Road 96

Road 96, an adventure title from 2021, presents a unique workload that scales dramatically with resolution and settings. Benchmark results for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination reveal a system that is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p but becomes heavily constrained as pixel count increases. The measured data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary performance driver, with the Core i5-9400 providing sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking until the most demanding settings are applied.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of Road 96 at this system's performance level. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 110 FPS at 1080p to 69.8 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 36.5%, before falling further to 39.5 FPS at 4K, which is a 64.1% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, a hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario where the graphics card's fill rate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the system achieves 185.1 FPS at 1080p, 120.5 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 65.4%, which is remarkably similar to the drop observed at High settings. This consistency suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is being saturated in a similar manner regardless of the visual complexity, reinforcing the conclusion that resolution is the dominant variable. The data shows that while the game becomes less fluid at 4K, the scaling is predictable and does not indicate any sudden architectural inefficiency.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 1024 out of 1684 tested combinations in Road 96. This places the system in the upper half of all tested configurations, but it is not among the elite performers. The percentile positioning suggests that while this combo can deliver a smooth experience at lower resolutions, many other pairings, likely featuring more powerful GPUs or CPUs, will outperform it in this specific title.

The rank of 1024 out of 1684 indicates a mid-to-upper tier standing. It outperforms a significant number of combos, but it is clearly outclassed by the top configurations. This position is consistent with the hardware's individual performance profiles; the RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the Core i5-9400 is at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. The combined rank reflects a system that is balanced but leans on the GPU for its overall standing in this game, which is favorable for Road 96's GPU-intensive nature.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the undisputed workhorse in this configuration for Road 96. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical resource for handling the game's textures and geometry at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra results, which average 31.7 FPS, are a direct consequence of the GPU's computational limits. The card's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 1770 MHz, are tasked with the bulk of the rendering, and the data shows they are the binding constraint.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 22206 places it at the 65th percentile, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (scoring 22307, a -0.5% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (scoring 21670, a 2.5% delta). This indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER's performance in general benchmarks is solid, but not exceptional. In Road 96, this translates to a card that can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K on higher presets. The 4K High average of 39.5 FPS and the 4K Medium average of 47.1 FPS demonstrate that even with reduced settings, the card's pixel throughput is insufficient for a locked 60 FPS experience at that resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS dataset for this combo provides a clear picture of its capabilities across the tested spectrum. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally strong: Low settings produce an average of 185.1 FPS, Medium produces 134.6 FPS, High produces 110 FPS, and even Ultra maintains a smooth 87.3 FPS. These numbers show that for 1080p gaming, the RTX 2070 SUPER has ample headroom, and the Core i5-9400 is able to feed it frames effectively at these rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains highly playable. The Low preset yields an average of 120.5 FPS, which drops to 86.8 FPS on Medium and 69.8 FPS on High. The Ultra preset, at 54.4 FPS, is the first setting to dip below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of increased pixel count and visual complexity. At 3840x2160, the limitations become apparent. The Low preset averages 64 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 47.1 FPS, High to 39.5 FPS, and Ultra to a stutter-prone 31.7 FPS. These 4K figures clearly define the boundaries of this hardware combination.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, plays a supporting role in this analysis. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide adequate single-thread performance for Road 96's engine. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as 7969 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1125 in single-core, place it at the 50th percentile, suggesting it is an average performer relative to the broader CPU market. In this game, the CPU's responsibility is to manage game logic and feed draw calls to the GPU.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The high FPS figures at 1080p, exceeding 180 FPS on Low settings, are only achievable if the CPU can process and submit frames quickly enough. The fact that the FPS scales down consistently as resolution increases, rather than plateauing due to CPU limitations, confirms that the i5-9400 is keeping pace. However, its average benchmark score of 2305 is very close to its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 (scoring 2300, a 0.2% delta) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (scoring 2295, a 0.4% delta). This indicates that the CPU is not a source of exceptional advantage; it is merely adequate, allowing the RTX 2070 SUPER to perform to its potential without artificially capping the frame rate.