The Long Drive

The Long Drive pairs a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, a combination that yields starkly different performance profiles depending on resolution and graphics preset. The benchmark data shows a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings but reveals CPU limitations at lower presets and 1080p. With a combo rank of 287 out of 1734 tested configurations, this pairing sits in the top quartile of all tested combos for this driving simulation, though the measured frame rates indicate the CPU holds back the RTX 5080 from reaching its full potential in several scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Long Drive with this hardware?

A: 2560x1440 with Medium settings delivers 180.2 FPS average, which is 44 FPS higher than High at the same resolution (129.4 FPS) and still well above the 114 FPS seen at 4K Medium. This resolution strikes the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate headroom.

Q: Does the RTX 5080 bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data indicates CPU limitation. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 222.4 FPS, but at 2560x1440 Low it only drops to 191.1 FPS—a modest reduction of 31.3 FPS. The relatively small drop suggests the Intel Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, becomes the limiting factor before the GPU does at lower resolutions.

Q: How much performance is lost going from Low to Ultra at 4K?

A: The drop is severe. At 3840x2160, Low averages 136.2 FPS, Medium 114 FPS, High 68.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 87.3 FPS, representing a 64% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 significantly faster than its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU scores 59,188 average, which is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M (58,239) and 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A580 (57,756). However, it trails the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326) by 1.9%. The differences are small, indicating the RTX 5080 performs roughly on par with these mid-range competitors in the aggregated benchmark.

Q: What is the CPU's synthetic performance relative to the GPU?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,305, placing it in the 50th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, scores 2,300, a delta of only 0.2%. The GPU, by contrast, sits in the 89th percentile among all GPUs, showing a significant imbalance in raw compute capability between the two components.

Q: Can this system hit 144 FPS at 4K in this game?

A: No, not consistently. The highest 4K result is 136.2 FPS at Low settings, which falls short of 144 FPS. At High and Ultra, the averages are 68.8 FPS and 48.9 FPS respectively, making 4K Ultra a poor choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 brings 16 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. Its memory clock runs at 1875 MHz, effectively 30 Gbps, while the core operates between a 2295 MHz base and 2617 MHz boost clock. These specifications allow the GPU to handle The Long Drive's open-world environments with substantial headroom, particularly at higher resolutions where the 16 GB frame buffer prevents memory-related stutters.

In this game's measured results, the GPU's role is dominant at 4K resolution. At 3840x2160 High, the system averages 68.8 FPS, which drops to 48.9 FPS at Ultra—a clear sign the RTX 5080 is being pushed hard by the game's rendering demands. The card's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate provide the raw throughput needed for High settings at 1440p, where it achieves 129.4 FPS.

However, the GPU's capabilities are underutilized at lower resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the system reaches 222.4 FPS, but the incremental gains over 1440p Low (191.1 FPS) are modest. This indicates the Intel Core i5-9400's six threads cannot feed the RTX 5080 fast enough to fully saturate its rendering pipeline, particularly in a driving simulation with potentially complex physics calculations.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing frame rate, Low settings at 1440p (191.1 FPS) or 4K (136.2 FPS) are the standout choices. The Low preset at 4K delivers a 136.2 FPS average, which is only 28.2 FPS below the 1440p High result (129.4 FPS)—essentially within the same performance tier while offering higher resolution.

Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1440p, Medium achieves 180.2 FPS, just 10.9 FPS behind Low (191.1 FPS) but with noticeably better visuals. At 4K, Medium drops to 114 FPS, which is still playable on high-refresh-rate displays.

High settings are viable at 1440p (129.4 FPS) but struggle at 4K (68.8 FPS). Ultra is only recommended for players using 1080p displays, where it still manages 135.1 FPS. At 1440p Ultra (87.5 FPS) and 4K Ultra (48.9 FPS), the performance penalty becomes prohibitive for competitive or fast-paced play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest raw frame rates. Low settings produce 222.4 FPS, Medium 208.6 FPS, High 171.3 FPS, and Ultra 135.1 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 87.3 FPS, with the biggest single jump occurring between Medium and High, a drop of 37.3 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low averages 191.1 FPS, Medium 180.2 FPS, High 129.4 FPS, and Ultra 87.5 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at High settings, where the system loses 41.9 FPS (from 171.3 to 129.4 FPS). Ultra loses 47.6 FPS (from 135.1 to 87.5 FPS), indicating increased GPU load at higher quality presets.

At 3840x2160, performance drops significantly. Low settings still manage 136.2 FPS, but Medium falls to 114 FPS, High to 68.8 FPS, and Ultra to 48.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 22.2 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 19.9 FPS. The most dramatic scaling occurs between Medium and High, a loss of 45.2 FPS, suggesting a major increase in rendering complexity at that preset tier.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals critical information about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Low settings, the system drops from 222.4 FPS at 1080p to 136.2 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 86.2 FPS or roughly 39%. This is a relatively shallow decline, meaning the CPU is likely holding back performance at the lower resolutions—the RTX 5080 could render more frames if the Intel Core i5-9400 could supply draw calls faster.

At High settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 171.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 129.4 FPS at 1440p (a 41.9 FPS drop) and then to 68.8 FPS at 4K (a 60.6 FPS drop from 1440p). The steep decline from 1440p to 4K indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the increased pixel count overwhelms the RTX 5080's fill rate capabilities.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling. From 135.1 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 87.5 FPS at 1440p and then to 48.9 FPS at 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 86.2 FPS, matching the absolute drop seen at Low settings but from a much lower starting point. This pattern confirms that the RTX 5080's raw compute is the primary constraint at Ultra quality, while the CPU's six threads limit performance at lower presets and resolutions.