The Long Drive

# The Long Drive with Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a remarkably scalable experience in The Long Drive, with performance ranging from a silky 280.9 FPS at 1080p Low to a still-playable 39.3 FPS at 4K Ultra. This combination ranks in the 75th percentile of all tested combos (438th of 1,734), indicating strong but not top-tier performance for this driving simulation. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher settings, with the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads providing ample headroom across all tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates demonstrate classic resolution scaling behavior, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening dramatically as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 280.9 FPS, while 1440p Low drops to 184.3 FPS (a 34.4% reduction), and 4K Low falls to 103.4 FPS (a further 43.9% reduction). This scaling pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the RTX 4070's rendering workload grows substantially with resolution.

The High preset tells a similar story: 141.8 FPS at 1080p, 95.6 FPS at 1440p (a 32.6% drop), and 51.3 FPS at 4K (a 46.3% further drop). The Ultra preset shows the steepest degradation, falling from 101.7 FPS at 1080p to 67.5 FPS at 1440p (33.6% lower) and finally to 39.3 FPS at 4K (41.8% lower than 1440p). These consistent percentage drops across presets suggest the limiting component is primarily the GPU, as resolution scaling affects the rasterization workload proportionally.

The difference between Low and Ultra at each resolution reveals the GPU's headroom: at 1080p, the gap is 179.2 FPS (280.9 vs 101.7), which narrows to 116.8 FPS at 1440p (184.3 vs 67.5), and shrinks to 64.1 FPS at 4K (103.4 vs 39.3). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly saturated, leaving less room for settings-based performance differences.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K brings substantial processing power to this pairing, with 24 cores, 32 threads, a 3.20 GHz base clock, and a 6.00 GHz boost clock. Its Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49,872 and a single-core score of 7,040, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. The processor's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data locality for game logic and physics calculations.

In The Long Drive, a driving simulation that typically involves substantial CPU work for vehicle physics and world simulation, the i9-14900K's performance appears more than sufficient. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 280.9 FPS, a figure that would tax most CPUs but seems within this processor's capabilities given its strong single-threaded performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,697 and multi-thread score of 58,674 reinforce the CPU's ability to feed the GPU at high frame rates.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the i9-14900K scores 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i9-14900KF and 0.7% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, while trailing the AMD EPYC 7413 by just 0.3%. These margins are negligible in gaming scenarios, suggesting that the CPU choice between these processors would not meaningfully alter The Long Dive's frame rates. The processor's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a straightforward high-end choice.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 227.8 FPS, which is 80.6 FPS higher than High and 126.1 FPS higher than Ultra, while only sacrificing 53.1 FPS compared to Low. This makes Medium the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate displays, easily exceeding 144 Hz capability.

At 1440p, Medium produces 149.4 FPS, still comfortably above 144 Hz and representing a 53.8 FPS improvement over High (95.6 FPS) and an 81.9 FPS improvement over Ultra (67.5 FPS). For 4K gaming, Medium's 82.3 FPS is the only preset that remains above 60 FPS, making it the clear recommendation for smooth 4K play. High at 4K drops to 51.3 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra falls to 39.3 FPS.

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity with playable frame rates, High at 1440p (95.6 FPS) offers a strong compromise. Those with 1080p displays can safely enable Ultra at 101.7 FPS, as this remains well above 60 FPS and provides the best visual experience. The data does not show any settings preset causing frame rate instability, as minimum and maximum FPS values are not recorded.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 438th out of 1,734 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the 75th percentile. This is a strong result, though not elite, indicating that many higher-tier GPU configurations (likely with RTX 4080 or 4090-class cards) outperform this pairing in this specific title.

The GPU's performance percentile of 81 places it above most discrete graphics cards, with its average benchmark score of 37,283. However, its nearest rivals show interesting dynamics: the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 0.6% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A scores 1.9% higher, while the RTX 4080 Mobile is 2.2% ahead. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 4070's desktop performance is closely matched by some mobile and previous-generation parts in synthetic benchmarks, though The Long Drive's measured results likely benefit from the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

The CPU's 97th percentile ranking among all processors indicates that the i9-14900K is unlikely to be a bottleneck in this combo. The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's moderate 75th percentile suggests that the RTX 4070, while capable, limits overall performance in this game. Users seeking higher rankings would need to upgrade the GPU rather than the processor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Long Drive?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1440p with Medium settings provides the best experience at 149.4 FPS, offering high visual quality while maintaining smooth frame rates above 144 Hz.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Long Drive?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which achieves 82.3 FPS. High drops to 51.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.3 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37,283 is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, 1.9% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A, and 2.2% lower than the RTX 4080 Mobile.

Q: Is the i9-14900K a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU's 97th percentile ranking and strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,040) indicate it can feed the GPU effectively, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low achieves 280.9 FPS while Ultra achieves 101.7 FPS, a difference of 179.2 FPS. This represents a 176.2% performance advantage for Low settings.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 438th out of 1,734 tested combos, placing it in the 75th percentile of all tested configurations in The Long Drive.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 280.9 FPS, Medium achieves 227.8 FPS, High reaches 141.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 101.7 FPS. These figures indicate that 1080p users have substantial headroom, with even Ultra settings comfortably exceeding 100 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings maintain 184.3 FPS, Medium provides 149.4 FPS, High falls to 95.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 67.5 FPS. The 1440p results show that Medium settings remain the only preset consistently above 144 Hz, while High and Ultra remain above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become apparent. Low settings still achieve 103.4 FPS, Medium drops to 82.3 FPS, High falls to 51.3 FPS, and Ultra reaches only 39.3 FPS. The 4K data clearly shows that only Low and Medium presets maintain playable frame rates, with High and Ultra requiring significant compromises.

The progression from 1080p to 4K at each settings level shows consistent scaling: Low drops from 280.9 to 103.4 FPS (63.2% reduction), Medium from 227.8 to 82.3 FPS (63.9% reduction), High from 141.8 to 51.3 FPS (63.8% reduction), and Ultra from 101.7 to 39.3 FPS (61.4% reduction). This uniform scaling across presets reinforces that resolution, not settings, is the primary driver of performance changes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, provides the graphical muscle for this combo. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, while the 5,888 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the rendering workload. The GPU's boost clock of 2,475 MHz and base clock of 1,920 MHz, combined with 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, give it strong rasterization capabilities.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 scores 26,927 in PassMark G3D and 14,720 in PassMark GPU Compute, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854. Its 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs places it solidly in the upper tier, though its nearest rivals show it is not dramatically ahead of older or mobile parts. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 168,006 and Vulkan score of 157,352 indicate good compute and API performance.

The measured frame rates in The Long Drive reflect the GPU's capabilities and limitations. At 1080p, the GPU can push well beyond 200 FPS on lower settings, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 39.3 FPS, showing that the 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus face challenges at extreme resolutions. The GPU's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a manageable addition to most systems, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. Given the game's 2019 release date and driving simulation genre, the RTX 4070's features like DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 46 RT cores provide ample graphical capabilities for current and future content.