The Long Drive

The Long Drive, a driving simulation from 2019, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination. The benchmark data reveals a system with substantial headroom, where the balance between CPU and GPU shifts dramatically depending on the resolution and quality settings chosen. This analysis explores how this pairing performs across the measured spectrum, from the CPU-bound lows to the GPU-stressing ultra presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable trend: performance degrades as resolution increases, but the rate of that degradation is heavily influenced by the graphics settings. At Low settings, the game scales almost linearly with pixel count, indicating a system that is not bottlenecked by any single component. The 303.5 FPS at 1080p drops to 200.2 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of about 34%, and then to 107.8 FPS at 4K, another 46% drop. This suggests that even at 4K Low, the system has enough raw power to maintain high frame rates, with the load being distributed across both the CPU and GPU.

However, the scaling behavior changes dramatically when moving to higher presets. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 155.2 FPS at 1080p to 99.8 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and then to 59.7 FPS at 4K (a 40% drop from 1440p). This steeper decline at 4K indicates that the GPU is starting to become the primary limiting factor. The transition to Ultra settings makes this even more apparent. The 109.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 74 FPS at 1440p, but the most significant bottleneck appears at 4K, where the frame rate plummets to 37.4 FPS. This 49.5% reduction from the 1440p figure is the largest single-resolution gap in the entire dataset, strongly implying that the RTX 5070 is being saturated by the demands of 4K Ultra in this game.

The data suggests a dual-phase scaling pattern. At lower presets, the game is likely bound by CPU draw-call limits or engine physics, making the resolution less impactful. As settings increase, the GPU's workload grows, and the scaling becomes more pronounced, culminating in the 4K Ultra result where the GPU is clearly the limiting component. The 4K High result of 59.7 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, suggesting that a slight tweak in settings could provide a smoother experience at that resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate for the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination at 2560x1440 with High settings is 99.8 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to the 1080p Ultra performance?

A: The data shows a significant drop. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average is 109.4 FPS, while at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, it falls to 37.4 FPS. This represents a performance reduction of roughly 66% when moving from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset.

Q: Is the system capable of running the game at 4K 60 FPS?

A: At 4K with High settings, the average FPS is 59.7, which is just under the 60 FPS target. However, at 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS rises to 91.9, indicating that the system can handle 4K at 60 FPS or higher if the settings are adjusted from High to Medium.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded in the benchmark data?

A: The highest average frame rate is 303.5 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among other tested systems for this game?

A: The combination ranks 309 out of 1734 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of systems benchmarked for The Long Drive.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS with Low settings is 200.2, while with Ultra settings it is 74. This shows a 126.2 FPS difference between the two extremes of the settings presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, with its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, provides a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a key factor in the game's performance scaling. The data indicates that at lower settings, the GPU has ample resources, but the demands of the Ultra preset, particularly at higher resolutions, begin to strain the memory subsystem and the GPU's compute capabilities. The RTX 5070's boost clock of 2512 MHz and its 6144 shading units are the primary drivers of raw rendering performance. The benchmark results show that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 37.4.

The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests it is a high-performing part, yet the 4K Ultra results show its limits. The passmark G3D score of 29137 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 are general indicators of its capability, but in The Long Drive, the specific workload of the Ultra preset seems to be particularly demanding. The difference between 4K High (59.7 FPS) and 4K Medium (91.9 FPS) is a 32.2 FPS jump, which is a substantial gain. This suggests that the "High" preset likely enables certain effects that are disproportionately expensive on the GPU, such as advanced shadows or reflections, which the "Medium" preset disables, freeing up significant resources.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a complete matrix of average frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptionally high across the board. The Low preset yields 303.5 FPS, which is a clear indicator of a CPU-bound scenario at this resolution. Medium settings produce 251.8 FPS, High settings produce 155.2 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 109.4 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is 45.8 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset still has a significant performance cost even when the resolution is low.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very playable. The Low preset averages 200.2 FPS, Medium averages 165 FPS, and High averages 99.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution produces 74 FPS, which is a comfortable frame rate for most players. The scaling at this resolution is more consistent, with each preset step showing a noticeable but not dramatic drop in performance. At 3840x2160, the picture changes. The Low preset still achieves a respectable 107.8 FPS, and Medium is at 91.9 FPS. However, the High preset drops to 59.7 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 37.4 FPS. This final data point is the only one in the entire set that falls below the 40 FPS mark, highlighting the extreme demand of 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is a powerful processor. Its boost clock of 5.00 GHz and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28979 demonstrate its high multi-threaded capability, while its single-core score of 4091 is also strong. In The Long Drive, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. The 303.5 FPS result at 1080p Low is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck, where the GPU is waiting for the CPU to send draw calls. The processor's high single-thread performance, as indicated by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1043, is crucial for this type of workload.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 35355 places it in the 89th percentile, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14400, is only 0.1% ahead. This indicates that the i7-12700KF is on par with other top-tier processors. In this game, the CPU is likely responsible for the game's physics and world simulation, which are not heavily dependent on resolution. The data supports this, as the FPS at Low settings does not scale perfectly with the reduction in resolution. For instance, the jump from 4K Low (107.8 FPS) to 1440p Low (200.2 FPS) is a 92.4 FPS increase, but the jump from 1440p Low to 1080p Low (303.5 FPS) is a 103.3 FPS increase, suggesting that the CPU is nearing its limit at these extremely high frame rates, preventing a linear scaling pattern.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the user's display and performance goals. For players with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, the Ultra preset is a viable option. At 1440p, the Ultra preset delivers 74 FPS, which is a solid experience. At 1080p, it delivers 109.4 FPS, which provides a smooth and highly detailed visual experience. The data suggests that the system has enough headroom at these resolutions to run the highest settings without significant compromise.

For 4K users, a more careful approach is required. The Ultra preset is not recommended, as the 37.4 FPS average is likely to feel sluggish. The High preset, with an average of 59.7 FPS, is on the cusp of playability. To achieve a consistently smooth 4K experience, the Medium preset is the best choice. It provides a significant performance boost to 91.9 FPS, which is a 53.9% improvement over High, while likely still offering a visually pleasing experience. The data implies that the difference between High and Medium at 4K is more impactful than the difference between Medium and Low, making Medium the best balance of performance and visual quality for 4K displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 309 out of 1734 tested combos for The Long Drive. This places it in the top 18% of all systems benchmarked, indicating a very strong performance level. This high ranking is consistent with the individual components' capabilities, with the CPU sitting in the 89th percentile and the GPU in the 83rd percentile of their respective pools. The combination's performance is clearly above average, making it a capable system for this title.

The ranking suggests that while this is not the absolute fastest combination on record, it is a high-end pairing that will deliver excellent performance in most scenarios. The data shows that the system is more than capable of handling high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and it can handle 4K gaming with some adjustments to the settings. The 309th rank out of 1734 combos puts it ahead of the vast majority of systems, and the primary limiting factor for this combo is the GPU's performance at the extreme 4K Ultra setting, rather than any fundamental weakness in the hardware.