Road 96

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Road 96 across the three tested resolutions reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti produces an average of 334 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops the average to 213 FPS, a reduction of roughly 36%. At 4K, the Low preset average falls further to 112 FPS. This progression indicates that while the GPU is still the primary limiting factor, the CPU at 1080p is capable of feeding the graphics card enough data to reach exceptionally high frame rates.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings shows a similar relative drop: 197 FPS down to 125 FPS, which is a 37% decrease. The jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings is steeper in absolute terms, going from 125 FPS to 66 FPS, a 47% reduction. This steeper decline at higher resolutions suggests that the rendering workload per pixel is increasing, and the RTX 5070 Ti's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory is being utilized more heavily as the pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the measured average frame rates are 244 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47%. These figures are nearly identical to the High preset scaling, which suggests that the relative performance penalty for increasing resolution is consistent regardless of whether the preset is Medium or High. The Ultra preset shows the lowest absolute numbers, with 154 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K, but the scaling pattern remains similar.

The fact that the 1080p Low result (334 FPS) is more than three times the 4K Ultra result (52 FPS) indicates that the game can be pushed to very high refresh rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as resolution increases. The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra at any given resolution is substantial: at 1080p, the difference is 180 FPS; at 1440p, it is 115 FPS; and at 4K, it is 60 FPS. This widening gap at lower resolutions suggests that the CPU overhead for the Ultra preset is not the limiting factor, as the relative difference between presets remains proportionally similar across resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance for selecting a preset based on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, all four presets deliver well above 144 FPS, with even the Ultra preset achieving an average of 154 FPS. The Low preset reaches 334 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show, but the Medium preset at 244 FPS and High at 197 FPS offer substantial headroom. For users with 144Hz displays, the High preset at 1080p is a reasonable choice, as it provides a comfortable margin above the refresh rate while presumably offering better visual fidelity than Medium or Low.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers an average of 125 FPS, which is sufficient for most high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset drops to 98 FPS, which is still playable but may require a VRR display for smoothness. The Medium preset at 156 FPS is the best match for a 144Hz or 165Hz display, as it stays above the refresh rate without the visual compromise of Low settings. The Low preset at 213 FPS is excessive for most monitors, so Medium or High are the practical recommendations for this resolution.

For 4K, the data shows that the High preset averages 66 FPS, which is marginal for 60Hz displays. The Medium preset at 82 FPS is more comfortable, and the Low preset at 112 FPS provides the best headroom for consistent frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, which may result in noticeable stutter on standard displays. Therefore, for 4K, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate, as it stays above 60 FPS while the Ultra preset does not.

The min FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution: 208 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K. These minimum values indicate that the Medium preset maintains relatively consistent frame delivery, with the 4K minimum still above the 60 FPS threshold. This consistency further supports the recommendation for Medium at 4K, as the minimum frame rate is more indicative of real-world smoothness than the average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive: the 3DMark max threads test yields 12,412, and the Cinebench R23 multicore score is 30,745. The single-thread performance is equally strong, with a 3DMark single thread score of 1,136 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,116. These numbers place the CPU in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,881.

In the context of Road 96, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combination reaches 334 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes relevant. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2,262 and 4-thread score of 4,469 indicate that the processor has strong multi-thread scaling for lighter workloads, but the game likely benefits more from the high boost clock of 5.40 GHz.

The nearest rivals for this CPU, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (deltaPct -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (deltaPct -0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (deltaPct 0.5%), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (deltaPct 0.5%). These deltas are all within 0.5% of the i7-13700K's average score, indicating that the CPU's performance is closely matched with these alternatives. However, for this specific game, the actual FPS results are what matter, and the measured data shows no obvious CPU bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes.

The CPU's L3 cache is 30 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz is a key factor for games that are sensitive to single-thread performance, and the measured FPS at 1080p suggests that the processor is able to keep up with the GPU's demands even at very high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti achieves a rank of 412 out of 3,713 tested combos in Road 96. This places it in the top 11% of all tested combinations, which is a strong result but not at the very top of the hierarchy. The rank indicates that there are 411 other combinations that produce higher average FPS in this game, which is plausible given that there may be more powerful GPUs or CPUs that push frame rates even higher at lower resolutions.

The combo's rank is a function of both the CPU and GPU performance. The GPU, with an average benchmark score of 49,957 and a percentile of 86, is a high-end part that competes with the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (deltaPct -2%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (deltaPct 3.1%). The CPU's percentile of 89 is slightly higher than the GPU's, which suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor in this combination.

In terms of absolute FPS, the combo's best result is 334 FPS at 1080p Low, and its worst is 52 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank of 412 out of 3,713 means that the majority of better-performing combos likely feature more powerful GPUs, such as higher-tier RTX 50-series cards or AMD equivalents, which can push higher frame rates at 4K. The data shows that this combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it may fall behind in 4K Ultra scenarios where other combos with more GPU headroom can achieve higher averages.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. It has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2452 MHz, with 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The memory subsystem is 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. The GPU's FP32 performance is 43.94 TFLOPS, and its texture rate is 686.6 GTexel/s.

In Road 96, the GPU's role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 52, which is a demanding scenario that uses the GPU's full capabilities. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is likely a benefit at 4K, where texture memory usage can be high, but the 256-bit bus width and 896 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game's needs.

The GPU's benchmark scores include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,604 and a Passmark G3D score of 32,974. Its average benchmark score is 49,957, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (deltaPct -0.1%), the Intel Arc A550M (deltaPct 0.4%), the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (deltaPct -2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (deltaPct 3.1%). These deltas show that the RTX 5070 Ti is competitive with these cards, with the RX 6900 XT being 2% faster on average and the RX 6800 XT being 3.1% slower.

In this game, the GPU's clock speeds and memory bandwidth allow it to reach 112 FPS at 4K Low and 66 FPS at 4K High, which are strong results for a demanding resolution. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS suggests that the Ultra settings introduce significant GPU workload, possibly through higher shadow quality, post-processing, or draw distance effects that are typical of adventure games.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low preset 334 FPS, Medium preset 244 FPS (with min 208 and max 281), High preset 197 FPS, and Ultra preset 154 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with reported min/max values, and its min of 208 FPS indicates that the frame time variance is low, providing a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 213 FPS, Medium 156 FPS (min 132, max 179), High 125 FPS, and Ultra 98 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 132 FPS is still well above 60 FPS, making it a reliable choice for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 112 FPS, Medium 82 FPS (min 70, max 95), High 66 FPS, and Ultra 52 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 70 FPS is the only 4K measurement with a reported minimum, and it stays above the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that Medium is the most consistent preset for 4K.

The data reveals a consistent pattern across all resolutions: the difference between Low and Medium is significant (90 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, 30 FPS at 4K), while the difference between High and Ultra is smaller (43 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, 14 FPS at 4K). This suggests that the Low-to-Medium step brings substantial visual improvements with a large FPS cost, while the High-to-Ultra step offers diminishing returns in terms of FPS impact.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for 60 FPS gaming with this combo?

A: At 4K, the Medium preset averages 82 FPS and the High preset averages 66 FPS, both above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 52 FPS, which is below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 49,957, which is 2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (avg score 50,951) and 3.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (avg score 48,477).

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance in Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K scores 2,116 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 30,745 in multi-core.

Q: Does the combo maintain above 60 FPS at 4K on any preset?

A: Yes, the Low preset averages 112 FPS, the Medium preset averages 82 FPS (with a min of 70 FPS), and the High preset averages 66 FPS at 4K.

Q: What rank does this combo achieve in Road 96?

A: The combo ranks 412 out of 3,713 tested combinations, placing it in the top 11% of all combos.

Q: Which preset shows the smallest FPS difference between 1080p and 4K?

A: The Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute difference, with 154 FPS at 1080p and 52 FPS at 4K, a 102 FPS drop. The Low preset shows the largest absolute difference, from 334 FPS to 112 FPS, a 222 FPS drop.