. Moving further to 4K Ultra, it falls to 23.7 FPS, a 68.8% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering workload, as the number of pixels increases exponentially.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. For example, at High settings, the FPS goes from 101.2 at 1080p to 61.4 at 1440p (a 39.4% drop) and then to 36.3 at 4K (a 64.2% drop from 1080p). This consistent ~60-70% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component. The CPU's performance is static across these resolutions, so it cannot be the cause of this scaling. The data conclusively shows that this combo is optimized for 1080p and 1440p play, with 4K being a stretch goal that requires significant compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete set of measured average frame rates is as follows, providing a full picture of the combo's capabilities:

At 1920x1080, the system is highly capable. The Low preset achieves 168.5 FPS, which is an excellent result for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset delivers 125.5 FPS, and the High preset hits 101.2 FPS. The Ultra preset, as noted, produces 75.9 FPS, which remains a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, performance is still solid. The Low preset reaches 105.6 FPS, while Medium drops to 80.3 FPS. The High preset is the recommended option at 61.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 50.5 FPS, which may be acceptable for some players but is below the 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles. The Low preset is the only playable option at 57.3 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 42.5 FPS, and the High preset falls to 36.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at 23.7 FPS. These numbers show a clear, consistent degradation that is directly tied to the increasing pixel count, confirming the GPU as the primary performance limiter in this setup.