The Long Drive

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for The Long Drive with this AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B390 combination reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 95 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops that figure to 63 FPS, a reduction of 32 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields just 35 FPS. That progression from 1080p to 1440p represents a 33.7% performance loss, and the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 44.4% of the frame rate.

This scaling pattern points directly at the GPU as the limiting component at higher resolutions. The Intel Arc B390, with its System Shared memory configuration and 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, simply cannot sustain the pixel throughput demanded by 4K. The data confirms this interpretation through the Medium preset measurements, which include minimum and maximum frame data. At 1920x1080 Medium, the combo averages 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 90. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 51 FPS with a range of 44 to 59. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average falls to 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 33.

The High preset tells a similar story. The 1080p High measurement shows 49 FPS average, 1440p High shows 32 FPS, and 4K High drops to 18 FPS. The Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at higher resolutions: 34 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and just 12 FPS at 4K. The scaling between resolutions is roughly linear for the GPU-bound presets, suggesting that the rendering pipeline is consistently pixel-limited rather than encountering a sudden bottleneck threshold.

One notable observation is that the gap between Low and Medium settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (95 FPS) and Medium (78 FPS) is 17 FPS. At 1440p, the gap shrinks to 12 FPS (63 vs 51). At 4K, the gap is only 6 FPS (35 vs 29). This convergence indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that additional settings complexity has diminishing impact on the already constrained frame rate.

The CPU, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is clearly not the limiting factor in resolution scaling. If the Ryzen 9 9900X were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions, since the CPU workload per frame does not scale with pixel count in the same way. Instead, the dramatic drops at each resolution step confirm that the Arc B390's rendering capabilities are the ceiling. The 4K Ultra result of 12 FPS, which is only 35% of the 4K Low figure, shows how the combination of high pixel count and maximum settings overwhelms the GPU's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X brings substantial processing headroom to this combination. With 12 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, this Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) processor ranks in the 92nd percentile against all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32,172 and single-core score of 2,253 demonstrate strong performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. For a driving simulation like The Long Drive, which typically relies on a few primary threads for game logic and physics, the single-core throughput matters considerably.

The measured FPS data suggests that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 95 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. If the CPU were struggling, we would expect to see this frame rate cap well below what the GPU could theoretically deliver at such a light settings preset. Instead, the 1080p Low result is nearly three times the 4K Ultra figure, indicating that the GPU is the constraining element even at the lowest resolution tested.

The CPU's 3DMark scores provide context for its gaming capability. The single-thread score of 1,286 and 2-thread score of 2,519 suggest that the processor can handle the typically modest thread counts used by driving simulation titles. The 8-thread score of 9,114 and 16-thread score of 12,552 show scaling that would accommodate any additional background threads the game might spawn, such as audio processing, streaming, or physics calculations. The max-thread score of 13,929, while higher, is not dramatically above the 16-thread figure, indicating diminishing returns beyond that core count for this workload profile.

The Ryzen 9 9900X's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the AMD EPYC 9015, which scores 57,555 (a 0.1% difference), and the AMD EPYC 7313 at 57,399 (0.2% higher). The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58,115, placing it 1.1% ahead, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58,323, 1.4% ahead. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming terms, and none of these rivals would change the fundamental GPU-bound nature of this system in The Long Drive.

The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface, combined with the GPU using System Shared memory, creates an interesting dynamic. The Arc B390 does not have dedicated VRAM; it draws from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU. This means the CPU's memory controller and bandwidth are shared between game logic and GPU frame buffer operations. At higher resolutions, the increased memory traffic for pixel data could theoretically contend with CPU memory access, though the measured FPS scaling suggests the GPU's compute throughput, not memory bandwidth, is the primary constraint.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 95 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The minimum FPS data is available only for Medium presets, showing 66 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1,482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1,463 (1.3% lower), while the NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1,460 (1.5% lower), the GT 625 OEM scores 1,446 (2.5% lower), and the GT 710 scores 1,443 (2.7% lower).

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 9900X hold back the Arc B390 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The FPS drops substantially with each resolution increase, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's 12 cores, 24 threads, and 5.60 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom, and its single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1,286) is sufficient for the game's CPU demands.

Q: Is the Medium preset playable at 1440p?

A: Yes. The 2560x1440 Medium measurement shows an average of 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS and maximum of 59 FPS. These figures indicate a reasonably smooth experience, though the minimum frame time could be noticeable in fast-paced driving sections.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: This combination ranks 2,594 out of 2,934 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the lower portion of the distribution (approximately the 12th percentile of tested combos).

Q: How does the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score relate to its gaming performance?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1,482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which aligns with its low 9th percentile ranking overall. This score is consistent with the measured FPS results in The Long Drive, where even the best case (1080p Low) barely clears 95 FPS and higher settings quickly become unplayable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2,594 out of 2,934 tested combos in The Long Drive. This places the system in the bottom 11.6% of all tested configurations, a position that reflects the severe GPU limitation rather than any deficiency in the CPU. The rank is particularly striking given the processor's standing: the Ryzen 9 9900X sits in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B390 languishes in the 9th percentile among GPUs. This 83-percentile-point gap between CPU and GPU capability creates a massively imbalanced system for gaming purposes.

Contextualizing the rank requires examining what other combos likely populate the upper tier. Configurations with higher-ranking GPUs paired with mid-range CPUs would almost certainly outperform this system, given that the game's FPS scales so heavily with resolution and settings. The combo rank of 2,594 means that only 340 tested combinations performed worse, and those are likely systems with both weak CPUs and weak GPUs. This system's CPU could handle far more demanding graphics hardware without becoming the bottleneck, so the rank is purely a reflection of the Arc B390's limited rendering throughput.

The measured data supports this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the system produces 95 FPS, which is respectable for any configuration. But the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,482, which places it just 1.3% ahead of the GT 520MX, indicates that this is a fundamentally entry-level graphics solution. In a driving simulation, where smooth frame delivery and consistent frame pacing are important for the sense of speed and control, ranking in the bottom 12% of tested combos means the experience will be compromised at all but the lowest settings and resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160), yielding twelve data points. Every combination of resolution and settings was tested, providing a complete matrix of performance characteristics.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 95 FPS average. Medium drops to 78 FPS average with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 90. High produces 49 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 64.2% reduction in frame rate, indicating that each settings tier has a meaningful impact on GPU load even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low yields 63 FPS average. Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 59. High drops to 32 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 41 FPS, a 65.1% reduction. Notably, the 1440p Medium minimum of 44 FPS is lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 34 FPS, suggesting that resolution has a more pronounced effect on frame stability than settings alone.

At 3840x2160, the results become marginal for playability. Low produces 35 FPS average, Medium averages 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 33, High drops to 18 FPS, and Ultra falls to 12 FPS. The 4K Low figure of 35 FPS is the only 4K result that approaches a smooth experience, and even that would be borderline for a driving game where consistent frame delivery matters.

Comparing across resolutions for each settings preset reveals the scaling behavior. For Low settings, the FPS drops from 95 at 1080p to 63 at 1440p (a 33.7% decrease) and then to 35 at 4K (a 44.4% decrease). For Medium, the progression is 78 to 51 to 29, with percentage drops of 34.6% and 43.1%. High goes from 49 to 32 to 18, drops of 34.7% and 43.8%. Ultra goes from 34 to 22 to 12, drops of 35.3% and 45.5%. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings reinforces that the GPU's pixel throughput scales predictably with resolution, independent of the complexity of the rendering workload.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this combo depends on the target resolution and the user's frame rate preference. For a driving simulation, maintaining at least 60 FPS is generally desirable for smooth motion and responsive steering, though the data offers limited options at that threshold.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 95 FPS average, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 78 FPS with a minimum of 66, which also clears the 60 FPS bar while offering improved visual fidelity. Given the minimal frame rate difference between Low and Medium at 1080p (17 FPS), the Medium preset is the better choice for users who want a balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 49 FPS and Ultra at 34 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS threshold and introduce noticeable stutter risk, so they are not recommended at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the options narrow considerably. The Low preset averages 63 FPS, which barely clears the 60 FPS target but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 44, which will be playable but not consistently smooth. For users who prioritize frame rate, Low at 1440p is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS. The High preset at 32 FPS and Ultra at 22 FPS are too low for a driving simulation and should be avoided.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a playable frame rate by typical standards. The Low preset at 35 FPS and Medium at 29 FPS are borderline at best, and High at 18 FPS and Ultra at 12 FPS are not viable. Users with 4K displays should strongly consider running the game at a lower resolution rather than accepting these frame rates.

The best overall experience from the measured data is 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This configuration provides 78 FPS average with a minimum of 66 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery above common refresh rate thresholds. The 1080p Medium result also benefits from the largest minimum FPS margin among all tested presets, reducing the risk of noticeable hitches during gameplay.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this system's The Long Drive performance, and the data paints a clear picture of a GPU that is severely underpowered for modern gaming at higher resolutions. Built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a Panther Lake chip, this GPU offers 1,536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its boost clock reaches 2,500 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute of 7.680 TFLOPS places it in the entry-level segment, a conclusion reinforced by its 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The GPU's memory configuration is unusual and consequential. With System Shared memory, the Arc B390 has no dedicated VRAM, relying instead on the system's DDR5 pool. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning it shares the Ryzen 9 9900X's dual-channel interface. This design eliminates the possibility of a dedicated VRAM bottleneck at specific capacities but introduces potential contention with CPU memory traffic. The FPS data suggests that this shared arrangement does not cause catastrophic stalls, but it also does not compensate for the GPU's limited compute resources.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482 provides a synthetic benchmark reference. The nearest rivals are all NVIDIA entry-level parts from previous generations: the GT 520MX at 1,463 (1.3% lower), the GeForce 800M at 1,460 (1.5% lower), the GT 625 OEM at 1,446 (2.5% lower), and the GT 710 at 1,443 (2.7% lower). Being only 2.7% faster than the GT 710, a card from a much older era, underscores the Arc B390's position at the very bottom of the GPU performance hierarchy.

In practical terms for The Long Drive, the GPU's limitations manifest in the measured FPS scaling. The 4K Ultra result of 12 FPS is not a CPU limitation or a memory bandwidth issue; it is the direct consequence of the GPU's 24 ROPs attempting to fill 8.3 million pixels per frame with maximum quality effects. The fact that the Low preset at 4K achieves 35 FPS, nearly three times the Ultra figure, shows that the GPU can perform adequately only when the rendering pipeline is stripped of its demanding effects. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking, combined with the system's 2,594th place combo rank, positions this as a configuration for low-resolution or low-settings gaming, not for a modern driving simulation at high fidelity.