Road 96

# Road 96 with Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + Intel Arc B370

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B370 integrated graphics produces a profoundly GPU-limited experience in Road 96, with the combo ranking 2680th out of 2903 tested configurations. The data reveals a processor that sits in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, yet the graphics solution — landing in just the 5th percentile among GPUs — becomes the overwhelming bottleneck across every resolution and settings preset. This creates an unusual dynamic where the CPU's substantial headroom is largely wasted, and the playable experience hinges almost entirely on the Arc B370's ability to keep pace with the game's rendering demands.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent decline as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 85 FPS average, but this drops to 54 FPS at 1440p Low — a 36.5% reduction — and further to 29 FPS at 4K Low, representing a 65.9% drop from the 1080p baseline. The pattern persists across all settings: at High, 50 FPS at 1080p falls to 32 FPS at 1440p (36% loss) and then to 17 FPS at 4K (66% loss). Medium settings show 62 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K, while Ultra goes from 39 FPS at 1080p to 25 FPS at 1440p and finally 13 FPS at 4K.

These scaling factors tell a clear story. The performance penalty from 1080p to 1440p hovers around 36-40% depending on settings, and the additional jump to 4K nearly doubles that loss. This non-linear degradation indicates that the Arc B370's raw pixel throughput — rated at 48.00 GPixel/s — is simply insufficient for higher resolutions. The GPU's 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs are being saturated well before the CPU's 14 cores can contribute meaningfully. The fact that even at Low settings, where the render load is minimal, the 4K result (29 FPS) remains below playable thresholds suggests that the limiting factor is not shader complexity but rather the sheer number of pixels being written.

What is particularly telling is the relationship between resolution scaling and settings scaling. At 1080p, the gap between Low (85 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) is 46 FPS, a 54% performance swing. At 4K, that gap narrows to just 16 FPS (from 29 to 13), a mere 55% relative difference. This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions implies that the GPU is so overwhelmed at 4K that reducing graphical fidelity provides diminishing returns — the bottleneck has shifted from shading work to fundamental pixel throughput and memory bandwidth limitations, with the system-shared memory configuration likely exacerbating the issue.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Road 96 at 1080p with playable framerates?

A: Yes, at 1080p Medium the average FPS is 62, and at High it is 50. Low reaches 85 FPS average. However, Ultra drops to 39 FPS, which may feel less smooth depending on sensitivity to frame pacing.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in this context?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it within 0.2% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and 0.5% of the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190). It is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192) and 1.4% behind the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). These are all legacy parts, indicating the B370's performance class is quite dated.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Road 96?

A: The data shows 1080p is the only resolution where all settings presets remain above 30 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (54 FPS) and Medium (40 FPS) exceed 30 FPS, while High (32 FPS) barely does. At 4K, no preset reaches 30 FPS, with Low at 29 FPS being the closest.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any point?

A: Benchmark results indicate no. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648. Given that the GPU sits in the 5th percentile, the CPU is never the limiting component in this pairing.

Q: How does the combo rank overall among tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2680th out of 2903 total tested combos in Road 96. This places it in the bottom 7.7% of all configurations, reflecting the GPU's severe performance constraint.

Q: Is the 4K Medium result (21 FPS) more stable than other 4K presets?

A: The 4K Medium preset is the only 4K setting with reported minimum and maximum values, showing a range of 18 to 24 FPS. This narrow 6 FPS window suggests relatively consistent frame pacing, but the average remains well below comfortable playability.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process with the Panther Lake chip. Its specifications reveal a modest configuration: 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, 20 ROPs, and 10 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and boosts to 2400 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. Compute performance is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS for FP32 and 12.29 TFLOPS for FP16 (2:1 ratio).

The most defining characteristic here is the memory configuration: the Arc B370 uses System Shared memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This means the GPU relies on the same DDR5 memory pool as the CPU, accessed via a dual-channel bus providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. For a game like Road 96, which features stylized visuals and relatively modest texture requirements, this shared memory setup can work adequately at lower resolutions, but it becomes a serious handicap at 4K where memory bandwidth demands multiply.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places the B370 in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals being the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, +1.4%). The fact that this 2026-era integrated GPU trades blows with graphics cards from over a decade ago contextualizes the measured FPS results. The 25 W TDP and IGP form factor (with no power connectors needed) suggest this is designed for low-power portable devices, not high-end gaming.

The boost clock of 2400 MHz does provide some headroom, and the data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU can deliver 85 FPS, indicating that when the render load is light, the architecture can perform respectably. However, the rapid falloff at higher resolutions and settings demonstrates that raw throughput limitations — particularly in pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth — quickly overwhelm the GPU's capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 85 FPS, Medium reaches 62 FPS with a range of 53 to 72 FPS, High achieves 50 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at 1080p with reported minimum and maximum values, suggesting a 19 FPS variance that could be noticeable in gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance falls substantially. Low averages 54 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS (range: 34 to 46 FPS), High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a 12 FPS range, indicating tighter frame pacing than at 1080p, possibly because the GPU is more consistently saturated.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. Low averages 29 FPS, Medium averages 21 FPS (range: 18 to 24 FPS), High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 13 FPS. Only the Medium preset has min/max data, showing a 6 FPS window — the narrowest of any resolution, implying the GPU is running at its absolute limit regardless of scene complexity.

The progression from 1080p Low (85 FPS) to 4K Low (29 FPS) represents a 56 FPS loss, while the same comparison for Ultra shows a 26 FPS loss (39 to 13 FPS). This asymmetry reinforces that at Ultra settings, even 1080p is too demanding for the GPU to stretch its legs, whereas at Low, the resolution scaling becomes the dominant factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2680 out of 2903 total tested configurations places it in the bottom 7.7% of all systems evaluated in Road 96. This is a remarkably low position for a system featuring a CPU in the 90th percentile, and it directly reflects the GPU's 5th percentile standing. The data shows a massive mismatch: the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 brings top-tier processing power, but the Arc B370 effectively anchors the entire system's gaming performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (-0.4%), AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (-0.5%), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (+0.6%), and Intel Core i5-14600K (+0.8%) — are all within 1% of its average benchmark score of 48995. This demonstrates that the Ultra 5 245 is competitive with a wide range of high-end processors, yet none of that matters when the GPU cannot translate CPU headroom into framerate.

In the context of Road 96 specifically, the combo rank suggests that most users with even modest discrete GPUs would achieve better results. The game's art style and relatively simple geometry mean that even a mid-range graphics card from several generations ago would likely outperform the B370. The ranking also implies that this configuration is best suited for non-gaming workloads or very light gaming at 1080p with reduced settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience balances visual quality with playable framerates. At 1080p, the Medium preset at 62 FPS average with a 53-72 FPS range appears to be the sweet spot, offering a solid frame rate while retaining some graphical fidelity over Low. The High preset at 50 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize visuals, though the lack of min/max data makes it harder to assess consistency.

For 1440p, Low (54 FPS) is the only preset that maintains a comfortable frame rate, with Medium (40 FPS) being acceptable for less demanding players. High at 32 FPS sits right at the edge of playability, and Ultra at 25 FPS should be avoided. At 4K, none of the presets achieve 30 FPS — Low comes closest at 29 FPS — so this resolution is not recommended for actual gameplay.

The data indicates that the Medium preset at 1080p provides the best overall experience because it offers a 19 FPS range (53 to 72), which suggests the GPU has some headroom for scene complexity variations while staying above 50 FPS. For players who prefer maximum smoothness, Low at 1080p delivers 85 FPS, though the visual sacrifice may not be worth it given that Medium still maintains a high average. The Ultra preset at 1080p (39 FPS) is playable but likely to feel less responsive, and the gap between High and Ultra (11 FPS) suggests diminishing returns on visual quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on TSMC's 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors in a 243 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boosts to 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3. Memory support is dual-channel DDR5 with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, and ECC memory is supported. The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1851 and has 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes.

Benchmark results show strong performance across the board. Cinebench R23 scores are 32924 multi-core and 4648 single-core, while R20 scores are 13828 and 1952 respectively. PassMark results include 38706 multi-thread, 4394 single-thread, 120548 floating point math, 91187 integer math, and 400942 data compression. The CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals all within 1% of its score.

In Road 96, the CPU's role is largely passive due to the GPU bottleneck. The game is not computationally demanding in terms of physics or AI, and the Ultra 5 245's single-core performance (4648 in R23) is more than sufficient. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU delivers 85 FPS, the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor — the 14 cores provide ample parallel processing for any game logic, and the 5.10 GHz boost clock handles single-threaded tasks with ease.

The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU is separate from the dedicated Arc B370 GPU in this configuration, and the data shows the combo is entirely GPU-bound. The CPU's high percentile ranking (90th) versus the GPU's low ranking (5th) creates a lopsided system where upgrading the GPU would yield massive improvements, while upgrading the CPU would provide negligible gains in this title. The processor's capabilities are effectively wasted in this gaming scenario, though they would be valuable for productivity workloads or CPU-intensive applications.