Road 96

Road 96 is a narrative-driven adventure, and the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B580 shows a configuration that is more than capable of delivering a smooth experience at standard resolutions, but one that requires careful settings management at higher pixel counts. The data indicates that the best balance of visual quality and frame rate is achieved at 1440p with High settings, where the combo delivers a solid 62 FPS average. While the 1080p Low preset reaches 164 FPS, the High preset at 97 FPS offers a far better visual experience without sacrificing the fluidity needed for this genre. The combination’s overall ranking of 2191 out of 2903 tested combos places it slightly below the median, suggesting that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is well within the range of competent gaming systems.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Road 96 reveals distinct performance tiers across the four available settings presets. At 1080p, the most demanding Ultra preset yields an average of 76 FPS, which is perfectly playable, but the High preset at 97 FPS provides a substantial 21 FPS improvement with only a minor reduction in visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 120 FPS and Low at 164 FPS are increasingly faster, but for a story-driven adventure, the diminishing returns on frame rate beyond 100 FPS are less critical than visual quality. Therefore, the recommended preset for 1080p is High, as it delivers a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while maintaining a high level of graphical detail.

Moving to 1440p, the performance scaling becomes more critical. The High preset delivers an average of 62 FPS, which is the ideal target for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 76 FPS offers even more headroom, but the visual step down from High is noticeable in a game with stylized environments. The Ultra preset drops to 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and can lead to less fluid motion in camera pans. Low at 104 FPS is fast but sacrifices too much visual richness. The clear recommendation for 1440p is the High preset, as it achieves the perfect balance between frame rate and graphical quality, providing a 62 FPS average that is both smooth and visually appealing.

At 4K resolution, the situation changes dramatically. The Ultra preset averages only 26 FPS, which is unplayable for a smooth experience. High settings at 33 FPS are still below the ideal threshold, and Medium at 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS is borderline. The Low preset at 55 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it does so by significantly reducing the visual quality. For a game like Road 96, which relies on atmosphere and art direction, playing at Low on 4K is a compromise that undermines the experience. The data strongly suggests that 4K is not a suitable target for this combo if a stable 60 FPS is desired. The best experience is unequivocally at 1440p with High settings, where the hardware is neither underutilized nor overburdened.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the primary driver of frame rates in this configuration, and its memory and clock specifications provide context for the measured results. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. This generous memory allocation is sufficient for Road 96 at all tested settings and resolutions, as the game’s textures and assets do not appear to exceed this capacity, even at 4K Ultra. The core clocks are listed as a base and boost of 2670 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz or 19 Gbps effective. These clock speeds, combined with 2560 shading units, produce a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s, which are the raw throughput metrics that dictate how quickly the GPU can fill frames.

The benchmark results for the Arc B580 show a Passmark G3D score of 15748 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 7729. When compared to its nearest rivals, the GPU’s average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, a -0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, a 0.6% delta). This indicates that the Arc B580 sits at a performance level comparable to those older, well-established cards. The measured FPS in Road 96 aligns with this positioning; the GPU is clearly capable of 60+ FPS at 1080p and 1440p with the right settings, but its performance ceiling is reached at 4K, where the demands on the pixel fill rate and shader processing become too high. The 4K results show a steep drop-off, with the Ultra preset falling to 26 FPS, which suggests the GPU’s 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute is not sufficient for the highest resolution and settings combination in this title.

The GPU’s role is further defined by its VRAM and bandwidth. The 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the data throughput required at 1440p High, where the 62 FPS average suggests no memory bottleneck. However, at 4K, the combination of higher resolution and more detailed textures increases memory pressure, and the 12 GB frame buffer is likely being taxed, although the exact usage is not measured. The performance drop from 55 FPS at 4K Low to 33 FPS at 4K High indicates a strong sensitivity to settings, which points to the GPU’s shader and texture units being the limiting factor rather than the CPU. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, is unlikely to be a bottleneck in a game that is not heavily multithreaded, so the GPU’s raw performance is the primary determinant of the FPS figures.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B580 combination holds a rank of 2191 out of 2903 tested combos in Road 96, placing it in the 75th percentile of performance, meaning it outperforms roughly 75% of all tested systems but lags behind the top 25%. This ranking is a holistic measure of the combo’s ability to run the game, taking into account all tested settings and resolutions. Given the GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 15748, which is in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, and the CPU’s average benchmark score of 48995, which is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, the combo’s overall game ranking is lower than either component’s individual percentile. This suggests that the game is more sensitive to GPU performance than CPU performance, and the Arc B580’s mid-range standing pulls the combo down from what the CPU alone might achieve.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196, -0.4% delta), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228, -0.5% delta), and the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618, 0.8% delta). These deltas are all within 1% of the Core Ultra 5 245’s score, indicating that the CPU is competitively positioned among mainstream and high-end processors. However, the GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, -0.2% delta), are older models, and the Arc B580’s performance is essentially tied with them. This means the combo’s ranking is largely defined by the GPU, and while the CPU is a strong performer, it does not boost the system into a higher tier for this specific game.

The combo rank of 2191 suggests that for Road 96, this system is a solid mid-range option. It will handle the game well at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings, but it will not compete with high-end systems featuring top-tier GPUs. The data shows that the combination is well-balanced in the sense that neither component is drastically underpowered for the other, but the GPU’s limitations at 4K are the primary reason the rank is not higher. The 76 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 48 FPS at 1440p Ultra are respectable, but they are not top-tier numbers, which is reflected in the overall position within the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 164 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates the CPU and GPU are not stressed. The Medium preset averages 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. High settings produce an average of 97 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 76 FPS, which remains smooth, but the data shows a clear progression where each settings tier reduces the frame rate by roughly 20-25%.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 104 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 164 FPS at 1080p, indicating the resolution is beginning to load the GPU more heavily. Medium settings yield 76 FPS, with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS, providing a stable experience. High settings average 62 FPS, which is right at the 60 FPS target and remains playable. The Ultra preset falls to 48 FPS, which is a noticeable step down, and the minimum FPS is not recorded, but the average suggests it may dip below 40 FPS in demanding scenes. This resolution shows that High is the most sensible choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 55 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches playability. Medium settings average 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, which is marginal. High settings average 33 FPS, and Ultra settings average 26 FPS, both of which are too low for a smooth experience in a game with camera movement. The data at 4K clearly shows that the Arc B580 is not powerful enough to maintain 60 FPS at any preset, and even the Low preset’s 55 FPS is only achieved by sacrificing most visual details. The lack of min FPS for Low, High, and Ultra at this resolution further underscores the inconsistent frame pacing that occurs when the GPU is overburdened.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K reveals how the system’s performance is affected by resolution, which in turn identifies the limiting component. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 97. When moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 62 FPS, a reduction of 36%. This is a substantial decrease, but it is consistent with the GPU handling a 1.78x increase in pixel count. At 4K High, the average falls to 33 FPS, which is a 47% drop from 1440p and a 66% drop from 1080p. The 4K resolution represents a 2.25x increase over 1440p and a 4x increase over 1080p, so the FPS scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU is hitting its limits.

The scaling pattern shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 164 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that would require a capable CPU to feed, and the Core Ultra 5 245’s single-thread score of 4648 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can handle such workloads. However, as resolution increases, the frame rate drops in a way that is proportional to the pixel count, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions because the CPU would be the limiting factor regardless of pixel count. Instead, the data shows the GPU is the constraining element, especially at 4K where the difference between Low (55 FPS) and Ultra (26 FPS) is a 53% performance swing, driven entirely by GPU load.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K also highlights that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are not sufficient for the highest resolution. The 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is likely being saturated at 4K, and the 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute is not enough to process the additional fragments. The result is that the system’s performance is heavily dependent on resolution, and users aiming for 4K would need to significantly lower settings to approach playability, while 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The data suggests that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s performance headroom is demonstrated by the high frame rates at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a smooth experience at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 62 FPS, which is the ideal target for smooth gameplay. Medium settings are faster at 76 FPS, but High provides a better visual balance without dropping below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Road 96?

A: The data shows that 4K is not a viable target for this configuration. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 55 FPS on Low settings, while High and Ultra presets drop to 33 FPS and 26 FPS respectively, which are too low for a fluid experience.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B580’s average benchmark score is 23021, which is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, -0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6% delta). It is also close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, -0.7% delta), indicating a performance tier around those cards.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck performance in this game?

A: The measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 164 FPS, showing the CPU can handle high frame rates, but the frame rate drops significantly at higher resolutions due to the GPU’s processing limits.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS for the Medium preset at different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 76 FPS with a minimum of 65 and a maximum of 88. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 46.

Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combo for Road 96?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B580 combination is ranked 2191 out of 2903 tested combos, placing it in the 75th percentile, meaning it outperforms about 75% of tested systems but is not in the top tier.