The Long Drive

The Long Drive pairs a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, creating a system where the GPU is clearly the dominant component for this driving simulation. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a performance curve that behaves predictably: the RTX 4070 scales output based on load, while the older CPU maintains a sufficient foundation to avoid becoming a bottleneck at most configurations. This analysis breaks down the data for this specific combination, focusing on how the frame rate responds to resolution changes, what the GPU's specifications mean for the results, and where the CPU's limitations surface.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a steep performance cost as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 144 FPS at 1080p to 95 FPS at 1440p, then falls further to 53 FPS at 4K. This represents a 63% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load at higher resolutions is squarely on the RTX 4070. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 42 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 49 FPS, showing that pixel count increases have a compounding effect on the GPU's output.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the system achieves 221 FPS, which drops to 184 FPS at 1440p and 102 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 54%, which is smaller than the drop seen on the High preset. This suggests that at Low settings, the system is less constrained by the GPU's raw shading power and more influenced by other factors, potentially including the CPU's ability to feed frames at very high rates. The fact that 4K Low still delivers over 100 FPS indicates the RTX 4070 has ample headroom when graphical features are minimized.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling. The average FPS falls from 100 at 1080p to 66 at 1440p, and then to 36 at 4K. The 4K result is below the 60 FPS threshold, meaning that the Ultra preset at maximum resolution is not a playable option for smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on Ultra is a 45% performance loss, which is consistent with the GPU becoming fully saturated by the combination of high resolution and intensive settings. This pattern confirms that The Long Drive is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, with the RTX 4070's capabilities defining the ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, featuring 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with a 12 GB GDDR6X memory pool on a 192-bit bus providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications translate into a benchmark percentile of 81 versus all GPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of graphics cards in the database. Its average benchmark score of 37648 places it just 0.1% above the NVIDIA Tesla P4 and 1.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, showing tight competition among similar-tier hardware.

The memory configuration is a key factor in the measured results. The 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for The Long Drive's demands, as even at 4K Ultra the game did not appear to exceed this capacity, given that the frame rates are consistent with compute limitations rather than memory swapping. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution texture streaming, which is evident in the relatively small performance gap between Medium and High settings at 1440p, where the average FPS drops from 152 to 95. This 57 FPS difference is more likely due to shading complexity than memory throughput, as the bandwidth is ample for this game's data requirements.

The GPU's raw compute power, measured at 29.15 TFLOPS for FP32, drives the high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 221 FPS average shows that the RTX 4070 is not being fully utilized, as the CPU or game engine limits the output. However, at 4K Ultra, the 36 FPS average demonstrates the GPU's limits when all features are enabled. The drop from 102 FPS at 4K Low to 36 FPS at 4K Ultra is a 65% reduction, which correlates with the increased pixel shading and effects load. The RTX 4070's 184 texture mapping units and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for this title, but the Ultra preset's demands overwhelm the shading units at high resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 1080p, Medium delivers 206 FPS average, which is only 15 FPS less than Low but provides significantly better visuals. The minimum frame rate of 175 FPS at this setting ensures smooth gameplay without dips. At 1440p, Medium maintains a strong 152 FPS average with a minimum of 129 FPS, making it the highest quality preset that consistently exceeds 120 FPS at this resolution. The 4K Medium result of 84 FPS average with a 71 FPS minimum is also playable, though it does not hit the 90 FPS mark that some users prefer.

The High preset is a reasonable choice for 1440p gaming, as it produces 95 FPS average, which is suitable for most monitors. However, at 4K, High drops to 53 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for fast-paced driving. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays, where it achieves 100 FPS average, but it suffers at higher resolutions with 66 FPS at 1440p and 36 FPS at 4K. The Low preset is never necessary for this GPU, as even at 4K it provides 102 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4070 has enough power to run higher settings.

For a 4K display, Medium is the optimal choice, as it provides 84 FPS average, which is 31 FPS higher than High and 48 FPS higher than Ultra. The trade-off in visual fidelity is acceptable given the significant performance gains. For 1440p, High is recommended for those who prioritize image quality, as it stays above 90 FPS, while Medium offers a 57 FPS advantage for competitive play. At 1080p, Ultra is viable for maximum quality, but Medium's 206 FPS is more attractive for high refresh rate displays, as it nearly doubles the Ultra's 100 FPS average.

FAQ

Q: What average frame rate does the RTX 4070 achieve with the Core i5-9400 at 4K Medium?

A: The combination delivers an average of 84 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 2560x1440 with this hardware?

A: The data shows an average of 66 FPS at 1440p Ultra, which is above the 60 FPS minimum for smooth gameplay but does not reach the 90 FPS or higher that some users prefer.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.4% higher than the RX Vega 56's score of 37507.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The highest average FPS is 221, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 1080p Low?

A: The 221 FPS average at 1080p Low is likely limited by the CPU or game engine, as the RTX 4070's compute power is not fully utilized at such low graphical loads.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum frame rate at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 129 FPS, with a maximum of 174 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has a 9 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, placing it in the 47th percentile versus all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 2254 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, which is 0.4% slower.

The CPU's impact on The Long Drive is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is not saturated. At 1080p Low, the 221 FPS average is likely constrained by the CPU's ability to process game logic and issue draw calls, as the RTX 4070 could theoretically render more frames. The six cores and six threads are sufficient for this driving simulation, but the lack of hyper-threading means the CPU cannot handle as many concurrent tasks as a comparable eight-thread part. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides adequate single-thread performance, which is critical for game engines that rely on a main thread.

The data does not show a significant CPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K Medium, the 84 FPS average is well within the CPU's ability to feed frames, as the GPU is the limiting factor. However, at 1080p High, the 144 FPS average suggests that the CPU can still keep up with the GPU's output, but the margin is thinner. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s may also play a role in asset streaming, but the game's relatively simple visuals do not appear to stress this aspect. The i5-9400's performance is adequate for this title, though its age is evident in the benchmark percentile, which shows it trails most modern CPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces the highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 221 FPS, while Medium averages 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 FPS and a maximum of 237 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 144 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 100 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 121 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant load on the GPU even at 1080p. The Medium preset's 206 FPS is notable for being close to Low, suggesting that the Medium settings do not add much rendering complexity.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low remains the fastest option with 184 FPS, followed by Medium at 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS and a maximum of 174 FPS. High delivers 95 FPS, while Ultra drops to 66 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 118 FPS, similar to the 1080p gap, showing that the relative cost of Ultra settings is consistent across resolutions. The Medium preset's 152 FPS is 60% higher than High's 95 FPS, making it the clear choice for high refresh rate gaming at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary constraint. Low averages 102 FPS, Medium drops to 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS, High falls to 53 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 36 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 66 FPS, which is less than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is nearing its limits. The Medium preset's 84 FPS is the only setting above 60 FPS at 4K, making it the only viable option for smooth gameplay. The High and Ultra presets at 4K produce frame rates that are too low for comfortable play, confirming that the RTX 4070 is best paired with Medium settings for 4K displays in this game.