The Long Drive

The Long Drive, a driving simulation released on September 2, 2019, presents an interesting benchmark scenario for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The data shows this combination is heavily dependent on graphics settings, with performance scaling dramatically from the demanding Ultra preset to the more fluid Low preset. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and how this specific combo ranks among the 1,734 tested configurations in our database.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 145 on Ultra to 360.5 on Low, while at 2560x1440, the range is 92.9 to 261.9. At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 50.2 on Ultra and 73.2 on High, making 2560x1440 the highest resolution that maintains a consistently strong frame rate across all settings.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 92.9 FPS, which is significantly lower than the High preset's 131.6 FPS at the same resolution. The gap between these two settings is 38.7 FPS, indicating that Ultra imposes a substantial rendering load that the High preset avoids.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The benchmark data does not directly measure bottleneck percentages, but the FPS values suggest the GPU is heavily utilized. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 360.5 FPS, a figure that indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at high rates. The CPU's 3DMark max threads score of 7952 and single-thread score of 1016 support its capability to handle the game's logic at these frame rates.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo rank for this game is 33 out of 1,734 tested combinations. This places it in the top 2% of all configurations in our database for The Long Drive, indicating that it delivers exceptional overall performance despite the challenges of the Ultra preset.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 66473, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733) and 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127). It also trails the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 by 0.9% and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 by 1.3%, though these differences are minimal.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU and GPU?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has a launch MSRP of $264, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD. These are the only pricing details available in the data.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data clearly shows that the Ultra preset is the most demanding, with average frame rates dropping to 50.2 FPS at 3840x2160 and 92.9 FPS at 2560x1440. This preset, while visually intensive, causes the most significant performance hit. For a consistently smooth experience at higher resolutions, the High preset is the recommended choice. At 3840x2160, High delivers 73.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. At 2560x1440, High achieves 131.6 FPS, offering a strong balance between visual quality and fluidity.

The Medium preset offers a compromise, with 122.2 FPS at 3840x2160 and 217.8 FPS at 2560x1440. This setting provides a substantial boost over High at 4K, with a 49 FPS increase, while still maintaining a solid frame rate. For users prioritizing high refresh rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers 360.5 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any monitor. At 2560x1440, Low reaches 261.9 FPS, and even at 3840x2160, it maintains 145.2 FPS, making it the only preset that exceeds 144 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests that High is the optimal preset for most users, as it avoids the steep performance penalty of Ultra while providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium. The Ultra preset, with its 50.2 FPS at 4K and 92.9 FPS at 1440p, is best reserved for scenarios where absolute visual fidelity is prioritized over frame rate consistency.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture processor is built on a 10 nm process node and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its benchmark scores indicate strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309. In the 3DMark tests, the CPU scores 7956 with 16 threads and 1016 with a single thread, showing that scaling from 2 threads (1995) to 16 threads (7956) is effective.

In The Long Drive, a driving simulation, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, physics, and the simulation of the open road. The data shows that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU becomes more critical. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 360.5 FPS, which is the highest measured value. This suggests that the CPU's 16 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at these high frame rates. The CPU's percentile rank of 84 versus all CPUs indicates it is faster than a majority of processors, and its average benchmark score of 27827 places it nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27851, -0.1% delta).

The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache likely assist in handling the game's streaming data. The benchmark results show that the CPU's multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Passmark multithread score of 27575, enables the system to maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is not fully saturated. This is particularly evident at 2560x1440, where the CPU can push the GPU to 261.9 FPS on Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for The Long Drive is 33 out of 1,734 tested combinations. This rank places it in the top 1.9% of all tested systems, indicating exceptional performance for this game. The high rank is primarily driven by the RTX 4090's immense GPU power, which is the 91st percentile among all GPUs. However, the CPU's contribution is also significant, as it ranks in the 84th percentile among all CPUs.

The rank of 33 suggests that there are 32 other configurations that perform better in this game, likely those with even more powerful CPUs or specific memory configurations that reduce bottlenecks. The data shows that the CPU's average benchmark score (27827) is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829), with a 0% delta. This indicates that the i5-12600KF is not a limiting factor in most scenarios, and the combo's rank is more a function of the GPU's capabilities.

In the context of all 1,734 combos, this system's performance is exceptional. The measured FPS at 1920x1080 on Low (360.5 FPS) reflects the lack of a significant CPU bottleneck. The rank of 33 also implies that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, making it a top-tier choice for The Long Drive, especially for users who prioritize high refresh rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a powerhouse graphics card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and it has 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The GPU's FP32 performance is 82.58 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s.

In The Long Drive, the GPU's role is to render the vast, open environments and handle the game's draw calls. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences between settings. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields 50.2 FPS, while the Low preset yields 145.2 FPS, a difference of 95 FPS. This 2.9x scaling factor highlights the GPU's sensitivity to the Ultra preset's effects, likely including higher resolution textures and more complex shading.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 38194 and its percentile rank of 91 versus all GPUs confirm its high-end status. Its average benchmark score of 66473 is comparable to the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, -0.4% delta), indicating that the RTX 4090 is not a massive outlier in performance but rather a top-tier consumer card. The 24 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for The Long Drive at any resolution, preventing any memory-related bottlenecks.

The GPU's performance at 2560x1440 is particularly strong, with High settings delivering 131.6 FPS and Low settings reaching 261.9 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, and even at 4K, the Low preset can achieve 145.2 FPS, which is above the standard 144 Hz refresh rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset achieves an average of 360.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 325.9 FPS, High at 206.7 FPS, and Ultra at 145 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 215.5 FPS drop, representing a 59.8% reduction in performance. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces significant GPU load, while Low allows the system to operate near its maximum potential.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 261.9 (Low), 217.8 (Medium), 131.6 (High), and 92.9 (Ultra). The gap between Low and Ultra is 169 FPS, a 64.5% decrease. Compared to 1080p, the Ultra preset at 1440p is 52.1 FPS lower, while the Low preset is 98.6 FPS lower, showing that the resolution increase affects all settings but has a larger absolute impact on Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further. The Low preset averages 145.2 FPS, Medium averages 122.2 FPS, High averages 73.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 50.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 95 FPS, a 65.4% decrease. Interestingly, the 4K Low setting (145.2 FPS) is nearly identical to the 1080p Ultra setting (145 FPS), suggesting that the GPU's workload at 4K Low is comparable to 1080p Ultra.

The data shows that the Medium preset provides a balanced experience, with 325.9 FPS at 1080p, 217.8 FPS at 1440p, and 122.2 FPS at 4K. The High preset is the most consistent for high-quality visuals, offering 206.7 FPS at 1080p, 131.6 FPS at 1440p, and 73.2 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and its performance at 4K (50.2 FPS) is the only measured value below 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay at that resolution.