The Long Drive

The Long Drive, a driving simulation from 2019, presents a unique challenge for the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination. The benchmark data reveals a system capable of high frame rates, but one where the choice of graphics preset dramatically impacts the experience, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis focuses on the measured performance data to determine the optimal settings and the role each component plays.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the High preset is the clear recommendation across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver an average of 195.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay. Moving up to 2560x1440, the average remains robust at 126.9 FPS, and even at 3840x2160, the system maintains a playable 70 FPS average. This makes High the only preset that offers a consistently smooth experience across the board without the significant performance penalties seen at Ultra.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for serious play. While it produces the highest visual quality, the performance cost is severe. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops to 47.8 FPS, which is below the generally accepted threshold for a fluid driving game. Even at 2560x1440, Ultra yields only 89.3 FPS, and at 1920x1080 it reaches 138.7 FPS. The data indicates that the jump from High to Ultra is disproportionately demanding, likely due to advanced effects that heavily tax the GPU.

For players seeking maximum frame rates, the Low preset offers the highest performance, with an average of 317.6 FPS at 1080p and 249.9 FPS at 1440p. However, the visual compromise is substantial. The Medium preset serves as a middle ground, providing 299.7 FPS at 1080p and 206.5 FPS at 1440p, but at 4K it only manages 115.6 FPS, which is lower than High. Given that High provides a 70 FPS average at 4K and significantly higher frame rates at lower resolutions, it represents the most efficient use of the hardware's capabilities. The data clearly shows that High is the "best experience" preset, offering a strong combination of performance and image quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16518 and a single-core score of 2332, place it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. This indicates a solid mid-range performer that is more than capable of handling modern game logic.

In the context of The Long Drive, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU in most scenarios, but it is still crucial for maintaining high frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 317.6 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach very high frame rates. However, the performance scaling from Low to High at 1080p (317.6 to 195.8 FPS) shows that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as graphical load increases.

The processor's performance relative to its nearest rivals is telling. It is essentially on par with the Intel Core i7-8700K, with a deltaPct of 0.1, and only 0.3% faster than the Intel Core i5-1335U. It is slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by -0.7% but ahead of the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3%. These small deltas suggest that the i5-12400F's processing power is not a bottleneck in this configuration, as its performance is in line with other CPUs that would pair with a high-end GPU. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 12 threads provide ample resources for the game's simulation aspects, but the data suggests that the game is not heavily CPU-bound, as evidenced by the large FPS gains when lowering resolution and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best graphics preset to use with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the High preset offers the best overall experience. It provides an average of 195.8 FPS at 1080p, 126.9 FPS at 1440p, and a playable 70 FPS at 4K, making it the only preset that is viable across all tested resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 5080's performance compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 59188 places it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs. It outperforms the Intel Arc A570M by 1.6% and the Intel Arc A580 by 2.5%, while being slightly behind the Intel Arc Pro A60 by -1.9% and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X by 2.6% in the other direction.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F a bottleneck for the RTX 5080 in this game?

A: The data suggests that the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. Its performance is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% delta). The high frame rates achieved at lower settings, such as 317.6 FPS at 1080p Low, indicate the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 249.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 89.3 FPS. This represents a significant performance decrease of approximately 64% when switching to the highest quality settings.

Q: How much memory does the GPU have, and what type is it?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This large memory pool is well-suited for high-resolution textures.

Q: Where does this specific CPU and GPU combination rank among all tested combos in this game?

A: This combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 84th out of 1734 tested combos in The Long Drive. This places it in the top 5% of all tested systems.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination ranks 84th out of 1734 tested combos in The Long Drive. This is a strong result, placing the system in the top 5% of all configurations tested. This high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's exceptional performance, which is in the 89th percentile of all GPUs.

The CPU, while not a top-tier part, is still a capable performer, sitting in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The combination of a high-performing GPU with a solid mid-range CPU proves to be effective for this title. The ranking suggests that the system is well-balanced for The Long Drive, avoiding the severe bottlenecks that can occur with a mismatched CPU and GPU. The fact that it ranks so highly despite the CPU's mid-range status highlights that this game is more dependent on GPU horsepower than on extreme CPU multi-threading capabilities. The system is clearly able to deliver a high-quality experience, as evidenced by its position in the top 5% of all tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern as resolution increases. At the High settings preset, the average frame rate scales from 195.8 FPS at 1920x1080, to 126.9 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 70 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a performance drop of 35% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45% drop when moving from 1440p to 4K.

This scaling pattern strongly indicates that the system becomes increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The RTX 5080 has to render significantly more pixels at 4K, which places a much greater load on its 10752 shading units and 112 ROPs. The fact that the CPU is capable of delivering 317.6 FPS at 1080p Low settings suggests that it is not the limiting factor until the GPU's workload becomes too high. The dramatic drop in performance at 4K, especially at Ultra settings where it falls to 47.8 FPS, confirms that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate at higher resolutions. The data shows that the i5-12400F can maintain high frame rates, but the RTX 5080's pixel throughput is the deciding factor for 4K performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the average FPS results from the benchmark data:

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Low: 317.6 FPS
• Medium: 299.7 FPS
• High: 195.8 FPS
• Ultra: 138.7 FPS

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Low: 249.9 FPS
• Medium: 206.5 FPS
• High: 126.9 FPS
• Ultra: 89.3 FPS

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Low: 135.4 FPS
• Medium: 115.6 FPS
• High: 70 FPS
• Ultra: 47.8 FPS

The data shows that at 1080p, even the Ultra preset provides a very high average of 138.7 FPS. At 1440p, the High preset is the most balanced, while Ultra remains playable. At 4K, only the Low and Medium presets maintain averages above 100 FPS, with High dropping to 70 FPS and Ultra falling below 50 FPS. This breakdown clearly illustrates the performance cost of each setting tier and resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this configuration. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s, it is well-equipped for high-resolution gaming. Its base clock is 2295 MHz, boosting up to 2617 MHz, and it features 10752 shading units. The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores are strong, with a Passmark G3D score of 36565 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8637, placing it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs.

In The Long Drive, the GPU's role is clearly to drive frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows the GPU's workload increasing. For instance, at 1440p, the frame rate drops from 249.9 FPS on Low to 89.3 FPS on Ultra, a clear indication of the GPU being the limiting factor. The GPU's memory capacity of 16 GB is likely a key reason why even at 4K Ultra, the game remains playable, as it can hold the necessary textures without stuttering. The RTX 5080's raw compute power, as evidenced by its FP32 performance of 56.28 TFLOPS, is what allows for the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. The data confirms that the GPU is the primary driver of performance, with the CPU providing enough support to avoid bottlenecking the system.