The Long Drive

# The Long Drive with Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Long Drive presents an unusual scaling pattern for this Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing, with measured results that suggest a title far more dependent on resolution than on raw compute power. The data reveals a game where the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth become increasingly relevant as pixel counts rise, while the i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads appear to handle the simulation side with ample headroom. This combination ranks 223rd out of 3,725 tested combos, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations, yet the frame rate curves across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K tell a nuanced story about where the bottleneck truly lies.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At High settings, the system delivers 184 FPS at 1920x1080, falls to 121 FPS at 2560x1440, and bottoms out at 67 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 63.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that strongly indicates the RTX 4080 is the limiting component once pixel counts escalate. The 1440p to 4K transition alone cuts performance by 44.6%, showing that the jump to 4K nearly halves the frame rate despite the GPU's substantial 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability.

Low settings amplify this trend even further. At 1920x1080 Low, the system pushes 358 FPS, which drops to 235 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 131 FPS at 3840x2160. The 1080p to 4K reduction at Low is 63.4%, almost identical to High, suggesting that the resolution penalty is consistent regardless of graphical complexity. This consistency points to a fundamental pixel-throughput limitation rather than a settings-driven bottleneck. The Medium preset shows the same pattern: 294 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K, with the 1080p-to-4K drop landing at 63.3%.

Ultra settings present the most extreme scaling, with 127 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and just 47 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K reduction here is 63.0%, and interestingly, the 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is barely above the threshold for smooth gameplay on a 60 Hz display. The consistency of the scaling percentages across all four settings presets—hovering around 63%—suggests that The Long Drive's rendering pipeline scales almost linearly with resolution, a characteristic typical of games that are heavily fill-rate limited. The RTX 4080's pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s are being taxed severely at 4K, and the data shows that even this high-end GPU cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080's specifications explain much of the observed behavior. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, the card has ample memory capacity and throughput for The Long Drive's open-world driving environments. The 22.4 Gbps effective memory speed supports the high texture loads typical of driving simulations, and the fact that 4K Medium achieves 108 FPS while 4K High drops to 67 FPS indicates that memory bandwidth is not the primary constraint—otherwise, the gap between presets would be narrower.

Clock speeds tell a complementary story. The GPU's boost clock of 2505 MHz, up from a base of 2205 MHz, provides the raw speed needed for the 1080p and 1440p results, where the card is clearly not saturated. At 1080p Low, the 358 FPS result suggests the GPU is nowhere near its limits, and the i9-14900K's single-thread performance—evidenced by its 2262.5 Cinebench R23 single-core score and 2655 Geekbench single-core score—is likely the more active participant at these lower resolutions. However, at 4K Ultra, the 47 FPS result shows the GPU's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores being pushed hard, though The Long Drive's genre suggests traditional rasterization is more relevant than ray tracing.

The GPU's benchmark profile supports its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 34457 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores only 0.1% higher on average, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB sits 2.6% lower. In The Long Drive specifically, the 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is the only measured row that falls below 60 FPS, indicating that the GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler are being fully utilized only at the most demanding settings. The 16-pin power connector and 700 W suggested PSU reflect the card's appetite, but the data shows the RTX 4080 delivers smooth performance across most of the tested configuration space.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so consistently by about 63% from 1080p to 4K across all settings?

A: The measured results show that at High settings, FPS falls from 184 at 1920x1080 to 67 at 3840x2160, a 63.6% reduction. Low settings drop from 358 to 131 (63.4%), Medium from 294 to 108 (63.3%), and Ultra from 127 to 47 (63.0%). This uniform scaling indicates the RTX 4080 is pixel-throughput limited at higher resolutions, with its 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate being the binding constraint rather than memory bandwidth or CPU performance.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only up to Medium settings. The data shows 4K Medium averaging 108 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS, while 4K High drops to 67 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to 47 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, players should use Medium or lower, since the 91 FPS minimum at Medium provides substantial headroom above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER at 54209, a delta of just 0.1%. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (2.6% higher). These small deltas suggest the 4080 is positioned competitively, though the measured FPS data in The Long Drive specifically shows the card performing well above 60 FPS at most settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 358 FPS result strongly suggests the GPU is not the limiting factor, as this frame rate far exceeds typical display refresh rates. The i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads, combined with its 6.00 GHz boost clock, provide the single-thread performance necessary to feed the GPU at these high frame rates. The CPU's 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with a Passmark single-thread score of 4697, indicates it has ample headroom for this workload.

Q: What does the 223rd rank out of 3,725 combos mean for this pairing?

A: This ranking places the i9-14900K + RTX 4080 combination in the top 6% of all tested configurations. It reflects the combo's ability to deliver high frame rates across resolutions, though the 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS prevents a higher ranking. Combos with more powerful GPUs or better-optimized pairings likely achieve higher ranks, but this configuration is clearly among the elite for The Long Drive.

Q: How much headroom does the 16 GB VRAM provide at 4K?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for all tested settings, as the 4K Medium result of 108 FPS and 4K High result of 67 FPS show no signs of memory-related stuttering. The minimum FPS of 91 at 4K Medium is relatively close to the average, indicating consistent memory performance without capacity-related drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance ceiling. Low settings produce an average of 358 FPS, while Medium averages 294 FPS with a minimum of 250 and maximum of 339. High settings deliver 184 FPS, and Ultra drops to 127 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 64 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 110 FPS, suggesting that the Medium-to-High transition carries a disproportionate performance cost. The Ultra preset at 127 FPS remains highly playable, even on 120 Hz displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected resolution penalty. Low settings average 235 FPS, Medium averages 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 and maximum of 223, High averages 121 FPS, and Ultra averages 84 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 165 FPS is particularly noteworthy, as it indicates that even the lowest frames at 1440p Medium stay well above 144 Hz refresh rates. The Ultra result of 84 FPS is smooth for 60 Hz displays but falls short of 120 Hz requirements.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080's limits become apparent. Low settings still manage 131 FPS, and Medium averages 108 FPS with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 124. High settings drop to 67 FPS, which is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra falls to 47 FPS, which will cause noticeable stuttering on 60 Hz displays. The Medium preset's 91 FPS minimum is the only 4K configuration that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming.

The progression across resolutions shows a clear pattern: Low settings at 4K (131 FPS) outperform Ultra at 1440p (84 FPS), and Medium at 4K (108 FPS) outperforms High at 1440p (121 FPS) by a smaller margin. This suggests that players prioritizing smoothness should consider dropping settings rather than resolution, as the 4K Medium result exceeds the 1440p High result in absolute terms.

CPU Role

The i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads provide substantial parallel processing capability, but The Long Drive's results suggest single-thread performance is more critical. The CPU's 6.00 GHz boost clock and 3.20 GHz base clock, combined with its 36 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver the low-latency performance needed for driving simulation physics. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and single-core score of 2262.5 demonstrate a balanced profile, with the single-core result being more relevant given the consistent frame rates across resolutions.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, places it just 0.3% behind the i9-14900KF (79371) and 0.6% behind the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79574). The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 1.2% higher at 80041, while the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 sits 1.7% lower at 77740. These narrow deltas indicate the i9-14900K is at the top of the CPU hierarchy, and its 24 cores are likely underutilized in The Long Drive, which appears to favor the CPU's high boost clock over its core count.

Evidence for CPU headroom comes from the 1080p results, where the GPU is clearly not saturated. At 1080p Low, the 358 FPS average suggests the CPU is feeding frames as fast as the GPU can render them, and the lack of reported minimum FPS values for most settings implies stable frame delivery. The Passmark multi-thread score of 58674 and integer math score of 210622 indicate that even if The Long Drive were to leverage more cores, the CPU has substantial reserve capacity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the optimal settings preset for most use cases. At 4K, Medium delivers 108 FPS average with a 91 FPS minimum, providing a smooth experience on 60 Hz and 120 Hz displays alike. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 41 FPS (from 108 to 67), which is a significant penalty for marginal visual gains. At 1440p, Medium's 194 FPS average with a 165 FPS minimum is exceptional, easily driving 165 Hz monitors, while High's 121 FPS is still strong but less future-proof.

For players on 1080p displays, Ultra settings at 127 FPS are the best choice, as this preset maintains high frame rates while maximizing visual quality. The 1080p Medium result of 294 FPS is overkill for any current display, and the 358 FPS at Low offers no practical benefit outside of extreme competitive scenarios. At 1440p, Ultra's 84 FPS average is sufficient for 60 Hz monitors, but Medium's 194 FPS provides better headroom for high-refresh displays at a substantial visual trade-off.

The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is the only configuration that fails to meet the 60 FPS standard, making it unsuitable for general play. Players with 4K displays should default to Medium, as it offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. The 4K High result of 67 FPS is viable for 60 Hz displays but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, making Medium the safer recommendation based on the 91 FPS minimum.

How This Combo Ranks

The i9-14900K + RTX 4080 combination holds the 223rd position out of 3,725 tested combos, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations evaluated for The Long Drive. This ranking reflects the system's ability to deliver high frame rates across most settings and resolutions, with the notable exception of 4K Ultra. The combo's performance is consistent with its component-level rankings: the CPU at the 95th percentile and the GPU at the 86th percentile, suggesting the pairing is well-balanced for this title.

The rank implies that approximately 3,502 other combos perform worse, while 222 perform better. Given that the RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores only 0.1% higher on average, the difference between this combo and higher-ranked alternatives likely stems from GPU choices above the 4080's tier or CPUs with even higher single-thread performance. The i9-14900K's position just 0.3% behind the i9-14900KF suggests that CPU choice has minimal impact on the final ranking, reinforcing the GPU-centric nature of The Long Drive's performance profile at higher resolutions.

The rank also contextualizes the 4K Ultra limitation. Combos ranked above this one likely maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, a threshold this system misses by 13 FPS. However, the 4K Medium result of 108 FPS demonstrates that the combo can deliver excellent 4K performance with modest settings adjustments, making the 223rd rank a reflection of the Ultra preset's demands rather than a systemic weakness. For players willing to use Medium settings at 4K, this combo performs within the top tier of all tested configurations.