The Long Drive

Settings Recommendations

For this combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Arc B370 in The Long Drive, the measured data reveals a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and playable frame rates. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 86 FPS, which is the highest measured result across any resolution and settings combination. Medium at 1080p produces 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS, indicating a stable experience that stays above the 60 FPS threshold. High at 1080p drops to 44 FPS, while Ultra falls to 31 FPS.

The data suggests that Medium at 1080p is the optimal choice for this hardware pair. It offers a meaningful improvement in visual quality over Low while maintaining an average frame rate that is 61% higher than High and 129% higher than Ultra at the same resolution. The minimum of 60 FPS at Medium ensures consistent frame pacing, which is critical for a driving simulation where smooth motion directly affects the perception of speed and control.

At 2560x1440, the situation shifts. Low produces 56 FPS, Medium produces 46 FPS, High produces 29 FPS, and Ultra produces 20 FPS. None of the 1440p presets achieve a locked 60 FPS average, but Low and Medium remain playable for users willing to compromise on resolution. At 3840x2160, all presets fall below 31 FPS, with Ultra at 11 FPS and High at 16 FPS, making 4K impractical for this combo. The recommended experience is therefore 1080p Medium, which balances the 71 FPS average with the 60 FPS minimum, providing the best measured experience per the data.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. Its performance profile is modest, as indicated by its 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a thermal design power of 25 W. It features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores.

The memory configuration is System Shared, meaning the GPU relies on the host system's DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as System Dependent, which introduces variability in performance based on the CPU's memory subsystem. The Ryzen 5 5600GT supports dual-channel DDR4 with a theoretical bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, which serves as the ceiling for the GPU's memory access. This shared memory architecture is a critical constraint in The Long Drive, as the game's rendering demands compete with CPU operations for the same memory bandwidth.

The measured frame rates reflect this limitation. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 86 FPS, but increasing the preset to Medium drops the average to 71 FPS, a 17% reduction. High further reduces it to 44 FPS, and Ultra to 31 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 64% performance loss, which is substantial for a driving simulation that may not have exceptionally demanding visuals. The GPU's pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are fixed hardware capabilities, but the shared memory bandwidth becomes the bottleneck at higher settings where texture and geometry complexity increase.

At 1440p, the GPU's limitations become more pronounced. Low produces 56 FPS, which is 35% lower than the 1080p Low result. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 10 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 17 FPS, suggesting that the GPU struggles disproportionately as settings rise. At 4K, the performance collapses: Low is 31 FPS, Medium is 26 FPS, High is 16 FPS, and Ultra is 11 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the Arc B370's shading and raster resources are insufficient for high-resolution rendering, even at the lowest preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a thermal design power of 65 W. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration, and its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of L3 cache. The processor's benchmark scores show a balanced profile: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 17272, while single-core reaches 2438. Geekbench multicore is 7986 and single-core is 1843.

In the context of The Long Drive, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics calculations, and the driving simulation's world state. The 5600GT's 12 threads provide ample parallelism for these tasks, and its 74th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a capable processor. However, the measured frame rates suggest that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. At 1080p Low, the 86 FPS average likely approaches the CPU's frame delivery limit, but the GPU is still able to keep pace. The fact that 1080p Medium achieves 71 FPS and 1080p High achieves 44 FPS shows that the GPU's performance degrades faster than the CPU's ability to feed it frames.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i5-12490F at 20802 (0.3% higher), the Intel Xeon 6325P at 20821 (0.4% higher), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U at 20826 (0.4% higher). These deltas are negligible, indicating that the 5600GT's computational throughput is well-matched to its peers. In a driving simulation like The Long Drive, which may not be heavily multithreaded, the single-core performance of 2438 in Cinebench R23 becomes relevant. The boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensures responsive frame pacing, but the data shows no scenario where the CPU limits performance below what the GPU can deliver.

The integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics on the 5600GT are not used in this configuration, as the Intel Arc B370 handles rendering. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is shared with the GPU, and this shared bandwidth constraint is the most significant CPU-related factor affecting game performance. At 4K, where the GPU is severely strained, the CPU's role is diminished, but at 1080p the CPU must maintain a high frame rate to avoid becoming the limiting component.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for this hardware at 1080p?

A: Medium is the best choice, with an average of 71 FPS and a minimum of 60 FPS. Low reaches 86 FPS, but Medium provides a better visual experience while remaining above the 60 FPS floor.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Long Drive?

A: No. The highest 4K result is 31 FPS at Low, with Medium at 26 FPS, High at 16 FPS, and Ultra at 11 FPS. All 4K presets fall below playable thresholds.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score is 1184. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% higher). The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4% lower).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600GT a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, frame rates scale linearly with settings, from 86 FPS at Low to 31 FPS at Ultra, which reflects GPU load rather than CPU limitations.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low produces 56 FPS, while Ultra produces 20 FPS. This is a 64% reduction in average frame rate, showing that the GPU cannot sustain high settings at this resolution.

Q: Does the shared memory configuration affect performance?

A: Yes. The GPU uses System Shared memory, and its bandwidth is System Dependent. The CPU's dual-channel DDR4 at 51.2 GB/s is the available bandwidth, which becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a steep performance curve that highlights the GPU's limitations. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average from 86 FPS to 56 FPS, a 35% drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K further reduces it from 56 FPS to 31 FPS, another 45% drop. The total scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low is a 64% reduction in frame rate.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute values. 1080p Medium averages 71 FPS, 1440p Medium averages 46 FPS (a 35% drop), and 4K Medium averages 26 FPS (a 43% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops suggests that the GPU is scaling predictably with pixel count, which is characteristic of a fill-rate-bound scenario. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are fixed, and as resolution increases, the number of pixels to shade grows quadratically.

At High settings, the scaling is more severe. 1080p High averages 44 FPS, 1440p High averages 29 FPS (a 34% drop), and 4K High averages 16 FPS (a 45% drop from 1440p). The 4K High result is 64% lower than 1080p High. Ultra settings show the steepest curve: 1080p Ultra at 31 FPS, 1440p Ultra at 20 FPS (a 35% drop), and 4K Ultra at 11 FPS (a 45% drop).

The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting component across all resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would plateau at higher resolutions because the CPU workload would remain constant. Instead, the consistent 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and the additional 45% drop from 1440p to 4K demonstrate that the Arc B370's shading resources are saturated. The 4K results, which fall below 31 FPS even at Low, confirm that this integrated GPU is not designed for high-resolution gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy of settings. Low produces the highest average at 86 FPS, followed by Medium at 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS. High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 31 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 27 FPS, indicating a significant performance hit when moving to High. The gap between High and Ultra is 13 FPS, showing a more gradual degradation at the top end.

At 2560x1440, the same settings order applies. Low averages 56 FPS, Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p maintains a playable experience, but the minimum of 40 FPS may result in occasional stutter during intense driving scenes. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p fall below 30 FPS, making them marginal for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, all presets are below playable thresholds. Low averages 31 FPS, Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS, High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a narrow range between 22 and 30 FPS, indicating that the GPU is consistently straining. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 11 FPS, is effectively a slideshow and not suitable for gameplay.

The measured FPS data includes minimum and maximum values only for the Medium preset at each resolution. The 1080p Medium range of 60 to 81 FPS suggests a stable experience, while the 1440p Medium range of 40 to 53 FPS shows more variance. The 4K Medium range of 22 to 30 FPS is tight, reflecting the GPU's hard limits. The absence of min/max data for other presets means the analysis relies on average values, but the available data points to consistent scaling across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT combined with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2700 out of 2934 tested combinations in The Long Drive. This places the combo in the 8th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is significantly below average for this game. The ranking reflects the GPU's 5th percentile position among all GPUs, which drags the overall combo performance down despite the CPU's more respectable 74th percentile ranking.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU rankings is notable. The Ryzen 5 5600GT is a mid-range processor that performs within 0.5% of its nearest rivals in average benchmark score, but the Intel Arc B370 is an entry-level integrated GPU that performs within 1.4% of GPUs from the ATI Radeon HD 5000 and 7000 series. This mismatch means the CPU is significantly more capable than the GPU, and the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU's limitations.

In practical terms, the combo's rank of 2700 out of 2934 means that the vast majority of tested systems will deliver higher frame rates in The Long Drive. The measured FPS data confirms this: even at 1080p Low, the 86 FPS average is below what many discrete GPUs achieve, and the 4K performance is among the lowest possible. The combo's ranking suggests that users seeking a smooth driving simulation experience would need to lower resolution and settings substantially, as the 1080p Medium preset at 71 FPS is the best playable configuration.

The data indicates that the combo is better suited for less demanding games or for users who prioritize CPU performance for non-gaming tasks. The Ryzen 5 5600GT's substantial benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17272 and a Passmark multithread score of 20325, make it a strong processor for productivity workloads. However, for The Long Drive specifically, the combo's ranking reflects the GPU's inability to keep pace with the CPU's capabilities, resulting in a system that is CPU-rich but GPU-poor.