Road 96

Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B390 in Road 96 yields a dataset of 12 measured points across three resolutions and four quality presets. The i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor with a 6.00 GHz boost clock and the integrated Arc B390 features 1,536 shading units at a 2500 MHz boost. Data covers 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160, with unique average frame rates for each preset and min/max values for the Medium setting. The combination ranks 3302nd out of 3713 in this game, indicating the performance is heavily constrained by the integrated GPU rather than the processor.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are steep and consistent across all four presets. At Low settings, the average goes from 94 FPS at 1920x1080 to 60 at 2560x1440 (–31.6% relative) and then to 32 at 3840x2160 (–53.3% relative from 1440p). Medium settings show a similar pattern: 69 → 44 → 23 FPS, which is a 36.2% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a 47.7% decline from 1440p to 4K. High drops from 56 to 35 to 19 (a –37.5% then –45.7% shift), and Ultra falls from 43 to 28 to 15 (–34.9% then –46.4%). This near-parallel reduction across presets is a textbook sign of a GPU-bound workload; the pixel output is the primary limiter, not the CPU’s frame computation.

The min/max data for Medium further isolates the memory bottleneck. At 1080p, the frame range spans 59 to 79 FPS, at 1440p it is 37 to 50, and at 4K it collapses to 20 to 27. The dip from 1080p to 1440p is about 37% in the average, and the 4K value is only about a quarter of the 1080p average, which is consistent with a massively fill-rate-limited integrated GPU.

Overall, the data suggests that the processor, despite its high clock and core count, is not the binding constraint. If the CPU were the limit, the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p would be more similar (since CPU work per frame is resolution-independent); instead, every preset scales down roughly with pixel count, which points to the graphics component as the chief cause of the low FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate in the measured dataset?

A: The highest value is 94 FPS at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: What resolution and preset deliver the lowest average FPS?

A: The lowest measured average is 15 FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: Which preset yields the smallest drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset retains the % share of performance best, dropping from 43 to 28 FPS (–34.9% relative), which is the smallest relative decline among all presets.

Q: What is the min/max range for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the range is 59 to 79 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it is 37 to 50 FPS. At 4K Medium, it is 20 to 27 FPS.

Q: How do the CPU and GPU percentiles compare?

A: The i9-14900K sits at the 95th percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, a wide gap that directly influences the low overall ranking.

Q: What is the combo’s positional rank in the game?

A: It holds rank 3302 out of 3713 total combinations for Road 96.

How This Combo Ranks

In Road 96, this pairing ranks 3302nd out of 3713 tested configurations. Only 411 combinations perform worse (since 3713 – 3302 = 411), placing it in the 11.1% of the bottom of the distribution. The rank data is stark, but not surprising given the performance split: the CPU is near the top of its category, while the GPU is firmly at the lower edge. The measured results are consistent with the premise that the frame rate is governed by the GPU's rasterization ability. Meanwhile, the processor's multi-core performance, as shown by its Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 20793 and passmark multithread score of 58674, easily exceeds what a typical adventure game would demand, yet the ends 0–95 fuel. The ranking is therefore informative: it quantifies the combined effect of a top-tier processor and a bottom-2% integrated graphics part.

The 95th-percentile CPU and 9th-percentile GPU interplay produce a rank that is lower than either component’s individual percentile, confirming that the synergy is constrained by the slower of the two. Among combos with a similar CPU (e.g., the i9-14900K’s nearest rivals differ by –0.3% to 1.7% in average CPU score), the significant variance in the game would come mostly from the GPU side. Since the GPU’s nearest rivals (GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, GT 8200) all score within 2.7% of this chip in 3DMark Steel Nomad, the low ranking is likely representative of other weak-GPU pairings as well.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, every preset displays a linear quantifiable result: Low produces 94 FPS, Medium achieves 69 FPS (range 59–79), High reaches 56 FPS, and Ultra sits at 43 FPS. These results demonstrate that a 1080p High preset is borderline if a 60 FPS target is required, while Low and Medium easily cross that line.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages compress: Low is 60 FPS (exactly 60), Medium (37–50) 44 FPS, High 35 FPS, and Ultra 28 FPS. At 1440p only the Low preset provides a playable 60 FPS average, with all others fallen below it.

At 3840x2160, frame rates cite the GPU’s ceiling: Low at 32 FPS, Medium at 23 FPS, High at 19 FPS, and Ultra simulating a presentation at just 15 FPS. The 4K data for High and Ultra includes no min/max numbers, indicating that the average is the primary metric, and it is obviously unsuitable for playable frame rates. It is also notable that the average FPS at any 1440p preset is still only 57% of the 1080p average for that preset, a sign that the fill-rate penalty is uniform.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor with a base 3.20 GHz and a peak 6.00 GHz boost, using the LGA 1700 socket. It carries 32 MB of L3 cache, 2 MB per core, and has support for DDR4/DDR5 dual-channel. The CPU includes an integrated UHD Graphics 770 unit, but that iGPU is not the one being tested in these runs. The processor belongs to the 14th Gen series, with a launch MSRP of $589, but this dataset does not price any factor.

The benchmark results for this CPU are large: Cinebench R20 multi-core scores 20,793; single-core 2,935. Cinebench R23 multi-core 39,399.5, single 2,262.5. Geekbench 6 multi 21,697, single 2,655. PassMark results go from 28,297 for single-thread to 159? Actually the passmark fastest is 210 and 111? We need to pick the ones we mention. We can mention the single-core and multi-core scores in contrast to the game's frame results. For example, in a CPU test the chip often capable of significantly higher frame generation, but in Road 96 it is clearly not bound by this chip. The FPS does not increase when switching from 1080p to 1440p; it falls dramatically, which is a p of GPU-bound. Thus the 24-core processor is not the button that is being pressed; the low GPU is the targeted one. While the CPU’s 95th percentile rank underscores its strong compute power, the biggest factors in this game’s results are the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Three of the four presets at 1080p are above 50 FPS, with the Low preset reaching 94 FPS and Medium at 69 FPS. For a smooth 60 FPS target, the best visual quality would be the Medium preset, which yields 69 FPS and a min of 59, comfortably above the 58–60 range. If high refresh-rate is desired, Low preset at 94 is the fastest option. At 1440p, only Low achieves 60 FPS exactly; Medium provides 44 FPS, High 35, and Ultra 28, so the recommendation for that resolution is to use Low to playable. At 4K, none of the settings hits even 33 FPS, the highest being Low at 32 and Medium 29, so no preset can be recommended; the adjustment could be to lower to the CPU, but the GPU already nearly maxed out. Therefore the data shows that the game is best experienced at 1080p Medium or 1440p Low for this combination.

GPU Role

The Arc B390 is a particular component: it is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a base 300 MHz and a boost 2500 MHz, built on the 3 nm process by Intel. It features 1,536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, along with 12 ray-tracing units, with compute rates of 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and 15.36 TFLOPS FP16. Its memory system is completely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM; the bus width and bandwidth are system dependent. The GPU has a TDP of 80 W and integrates as an on-board component, but its output capacity is insufficient for modern resolutions.

In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DirectX12 test, the iGPU scores 1,482 points and sits at the 9th percentile among all benchmarked GPUs. Its nearest rivals are NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1,463), GeForce 800M (1,460), GT 625 OEM (1446), and GT 710 (1443), with the B390 outperforming those by 1.3% to 2.7%. This performance class is essentially entry-level, far below what is required for high-quality, high-resolution gaming. Yet it does manage 60 FPS at 1080p Low and Medium, indicating that Road 96 can tax even the weakest GPUs.

Given these specifications (especially the shared system bandwidth and low fill rate), it is not unusual that 4K resolution yields 15–32 FPS across all presets. The GPU is the primary bottleneck, and the processor is simply not the limiting factor. The CPU performance is more than sufficient; it's the graphics pipeline that holds the entire configuration back.

The data is clear: in this build, the biggest constraint is the Arc B390's 3D rendering capability. The CPU’s high end is not being leveraged in this title, and the graph scaling of the FPS points to the GPU as the fixed restricting component.