The Long Drive

The Long Drive pairs the 10-core Intel Core i5-14400F with the 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, and the benchmark data reveals a combination that scales predictably across resolutions and presets. This setup lands at rank 975 out of 1734 tested combos, placing it in the mid-range of the database, which is a notable position given the hardware’s specifications. The measured frames per second (FPS) show a system that can handle 1080p with ease, struggles at 4K on heavier presets, and exhibits a clear performance hierarchy from Low to Ultra settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, where all presets except Ultra exceed 75 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset hits 137 FPS, but High drops to 70.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 23181, with the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scoring 23321 (0.6% higher) and the Intel Arc B580 scoring 23021 (0.7% lower). The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti is also close at 23338, a 0.7% difference.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at 3840x2160. The FPS drops from 73.4 at Low to 25.4 at Ultra, a massive swing that indicates the graphics card is saturated, not the i5-14400F.

Q: What settings should I use for a playable 4K experience?

A: The Low preset is the only viable option at 4K, delivering 73.4 FPS. Medium drops to 61.5 FPS, while High (37.6 FPS) and Ultra (25.4 FPS) fall below smooth thresholds.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-core performance impact the game?

A: The i5-14400F scores 3093 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2333 in Geekbench single-core. These strong results help maintain high FPS at 1080p, where the CPU has more influence.

Q: Does the combo rank improve at lower resolutions?

A: While the combo rank is fixed at 975 of 1734, the FPS data indicates the system is more competitive at 1920x1080, where it can push 204.4 FPS on Low, versus 37.6 FPS at 4K High.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. Its memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The clocks are 1830 MHz base and 2460 MHz boost, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). This hardware drives the measured FPS in The Long Drive, and the data shows a direct correlation between settings and performance.

At 1920x1080, the GPU easily handles the game, scoring 204.4 FPS on Low and 169 FPS on Medium. However, the jump to High (105.3 FPS) and Ultra (75.9 FPS) reveals the RTX 4060’s limits as shading units (3072) and texture units (96) are pushed harder. The GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for mid-range presets but struggle with Ultra’s demands. At 2560x1440, the pattern continues: Low hits 137 FPS, but Ultra drops to 45.9 FPS, indicating the 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become constraints.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this: PassMark G3D shows 19545, while 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 scores 2302. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, edges it out by 0.6%, but the RTX 4060 outperforms the Intel Arc B580 by 0.7%. The percentile of 66 vs all GPUs suggests it’s mid-tier, which matches the observed performance. The 4K data is most telling: 73.4 FPS on Low versus 25.4 on Ultra — a 48 FPS gap that highlights the GPU’s memory bandwidth as the primary bottleneck at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F features 10 cores (with 16 threads) based on Raptor Lake architecture, clocked at 2.50 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample headroom for game logic. The CPU’s benchmarks are strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 21914, while single-core hits 3093. Geekbench shows 11209 multi-core and 2333 single-core. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-14400F is evenly matched — the Intel Core i7-12800H scores 32513 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 scores 32446 (0.2% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 7 250 scores 32584 (0.2% lower).

In The Long Drive, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 204.4 FPS, which suggests the i5-14400F can feed the GPU efficiently. The single-core performance (3093 in Cinebench R23) is crucial for driving simulation logic, and the data supports this. However, as resolution increases, the CPU’s influence wanes. At 4K, the FPS drops are steeper, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor, not the processor. The CPU’s 65W TDP and 10 nm process node are modest, but its PassMark multithread score of 25783 shows it can handle multi-threaded workloads.

The percentile of 88 vs all CPUs places it high, but the combo rank of 975 suggests the GPU holds the system back. The data implies that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would yield better high-resolution results, but within this combo, the i5-14400F is rarely the bottleneck, especially at 1080p where it helps push FPS past 200 on Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to Low settings as the most reliable choice for high frame rates across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low delivers 204.4 FPS, which is ideal for competitive or smooth gameplay. Medium is also strong at 169 FPS, offering a good balance if visual quality is preferred. High provides 105.3 FPS, still playable, but Ultra drops to 75.9 FPS, which may be acceptable for single-player driving but not for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, Low (137 FPS) is the clear winner, while Medium (108.4 FPS) remains fluid. High (70.3 FPS) is borderline, and Ultra (45.9 FPS) is too low for smooth driving. For 4K, Low is the only sensible preset at 73.4 FPS; Medium (61.5 FPS) is playable but stutter-prone, while High (37.6 FPS) and Ultra (25.4 FPS) are not recommended. The data indicates that the best experience is achieved by prioritizing Low or Medium settings, depending on resolution, to maintain above 60 FPS.

The sweet spot for this combo is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, yielding 169 FPS — a 64 FPS improvement over High. This balances visual fidelity with performance, as the GPU’s 8 GB memory is not taxed as heavily as at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combo ranks 975 out of 1734 tested combinations, placing it in the 56th percentile. This mid-tier ranking is consistent with the hardware’s specifications: the CPU is strong (88th percentile), but the GPU is only at the 66th percentile. The data suggests that the combo is held back by the RTX 4060, especially at higher resolutions.

Compared to other combos, this setup is not a top performer, but it is far from the bottom. The rank implies that there are 759 combos that perform worse, which is a significant number. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (204.4) is competitive, but at 4K Ultra (25.4), it falls behind. This ranking reflects the GPU’s limitations in demanding scenarios, while the CPU’s strong single-core performance helps at lower resolutions. The combo’s position in the database is a fair assessment of its overall capability, with the data showing it excels in 1080p gaming but struggles at 4K on high presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the FPS ranges from 204.4 on Low to 75.9 on Ultra. The progression is: Low 204.4, Medium 169, High 105.3, and Ultra 75.9. This shows a 128.5 FPS drop from Low to Ultra, with the largest single-step drop occurring from Medium to High (63.7 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 137, Medium 108.4, High 70.3, and Ultra 45.9. The drop from Low to Ultra is 91.1 FPS, with the most significant decline from Medium to High (38.1 FPS). At 3840x2160, the FPS are: Low 73.4, Medium 61.5, High 37.6, and Ultra 25.4. The total drop is 48 FPS, with the largest gap from Medium to High (23.9 FPS).

The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the absolute FPS values drop, but the relative performance gap between Low and Ultra narrows. At 1080p, Ultra is 37% of Low’s FPS; at 4K, Ultra is 35% of Low’s. This indicates the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions, but the impact is more pronounced at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the components scale. At Low settings, 1080p yields 204.4 FPS, while 4K gives 73.4 FPS — a 64% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 169 to 61.5 FPS, a 64% reduction. High goes from 105.3 to 37.6 FPS, a 64% reduction, and Ultra from 75.9 to 25.4 FPS, a 67% reduction. This consistency suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU’s performance is less affected by resolution changes.

The data implies that the RTX 4060’s 272.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB memory are insufficient for 4K Ultra, where FPS drops to 25.4. The 4K Low score of 73.4 FPS is surprisingly high, indicating that the GPU can handle 4K when settings are minimized. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is also steep: at High, 70.3 FPS drops to 37.6 FPS, a 47% reduction. This suggests that the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth at higher resolutions, as the pixel rate (118.1 GPixel/s) is pushed to its limits. The CPU’s role is minimal here, as the i5-14400F’s strong single-core scores (3093 in Cinebench R23) are not the limiting factor; the data clearly points to the GPU as the component that determines scaling behavior.