The Long Drive

The Long Drive presents an unusual scaling pattern for this Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are extraordinarily high, with the Low preset hitting 356 FPS and Medium reaching 293 FPS. These numbers are so far beyond typical display refresh rates that the CPU is clearly not a limiting factor at this resolution; the data indicates the workload is almost entirely GPU-bound, even at lower settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 234 FPS on Low and 193 FPS on Medium, a reduction of roughly 34% and 34% respectively, which is a classic sign of the GPU beginning to feel the added pixel count, though the absolute numbers remain exceptionally smooth.

The 3840x2160 results tell a more nuanced story. At 4K with High settings, the average FPS is 67, which is playable but a far cry from the 1080p numbers. The Low preset at 4K still manages 130 FPS, showing that the RTX 4080 SUPER has substantial headroom when visual effects are stripped back. The critical observation is the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K: 130 FPS down to 46 FPS. This massive 84 FPS swing demonstrates that the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth are the dominant factors at this resolution, as the settings are directly manipulating the pixel shading and texture work that the GPU must complete. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on High (121 FPS to 67 FPS) shows a 45% performance hit, which is a steeper drop than the 1080p to 1440p transition, reinforcing that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at 4K, but a very capable one.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. In this game, the benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution tested. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 356 is a direct testament to the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic without breaking a sweat. The processor's high boost clock is likely the key attribute here, as driving simulation games often rely on single-threaded performance for physics and world-streaming tasks. The data suggests that the i7-14700F provides ample headroom, as the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p to 4K follows a pattern that is far more consistent with GPU load than with CPU core saturation.

Comparing to its synthetic benchmarks, the i7-14700F scores 35,122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,958 in single-core, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, has an average benchmark score that is just 0.6% higher, indicating that these two processors are effectively tied in raw compute power. For The Long Drive, this means that users with either CPU would see virtually identical frame rates, as the game is not stressing the CPU's multi-threading capabilities. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache is more than sufficient for the game's asset streaming, and the fact that the FPS scales so dramatically with graphical settings confirms that the CPU is waiting on the GPU, not the other way around. In essence, the i7-14700F is a silent partner in this combo, providing a stable foundation without ever becoming the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the star of the show in this benchmark, and the measured FPS data highlights its strengths. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, it offers a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is critical for high-resolution textures. The GPU's core clocks are listed at 2295 MHz base and 2550 MHz boost, and it features 10,240 shading units. In The Long Drive, the GPU's role is clear: it is the primary determinant of frame rate across all settings and resolutions. The jump from 1080p Medium (293 FPS) to 1440p Medium (193 FPS) is a 34% reduction, and the jump to 4K Medium (107 FPS) is a further 45% reduction. This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being fully utilized as resolution increases.

The 4K Ultra result of 46 FPS is the only point where the combo falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and it highlights the sheer computational demand of the Ultra preset. The difference between 4K Low (130 FPS) and 4K Ultra (46 FPS) is a 65% performance hit, which is a direct result of the increased shading complexity and texture filtering demands placed on the RTX 4080 SUPER. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is impressive, but the data shows that even this level of performance is challenged by the Ultra preset at 4K. In synthetic tests, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 34,245 in Passmark G3D, placing it in the 86th percentile. Its nearest rival, the standard RTX 4080, is only 0.1% slower on average, meaning users should expect near-identical performance in this game. The 16 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for The Long Drive at all tested settings, as the game does not appear to be memory-limited, based on the smooth scaling of FPS with resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the data strongly suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for this hardware combination. At 1080p, Medium produces an average of 293 FPS, which is far beyond any display's refresh rate, making it the optimal choice for high-refresh-rate monitors without sacrificing visual quality for the negligible FPS gain from Low (356 FPS). At 1440p, Medium delivers 193 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth and provides a substantial visual upgrade over Low (234 FPS) for a 17% performance cost. Even at 4K, Medium holds at 107 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold, making it the highest quality preset that maintains a comfortable frame rate at this resolution.

The High preset is a reasonable alternative for users with 1440p or 1080p displays who prioritize visual effects. At 1440p, High yields 121 FPS, which is still excellent, but the 60% drop from Medium at 4K (67 FPS vs 107 FPS) suggests that High is not well-optimized for the highest resolution. The Ultra preset should be avoided for 4K gaming, as the 46 FPS average will likely feel stuttery on most displays. For 1080p and 1440p, Ultra is playable at 127 FPS and 83 FPS respectively, but the visual gains over High are minimal for the performance penalty. The recommended course of action is to use Medium for 4K, while High or Ultra can be used for lower resolutions if the user prefers maximum detail and has a monitor with a lower refresh rate. The Low preset is only useful for competitive play at 1080p where the 356 FPS could theoretically reduce input lag, though the benefit is marginal given the already high FPS at Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Long Drive, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER holds a combo rank of 264 out of 3,725 tested combinations. This places it in the top 7% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing for a mid-range-to-high-end desktop configuration. The rank reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates across the board, though it is not at the absolute top tier where extreme CPUs like the Xeon 6505P or GPUs with higher bandwidth would be. The data indicates that the combo is more than capable of delivering a superior experience in this game, and the 264th position out of 3,725 shows that it outperforms the vast majority of setups.

The rank is likely held back by the fact that the RTX 4080 SUPER, while powerful, is not the absolute fastest GPU on the market, and the i7-14700F, while excellent, is not the top-tier halo product. However, the combination of 20 cores, 28 threads, and a 5.40 GHz boost clock on the CPU side, paired with the GPU's 16 GB of VRAM and high memory bandwidth, creates a balanced platform that excels in this driving simulator. The data shows that the system is not bottlenecked by any single component, as the FPS scaling is smooth and predictable. For users looking to play The Long Drive at high refresh rates or 4K resolutions, this combo ranks in the upper echelon of tested systems, making it a reliable choice for a premium gaming experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 356 FPS, Medium settings produce 293 FPS with a minimum of 249 FPS and a maximum of 337 FPS, High settings produce 183 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 127 FPS. The Medium preset's variance is notable, showing a spread of 88 FPS between minimum and maximum, which suggests some scene-dependent complexity, but the average remains exceptionally high.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low at 234 FPS, Medium at 193 FPS with a minimum of 164 FPS and a maximum of 222 FPS, High at 121 FPS, and Ultra at 83 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a tighter variance of 58 FPS, indicating more consistent performance than at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low at 130 FPS, Medium at 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS, High at 67 FPS, and Ultra at 46 FPS. The 4K Medium preset shows a 32 FPS variance, which is proportional to the lower average, but the minimum of 91 FPS ensures that even the most demanding scenes remain playable. These numbers provide a comprehensive picture of the combo's performance envelope, showing that the system is capable of delivering playable frame rates at 4K with Medium settings, and exceptional performance at lower resolutions.