Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a stark contrast in capabilities within Outriders. The benchmark data indicates that this combination delivers a playable experience across all tested settings, but the performance ceiling is clearly dictated by the CPU, not the GPU. While the RTX 4090 is capable of immense frame rates, the Ryzen 5 4600G's Zen 2 architecture becomes the limiting factor, preventing the system from achieving the extreme performance one might expect from the graphics card alone.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a significant bottleneck at the CPU level. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system produces an average of 131 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops this to 112 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls further to 86 FPS. This represents a 34% decrease in average FPS from 1080p to 4K on High settings. For a GPU as powerful as the RTX 4090, this scaling is unusually shallow; a purely GPU-bound system would typically show a much more dramatic drop at 4K. The data suggests that at lower resolutions, the Ryzen 5 4600G is unable to feed frames to the RTX 4090 quickly enough, capping performance. As resolution increases, the GPU takes on more work, and the gap between the CPU's maximum output and the GPU's rendering capability narrows, leading to a smaller-than-expected performance hit.

This pattern is consistent across all settings presets. With Ultra settings, the average FPS goes from 116 at 1080p, to 99 at 1440p, and finally 62 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 62 FPS is the lowest recorded in the dataset, indicating that while the CPU limits raw frame generation at lower resolutions, the sheer graphical load of 4K Ultra finally stresses the RTX 4090 enough to bring the system into a more balanced state. The data implies that at 4K Ultra, both components are working near their limits, whereas at 1080p, the CPU is saturated long before the GPU reaches its potential. The performance scaling therefore tells a story of a system held back by its processor in less demanding scenarios, with the balance of power shifting more toward the GPU as graphical fidelity increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth of a graphics card, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node. Its specifications are immense: 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, and the card's boost clock reaches 2520 MHz. Its 16384 shading units and 512 tensor cores give it a theoretical FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. In the context of Outriders, this hardware is almost certainly overkill. The data supports this, as even at 4K Ultra, the system only averages 62 FPS, a figure that does not reflect the GPU's raw power. The RTX 4090's role in this specific pairing is to provide a massive headroom that the CPU cannot utilize.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60347. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, have nearly identical average scores, with deltaPct values of 0 and 0.3 respectively. This confirms the RTX 4090's position at the top of the performance hierarchy, but within Outriders, this dominance is muted. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is never the primary constraint. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is respectable but not extraordinary for a card of this class, reinforcing the conclusion that the CPU is preventing the GPU from demonstrating its full potential. The 24 GB VRAM pool is more than sufficient for Outriders at any resolution, making memory capacity a non-issue in this analysis.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture. With a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, it offers a solid foundation for gaming, but its 8 MB of shared L3 cache and older architecture place it well below the performance tier of the RTX 4090. Its synthetic benchmark scores are modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13593 and a single-core score of 1919. The processor's average benchmark score of 17507 places it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE and the Intel Core i3-14100T, indicating its mid-range standing.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is the critical limiting factor. The benchmark results clearly show that the Ryzen 5 4600G cannot keep pace with the RTX 4090. At 1080p, where the GPU load is lighter, the CPU's inability to process game logic and draw calls quickly enough becomes the bottleneck. The fact that the average FPS only drops from 131 at 1080p High to 112 at 1440p High is a clear indicator of this; a GPU-bound system would show a more significant drop. The CPU's performance is static across resolutions, meaning the frame rate is capped by its processing power. This is a classic case of a strong GPU being hamstrung by a weaker processor, resulting in a system that performs well below the sum of its parts. The data suggests that for this game, the Ryzen 5 4600G is the primary determinant of the final frame rate, especially at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the system's performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 163, which drops to 145 on Medium and 131 on High. The Ultra preset yields an average of 116 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum FPS of 124 and a maximum of 167, indicating a variance of 43 FPS. This data shows that even at the lowest settings, the frame rate is capped, suggesting the CPU is the limiting factor rather than the GPU. The jump from Low to Ultra only costs 47 FPS on average, a relatively small penalty for a significant increase in visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the effects of increased GPU load. Low settings produce an average of 140 FPS, Medium 125 FPS, High 112 FPS, and Ultra 99 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. At 4K, the system still delivers playable frame rates. Low settings average 113 FPS, Medium 100 FPS, and High 86 FPS. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 is the most demanding, resulting in an average of 62 FPS. The data for 4K Medium shows a minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 115 FPS. The performance difference between 1080p and 4K on Low settings is 50 FPS, while on Ultra settings it is 54 FPS, showing a consistent, albeit modest, scaling cost across all presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global ranking of tested hardware combinations for Outriders, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 1403rd out of 3710 combos. This places it in the top 38% of all tested systems, which is a respectable position. However, it is a significantly lower rank than what the RTX 4090 alone would suggest. The GPU's performance is in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 71st percentile. The combination's rank is a direct consequence of the CPU bottleneck. The data implies that many systems with less powerful GPUs but more capable CPUs achieve higher frame rates in Outriders, as they are not held back by the processor's limitations.

This ranking is a clear verdict on the pairing's efficiency. It is a mismatch. The RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, representing the pinnacle of graphics technology. The Ryzen 5 4600G, with its own launch MSRP of $154, is a budget-friendly APU. The 1403rd rank out of 3710 combos indicates that while the system is functional and provides a good experience, it is not realizing the full potential of its graphics card. The system's performance is effectively determined by its weakest link, and in this case, that is the CPU. A gamer with this setup would see significant performance gains from a CPU upgrade, as the RTX 4090 has ample headroom to deliver much higher frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this hardware combination depend on the user's priority, but the data strongly suggests that 4K Ultra is the sweet spot for a balanced experience. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system averages 62 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for a looter shooter, where precision is important but not as critical as in a competitive first-person shooter. The visual fidelity of Ultra settings is the best available, and the performance cost is acceptable. Lowering the settings to High at 4K yields 86 FPS, a 39% improvement, but the visual downgrade may not be worth it for many players. The data shows that the system is capable of maintaining a smooth experience at the highest visual quality.

For users with high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, the High preset is the most sensible choice. It averages 131 FPS, which is smooth, but the Ultra preset's 116 FPS is also perfectly playable. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is only 15 FPS, so choosing between them is a matter of personal taste. The Low preset at 1080p offers 163 FPS, but the graphical compromises are severe and likely not worth the extra frames. The Medium preset provides a good middle ground with 145 FPS. However, given the system's ability to run Ultra at 4K, it is clear that the most visually impressive and performance-balanced option is to prioritize resolution and quality over raw frame rate. The data indicates that the best experience is achieved by maxing out the settings, as the CPU bottleneck prevents any setting from pushing the frame rate to the GPU's true potential.