The Long Drive

The Long Drive pairs the 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 8400F with the 32 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, producing a dataset that heavily favors high refresh rates at lower resolutions while showing clear scaling limits at 4K. The benchmark results show a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at 1080p and 1440p, but the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 4.70 GHz boost clock becomes a more significant factor when pushing Ultra settings at higher resolutions. With an average FPS ranging from 337 at 1080p Low down to 53 at 4K Ultra, the data suggests this combo is best suited for fast-paced driving where visual fidelity takes a backseat to smoothness.

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

The measured FPS reveals a pronounced drop as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited system. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average FPS falls from 208 to 137, a reduction of 71 FPS or roughly 34%. The same step at Low settings shows the average going from 337 at 1080p down to 267 at 1440p, a 70 FPS drop. However, the most dramatic scaling occurs when stepping up to 3840x2160, where the High preset average collapses to 76 FPS from the 1440p figure of 137 FPS — a 61 FPS loss that indicates the RTX 5090’s rendering load is skyrocketing with pixel count.

The pattern across all presets confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system produces 337 FPS, but at 4K Low that number falls to 148 FPS, which is a 56% reduction. This scaling is steeper than what a purely CPU-bound scenario would show, because the Ryzen 5 8400F can feed frames quickly at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily as resolution climbs. The gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, suggesting that the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU’s 4.20 GHz base clock and 16 MB L3 cache are sufficient to keep up with the RTX 5090’s output.

Interestingly, the Medium preset shows the smallest relative scaling penalty between 1080p and 1440p — 314 to 219 FPS — but then falls to 122 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium settings are light enough for the CPU to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the 4K resolution overwhelms the GPU regardless of settings. The Ultra preset tells a similar story: 144 FPS at 1080p, 95 at 1440p, and just 53 at 4K. The data indicates that this combo is not designed for 4K Ultra gaming, as the 53 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold that most driving sims target for smooth gameplay.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running at a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It sits on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with 16 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP. In the context of The Long Drive, a driving simulation that likely relies on physics calculations and world streaming, the CPU’s single-thread performance is crucial. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 951 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943 indicate strong per-core capability, which translates well to the game’s frame pacing at lower resolutions.

The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 337 FPS, which is a clear indication that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this scenario. The 3dmark_max_threads score of 6165 and Passmark multithread score of 24389 show that the 6-core chip can handle multi-threaded workloads, but the game’s performance scaling from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the CPU’s 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at these resolutions. However, when comparing to the nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 8400F’s average benchmark score of 25005 is only 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24964) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935). This tight grouping indicates that the CPU is not a performance outlier, and its 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it sits in the upper-middle tier.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent when examining the Ultra preset results. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 53 FPS, which is a 63% reduction from the 144 FPS at 1080p Ultra. While the GPU is certainly stressed, the CPU’s 6 cores may struggle to maintain consistent frame times when the game has to process more complex simulation logic at higher settings. The 2-thread score of 1874 and 4-thread score of 3563 suggest that the CPU has solid dual-core and quad-core performance, but the game’s engine may not be fully utilizing all 12 threads, leaving the CPU as a secondary bottleneck in the most demanding scenarios. The 4.70 GHz boost clock helps mitigate this, but the 16 MB L3 cache is modest compared to larger desktop chips, which could impact streaming performance in a driving game with a large open world.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the clear star of this combo, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with a massive 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz, combined with 21760 shading units, provide raw compute power that is reflected in the 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 18355 and Passmark G3D score of 39650. The GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the top tier, and its average benchmark score of 79842 is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605), indicating that the RTX 5090 is one of the fastest cards in the database.

In this game, the GPU’s role is to handle the rendering of vast driving environments, and the 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for any texture load The Long Drive can throw at it, even at 4K Ultra. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is critical for streaming geometry and textures as the player drives, and the data shows that the GPU is capable of delivering 148 FPS at 4K Low, which is an impressive feat. However, the GPU’s limitations become clear at Ultra settings, where the 4K resolution causes the average FPS to plummet to 53. This is likely due to the increased shading complexity and pixel fill rate demands, as the RTX 5090’s 176 ROPs and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are pushed to their limits.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows the GPU’s workload increasing exponentially. At 1080p, the gap between Low (337 FPS) and Ultra (144 FPS) is 193 FPS, but at 4K, that gap narrows to 95 FPS (148 vs 53). This suggests that at 1080p, the GPU has headroom, and the CPU is likely the limiting factor at Ultra settings, but at 4K, the GPU is fully saturated, and the CPU’s slower performance relative to the GPU becomes less relevant. The RTX 5090’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance is theoretically more than enough for this game, but the measured results show that the GPU’s efficiency drops significantly when pixel count quadruples from 1440p to 4K.

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

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 337 FPS on Low, 314 FPS on Medium (with min/max of 267/361), 208 FPS on High, and 144 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that even at Ultra, the system is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that most monitors offer, making 1080p a comfortable experience for competitive or casual play. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 267 is still very high, showing consistent frame delivery.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 267 FPS on Low, 219 FPS on Medium (187/252 min/max), 137 FPS on High, and 95 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Medium result is notable because it still offers a min FPS of 187, which is above the 144 Hz threshold, suggesting that this is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 137 FPS is slightly below 144 Hz, but the Ultra preset at 95 FPS is still playable on a 100 Hz display. The step from Medium to High at 1440p is a 37% performance drop, which is significant and suggests that High settings introduce expensive effects that the GPU cannot handle as efficiently.

At 3840x2160, the results are 148 FPS on Low, 122 FPS on Medium (103/140 min/max), 76 FPS on High, and 53 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low preset is the only configuration that stays above 144 FPS, while Medium dips to 122 FPS, which is below the 144 Hz mark. High at 76 FPS is borderline playable on a 60 Hz display, but Ultra at 53 FPS is not suitable for smooth driving. The min FPS of 103 at 4K Medium indicates that even the average 122 FPS is not stable, and the game may experience stutters in dense areas. The data clearly shows that 4K Ultra is not a viable option for this combo, and users should stick to 1440p or 1080p for the best experience.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 114th out of 3725 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the top 3% of all configurations. This ranking is impressive, but it is important to note that the rank is likely driven by the RTX 5090’s sheer power rather than the CPU’s contribution. The CPU’s 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs is respectable, but the GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking is elite. The combo’s overall position in the top 3% suggests that it outperforms the vast majority of systems, but there are 113 combos that achieve higher frame rates, likely those pairing the RTX 5090 with higher-end CPUs like the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which is only 0.2% behind in average score.

The nearest rivals to the CPU show that the Ryzen 5 8400F is not a performance outlier. Its average benchmark score of 25005 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24964) and the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935), with delta percentages of just 0.2-0.4%. This means that swapping the 8400F for a 7500F would likely yield negligible performance changes in this game, as the GPU would remain the bottleneck in most scenarios. The Intel Core i7-13620H is also close at 24911, showing that the CPU market is highly competitive in this performance tier. The AMD EPYC 9474F, a server chip, is -0.4% behind, which is irrelevant for gaming but shows the consistency of the benchmark scores.

The combo’s rank of 114 out of 3725 is a strong result, but it also highlights that the CPU is not the primary driver of performance. For users looking to maximize frame rates in The Long Drive, the data suggests that the RTX 5090 is the component that matters most, and the Ryzen 5 8400F is sufficient to avoid major bottlenecks at lower resolutions but may hold back the GPU at 4K Ultra. The rank indicates that this combo is in the top percentile, but it is not the absolute best configuration, as 113 other combos achieve higher frame rates, likely with more powerful CPUs.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user’s display and performance goals. For 1080p users with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 314 FPS is the best choice, as it provides a massive headroom above the refresh rate while still offering a balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 208 FPS is also viable, but the 106 FPS drop from Medium to High is not worth the visual upgrade for most players. The Low preset at 337 FPS is overkill for any monitor, and the Ultra preset at 144 FPS is still playable but offers diminishing returns.

For 1440p users, the Medium preset at 219 FPS is the standout recommendation, as it maintains a min FPS of 187, which is above the 144 Hz threshold for most gaming monitors. This provides a smooth experience with good visual detail. The High preset at 137 FPS is slightly below 144 Hz, which could cause screen tearing or stuttering on high-refresh displays, making it a less ideal choice. The Ultra preset at 95 FPS is playable on a 100 Hz monitor but may not be worth the visual fidelity trade-off. The Low preset at 267 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where frame rate is the absolute priority.

For 4K users, the data is more restrictive. The Low preset at 148 FPS is the only option that meets high-refresh standards, but it sacrifices most visual effects. The Medium preset at 122 FPS is the best balance, offering a playable experience on a 120 Hz display, but the min FPS of 103 suggests that users may experience occasional dips below the refresh rate. The High preset at 76 FPS is suitable for 60 Hz displays but will feel sluggish compared to lower resolutions. The Ultra preset at 53 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the 60 FPS target for smooth driving and is likely to cause motion sickness in a driving simulation. Overall, the best experience is at 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium, where the combo delivers high frame rates with minimal risk of stuttering, while 4K should be reserved for Low or Medium settings only.