The Long Drive

The Long Drive, a driving simulation with a release date of 2019-09-02, presents a unique scaling scenario for the Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination. The benchmark data indicates that this pairing is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions but shifts to a more balanced load at higher settings. The measured FPS across 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080 reveals that the optimal experience is not necessarily the highest preset, but rather the one that best utilizes the hardware's capabilities without introducing unnecessary strain. This analysis breaks down the measured rows to determine the best settings, the specific roles of the CPU and GPU, and how this combo ranks against the broader test pool.

Settings Recommendations

The data strongly suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all three tested resolutions, particularly when considering frame time consistency. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 295 FPS, with a minimum of 250 FPS and a maximum of 339 FPS. This is a substantial drop from the Low preset's 316 FPS, but the jump to High (222 FPS) and Ultra (154 FPS) shows a steep performance curve that sacrifices too much speed for marginal visual gains. The Medium preset provides a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience that is ideal for a driving simulation where responsive input is critical.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again stands out as the top choice. It achieves an average of 234 FPS, with a minimum of 199 and a maximum of 269 FPS. While the Low preset reaches 275 FPS, the Medium setting offers a more visually rich environment without dropping below the 200 FPS threshold, which is a significant benchmark for competitive smoothness. The High preset at 146 FPS is playable but represents a 37.6% reduction in average frame rate compared to Medium, making the extra visual detail a poor trade-off for a driving game that benefits from high fluidity.

For 4K gaming at 3840x2160, the Medium preset is also the recommended choice. It produces an average of 130 FPS, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 149 FPS. This is the only 4K setting where the minimum FPS stays above the 100 FPS mark, ensuring a consistent experience without noticeable hitches. The Low preset achieves 158 FPS, but that setting often reduces draw distance and texture quality, which can be detrimental in an open-world driving game. The High preset (81 FPS) and Ultra preset (56 FPS) fall below the ideal threshold for high-refresh monitors, making Medium the clear winner for a premium 4K experience.

The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer in the dataset, with average FPS dropping to 56 at 4K issues, 101 at 1440p, and 154 at 1080p. The data indicates that the performance cost of Ultra is disproportionate to its visual benefits, especially when the RTX 5090 D is already capable of delivering high frame rates at High settings. Therefore, the recommendation is to prioritize Medium for the best overall experience, with Low as a fallback for extreme refresh rate displays and High available for users who prefer visual fidelity over frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, and its massive memory pool and high clock speeds are the primary drivers of the high frame rates observed. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This memory configuration is critical for The Long Drive, which features expansive, procedurally generated environments that require large texture sets to be loaded quickly. The 32 GB capacity ensures that the GPU does not become a bottleneck for asset streaming, allowing for consistent performance even in dense areas.

Clock speeds are also a key factor. The GPU has a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The high boost clock, combined with the 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, allows the card to process the complex lighting and physics calculations inherent in a driving simulation. The benchmark results show that at 1920x1080, the GPU is often underutilized, as evidenced by the massive jump in FPS from High (222) to Low (316). This suggests that the RTX 5090 D is capable of far more work than the CPU can feed it at lower resolutions, but it scales effectively as resolution increases.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D's power is best harnessed at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, the average FPS at High settings is 81, which is a 63.5% reduction from the 222 FPS at 1080p High. This shows that the GPU is being increasingly taxed, and its raw compute power is being utilized more effectively. The GPU's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth is particularly beneficial at 4K, where the sheer volume of pixel data required to fill the screen is enormous. The performance at Medium settings (130 FPS) confirms that the GPU has ample headroom to handle the game's engine at high frame rates, even with the added pixel load.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 77712. It is interesting to note that the nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (deltaPct 1.1), are actually mobile or older data-center parts, indicating the RTX 5090 D's unique position in the desktop market. The PassMark G3D score of 44065 and the Geekbench OpenCL score of 310674 further underscore its compute dominanceunci. In this game, the GPU's role is to provide the brute force for high-resolution rendering, and the data shows it does so effectively, but the CPU becomes the limiting factor in lower-resolution scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 plays a crucial, albeit secondary, role in this configuration. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it is a mainstream desktop processor that provides a solid foundation for gaming. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz are sufficient to keep up with the RTX 5090 D in most scenarios, but the benchmark data suggests that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. For instance, at 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 316, which is an extremely high number that likely approaches the CPU's maximum frame generation capability for this game engine.

The CPU's performance characteristics are reflected in its Cinebench R23 scores, with a multi-core score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257. These scores indicate that the i5-12400 has strong single-threaded performance, which is often more important for gaming than raw multi-core throughput. The relatively high single-core performance is what allows the system to reach 275 FPS at 1440p Low and 158 FPS at 4K Low. However, the data shows that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's influence on frame rate diminishes.

The CPU's L3 cache of 18 MB (shared) and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce latency when accessing game data. In a driving simulation with large, open maps, this cache size can help maintain consistent frame times by keeping frequently used data close to the cores. The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, provides flexibility, but the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used, so the impact cannot be quantified herecars. The CPU's 3DMark scores, such as the single-thread score of 910 and the max-thread score of 5890, support the notion that it is a capable gaming processor.

When comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the data shows it is closely matched. The AMD EPYC 7643 has a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the i5-12400 is 0.1% faster in average benchmark score. Similarly, the Intel Core i7-1355U is 0.3% slower, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 is 0.7% slower. The Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% faster, but all these differences are within the margin of error. This indicates that the i5-12400 is a highly competitive mid-range CPU that does not hold back the RTX 5090 D in a significant way, except in the most CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, the Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combo ranks 75th out of 3725 tested combos in The Long Drive. This places the pairing in the top 2% of all configurations, which reflects the raw power of the GPU and the sufficient capability of the CPU. The rank of 75 out of 3725 indicates that while there are faster combos, this specific pairing is exceptionally high-performing for a mid-range CPU paired with a flagship GPU.

The high rank is largely attributed to the GPU's performance, which is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. The CPU, while only in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, does not bottleneck the GPU to a degree that would cause the combo to fall out of the top tier. The data shows that the combo is capable of delivering excellent frame rates at all resolutions, which is why it ranks so highly. The fact that it is in the top 2% suggests that there are only a handful of CPUs that can push the RTX 5090 D even harder, likely high-end chips with more cores and higher clock speeds.

The combination's performance in this game is more dependent on the GPU than the CPU. The RTX 5090 D's massive compute power is the main driver of the high FPS numbers, and the i5-12400 is just enough to keep the GPU fed, especially at 1440p and 4K. This ranking is consistent with the notion that The Long Drive is a graphically intensive title, and the data shows that the GPU is the primary contributor to the combo's success. The 75th rank is a strong indicator that this is a viable high-end gaming setup, even if the CPU is not the absolute fastest available.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Long Drive with this combo?

A: The data shows excellent performance at all three tested resolutions. The 2560x1440 Medium setting offers an average of 234 FPS with a minimum of 199 FPS, providing a great balance of visual quality and performance for high-refresh monitorscars. For maximum performance, 1920x1080 Low reaches 316 FPS, while 3840x2160 Medium still provides a smooth 130 FPS average.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 D in this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests that the CPU can become a bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 316, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game. However, as the resolution increases to 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and the CPU's impact on frame rate diminishes.

Q: How much faster is the Medium preset compared to the Ultra preset?

A: The Medium preset is significantly faster than Ultra. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset averages 295 FPS, while Ultra averages 154 FPS, making Medium 91.6% faster. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 234 FPS versus 101 FPS for Ultra, a 131.7% improvement. At 4K, Medium averages 130 FPS compared to 56 FPS for Ultra, a 132.1% increase.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset is the only setting with recorded minimum FPS data. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 250 FPS. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 199 FPS. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 110 FPS. This data indicates that the Medium preset maintains a high minimum frame rate, ensuring smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to other tested combos?

A: This combo ranks 75th out of 3725 tested combinations in The Long Drive. This places it in the top 2% of all configurations, indicating it is a very high-performing setup for this game, largely due to the GPU's exceptional performance.

Q: Does the GPU's 32 GB of VRAM make a difference in this game?

A: The data does not directly compare VRAM usage, but the 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This high capacity and bandwidth are likely beneficial for The Long Drive's large open-world environments, preventing texture streaming bottlenecks and contributing to the high average FPS observed at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the performance across different settings and resolutions. The table below summarizes the average, minimum, and maximum FPS for each tested configuration.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS | Minimum FPS | Maximum FPS |

|:--- |:--- |:--- |:--- |:--- |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 316 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 295 FPS | 250 FPS | 339 FPS |

| 1920x1080 | High | 222 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 154 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 275 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 234 FPS | 199 FPS | 269 FPS |

| 2560x1440 | High | 146 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 101 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 158 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 130 FPS | 110 FPS | 149 FPS |

| 3840x2160 | High | 81 FPS | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 56 FPS | N/A | N/A |

At 1080p, the scaling from Low to Ultra shows a steep performance curve. The Low setting achieves 316 FPS, which is 13% higher than Medium, but Medium offers better visual fidelity with a minimum of 250 FPS. The High and Ultra settings drop off significantly, with Ultra being 51.2% slower than Medium. The data confirms that 1080p is heavily CPU-bound, as the GPU is not fully utilized at these frame rates.

At 1440p, the GPU begins to take on more load. The Medium preset's 234 FPS average is a 20.5% decrease from Low, while High and Ultra see more significant drops of 37.6% and 56.8% respectively, compared to Medium. The minimum FPS for Medium remains high at 199, ensuring a smooth experience. The 4K results show the GPU being fully taxed, with Medium at 130 FPS being the only setting that maintains a minimum above 100 FPS. The Ultra setting at 56 FPS is barely playable, highlighting the extreme demands of 4K rendering. The data shows a consistent trend: Medium is the optimal setting across all resolutions for this hardware combination.