The Long Drive

# The Long Drive with AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D + Intel Arc B580

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the Intel Arc B580 produces a distinctive performance profile in The Long Drive, a Driving Simulation title from 2019. The measured data shows a system that handles 1080p and 1440p gameplay competently, but encounters significant difficulty at 4K, particularly at higher quality settings. This combination ranks 2203rd out of 2934 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which reflects the GPU's limitations relative to the CPU's substantial processing capability.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a pronounced GPU bottleneck that intensifies as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 165 FPS, which drops to 109 FPS at 1440p Low (a 34% reduction) and further to 60 FPS at 4K Low (a 64% reduction from 1080p). This pattern indicates that even at the lowest settings, the Intel Arc B580 cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K, with the 4K Low result falling below the 1080p High figure of 85 FPS.

The medium preset tells a similar story with slightly different magnitudes. At 1080p Medium, the average is 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium reduces the average to 90 FPS (a 34% drop), with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 103 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average plummets to 50 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS and maximum of 57 FPS — a 63% reduction from 1080p Medium. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium presets suggests the scaling is primarily resolution-driven rather than settings-driven.

The High preset exhibits even steeper scaling. From 85 FPS at 1080p, the average falls to 56 FPS at 1440p (a 34% decrease) and then to 31 FPS at 4K (a 64% decrease from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic degradation: 59 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p (a 34% drop), and 21 FPS at 4K (a 64% drop). The near-identical percentage reductions across all four presets — approximately 34% from 1080p to 1440p and 64% from 1080p to 4K — indicate that the limiting component is the GPU's raw throughput, not its handling of specific graphical features.

At 4K, all presets except Low fall below the 60 FPS threshold, with High at 31 FPS, Medium at 50 FPS, and Ultra at 21 FPS. This suggests that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 60 FPS average provides no headroom for demanding scenes. The data indicates that the Arc B580's 192-bit memory bus and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, while respectable, are insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160 in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience at each resolution. At 1080p, Medium offers 136 FPS average with a 116 FPS minimum, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS target while maintaining a 20 FPS margin above the minimum. The jump from Medium to High costs 51 FPS (from 136 to 85), which is a substantial sacrifice for what is likely a modest visual improvement. The Ultra preset at 1080p delivers 59 FPS, which barely misses the 60 FPS threshold and would likely dip below during intense driving sequences.

At 1440p, Medium provides 90 FPS average with a 76 FPS minimum, which keeps the experience above 60 FPS even in slower frames. High drops to 56 FPS average, which is below the ideal threshold and would produce noticeable stutter during quick camera movements or dense scenery rendering. The data suggests that Medium is the optimal choice at 1440p, as it is the highest preset that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. Low yields 60 FPS average, which is exactly at the threshold, while Medium drops to 50 FPS with a 42 FPS minimum. Given that the minimum at 4K Medium is 42 FPS, players would experience frequent frame rate dips below smooth playback. The recommendation is clear: at 4K, only Low settings provide a playable experience, and even then, the 60 FPS average leaves no margin for complex scenes. The substantial gap between Low and Medium at 4K (60 vs 50 FPS) suggests that the GPU is severely bandwidth-limited at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot in terms of performance per visual fidelity. The data shows that the step from Medium to High consistently costs roughly 37-38% of the frame rate, while the step from Low to Medium costs approximately 18-21%. This non-linear scaling indicates that Medium captures most of the visual benefits at a much smaller performance penalty than High or Ultra.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, brings 12 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit bus. The memory runs at 2375 MHz, providing 19 Gbps effective speed and a total bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The 20 RT cores and 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are present but do not appear to significantly influence The Long Drive's results, as the game's performance scaling is more closely tied to resolution than to specific compute features.

The GPU's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021, places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (avg score 23061, deltaPct -0.2), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (avg score 22895, deltaPct 0.6), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (avg score 23172, deltaPct -0.7), and NVIDIA P106-100 (avg score 23249, deltaPct -1). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the Arc B580's raw compute performance sits in a tightly clustered band around the 23000 score mark. However, the measured FPS in The Long Drive shows that this GPU struggles more at 4K than its benchmark score might suggest, likely due to memory bandwidth limitations.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for The Long Drive, as the game's 2019 release date predates the high VRAM requirements of modern titles. The bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s, while adequate for 1080p and 1440p, appears to be the primary constraint at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p (34% reduction) and from 1440p to 4K (45% reduction from 1440p to 4K at Medium) shows that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases. The 80 ROPs and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are likely the limiting factors at 4K, as the render output units cannot process the increased pixel throughput efficiently.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B580 achieves a combo rank of 2203 out of 2934 tested combinations in The Long Drive, placing it in the 25th percentile of tested combos. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than the CPU's capabilities, as the Ryzen 7 9850X3D sits in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 58386. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (avg score 58323, deltaPct 0.1), Intel Xeon w5-2545 (avg score 58504, deltaPct -0.2), Intel Core i9-14900 (avg score 58115, deltaPct 0.5), and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (avg score 58826, deltaPct -0.7), all within a 1% band.

The gap between the CPU's strong percentile ranking (92nd) and the combo's weak ranking (25th percentile) indicates that the Arc B580 is the bottleneck in this pairing. In The Long Drive, the measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 165 FPS, which is far below what the Ryzen 7 9850X3D could theoretically support given its processing power. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, would be capable of driving significantly higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful GPU.

The combo rank of 2203 suggests that this pairing is not optimized for The Long Drive specifically. The game appears to be more GPU-intensive than CPU-intensive, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS drops at higher resolutions despite the CPU's strong benchmark scores. The data implies that users seeking better performance in this title would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU upgrade, as the current GPU limits the system's capability across all resolutions and presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Long Drive?

A: The data shows that 1080p provides the most comfortable experience, with Medium settings achieving 136 FPS average and a 116 FPS minimum. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 90 FPS with a 76 FPS minimum, which remains playable. At 4K, only Low settings reach 60 FPS average, making it the only viable option at that resolution.

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

A: The Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021, which is within 1% of its closest competitors. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP by 0.2%, leads the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 by 0.6%, trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 by 0.7%, and trails the NVIDIA P106-100 by 1%.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D a strong CPU for this game?

A: The CPU ranks in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 58386, and its nearest rivals are all within 1%. Its 8 cores and 16 threads with a 5.60 GHz boost clock provide ample processing power. However, the measured FPS in The Long Drive suggests the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU's capabilities are not fully utilized at lower resolutions.

Q: What are the exact FPS figures at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system achieves an average of 90 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This provides a stable experience above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM on the Arc B580 matter for The Long Drive?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6 memory is more than sufficient for this 2019 title, which does not have high VRAM requirements. The memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s is the more relevant factor, as it appears to be the primary constraint at 4K resolution where the GPU's pixel throughput cannot keep up.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 85 at 1920x1080 to 56 at 2560x1440 (a 34% reduction), and then to 31 at 3840x2160 (a 64% reduction from 1080p). This indicates severe GPU scaling limitations at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination across all resolutions and settings is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 165 FPS average. Medium settings produce 136 FPS average with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS. High settings deliver 85 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 59 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 109 FPS average. Medium settings produce 90 FPS average with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 103 FPS. High settings deliver 56 FPS average. Ultra settings fall to 39 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, Low settings achieve 60 FPS average. Medium settings produce 50 FPS average with a minimum of 42 FPS and maximum of 57 FPS. High settings deliver 31 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 21 FPS average.

The data shows a consistent pattern across all presets: the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by approximately one-third, while the transition from 1080p to 4K reduces FPS by nearly two-thirds. The minimum and maximum values at Medium settings across all resolutions show a spread of approximately 40 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K, indicating that frame time variance decreases as resolution increases, likely due to the GPU being consistently saturated rather than occasionally bottlenecked.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, part of the 9000 series built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename, provides substantial processing capability for The Long Drive. Its 8 cores and 16 threads operate at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a 120 W TDP. The CPU includes 96 MB of shared L3 cache, with 80 KB L1 cache per core and 1 MB L2 cache per core. This cache configuration, typical of the 3D V-Cache design, helps maintain high frame rates in scenarios where the CPU must quickly access frequently used data.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and single-core score of 2228, along with a Passmark single-thread score of 4704 and multithread score of 41318. These scores place the CPU in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 58386. The nearest rivals — Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M, Intel Xeon w5-2545, Intel Core i9-14900, and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 — are all within a 0.7% delta of its average score, indicating that the CPU's performance is competitive with high-end server and desktop processors.

In The Long Drive, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (165 FPS) is likely near the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability, but at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The fact that FPS scales consistently by resolution percentage across all presets suggests that the CPU is rarely, if ever, the limiting factor in this game. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D's high single-thread performance, evidenced by its 4704 Passmark single-thread score, ensures that the game's physics and AI calculations are processed without introducing frame rate limitations.

The CPU's 4 nm process node, manufactured by TSMC with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die, provides excellent power efficiency. Its memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, along with PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes, ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without introducing system-level bottlenecks. The ECC memory support and unlocked multiplier are additional features that do not directly affect gaming performance but indicate the CPU's professional-grade positioning.