Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that leans stylistically toward narrative rather than brute-force rendering, but the benchmark data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions and surprisingly capable at 1080p. The measured FPS across the board indicates that this combination can handle the game with extreme ease, but the scaling patterns expose where the bottlenecks lie. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, ranking, and component roles based strictly on the measured data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, pointing directly at the GPU as the primary limiter as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 392 FPS at 1920x1080 to 249 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 143 FPS, and then to 132 FPS at 3840x2160, another 117 FPS drop. This is a classic sign that the RTX 4090 is being pushed harder at each resolution step, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed it. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Low settings shows a 47% performance loss, which is substantial and indicates that the GPU’s rasterization throughput is the ceiling.

Moving to Medium settings, the same pattern holds. The average FPS goes from 287 at 1080p to 183 at 1440p, a 104 FPS decline, and then to 97 at 4K, an 86 FPS further drop. The min FPS values at Medium also scale downward: 244 at 1080p, 155 at 1440p, and 82 at 4K. This shows that not only the average but also the frame pacing consistency suffers as resolution increases, which is typical when the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute units are saturated. The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, so it is not a capacity issue, but the sheer pixel workload at 4K still cuts performance roughly in half compared to 1080p.

High settings follow the trend: 231 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K here is 69 FPS, which is a 47% reduction, matching the Low settings percentage closely. Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 181 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and just 61 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only point where the system dips below 60 FPS, indicating that this is the first configuration that truly stresses the GPU beyond its comfort zone for this title. The consistent pattern across all settings confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution; the Core Ultra 5 235 with 14 cores and a 5.00 GHz boost clock is more than sufficient, while the RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the bottleneck at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Road 96, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds the rank of 124 out of 2903 combos. This places it in the top 4.3% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing but not the absolute top tier. The percentile ranking for the CPU alone is 89, meaning it outperforms 89% of all CPUs in the benchmark suite, while the GPU sits at the 88th percentile among all GPUs. Together, they form a high-end pairing, but the rank of 124 suggests that other combinations, likely with faster CPUs or more optimized pairings, achieve higher frame rates in this specific game.

The combo rank is influenced by the fact that Road 96 is not a heavily threaded title. The CPU’s strong single-core performance, indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085, helps maintain high FPS at 1080p, but the GPU’s raw power dominates at higher resolutions. Since the data shows the FPS scaling is GPU-bound, the rank reflects that the RTX 4090 is doing most of the heavy lifting, while the Core Ultra 5 235 provides adequate support without becoming a drag. Compared to the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 235 is nearly identical in average benchmark score to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, with a deltaPct of 0.1% higher, and it is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i9-13900HX. This means the CPU choice is unlikely to be the differentiating factor in the combo rank; the GPU pairing is what pushes this system into the top 124.

The rank of 124 out of 2903 also indicates that there are 123 other combos that achieve higher average FPS in Road 96. Given that the RTX 4090 is already an end-of-life product with a successor on the market, it is plausible that some of those higher-ranked combos feature newer GPUs or overclocked variants. However, for a standard configuration, this pairing delivers performance that is well above the median, making it a practical choice for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1440p and solid 4K gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience per the data is achieved at Medium settings for most resolutions, offering a balance between visual quality and frame rate stability. At 1080p, Medium delivers an average of 287 FPS with a min of 244 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth and leaves headroom for any future driver overhead. High settings at 1080p drop to 231 FPS average, still excellent, but the jump to Ultra yields 181 FPS, which is a noticeable reduction for marginal visual gains in a narrative-driven game. For 1080p users, Medium is the sweet spot because it ensures the frame rate never dips below 244 FPS, providing a buttery experience on any high-refresh display.

At 1440p, Medium again stands out with an average of 183 FPS and a min of 155 FPS. This is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many 1440p monitors offer, making it the ideal preset for competitive or fast-paced sections. High settings at 1440p average 147 FPS, which is still above 144 Hz, but the min FPS is not recorded, so the consistency is uncertain. Ultra at 1440p drops to 115 FPS average, which is playable but sacrifices the high-refresh advantage. The data suggests Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p to maintain frame pacing, as evidenced by the recorded min FPS of 155, which is higher than the average of High settings.

For 4K, the choice is more constrained. Ultra settings yield 61 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the lack of a min FPS value means there could be stutter. High settings at 4K average 78 FPS, which is more comfortable for a cinematic experience, but Medium offers 97 FPS with a min of 82 FPS, ensuring no drops below 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K provides the best measured experience because it offers a high average and a recorded min that guarantees smoothness. Low settings at 4K hit 132 FPS, but the visual downgrade is likely too severe for a game that relies on atmosphere. Therefore, Medium is the recommended setting across all resolutions, as it consistently provides the highest average FPS with a recorded min that indicates stability, except at 1080p where Low hits 392 FPS but Medium is still far above any refresh rate requirement.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows its full potential. Low settings produce an average of 392 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. Medium settings reduce this to 287 FPS, with a min of 244 FPS and a max of 330 FPS, showing a tight frame delivery window. High settings average 231 FPS, and Ultra drops to 181 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 211 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not fully taxed at this resolution, and the CPU’s single-core performance is sufficient to push very high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 249 FPS for Low, 183 FPS for Medium, 147 FPS for High, and 115 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min of 155 FPS and a max of 210 FPS, which is a 55 FPS spread, suggesting some variance but still firmly in high-refresh territory. The Low preset does not have min or max values recorded, but the average of 249 FPS indicates that the GPU is still not the limiting factor. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 134 FPS drop, which is less severe than at 1080p, as the GPU begins to feel the load.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 132 FPS for Low, 97 FPS for Medium, 78 FPS for High, and 61 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with min and max values: 82 FPS min and 111 FPS max. This 29 FPS spread is the tightest of any resolution, indicating that the GPU is working consistently. The Ultra preset at 61 FPS is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it the least desirable. The data shows that 4K is where the RTX 4090’s limits are reached, but it still maintains playable frame rates at all settings except Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured performance. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is critical for feeding the 16384 shading units at 4K resolution. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are high, but the data shows that the GPU is still the bottleneck at 4K, as the FPS drops significantly from 1440p. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz are the highest in the GeForce 40-series, which helps maintain performance at lower resolutions where the CPU is not a limiting factor.

The GPU’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance is substantial, but in Road 96, the game’s rendering demands are not extreme, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p. The RTX 4090’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are largely unused in this adventure title, which typically does not rely on ray tracing or DLSS. The benchmark results show that the GPU is underutilized at 1080p, where the average FPS of 392 at Low is far beyond any display’s refresh rate, but it becomes fully engaged at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 61 FPS. The 24 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Road 96, as the game is not memory-hungry, so the limiting factor is raw compute and memory bandwidth, not capacity. The GPU’s percentile rank of 88 among all GPUs confirms it is a top-tier part, but its end-of-life status means it is being compared to newer products, which is why its nearest rivals include workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M and the Intel Arc Pro A60, with deltaPct values within 2.9%.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 plays a supporting role in this system, and its specifications align with the measured results. With 14 cores and 14 threads, it lacks hyperthreading, but the game does not require high thread counts. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide strong single-core performance, which is crucial for maintaining high FPS at 1080p, where the CPU is more likely to be a factor. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and multi-core score of 14769 indicate a balanced processor that can handle both gaming and productivity tasks. The CPU’s percentile rank of 89 shows it is a strong performer, but its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, with deltaPct values of 0.1% or less.

In 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 FPS reaches 392, which is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU is not being fully utilized. However, at 4K, the FPS drops to 132 at Low, indicating that the GPU is now the bottleneck. The CPU’s 14 cores are more than adequate for this title, as the game is not heavily threaded, and the single-core performance is sufficient to avoid any stutter. The 24 MB of L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help with data locality, but the game’s demands are modest. The CPU’s TDP of 65 W is low, which means it does not generate excessive heat, allowing the GPU to operate without thermal throttling from the system. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution, as the FPS scaling is entirely consistent with GPU load. If the CPU were weaker, the 1080p FPS would be lower, but the 392 FPS at Low suggests there is still headroom, making this pairing well-balanced despite the CPU being a mid-range part relative to the flagship GPU.