Road 96

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

The measured FPS data for Road 96 reveals a dramatic and predictable scaling pattern as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo of Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers an average of 349.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops that to 222.2 FPS, a reduction of roughly 36%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 116.5 FPS, which is about 67% below the 1080p figure. This steep decline is a classic sign that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases, though the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high.

The scaling pattern becomes clearer when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 206.6 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 132.3 FPS; and at 4K High, it reaches 70.4 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is roughly 47%. This non-linear falloff suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU enough frames, but as resolution increases, the GPU's rendering load grows disproportionately. At 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed, yet the frame rates remain playable.

What is most revealing is the difference between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (349.8 FPS) and Ultra (161.8 FPS) is a factor of about 2.2x. At 1440p, the gap narrows to roughly 2.1x (222.2 vs 105.2 FPS). At 4K, the gap tightens further to about 2.1x (116.5 vs 55.6 FPS). This consistency implies that the settings scaling is largely GPU-bound across all resolutions, with the CPU not becoming a bottleneck even at the lowest settings and highest frame rates. The data strongly indicates that Road 96 is a title where the RTX 4080 SUPER is the decisive component for high-refresh gaming, especially at 1440p and 4K.

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

The Intel Core i5-14600KF brings 14 cores and 20 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores are formidable: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,889 and a single-core score of 4,643. The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs is 93, placing it in the top tier of processors. In the context of Road 96, the high single-thread performance is likely what enables the exceptionally high frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU must process game logic and physics quickly enough to keep up with the GPU.

The nearest rival data shows the i5-14600KF is tightly clustered with other high-end chips. It is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K, 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, and 1.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H in average benchmark score. However, it trails the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.5%. This tight grouping suggests that for a game like Road 96, which is not traditionally considered CPU-intensive, the differences between these processors would be negligible in practice. The fact that the i5-14600KF achieves 349.8 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at that resolution.

The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache are generous, which helps with data locality in game engines. The CPU's support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory, along with dual-channel memory bus, provides flexibility, though the benchmark data does not isolate memory speed effects. Given that the frame rates at 1080p are well above 300 FPS, the CPU's role appears to be providing headroom rather than being a bottleneck. At 4K, where the GPU is clearly the constraint, the CPU's contribution is less critical, but its strong single-core performance ensures that even at 70.4 FPS (4K High), there is no stutter or frame pacing issues implied by the data.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a 5 nm Ada Lovelace part with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2550 MHz, and it has 10,240 shading units. The GPU's benchmark results are strong: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 and a Passmark G3D score of 34,245. Its percentile vs all GPUs is 88, and it sits just 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT in average score, showing that it is competitive with the previous generation's top cards.

In Road 96, the GPU's VRAM capacity is likely not a limiting factor, as even at 4K Ultra, the game averages 55.6 FPS, indicating the 16 GB buffer is sufficient. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is crucial for the texture-heavy scenes typical of an adventure game at high resolutions. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K (116.5 to 55.6 FPS) shows a 52% performance hit, which is substantial but not unusual for a game pushing high-quality effects. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than enough for this title, as evidenced by the 4K High average of 70.4 FPS, which is comfortably above 60 FPS.

The nearest rival data for the GPU shows it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, 2.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7700S, and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. This indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is well-positioned among high-end cards, though the newer RTX 5070 Ti is not far behind. For Road 96, the GPU's role is dominant: at 1440p and 4K, the frame rates are directly tied to the GPU's rendering capabilities, and the data shows it delivers playable performance even at the most demanding settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Road 96?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 349.8 at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the combo capable of 4K gaming in Road 96?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with High settings, it averages 70.4 FPS, and even at Ultra it maintains 55.6 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 206.6 at 1080p High to 132.3 at 1440p High, a reduction of about 36%.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: Given the high frame rate of 349.8 FPS, the CPU is likely not the limiting factor; the GPU's rendering speed is the more probable constraint, though the CPU's strong single-core performance supports this.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combos for this game?

A: The combo ranks 133rd out of 1,684 tested combos in Road 96.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 133rd out of 1,684 combos tested in Road 96. This places it in the top 8% of all configurations, which is a strong showing given the game's modest graphical demands. The rank reflects the fact that many combos with more powerful GPUs or CPUs exist, but the i5-14600KF and RTX 4080 SUPER combination is clearly above average.

The CPU's percentile of 93 and the GPU's percentile of 88 both contribute to this high ranking. However, the rank of 133 suggests that there are 132 other combos that achieve higher frame rates, likely featuring top-tier CPUs like the Core i9 series or GPUs like the RTX 4090. The data implies that Road 96 is not a title that scales linearly with hardware, so the difference between rank 133 and rank 1 may be relatively small in actual FPS terms. The combo's performance is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay at any resolution, and the rank reflects a well-balanced pairing that avoids obvious bottlenecks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, all settings are playable, but Ultra at 161.8 FPS is likely the sweet spot for players with high-refresh monitors, as it provides a smooth experience while maximizing visual quality. At 1440p, Ultra at 105.2 FPS is still above 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for a balance of fidelity and speed. At 4K, High at 70.4 FPS is the best option, as it stays above 60 FPS while offering good visual detail; Ultra at 55.6 FPS is borderline, and Medium at 87.5 FPS is a viable alternative for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals.

For players who prefer maximum frame rates, Low settings at 1440p (222.2 FPS) or 1080p (349.8 FPS) are exceptional, but they sacrifice visual quality. The data suggests that Medium settings provide a good middle ground, with 256.1 FPS at 1080p and 166.2 FPS at 1440p. Given the game's adventure genre, visual immersion is likely valued, so the recommendation is to prioritize High or Ultra settings where the frame rate remains above 100 FPS. At 4K, High is the clear winner, as it delivers a stable 70.4 FPS without the performance drop seen at Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 349.8 (Low) to 161.8 (Ultra), with Medium at 256.1 and High at 206.6. This shows a wide spread, with Low being more than double Ultra's performance. At 2560x1440, the averages are 222.2 (Low), 166.2 (Medium), 132.3 (High), and 105.2 (Ultra). The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is about 53%, which is consistent with the 1080p scaling. At 3840x2160, the averages are 116.5 (Low), 87.5 (Medium), 70.4 (High), and 55.6 (Ultra). The 4K Ultra figure is the only one below 60 FPS, indicating that this is the most demanding configuration.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each increase in settings level reduces FPS by roughly 20-25% at the same resolution. For example, at 1440p, moving from Low to Medium reduces FPS by about 25%, and from Medium to High by another 20%. This linear scaling suggests that the game's settings have a predictable impact on GPU load. The min and max FPS values are not provided, so the analysis relies solely on averages, but the consistency of the scaling across resolutions implies stable performance without major frame time spikes. The combination of a high-end CPU and GPU delivers excellent results across the board, with the only caveat being 4K Ultra where the frame rate dips below 60 FPS.