The Long Drive

The Long Drive, a driving simulation that has been available since September 2019, presents an interesting test bed for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER pairing. This combination of a 10-core Raptor Lake processor and an Ada Lovelace flagship GPU produces a dataset that reveals distinct performance bottlenecks depending on the resolution and settings chosen. The measured frames per second (FPS) across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions paint a clear picture of where this system excels and where it struggles to maintain high frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 338.0 at 1920x1080 to 234.4 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 103.6 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the score drops another 106.6 FPS to 127.8. This steep decline indicates that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the GPU is being pushed harder as pixel count increases, though the sheer headroom at 1080p suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at that resolution.

The scaling is more dramatic at High settings. The transition from 1080p (180.4 FPS) to 1440p (118.3 FPS) represents a 62.1 FPS loss, and then from 1440p to 4K (67.6 FPS), another 50.7 FPS is lost. The 4K High result is less than half the 1080p High result, which strongly suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER is becoming the binding constraint as the resolution increases. The data implies that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, while at 4K, the GPU's workload dominates the frame time.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with a 129.8 FPS average at 1080p collapsing to 86.3 FPS at 1440p and then to 47.0 FPS at 4K. This 82.8 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings highlights the enormous computational demand of the highest preset. The fact that 4K Ultra barely maintains a playable 47 FPS average suggests that this configuration, while powerful, is not fully optimized for the most demanding scenarios in this particular driving simulation.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K, Medium delivers 106.0 FPS, which is a significant improvement over High's 67.6 FPS and Ultra's 47.0 FPS, while still providing a substantial visual upgrade over Low's 127.8 FPS. The 21.8 FPS gap between Low and Medium at 4K is smaller than the 38.4 FPS gap between Medium and High, indicating that the performance cost of moving from Low to Medium is relatively modest.

For users prioritizing frame rate above all else, the Low preset at 1440p provides an exceptional 234.4 FPS, which would be ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the data shows that Medium at 1440p still achieves 191.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for most displays and offers better visual fidelity. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset maintains 129.8 FPS, so users with 1080p displays can comfortably max out the settings without worrying about performance dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

The investigation reveals that the High preset is a difficult middle ground. At 4K, it produces 67.6 FPS, which is playable but not silky smooth, while at 1440p it dips to 118.3 FPS, which is good but not outstanding. The data implies that users should either step down to Medium for a guaranteed smooth experience or step up to Ultra if they have the GPU headroom at 1080p, where the 129.8 FPS average is still very respectable.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive database of tested combinations, this Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER pairing holds the rank of 116 out of 1734 total combos for The Long Drive. This places it in the top 6.7% of all tested configurations, indicating that it is a high-performing setup for this specific game. The percentile ranking is consistent with the strong benchmark scores of both components, with the CPU sitting in the 88th percentile versus all CPUs and the GPU also in the 88th percentile versus all GPUs.

The ranking is particularly noteworthy because the CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 7 250, both of which have nearly identical average benchmark scores. The i5-14400F scores 32508 on average, while the i7-12800H scores 32513, a negligible 0% deltaPct difference. This suggests that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class, and the high combo rank is largely attributable to the GPU's strength. The RTX 4080 SUPER's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, has an average score of 53489, which is only 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA card's 53610, indicating that the GPU is also performing at the top of its expected range.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of performance across all twelve measured scenarios. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an outstanding 338.0 FPS, Medium achieves 292.2 FPS, High produces 180.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 129.8 FPS. The progression at this resolution shows a 208.2 FPS difference between the lowest and highest settings, demonstrating that the game scales significantly with graphical options.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers are 234.4 FPS for Low, 191.2 FPS for Medium, 118.3 FPS for High, and 86.3 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 148.1 FPS, but the relative performance drop from 1080p is consistent across all settings. At 3840x2160, the results are 127.8 FPS for Low, 106.0 FPS for Medium, 67.6 FPS for High, and 47.0 FPS for Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 80.8 FPS, showing that the game's optimization at higher resolutions compresses the performance envelope.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its architecture is Raptor Lake, built on a 10 nm process, and it has a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093, and excellent multi-thread capabilities, with a multi-core score of 21914 in the same test.

In the context of The Long Drive, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor at 1080p, particularly at lower settings. The massive frame rates at 1080p Low (338.0 FPS) and Medium (292.2 FPS) suggest that the GPU is not being fully utilized, and the CPU's processing power is what caps the performance. The 16 threads are likely sufficient to handle the game's physics and simulation logic, but the data indicates that the game is not heavily optimized for multi-threading, as the single-thread performance of 3093 in Cinebench R23 may be more relevant. The CPU's 88th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms that it is a solid performer, but not at the absolute top tier, which is reflected in the 1080p frame rates that are high but not maxing out the GPU's potential.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerhouse with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 2295 MHz, boosting to 2550 MHz, and it features 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The GPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600, placing it in the 88th percentile versus all GPUs.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 47.0, which is clearly GPU-bound as the massive pixel workload overwhelms the card's capabilities. The 16 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this game, but the raw compute power is what determines performance at high resolutions. The RTX 4080 SUPER's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53489 on average, just 0.2% behind, indicating that this NVIDIA card is performing at the top of its class. The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K and at Ultra settings, where the 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is not enough to maintain high frame rates in this specific title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in The Long Drive?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 338.0, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: It ranks 116 out of 1734 total combos, placing it in the top 6.7% of all tested systems.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the average FPS drops to 47.0 at Ultra settings, while the CPU's impact is more pronounced at 1080p where frame rates exceed 300 FPS.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 234.4 FPS while Ultra settings achieve 86.3 FPS, a difference of 148.1 FPS.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s.