Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a solid but not class-leading experience in Outriders, ranking 1276 out of 1693 tested combos. This places the pairing in the lower-middle portion of the database, meaning it outperforms roughly a quarter of tested systems while trailing the majority. The ranking reflects a system that is capable of smooth 1080p play and respectable 1440p performance, but it is not built for maxing out the game at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 4060 has enough headroom to push high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the older Zen architecture of the CPU begins to limit overall throughput as the load shifts.

How This Combo Ranks

At position 1276 out of 1693 combos, this pairing sits in the 75th percentile of tested systems for Outriders. That is not a flattering number, but it is not a damning one either. The combo outranks approximately 417 other configurations, which puts it ahead of the majority of older or lower-tier hardware. However, the ranking also reveals that most modern mid-range and high-end systems will beat it. The bottleneck is not the GPU—the RTX 4060 is a capable 40-series card with an average benchmark score of 23181 and a percentile rank of 66 among all GPUs. Instead, the Ryzen 5 2600, with an average benchmark score of 19616 and a percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs, is the older component. Its 6 cores and 12 threads from the 2000 series are still functional, but they lack the single-thread performance of newer designs.

The nearest rivals for the CPU show how close the 2600 is to modern mobile and desktop chips. The Intel Core i5-1345U scores 19691, just 0.4% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U scores 19508, 0.6% lower. The Intel Core i5-11600KF and i7-10700F are similarly close, with deltas of -0.6% and 0.7% respectively. This suggests that the 2600’s processing power is roughly on par with a mid-range laptop chip from a few years later. For Outriders, which is not heavily CPU-bound at 1080p, this is sufficient. At higher resolutions, the GPU takes on more work, and the CPU’s relative weakness becomes less of a factor. The ranking of 1276 is therefore more a reflection of the GPU’s mid-tier status than any fundamental flaw in the pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset to choose. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 139.9 FPS, Medium hits 120 FPS, and High achieves 111.9 FPS. Ultra drops to 93.7 FPS. The difference between Low and High is only 28 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 18 FPS. For most players, the High preset at 1080p is the sweet spot: it stays well above 100 FPS and offers a noticeable visual improvement over Medium. Ultra is only worth it if you have a 144Hz monitor and want to prioritize image quality over frame rate, but the 93.7 FPS average still feels smooth.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. High delivers 83.1 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. Medium hits 106.2 FPS, making it the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at this resolution. Low jumps to 118.8 FPS, but the graphical sacrifices are significant. Ultra falls to 60.4 FPS, which is just at the edge of playability for a looter shooter. The recommendation is to use Medium at 1440p for a consistent 100+ FPS experience. At 4K, the situation is more constrained: High produces 41.5 FPS, Medium 61.6 FPS, and Low 80.7 FPS. Ultra drops to 34.1 FPS, which is too low for a smooth experience. If you must play at 4K, Medium is the only reasonable choice, as it stays above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 111.9 FPS at 1080p to 83.1 FPS at 1440p (a 25.7% drop) and then to 41.5 FPS at 4K (a 50.1% drop from 1440p). This is a steep decline, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width struggle to feed the 4K pixel count, despite its 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 1080p, the CPU and GPU are more balanced, with the 2600’s 6 cores handling the game logic and the 4060 pushing frames efficiently.

A similar pattern appears at Low settings: 139.9 FPS at 1080p, 118.8 FPS at 1440p, and 80.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 32.1%, which is less severe than at High settings. This suggests that at Low, the CPU becomes more of a factor, as the GPU has less work to do. The 2600’s boost clock of 3.90 GHz and PassMark single-thread score of 2239 are adequate for this game, but they do not provide the headroom for extremely high frame rates. If you are targeting 4K, the data shows that the GPU will cap your performance. At 1080p, the CPU may occasionally limit you in dense combat scenes, but the overall experience remains smooth.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo good enough for 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, at Medium settings it averages 106.2 FPS, and at High it stays above 60 FPS with 83.1 FPS. Ultra drops to 60.4 FPS, which is borderline.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming?

A: High is recommended, as it averages 111.9 FPS and provides a good visual balance. Ultra is playable at 93.7 FPS, but the extra visual detail may not justify the frame rate cost.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Outriders?

A: Barely. At Medium settings it averages 61.6 FPS, which is playable. High drops to 41.5 FPS, and Ultra is too slow at 34.1 FPS for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 2600 compare to modern CPUs in this game?

A: The 2600’s average benchmark score of 19616 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-1345U (19691) and AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (19508), so performance is comparable to those mid-range chips.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes. The FPS drops from 83.1 at 1440p to 41.5 at 4K on High settings, a reduction that points to the GPU’s 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus as the constraint.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: At Low settings, the 1080p average is 139.9 FPS, which is high but not extreme. The 2600’s single-thread score of 2239 suggests it is adequate, but a newer CPU would push higher frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 is the stronger half of this pairing. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest by modern standards but sufficient for Outriders at 1080p and 1440p. The card’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and FP32 throughput of 15.11 TFLOPS allow it to handle the game’s particle effects and lighting without issue. In the database, the 4060 ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, 0.6% higher) and the Intel Arc B580 (23021, 0.7% lower), showing that it sits in a tight competitive cluster.

The 4K results highlight the GPU’s limits. At Ultra settings, the 4060 averages 34.1 FPS, which is unplayable for a fast-paced looter shooter. Even at High, it only manages 41.5 FPS. This is not a failure of the card, but rather a reflection of its 8 GB VRAM capacity and 128-bit interface, which are designed for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1440p, the 4060 performs admirably, hitting 106.2 FPS on Medium and 83.1 FPS on High. The card’s PassMark G3D score of 19545 confirms its mid-range positioning, and the data shows it is well-matched to the 2600 at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Zen+ architecture, built on a 12 nm process. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 3.90 GHz are modest by today’s standards, and its 16 MB of shared L3 cache is on the smaller side. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 19616 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable for a chip from 2018. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19740, 0.6% higher) and the Intel Core i7-10700F (19485, 0.7% lower), indicating that the 2600 still trades blows with much newer processors.

In Outriders, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. At 1080p, the 2600 manages to keep up, as evidenced by the 111.9 FPS average on High settings. However, at Low settings, the frame rate only reaches 139.9 FPS, which suggests the CPU is not capable of pushing much beyond that threshold. The PassMark single-thread score of 2239 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1579 show that the 2600 lacks the high-frequency performance of newer chips. This means that in CPU-bound scenes, such as crowded areas with many enemies, the frame rate may dip below the averages shown. For a game like Outriders, which is not extremely demanding on the CPU, the 2600 is adequate, but it is the component most likely to limit future upgrades.