Road 96

Road 96 is not a demanding title by modern standards, but the data for this Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination shows a wide performance spread across its four quality presets. The measured results indicate that this pairing is heavily overqualified for the game’s engine, delivering high frame rates even at 4K. The core question for builders is not whether the combo can run the game, but which setting balances visual fidelity against the diminishing returns of frame rate escalation.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data makes the optimal preset choice clear across all resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 264.8 FPS, but the Medium preset still delivers 236.9 FPS, representing only a 10.5% performance penalty for a significant visual upgrade. The High preset at 208.8 FPS remains far above any display refresh rate, making it a viable choice. The Ultra preset drops to 161 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth but offers marginal visual gains over High for a 22.8% frame rate loss compared to High.

At 1440p, the pattern repeats with more headroom. The Low preset hits 226.9 FPS, Medium delivers 165.4 FPS, and High maintains 131.3 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 104.6 FPS, which is the first point where the frame rate becomes a consideration for high-refresh monitors. For 1440p, the High preset is the strongest recommendation: it provides the best visual quality while keeping the average FPS above 130, comfortably exceeding the refresh rate of most 1440p gaming monitors.

At 4K, the choices become more consequential. The High preset produces 71.3 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The Medium preset delivers 85.8 FPS, representing a 20.3% improvement over High. The Low preset jumps to 119 FPS, nearly doubling the High preset’s output. The Ultra preset drops to 52.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data strongly suggests using the Medium preset at 4K, as it provides the best compromise between visual fidelity and the 85.8 FPS average, which remains fluid on most displays. The Low preset at 119 FPS is the choice for players prioritizing frame rate above all else, while High and Ultra are only advisable for slower-paced exploration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 180th out of 1,684 tested combinations for Road 96. This places the combo in the top 10.7% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given the game’s modest engine demands. The ranking reflects the GPU’s raw power rather than the CPU’s contribution, as the i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from 2018 with a 50th percentile ranking among all CPUs. The RTX 4080 SUPER, by contrast, sits at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, making the graphics card the dominant factor in this pairing’s overall standing.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this interpretation. In Cinebench R23, the i5-9400 scores 7,969 multi-core and 1,125 single-core, which are modest figures by modern standards. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 2,300 in the aggregate benchmark, a mere 0.2% delta, and the Intel Xeon E-2134 at 2,295, a 0.4% delta. These rivals are all similarly positioned, indicating the i5-9400 is not a bottleneck for this game but also not a strength. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53,489, a 0.2% delta, and the RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9% with a score of 52,086. This data confirms the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of the combo’s high rank.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Road 96 at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The measured data shows 71.3 FPS on High, 85.8 FPS on Medium, and 119 FPS on Low. The Ultra preset drops to 52.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, so stick to Medium or High for 4K gaming.

Q: What is the best setting for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, every preset exceeds 144 FPS, with Low at 264.8 FPS and Ultra at 161 FPS. At 1440p, the High preset delivers 131.3 FPS, which is slightly below 144 FPS, but the Low preset at 226.9 FPS and Medium at 165.4 FPS both exceed it. For 1440p, choose Low or Medium to fully utilize a 144Hz display.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its closest rivals in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,305. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, scores 2,300, a 0.2% delta, while the Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2,319, a -0.6% delta, meaning the i5-9400 is slightly slower than that rival. The differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER overkill for this game?

A: The data suggests yes. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 264.8 FPS, which is far beyond any display’s refresh rate. Even at 4K Ultra, the 52.9 FPS is only limited by the preset’s heavy effects, not the GPU’s capability. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance is vastly more than this game requires.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 226.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 104.6 FPS. This is a 53.9% reduction in frame rate from Low to Ultra, making the visual upgrade cost more than half the performance.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i5-9400’s 6 cores and 6 threads with a 4.10 GHz boost clock are sufficient for Road 96. The measured FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p, the CPU can push 264.8 FPS, proving it is not a constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 264.8 FPS, the Medium preset 236.9 FPS, the High preset 208.8 FPS, and the Ultra preset 161 FPS. All four presets are playable on any high-refresh monitor, with even the lowest (Ultra) exceeding 160 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results scale predictably. The Low preset averages 226.9 FPS, a 14.3% drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 165.4 FPS, a 30.2% drop. The High preset averages 131.3 FPS, a 37.1% drop. The Ultra preset averages 104.6 FPS, a 35.0% drop. These reductions are modest, confirming the GPU has ample headroom.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops become more pronounced. The Low preset averages 119 FPS, a 47.5% drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 85.8 FPS, a 63.8% drop. The High preset averages 71.3 FPS, a 65.9% drop. The Ultra preset averages 52.9 FPS, a 67.1% drop. The Ultra preset is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, highlighting the engine’s limitations at extreme settings rather than the hardware’s.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent pattern. At the Low preset, the frame rate drops from 264.8 FPS at 1080p to 119 FPS at 4K, a 55.1% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 236.9 FPS to 85.8 FPS, a 63.8% reduction. At High, the drop is from 208.8 FPS to 71.3 FPS, a 65.9% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 161 FPS to 52.9 FPS, a 67.1% reduction.

This scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting component. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K increases with higher settings, which is typical for GPU-bound workloads. At Low settings, the game’s simple visuals mean the GPU can still render 119 FPS at 4K. At Ultra, the increased pixel count and effects stress the GPU more, leading to the 52.9 FPS result. The i5-9400’s performance is not the bottleneck, as the frame rate scales smoothly with resolution rather than hitting a CPU-imposed ceiling.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In Cinebench R23, it scores 7,969 multi-core and 1,125 single-core, placing it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, is only 0.2% faster in aggregate benchmarks, indicating the i5-9400 is a mid-range part.

For Road 96, these specifications are more than sufficient. The game does not appear to utilize more than six threads, and the 4.10 GHz boost clock provides adequate single-thread performance for the adventure genre’s typical physics and logic. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 264.8 FPS, which would require strong single-core performance to maintain. The CPU’s 65W TDP and 14nm process are dated, but they do not impact this game’s results. The i5-9400’s role here is to feed the RTX 4080 SUPER without becoming a constraint, and the data confirms it performs that role effectively.