The Long Drive

The Long Drive pairs a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, creating a significant imbalance in raw compute power. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is capable of massive frame rates, but the aging CPU ultimately dictates the upper limits of performance, particularly at lower resolutions. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to show how this combination behaves across different settings and resolutions, and where it stands among other tested hardware pairings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions clearly identifies the RTX 4090 as the primary performance driver at higher settings, while the i5-9400 becomes a bottleneck as resolution decreases. At Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is steep: 141 FPS at 1920x1080 falls to 93 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 51 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario at the highest quality preset, where the 4090's workload increases dramatically with pixel count.

However, the scaling pattern changes drastically when looking at Low settings. At 1920x1080, the combo produces 221 FPS, which only drops to 192 FPS at 2560x1440 and 144 FPS at 4K. The performance gap between 1080p and 1440p is just 13%, and the gap from 1440p to 4K is 25%. This much flatter scaling curve indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is the limiting factor. The i5-9400's six cores and six threads are working near their maximum capacity to feed frames to the 4090, and reducing the GPU load further does not yield proportional gains because the CPU cannot process the game logic any faster.

The Medium settings data reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p, the combo hits 206 FPS, which is only 7% higher than the 192 FPS at 1440p. This small delta between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings suggests that the CPU is already near its limit even at the lower resolution. The 4K Medium result of 119 FPS shows a more significant drop, indicating that the GPU is finally becoming the primary constraint at this resolution. The data suggests that for this pairing, the sweet spot for balancing CPU and GPU load is somewhere around 1440p with Medium or High settings, where neither component is fully saturated.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz are modest by modern standards, and the 9 MB of shared L3 cache is typical for its generation. The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 47th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. This puts it in the mid-range category, closely matching the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 2259 (a -0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, which scores 2246 (a 0.4% delta).

In the context of The Long Drive, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The measured FPS data suggests that the i5-9400's six threads are sufficient for the game's core simulation but become a bottleneck when the GPU is underutilized. The 221 FPS at 1080p Low is a clear indicator of this ceiling. Even with a GPU as powerful as the RTX 4090, the CPU cannot push the frame rate beyond this point at lower resolutions, as the game's per-frame CPU work becomes the limiting factor.

The single-core performance of the i5-9400 is also relevant. With a Geekbench single-core score of 1389 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935, it delivers adequate performance for games that are not heavily threaded. However, the lack of Hyper-Threading means that the six cores must handle all tasks directly, which can lead to stutters or frame drops in scenes with many objects or complex physics. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the primary driver of high frame rates in this game; rather, it sets a performance ceiling that the GPU cannot exceed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth of a graphics card, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a massive 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz are high for a GPU of this size, and its FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is exceptional. The GPU's average benchmark score is 60347, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, though its nearest rivals include professional workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, which scores 61896 (a -2.5% delta), and the Intel Arc Pro A60, which scores 60326 (a 0% delta).

In The Long Drive, the RTX 4090's role is to render the vast, open environments and handle the game's visual effects. At Ultra settings, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when resolution increases. The 51 FPS at 4K Ultra is a low result for this GPU, indicating that the game's Ultra preset is extremely demanding, possibly due to high-resolution textures and complex lighting that stress even the 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 82.58 TFLOPS of compute power.

The 24 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for any current game at any resolution, and the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The GPU's low workload at Low settings is what allows the CPU to become the limiting factor, as the 4090 can easily render frames at 221 FPS at 1080p without breaking a sweat. The data shows that the 4090 is a capable performer in this title, but its full potential is only realized when the CPU can keep up, which is not the case for the i5-9400.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of how this combo performs across all major resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 221 FPS at Low settings, 206 FPS at Medium settings (with a minimum of 175 and a maximum of 237), 172 FPS at High settings, and 141 FPS at Ultra settings. The jump from Low to Ultra is a 36% reduction in performance, which is substantial but not unexpected given the increased graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the results are 192 FPS at Low, 179 FPS at Medium (with a minimum of 152 and a maximum of 206), 134 FPS at High, and 93 FPS at Ultra. The delta between 1080p and 1440p is 13% at Low, 13% at Medium, 22% at High, and 34% at Ultra. This widening gap as settings increase confirms that the GPU is taking on more work at higher settings and higher resolutions, while the CPU remains the constant limiting factor at lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the combo delivers 144 FPS at Low, 119 FPS at Medium (with a minimum of 101 and a maximum of 137), 74 FPS at High, and 51 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results show a dramatic drop from Low to Ultra, with the Ultra preset producing less than half the frame rate of Low. This is a clear indication that the RTX 4090 is being pushed to its limits at 4K Ultra, while the CPU's role diminishes as the GPU takes longer to render each frame. The minimum FPS data points, particularly the 101 FPS at 4K Medium and 175 FPS at 1080p Medium, suggest that frame pacing is generally stable, with no extreme stutters recorded in the data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 582nd out of 3725 tested combos in The Long Drive. This places it in the top 16% of all tested systems, which is a strong result, but it is not a top-tier ranking. The high rank is primarily driven by the RTX 4090's exceptional performance, but the i5-9400's mid-range CPU performance prevents this combo from achieving a higher position.

The ranking suggests that while this system can deliver high frame rates, it is not optimal for the game. The CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions likely holds the combo back from reaching the frame rates that a more modern CPU would allow. For example, a combo with a newer, higher-core-count CPU paired with the RTX 4090 would likely rank higher, as the CPU would be able to feed the GPU more effectively. The data indicates that the combo's rank is a reflection of the CPU's limitations rather than the GPU's capabilities.

The percentile ranking of the CPU (47th) and GPU (88th) independently shows the disparity in their performance levels. The GPU is in the top 12% of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the middle of the pack. This mismatch is the primary reason the combo does not rank higher, as the overall system performance is limited by the weaker component. The rank of 582 out of 3725 is respectable, but it leaves room for improvement if the CPU were upgraded to better match the GPU's potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo achieves in The Long Drive?

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

Q: At what resolution and settings does the combo produce the lowest average FPS?

A: The lowest average FPS is 51, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: How much faster is the combo at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The combo delivers 221 FPS at 1080p Low, which is 170 FPS higher than the 51 FPS at 4K Ultra, representing a 333% increase in frame rate.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium settings at 2560x1440?

A: The minimum FPS for Medium settings at 2560x1440 is 152, with a maximum of 206 and an average of 179.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-1068NG7's score of 2259, and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i7-10710U's score of 2248.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p Low, as the FPS of 221 is likely limited by the i5-9400's processing power rather than the RTX 4090's rendering capabilities, which are far higher.