The Long Drive

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 293rd out of 3725 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the top 7.9% of all configurations benchmarked. This is a strong showing for a driving simulation that clearly rewards both high frame rates and visual fidelity, though the data reveals that the pairing is not without its bottlenecks depending on resolution and settings. The combination demonstrates that a mid-range 13th-gen processor paired with a flagship-class Ada Lovelace GPU can deliver a broadly excellent experience, but the measured frame rates show distinct scaling patterns that highlight where each component carries the load.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 293 out of 3725 tested configurations places it firmly in the upper echelon of systems tested for The Long Drive. This percentile position suggests that the i5-13400F and RTX 4080 pairing outperforms the vast majority of setups, with only 292 other combos delivering higher average frame rates across the tested spectrum. The ranking reflects a balanced system that excels in this specific title, though it is not at the very top—indicating that more extreme CPU or GPU pairings can extract additional performance.

In the context of the individual components, the RTX 4080 is the primary driver of this high rank. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 54247 places it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209—a negligible 0.1% difference. This means the 4080 is essentially at the ceiling of its performance class, with only marginal gains available from the SUPER variant. Conversely, the i5-13400F’s average benchmark score of 25292 puts it in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scoring 25284 (a 0% delta). The CPU is competent but not class-leading, which becomes evident in the higher-resolution benchmarks where the GPU takes over.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads, built on the Raptor Lake architecture using a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz are modest by modern standards, but the processor compensates with a 20 MB shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows a clear scaling pattern: the 3DMark 2-thread score of 1880 jumps to 3459 at 4 threads, 5591 at 8 threads, and peaks at 7314 with 16 threads. This indicates that the processor benefits from additional threads up to its full complement, though the gains diminish beyond 8 threads—a hallmark of a design optimized for mainstream workloads rather than extreme multi-threading.

For The Long Drive, the CPU’s role is most pronounced at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 332 FPS, a figure that far exceeds what the GPU alone could produce if the CPU were a bottleneck. The single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191, is sufficient to feed the RTX 4080 at these settings. However, the data suggests that the CPU begins to limit performance as resolution drops, since the frame rate increase from 1440p Low (235 FPS) to 1080p Low (332 FPS) is a 97 FPS jump—a 41% improvement that indicates the GPU has headroom, but the CPU is still keeping pace.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the undisputed star of this pairing. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, it packs 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. The GPU’s memory configuration is substantial: 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds are high, with a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz, while the memory runs at an effective 22.4 Gbps. These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s, figures that explain the GPU’s dominance in rasterization-heavy titles like The Long Drive.

The RTX 4080’s benchmark scores reinforce its high-end status. A 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 and a Passmark G3D score of 34457 are indicative of a GPU that excels in modern DirectX 12 workloads. Its 86th percentile rank among all GPUs, with a negligible 0.1% delta to the RTX 4080 SUPER, means that this card is effectively at the top of its class. In The Long Drive, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly critical as resolution and settings rise. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 47 FPS, a clear sign that the GPU is being pushed to its limits, whereas at 1080p Low, the 332 FPS result shows the GPU barely breaking a sweat.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings paint a detailed picture of the combo’s behavior in The Long Drive.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance at every settings level. Low settings produce an average of 332 FPS, Medium reaches 294 FPS (with a minimum of 250 and maximum of 339), High hits 184 FPS, and Ultra still manages a very playable 127 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 205 FPS, a 61% reduction, which indicates that the visual quality settings have a significant impact on frame rate even at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected decline. Low settings average 235 FPS, Medium drops to 194 FPS (minimum 165, maximum 223), High reaches 121 FPS, and Ultra falls to 84 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is substantial: at High settings, the 184 FPS at 1080p becomes 121 FPS at 1440p, a 34% reduction. This suggests that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor at this resolution, though the CPU still has room to push higher frame rates if the GPU allowed it.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low settings average 131 FPS, Medium drops to 108 FPS (minimum 91, maximum 124), High falls to 67 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 47 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is barely above the 30 FPS playability threshold, indicating that this combo is not ideal for maximum settings at 4K. The data shows a clear progression: as resolution increases, the frame rate penalty becomes more pronounced, with the gap between Low and Ultra growing from 205 FPS at 1080p to 84 FPS at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals which component is the bottleneck at each setting. From 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 332 FPS to 235 FPS, a 29% decrease. From 1440p to 4K at Low, it drops further to 131 FPS, a 44% decrease. This pattern of diminishing returns—where the percentage drop accelerates at higher resolutions—is a classic sign of the GPU becoming the limiting factor. At Low settings, the CPU is likely the primary driver of performance at 1080p, but by 4K, the GPU’s workload dominates.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more telling. The frame rate drops from 127 FPS at 1080p to 84 FPS at 1440p (a 34% decrease) and then to 47 FPS at 4K (a 44% decrease from 1440p). The absolute drop of 80 FPS from 1080p to 4K Ultra is the largest of any settings level, confirming that the RTX 4080 is the limiting component at this quality preset. The CPU’s 16 threads and 4.60 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s raw compute and memory bandwidth are the decisive factors.

The data also shows that the Medium setting is the most consistent across resolutions, with frame rates of 294 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium is a sweet spot for the combo, offering a balance between visual quality and performance that scales predictably. The minimum frame rates recorded at Medium (250 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, 91 FPS at 4K) indicate that the combo maintains smooth performance even in demanding scenes, with no severe dips that would cause stuttering.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this combo in The Long Drive?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 293rd out of 3725 tested combos, placing it in the top 7.9% of all configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209—a 0.1% difference. They are effectively performance equals in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 332 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The minimum recorded frame rate across all tests is 91 FPS, seen at 4K Medium settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in The Long Drive?

A: At 4K Ultra settings, the combo averages 47 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. At 4K High, it averages 67 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it reaches 108 FPS, making 4K gaming viable at reduced settings.

Q: How does the CPU’s multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i5-13400F’s average benchmark score of 25292 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, 0% delta), while the Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362 (-0.3% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (-0.3% delta). The CPU is well within 0.4% of all its nearest rivals.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 184 FPS at 1920x1080 to 121 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 67 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K.