The Long Drive

# The Long Drive with Intel Core Ultra 7 265K + Intel Arc B570

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and Intel Arc B570 lands at rank 2342 out of 2934 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the lower third of all configurations. The data reveals a pairing where the GPU consistently becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs, yet the CPU's strong multi-threaded foundation keeps frame rates playable at lower settings. Benchmark results indicate a system that can deliver smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p with optimized settings, but struggles to maintain acceptable performance at 4K, particularly under higher graphical loads. The overall ranking suggests this combo is positioned for mainstream 1080p and 1440p gaming rather than high-resolution ultra-preset experiences.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2342 out of 2934 places it at roughly the 20th percentile of all tested pairings in The Long Drive, indicating that most other configurations achieve higher average frame rates. This is a notable underperformance relative to the hardware's individual capabilities—the CPU sits in the 94th percentile against all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 65th percentile against all graphics cards. The disconnect between component-level strength and in-game ranking suggests The Long Drive's engine places unusual demands on the graphics pipeline, or that the Arc B570's driver overhead in this particular title negates the CPU's considerable headroom.

When examining the measured frames per second across all resolutions and settings, the pattern becomes clearer. The highest recorded average is 146 FPS at 1080p Low, which is respectable, but the lowest drops to 19 FPS at 4K Ultra. The spread between the best and worst results spans a factor of 7.7x, which is wider than what typically appears in well-optimized titles. This indicates that the combo's ranking is heavily influenced by settings and resolution choices, and that users willing to dial down quality can extract far better performance than the raw rank suggests.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a delta of 0.1%, the Intel Arc A750 at -0.1%, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at -0.5%. These deltas are all within half a percent, meaning the Arc B570 is essentially performance-equivalent to these cards in aggregate benchmark scores. However, The Long Drive's measured results may diverge from synthetic expectations, as game-specific optimization and driver maturity play substantial roles. The CPU's nearest rivals—the Intel Xeon 6511P at -0.2%, Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 at -0.7%, Intel Core i7-14700KF at 1%, and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F at 1.3%—are all within 1.3 percentage points, confirming the Ultra 7 265K is a top-tier processor in synthetic workloads.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 brings 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest the 10 GB capacity or the bandwidth becomes strained at higher resolutions. The GPU's base and boost clocks are both locked at 2500 MHz, which is a relatively high operating frequency for a mid-range card, and its 2304 shading units process through 144 texture mapping units and 80 render output units. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s provide theoretical ceilings that the measured FPS data suggest are rarely approached in this title.

In The Long Dive, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution scales. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 146 FPS average, but this falls to 96 FPS at 1440p Low and 53 FPS at 4K Low—representing a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. These reductions are more severe than what would be expected from pure pixel count scaling, indicating that memory bandwidth or fill rate limits are being hit. The 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest compared to higher-tier cards, and the 160-bit bus width means the memory subsystem has to work harder per pixel at high resolutions.

The GPU's 18 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate suggest the hardware is capable of advanced rendering features, but the measured FPS data does not include any ray tracing-specific tests, so their impact on The Long Drive remains unquantified. The card's 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 23.04 TFLOPS of FP16 performance provide solid raw compute, yet game engines typically favor memory throughput and rasterization efficiency over raw TFLOPS. The Arc B570's performance in synthetic benchmarks—scoring 14195 in Passmark G3D and 2649 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12—places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of its average benchmark score.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K features 20 cores and 20 threads, a configuration that prioritizes parallel throughput over hyper-threading efficiency. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide substantial single-thread headroom, which is critical for driving simulation titles that often rely on physics calculations and game logic. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core help keep frequently accessed data close to the execution units, reducing memory latency that could bottleneck frame pacing. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is respectable but not extraordinary, and this could influence performance in open-world driving games that stream large environments.

Synthetic benchmarks paint a picture of a processor that excels in both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35850 and single-core score of 2020 demonstrate strong performance, while the Geekbench multi-core score of 23085 and single-core score of 2713 reinforce this standing. The Passmark multi-thread score of 58594 and single-thread score of 4928 rank the CPU in the 94th percentile against all processors. However, in The Long Drive, the CPU's influence on frame rates becomes less pronounced as resolution increases, which is typical for GPU-bound scenarios.

At 1080p Low, the combination achieves 146 FPS, suggesting the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls and physics updates to maintain high frame rates. The fact that the 1080p Medium result (120 FPS) is only 18% lower than Low, while 1080p High (75 FPS) drops 49% from Medium, indicates a settings-dependent shift in bottleneck. The CPU's 20 cores may not be fully utilized by The Long Drive's engine, which likely scales across fewer threads, but the high boost clock of 5.50 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance remains strong. The processor's 125W TDP and active production status suggest it is a mainstream desktop part designed for sustained workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 146 FPS average on Low settings, dropping to 120 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 102 FPS and maximum of 138 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 75 FPS, while Ultra settings halve that to 52 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the hardware's capabilities, with even Ultra settings maintaining playable frame rates above 50 FPS. The Medium preset's min/max range of 102-138 FPS shows consistent frame delivery without major stutters.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low settings produce 96 FPS average, Medium achieves 79 FPS with a range of 67-91 FPS, High drops to 49 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. The 1440p Medium result remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the sweet spot for smooth gameplay, while High and Ultra require compromising on frame rate. The min FPS of 67 at Medium suggests occasional dips that might be noticeable on high-refresh-rate displays but are acceptable for standard 60 Hz monitors.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles under heavier loads. Low settings yield 53 FPS average, Medium produces 44 FPS with a range of 37-50 FPS, High drops to 27 FPS, and Ultra falls to 19 FPS. None of the 4K presets maintain a consistent 60 FPS, and even Low settings hover near the edge of playability. The 4K Medium min FPS of 37 indicates significant frame drops that could affect gameplay smoothness. These numbers suggest 4K gaming with this combo requires accepting either Low settings or frame rates well below 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Long Drive at 60 FPS on 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p, the combination achieves 146 FPS on Low, 120 FPS on Medium, and 75 FPS on High settings, all exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. Only Ultra settings fall below at 52 FPS.

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

A: The data shows 1440p Medium provides 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS, making it the highest resolution and quality combination that maintains frame rates above 60 FPS. At 4K, even Low settings only reach 53 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 146 at 1080p to 53 at 4K, a reduction of 64%. At Medium settings, it drops from 120 to 44, a 63% decrease, while High settings fall from 75 to 27, a 64% loss.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this game?

A: The GPU appears to be the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the performance drop from 1080p to 4K (roughly 64% at Low settings) aligns with pixel count scaling. The CPU's strong single-thread score of 2020 in Cinebench R23 suggests it has sufficient headroom for the game's physics and logic.

Q: Does the Arc B570 perform similarly to its synthetic benchmark rivals in this game?

A: The GPU's nearest rivals—including the RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750—have aggregate benchmark scores within 0.1% of the B570, but the measured FPS data for this combo cannot be directly compared to those cards without their own in-game results.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium, and is it consistent?

A: The 1440p Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 67 and maximum of 91, with an average of 79. This range indicates reasonably consistent performance, with the min staying above 60 FPS for most of the session.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and playability is the Medium preset at 2560x1440. This configuration delivers an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay on standard 60 Hz displays while providing a noticeable improvement over Low settings. At 1920x1080, Medium settings (120 FPS average, 102 FPS minimum) offer the best experience for high-refresh-rate monitors, as the frame rates remain well above 100 FPS throughout the session.

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, 1080p High settings (75 FPS average) are the highest quality preset that maintains 60+ FPS, while 1440p High (49 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (52 FPS) fall short of that target. The Ultra presets at any resolution are not recommended, as they sacrifice significant frame rate for marginal visual gains—dropping from 75 to 52 FPS at 1080p is a 31% performance loss for quality differences that may be subtle in a driving simulation. At 4K, the only playable option is Low settings (53 FPS average), though this still falls below the 60 FPS ideal and may require accepting reduced visual detail.

The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance across resolutions, with the performance difference between Low and Medium being modest (18% at 1080p, 18% at 1440p, 17% at 4K) while the visual improvement is typically substantial. High settings introduce a much steeper performance penalty—a 38% drop from Medium at 1080p and 38% at 1440p—making it a costly upgrade in visual terms. Users with 60 Hz displays should target 1440p Medium, while those with 144 Hz or higher refresh rate monitors will benefit from 1080p Medium or Low.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, with the drops closely tracking pixel count increases. Moving from 1920x1080 (approximately 2.07 million pixels) to 2560x1440 (approximately 3.69 million pixels) represents a 78% increase in pixel count, yet the average FPS at Low settings drops from 146 to 96, a 34% reduction. This suggests that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound at lower resolutions and that other factors—such as draw call overhead or driver efficiency—come into play.

The transition from 1440p to 4K (approximately 8.29 million pixels, a 125% increase) shows a more dramatic performance impact: Low settings drop from 96 to 53 FPS, a 45% reduction. This steeper decline indicates that the Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 160-bit bus width become increasingly limiting as texture and buffer sizes grow with resolution. The 10 GB VRAM capacity, while sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, may also contribute to the 4K performance cliff if textures exceed available memory and force swapping.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the primary limiting component at higher resolutions, while the CPU's role diminishes as frame rates drop. At 1080p Low, the 146 FPS result suggests the CPU is capable of driving substantially higher frame rates if the GPU could keep up, but the 20-core processor's advantage is muted at 4K where the GPU's rasterization limits dominate. The combination of a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU creates a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes GPU-bound at 4K, with the Ultra preset showing the largest absolute performance deficit at every resolution.