Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title where the interaction between a high-end Intel Core Ultra 5 245 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a predictable but distinct performance curve. The combination ranks 84th out of 2903 tested combos, placing it in the top 3% of all systems tested for this game. This ranking reflects the synergy between a CPU that sits at the 90th percentile of all processors and a GPU at the 92nd percentile of all graphics cards, though the measured frame rates reveal that the RTX 5090 is the dominant force in almost every scenario. The data shows a system capable of extreme frame rates at lower resolutions, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination achieves a rank of 84 out of 2903 tested combos in Road 96. This places the pairing in the 97th percentile of all systems measured, a position that aligns with the individual component percentiles: the CPU outperforms 90% of all processors, while the GPU outperforms 92% of all graphics cards. The ranking indicates that the system is exceptionally well-matched for this game, with neither component dragging the other down to a significant degree.

Benchmark results show the CPU's average benchmark score of 48995 places it within a tight cluster of rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196, a mere 0.4% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228, 0.5% higher. On the other side, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698, 0.6% lower, and the Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48618, 0.8% lower. This grouping suggests the Core Ultra 5 245 delivers performance squarely in the mid-high range of desktop processors, though its 14 cores and 14 threads are unusual in that they lack hyper-threading, which the benchmark scores reflect in multi-threaded workloads.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 79842 similarly places it near the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79605 (0.3% higher), and the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 (0.6% higher). The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT trails at 78940 (1.1% lower), while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X leads at 80959 (1.4% higher). These margins are small, indicating the RTX 5090 sits in a performance band where minor architectural differences dominate.

In Road 96 specifically, the combo's rank of 84 suggests the game is neither overly CPU-bound nor GPU-bound in a way that would push the system lower. The measured FPS data supports this, showing that at 1080p the system can push past 400 FPS on Low settings, which is far beyond what most displays can show. The ranking is strong but not top-tier, likely because the game's adventure genre does not heavily stress either component to their absolute limits.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G?

A: The Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.4% lower than the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G's 49196. This places the two processors in essentially the same performance class, with the AMD part holding a negligible edge in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable in Road 96 with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 401 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the same resolution with Ultra settings, the average drops to 185 FPS, showing the significant impact of graphical fidelity on frame rates.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 bottleneck the Core Ultra 5 245 at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is not a limiting factor at 1080p, as the system reaches 401 FPS on Low and 237 FPS on High settings. The CPU's 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at these frame rates, though the lack of multi-threading may cap performance in certain scenes.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 have, and is it relevant for Road 96?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. For an adventure game like Road 96, this is far more memory than required, and the measured frame rates do not indicate any VRAM-related limitations at any resolution or setting.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU in this combo?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has a launch MSRP of $270. This is a single data point and does not reflect street pricing or system cost.

Q: How does the combo's rank of 84 out of 2903 translate to percentile performance?

A: A rank of 84 out of 2903 means the combo outperforms 2819 other tested combinations, placing it in the top 2.9% of all systems. This is consistent with the high individual component percentiles (CPU at 90th, GPU at 92nd).

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across three resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, with the RTX 5090's performance degrading as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system averages 237 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 with the same settings drops the average to 151 FPS, a 36.3% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 80 FPS, which is 47.0% lower than the 1440p result and 66.2% lower than the 1080p result.

This scaling pattern is typical of a system where the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, has ample memory resources, but the raw compute power of 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 is what determines frame rates. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, since the per-frame rendering cost grows while the CPU's workload per frame remains relatively constant.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The 1080p Low average is 401 FPS, which drops to 255 FPS at 1440p (a 36.4% reduction) and then to 135 FPS at 4K (a 47.1% reduction from 1440p). The fact that the 1440p Low result is nearly double the 4K High result (255 vs. 80 FPS) highlights how both resolution and settings compound to stress the GPU.

The Ultra settings data shows a similar trend: 185 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p (36.2% drop), and 62 FPS at 4K (47.5% drop). These consistent percentage drops across settings suggest the game's rendering pipeline is well-optimized, with no unexpected bottlenecks emerging at any resolution. The limiting component is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's 14 cores and 24 MB of L3 cache are more than sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at 1080p Low where the system approaches 400 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Road 96 with this combo spans three resolutions and four quality settings, providing a comprehensive view of performance.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 401 FPS, Medium settings yield 294 FPS with a minimum of 250 FPS and a maximum of 338 FPS, High settings average 237 FPS, and Ultra settings average 185 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 216 FPS, indicating that settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop across the board. Low settings average 255 FPS, Medium settings average 187 FPS with a minimum of 159 FPS and a maximum of 215 FPS, High settings average 151 FPS, and Ultra settings average 118 FPS. The Medium settings data shows a 56 FPS range between minimum and maximum, suggesting some scene-to-scene variability that is less apparent in the single-point averages.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates but with significantly lower averages. Low settings average 135 FPS, Medium settings average 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, High settings average 80 FPS, and Ultra settings average 62 FPS. The Medium settings range of 30 FPS is narrower than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is becoming more consistently saturated.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings offer roughly double the frame rate of Ultra settings. At 1080p, the ratio is 401/185 = 2.17; at 1440p, it is 255/118 = 2.16; at 4K, it is 135/62 = 2.18. This consistency suggests that the graphical settings in Road 96 scale linearly in terms of GPU workload, with no single setting causing a disproportionate performance hit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this system for Road 96, and its specifications explain why. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This is far more memory than an adventure game like Road 96 requires, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates do not exhibit any VRAM-related stutters or drops even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute of 104.8 TFLOPS is the key metric for modern game rendering, and the data shows that this compute power is what drives the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The RTX 5090's benchmarks place it at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605, 0.3% higher) and the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396, 0.6% higher). These are compute-oriented cards, not gaming GPUs, which suggests the RTX 5090's gaming performance may be even stronger relative to its raw compute score.

In Road 96, the GPU's role becomes more critical as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system hits 401 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game. But at 4K Ultra, the 62 FPS average shows the GPU is working hard to maintain playable frame rates. The 32 GB of VRAM is never a limiting factor, and the 512-bit bus ensures that memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck either. The GPU's 575 W TDP and dual-slot cooler are not reflected in frame rates, but the performance data confirms that the RTX 5090 is the primary driver of this combo's high ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 plays a supporting role in Road 96, providing enough processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck at most settings. The CPU features 14 cores and 14 threads, which is an unusual configuration since it lacks hyper-threading. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and it has 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor is built on a 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors, and it supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Benchmark results show the CPU at the 90th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 32924 multi-core and 4648 single-core, while the PassMark multi-thread score is 38706 and single-thread is 4394. These scores place it in a tight cluster with AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, AMD Ryzen 9 7900, Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, and Intel Core i5-14600K, all within 0.8% of each other.

In Road 96, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the system reaches 401 FPS. At this frame rate, the CPU's single-thread performance and 5.10 GHz boost clock are critical. The 14 cores provide ample multi-threading for the game's background tasks, but the lack of hyper-threading means the CPU's 14 threads are the absolute maximum. This is unlikely to be a limitation in Road 96, which is an adventure game rather than a strategy or simulation title that would leverage more threads.

As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the CPU's importance diminishes. The frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound scaling, and the CPU is not the limiting factor at any measured setting. The fact that the system can maintain 255 FPS at 1440p Low and 135 FPS at 4K Low confirms that the Core Ultra 5 245 has sufficient headroom to feed the RTX 5090 even at high frame rates. The CPU's 24 MB of L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for the game's data requirements, and the ECC memory support is a feature that does not impact gaming performance but is available if needed.