Road 96

# Road 96 with Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a high-performance combination for Road 96, an Adventure title released in 2021. The combo ranks 257th out of 3,713 tested configurations, placing it in the top 7% of all tested combos. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system capable of smooth gameplay even at 4K, though the scaling patterns indicate where each component's contribution is most visible.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Road 96?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 257th out of 3,713 tested combos, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: How well does this combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the combo averages 71 FPS on High settings, 87 FPS on Medium, and 119 FPS on Low. Ultra settings drop to 55 FPS average, which is the lowest measured result across all resolutions.

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved in this test set?

A: The highest average FPS is 354, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is nearly 5 times higher than the lowest measured average of 55 FPS at 4K Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54,247 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.6%.

Q: Does the CPU outperform or underperform its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46,062, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i9-13900HX at 46,098. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and 0.2% ahead of both the AMD EPYC 4364P and AMD EPYC 7303.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the combo produces an average of 260 FPS with a minimum of 221 FPS and a maximum of 298 FPS, showing a 77 FPS spread between the lowest and highest observed frames.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for Road 96's visual data streaming.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. The 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for ray tracing and AI-accelerated features, though Road 96's art style may not heavily leverage these. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s indicate strong fill-rate performance that scales well with resolution increases.

The RTX 4080's benchmark data shows a passmark G3D score of 34,457 and a passmark GPU compute score of 20,671, with the GPU sitting at the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores nearly identically at 54,209, just 0.1% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% ahead in average score, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% ahead, indicating the RTX 4080 is tightly clustered with high-end competitors.

In Road 96 specifically, the GPU's role becomes evident in the resolution scaling. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS at High settings drops from 209 to 133, a 76 FPS reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the High setting average drops further to 71 FPS. This consistent decline suggests the GPU is the primary driver of performance changes, as the workload increases with pixel count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process at TSMC. The CPU has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

The processor's benchmark results show strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 2,085 in single-core and 14,769 in multi-core. The Passmark single-thread score of 4,516 and multithread score of 37,816 further confirm its balanced performance profile. The CPU sits at the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,062.

The nearest rival comparison shows the Core Ultra 5 235 is remarkably close to several other processors. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46,030 (0.1% behind), the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46,098 (0.1% ahead), and both the AMD EPYC 4364P and EPYC 7303 score approximately 45,960-45,970 (0.2% behind). This clustering indicates the CPU is well-positioned among contemporary desktop and mobile processors.

In Road 96, the CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads provide ample processing power for game logic and scene management. The 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-threaded performance, which adventure games often rely on for scripting and event handling. However, the measured frame rates across resolutions suggest that at 1080p, where the GPU has less work, the CPU is still not the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 354 FPS average at Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 257th out of 3,713 tested combos for Road 96. This places the configuration in the top 6.9% of all tested pairings, indicating strong overall performance relative to the broader database of hardware combinations.

The ranking context becomes clearer when examining the individual component percentiles. The CPU is at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank of 257 out of 3,713 (approximately the 93rd percentile) shows that the pairing performs slightly better than either component's individual percentile might suggest, likely due to Road 96's modest system requirements allowing both parts to operate near their full potential.

The gap between the combo's rank and the component percentiles suggests the game is more GPU-bound at higher resolutions but CPU-efficient at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 354 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates, while the 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS shows the GPU becoming the decisive factor. This balanced scaling profile is typical of well-matched components, where neither part creates a disproportionate bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 209 at 1080p to 133 at 1440p, a 36.4% reduction, then to 71 at 4K, a 46.6% reduction from 1440p. This progressive decline is consistent with the GPU handling an increasing pixel workload.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The 1080p result of 354 FPS drops to 226 at 1440p (a 36.2% reduction) and then to 119 at 4K (a 47.3% reduction). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest the GPU is scaling predictably with resolution, rather than hitting memory bandwidth or compute limits at any specific point.

The Medium settings row includes min and max FPS data, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the 260 FPS average has a range of 221-298 FPS. At 1440p, the average drops to 165 with a range of 140-190 FPS. At 4K, the average is 87 with a range of 74-101 FPS. The proportional spread (roughly 30% of the average at each resolution) indicates stable performance scaling without unexpected hitches.

The scaling analysis points to the GPU as the primary limiting component as resolution increases. The CPU's performance at 1080p Low (354 FPS) far exceeds what most displays can show, and the consistent percentage drops across all settings suggest the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the determining factors. The 16 GB VRAM and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom, so the FPS reductions are likely due to raw compute and pixel throughput limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 354 FPS, Medium produces 260 FPS (min 221, max 298), High produces 209 FPS, and Ultra produces 164 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 190 FPS drop, with each settings tier reducing performance by roughly 20-30%.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but clearly lower. Low settings average 226 FPS, Medium averages 165 FPS (min 140, max 190), High averages 133 FPS, and Ultra averages 104 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows in absolute terms to 122 FPS, but the relative performance remains similar to 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more demanding. Low settings average 119 FPS, Medium averages 87 FPS (min 74, max 101), High averages 71 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS. The Ultra setting at 4K is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS average, which may impact smoothness on standard 60 Hz displays.

The Medium settings data across all three resolutions provides the most complete picture of frame time behavior. The 1080p range of 221-298 FPS, 1440p range of 140-190 FPS, and 4K range of 74-101 FPS all show approximately ±15-20% variation from the average. This consistency indicates the game maintains stable frame pacing regardless of resolution, with no sudden spikes or drops.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High settings preset at 2560x1440 offers the best combination of visual quality and performance, with an average of 133 FPS. This provides smooth gameplay well above 60 FPS while maintaining substantial visual fidelity. The 1440p High result represents a 46 FPS improvement over 4K High, with a resolution that still looks crisp on most modern displays.

For users with 4K displays, High settings at 3840x2160 produce 71 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 87 FPS average (min 74, max 101), providing a safer margin above 60 FPS while sacrificing some visual quality. The data indicates that 4K Medium is the practical ceiling for maintaining consistent frame rates at this resolution.

At 1080p, the High preset at 209 FPS is the recommended choice for most users, as the jump to Ultra (164 FPS) provides diminishing returns for a 45 FPS cost. The Ultra preset at 1080p is still well above 60 FPS, but the visual differences between High and Ultra in an adventure game may not justify the performance penalty. The Medium and Low presets at 1080p exceed 260 FPS, which is useful only for extremely high-refresh-rate displays (240 Hz or above).

The Ultra preset, while the most visually demanding, only becomes problematic at 4K where it averages 55 FPS. At 1080p and 1440p, Ultra remains playable at 164 FPS and 104 FPS respectively, but the performance cost relative to High is consistent across resolutions. Users prioritizing frame rate consistency should favor High settings, while those with 4K displays should opt for Medium to maintain stable performance above 60 FPS.