Road 96

Road 96 is an adventure title that leans on narrative delivery rather than raw computational stress, but the measured frame rates for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing still show a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is a recent Arrow Lake-S desktop part running at a 2.40 GHz base clock and a 5.30 GHz boost clock, built on a 3 nm process from TSMC. That configuration places it in the 93rd percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64,640. Its nearest rivals in aggregate CPU performance are the AMD EPYC 4464P at 64,823 (0.3% faster), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F at 64,438 (0.3% slower), the AMD EPYC 7343 at 64,202 (0.7% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9124 at 65,104 (0.7% faster). In a game like Road 96, which is not typically associated with heavy multi-threaded physics or simulation workloads, those 20 cores are largely underutilized; the game’s frame pacing will depend far more on single-thread responsiveness and the GPU’s ability to push pixels. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216 and single-core score of 5,960 reinforce that it is a high-end part, but the game’s measured FPS deltas across resolutions point to the GPU becoming the primary constraint as resolution climbs.

The RTX 2070 SUPER is a Turing-generation GPU from NVIDIA’s GeForce 20-series, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1605 MHz and boost clock is 1770 MHz, with memory rated at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, 64 ROPs, 40 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores, yielding 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s. It sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 20,282, and its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20,480, 1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20,534, 1.2% faster), the Intel Arc B570 (20,556, 1.3% faster), and the Intel Arc A750 (20,582, 1.5% faster). For Road 96, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM is sufficient at all tested settings, but the frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 187 FPS, which is far beyond what the CPU would limit, but at 4K Ultra the average falls to 29 FPS, showing that the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 brings 20 cores and 20 threads, which is an unusual design where every core has its own thread without Hyper-Threading. That means the CPU’s multi-threaded capability is high (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216), but for Road 96, the game’s demands are likely modest in terms of core count. The base clock of 2.40 GHz is low, but the boost clock of 5.30 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,689. In the measured FPS data, there is no scenario where the CPU appears to be the limiting factor, because even at 1080p Low — the most CPU-bound situation — the average FPS is 187, which is exceptionally high. The CPU’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (102.4 GB/s bandwidth) also contribute to keeping the game fed with data, but again, they are not the constraint. The CPU’s percentile rank of 93 means it outperforms 93% of all tested CPUs, and its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are all within 0.7% of its average score, so the Core Ultra 7 265 is not an outlier in either direction. For Road 96, the data suggests that the CPU’s role is to provide a high ceiling for frame rates, which is never reached because the GPU runs out of steam first at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU can push the RTX 2070 SUPER to 187 FPS on Low, and even on Ultra it manages 86 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is not causing any frame pacing issues. The PassMark multi-thread score of 49,682 and the data compression score of 522,983 are further indicators of a robust processor, but they do not translate into meaningful differences in this game’s frame rates because the workload is not thread-heavy. In short, the CPU is overqualified for Road 96, and its 20 cores are mostly idle while the GPU handles the rendering.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the component that defines the frame rates in this pairing. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, it has enough memory capacity for Road 96 at all settings, but the bandwidth and compute throughput become the deciding factors. The GPU’s boost clock of 1770 MHz is modest by modern standards, and its 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance places it in the 65th percentile, meaning it is outclassed by about 35% of GPUs in the database. The nearest rival comparisons show that the RTX 2070 SUPER is within 1.5% of the Intel Arc A750, Intel Arc B570, RTX 3070 Mobile, and Quadro M4000M, so it is a mid-to-upper-midrange part. In Road 96, the GPU’s role is evident in the resolution scaling: at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 187, but at 4K Low it drops to 63 FPS. That is a 66% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at the same settings, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The GPU’s memory clocks (1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective) and 256-bit bus provide enough bandwidth for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the 448.0 GB/s is insufficient to maintain high frame rates on Ultra settings, where the average is 29 FPS. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, but Road 96 is not a ray-tracing title, so they have little effect on the measured results. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 18,169 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,651 are consistent with its FPS performance in this game, showing that it is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but at 4K, it falls below 60 FPS on every preset except Low (63 FPS). The 8 GB VRAM does not appear to be a limiting factor since the game’s textures are not demanding enough to exceed that capacity, but the GPU’s compute power is the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop significantly, which confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component in this combo. At 1080p Low, the average is 187 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 119 FPS; and at 4K Low, it falls to 63 FPS. That is a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K. For Medium settings, the drop is from 137 FPS at 1080p to 87 FPS at 1440p to 46 FPS at 4K, a 66% reduction as well. High settings go from 110 FPS at 1080p to 70 FPS at 1440p to 37 FPS at 4K, a 66% reduction. Ultra settings show the steepest absolute decline: from 86 FPS at 1080p to 55 FPS at 1440p to 29 FPS at 4K, a 66% reduction. The consistent 66% drop across all settings indicates that the GPU is being stressed by the pixel count, not by any CPU limitation. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would stay more constant as resolution rises, because the CPU’s workload does not scale with resolution. The fact that the drop is uniform suggests that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the main constraints. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough to reach 187 FPS on Low, but at 4K, the GPU’s pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s is simply not enough to maintain high frame rates, especially on Ultra where the average is 29 FPS. The data also shows that the difference between Low and Ultra at any given resolution is significant: at 1080p, Low is 187 FPS versus Ultra at 86 FPS (a 54% drop); at 1440p, Low is 119 FPS versus Ultra at 55 FPS (a 54% drop); and at 4K, Low is 63 FPS versus Ultra at 29 FPS (a 54% drop). This indicates that the GPU’s compute units are the primary driver of performance, and that the game’s settings affect the GPU workload more than the CPU workload.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1,650 out of 2,903 tested combinations in Road 96. That places it in the 43rd percentile of all combos, meaning 43% of tested combos perform worse, and 57% perform better. This rank is heavily influenced by the GPU, since the CPU is in the 93rd percentile, but the GPU is only in the 65th percentile. The rank suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the weak link in this pairing for Road 96, because the CPU is far more capable than the GPU. The 1,650 rank out of 2,903 means that there are 1,253 combos that achieve higher FPS in this game, which is expected given that many combos will have newer or faster GPUs. The combo’s measured FPS at 1080p High (110 FPS) is respectable, but at 4K Ultra (29 FPS), it is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, which likely contributes to the mid-pack ranking. The data shows that the combo is not in the bottom quartile (which would be below rank 725), but it is also not in the top half, indicating that while the CPU is high-end, the GPU limits the overall experience. If we compare the CPU’s nearest rivals, they all have similar average scores (within 0.7%), so the CPU choice is not differentiating this combo. Instead, the GPU’s percentile rank of 65, with rivals like the RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc B570 being 1-1.5% faster, means that any GPU upgrade would likely improve the combo’s rank significantly. The rank is also consistent with the resolution scaling data: at 1080p, the combo performs well (110 FPS on High), but at 4K, it falls to 37 FPS on High, which is below the 60 FPS target that many games aim for.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of how this combo performs across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 3840x2160 (4K), the average frame rates are: High at 37 FPS, Low at 63 FPS, Medium at 46 FPS (with a minimum of 39 and maximum of 53), and Ultra at 29 FPS. At 2560x1440 (1440p), the averages are: High at 70 FPS, Low at 119 FPS, Medium at 87 FPS (minimum 74, maximum 100), and Ultra at 55 FPS. At 1920x1080 (1080p), the averages are: High at 110 FPS, Low at 187 FPS, Medium at 137 FPS (minimum 116, maximum 157), and Ultra at 86 FPS. Notably, only the Medium settings have reported minimum and maximum FPS values, which provide a range: at 4K Medium, the FPS fluctuates between 39 and 53; at 1440p Medium, between 74 and 100; and at 1080p Medium, between 116 and 157. These ranges indicate that Medium settings produce some frame time variance, but the averages are consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, all settings exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 187 FPS, Medium at 137 FPS, High at 110 FPS, and Ultra at 86 FPS. At 1440p, Low and Medium are above 60 FPS (119 and 87 FPS), High is at 70 FPS, and Ultra drops to 55 FPS. At 4K, only Low exceeds 60 FPS (63 FPS), while Medium is 46 FPS, High is 37 FPS, and Ultra is 29 FPS. The data shows that the combo is capable of 60 FPS at 1080p on any setting, at 1440p on Low, Medium, and High (but not Ultra), and at 4K only on Low. The Medium settings at 4K have a minimum of 39 FPS, which is below 60 FPS, so even though the average is 46 FPS, there are dips that would be noticeable. The 1080p Medium minimum of 116 FPS is above 60 FPS, so that setting is smooth. Overall, the breakdown shows a GPU that is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being playable only on the lowest preset.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 86 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and provides the highest visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 110 FPS is also excellent, but Ultra offers a better visual experience for a modest frame rate cost (86 vs 110 FPS). Medium at 137 FPS is overkill for most monitors, and Low at 187 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing maximum frame rates for competitive play, which is not typical for an adventure game. For 1440p, the High preset at 70 FPS is the sweet spot, as it stays above 60 FPS while offering better visuals than Medium (87 FPS) or Low (119 FPS). The Ultra preset at 55 FPS is just below 60 FPS, so it may be acceptable for some players, but the data shows it dips below the ideal threshold. Medium at 87 FPS is also viable, but High provides a better balance of quality and performance. For 4K, the only preset that achieves an average above 60 FPS is Low at 63 FPS, but that is a marginal margin. Medium at 46 FPS is playable but not smooth, and High at 37 FPS and Ultra at 29 FPS are below the standard for enjoyable gameplay. If the goal is to play at 4K, the Low preset is the only measured option that maintains a playable frame rate, but it requires significant visual compromises. The data suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is not well-suited for 4K in this game, so players with a 4K display should either lower resolution to 1440p or accept 30-40 FPS on Medium/High. For most users, 1440p High at 70 FPS offers the best combination of visual fidelity and smoothness, as it is above 60 FPS and uses the GPU’s capabilities effectively without pushing it to the limit. At 1080p, Ultra at 86 FPS is the recommended preset because it maximizes quality while still exceeding 60 FPS, and the frame rate is stable based on the data.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings for this combo?

A: The average FPS is 86 at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 63. At Medium, High, and Ultra, the averages are 46, 37, and 29 FPS, respectively, all below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64,640, which is 0.3% lower than the Core Ultra 7 265F’s score of 64,438, meaning the 265F is slightly faster.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile rank among all GPUs, and which rival is closest?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER is in the 65th percentile, and its closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, which has an average score of 20,480 versus the 2070 SUPER’s 20,282, a 1% difference.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo show the largest FPS range (min to max)?

A: The largest range is at 1080p Medium, where the FPS varies from 116 to 157, a difference of 41 FPS, based on the measured minimum and maximum values.

Q: What is the combo’s rank in Road 96, and how many total combos are tested?

A: The combo ranks 1,650 out of 2,903 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field.