Outriders

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a system that scales predictably with pixel count, though the shape of that scaling curve varies meaningfully by settings preset. At Low settings, the RTX 5080 paired with the Ryzen 5 5500 delivers 186.7 FPS at 1920x1080, dropping to 162.4 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 132.5 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 29% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low, which is a relatively modest penalty for a 4x increase in pixel count. The implication is clear: at Low settings, the CPU is still doing a substantial share of the work, and the GPU is not yet saturated at lower resolutions.

Moving to Medium settings, the same pattern holds but with a slightly steeper drop. The system produces 165.6 FPS at 1080p, 146.9 FPS at 1440p, and 110.6 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 33%, indicating that the GPU is beginning to take on more of the load as settings increase. At High settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced: 150.2 FPS at 1080p, 130.2 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. The 44% drop from 1080p to 4K at High suggests that the rendering workload is now heavily GPU-bound, with the RTX 5080's compute resources being the primary determinant of frame rate.

The Ultra preset tells a different story entirely. At 1080p, Ultra yields 135.2 FPS, which is still high but notably lower than the High preset's 150.2 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 112.6 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 56.3 FPS. The 58% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is the largest of any preset, underscoring that Ultra's additional effects and shading complexity place a heavy burden on the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The RTX 5080's 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth and 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are clearly being taxed at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate dips below 60 FPS.

The data indicates that at 1080p, even the most demanding preset stays well above 135 FPS, meaning the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU without creating a bottleneck. At 4K, however, the limiting component shifts decisively to the GPU, as evidenced by the 76 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at that resolution. The pattern across resolutions confirms that Outriders is a title where the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as resolution climbs, but the CPU maintains relevance at lower pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the High preset at 2560x1440 stands out as the optimal measured configuration. It delivers 130.2 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while offering substantially better visual quality than Low or Medium. The step from Medium to High at 1440p costs 16.7 FPS (from 146.9 to 130.2), but the visual return on that investment is significant for a looter shooter where reading enemy animations and environmental details matters.

At 1920x1080, High is also the recommended choice, producing 150.2 FPS. Pushing to Ultra at 1080p yields 135.2 FPS, a 10% reduction, which may not justify the additional visual effects for competitive play. Conversely, dropping to Medium at 1080p only gains 15.4 FPS over High, which is unlikely to be worth the loss in clarity. The Low preset at any resolution offers little benefit; even at 4K, Low produces 132.5 FPS, but the visual compromise is severe for a game that relies on loot visibility and particle effects.

For 4K displays, the situation is more constrained. High at 3840x2160 delivers 84 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced encounters. Medium at 4K offers 110.6 FPS, making it the best choice for users who prioritize frame rate over maximum fidelity on high-resolution panels. Ultra at 4K should be avoided for gameplay purposes, as 56.3 FPS sits below the 60 FPS threshold and introduces perceptible stutter in combat scenarios. The measured data suggests that High at 1440p is the sweet spot, with Medium at 4K as a strong alternative for those with 4K monitors.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 brings 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows a single-thread score of 2319 in Cinebench R23 and a multicore score of 16429, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, scores 20897 on average, a mere 0.1% difference, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5500 is competitive with mid-range Intel offerings from the same era.

In the context of Outriders, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 186.7 FPS, which is only 8% higher than the 4K Low result of 132.5 FPS. This relatively small gap suggests that the CPU is keeping pace with the GPU's output even at high frame rates. The 3dmark single-thread score of 836 and the 3dmark 2-thread score of 1645 indicate that the processor's per-core performance is adequate for a game that relies on a handful of primary threads for physics and game logic.

The 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for Outriders' asset streaming. The CPU's PCIe Gen 3 interface may theoretically limit GPU communication compared to Gen 4, but the measured frame rates do not show any obvious bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 5500's 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest headroom for overclocking, though the benchmark data reflects stock performance.

The comparison to the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE, which shows a 0.1% delta in average score, reinforces that the 5500 is a solid mid-range part. The data indicates that for Outriders, the CPU is sufficient to drive the RTX 5080 to high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU becoming the bottleneck at 4K. This is typical for a looter shooter, where enemy counts and particle effects can stress the CPU, but the core rendering workload dominates at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 130.2 FPS, which provides a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 4K?

A: Ultra at 3840x2160 produces an average of 56.3 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. Users with 4K displays should prefer Medium (110.6 FPS) or High (84 FPS) for better playability.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 scores 20875 on average, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-12500's 20897. This places them effectively at parity in synthetic benchmarks.

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

A: At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 150.2 FPS, which balances visual quality and performance. Ultra yields 135.2 FPS, a 10% reduction that may not justify the extra effects.

Q: Does the GPU bottleneck the system at 4K?

A: Yes. The 76 FPS difference between Low (132.5 FPS) and Ultra (56.3 FPS) at 4K indicates that the RTX 5080's rendering workload is the primary constraint at that resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5080 scores 59188 on average, which is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M's 58239 and 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A580's 57756.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications align with the measured frame rates. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU offers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Outriders' texture streaming at high resolutions. The 10752 shading units and 336 texture mapping units provide substantial fill rates, with a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s. The boost clock of 2617 MHz and FP32 compute of 56.28 TFLOPS drive the heavy shading workloads seen at Ultra settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores confirm its position in the hardware hierarchy. It sits in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59188. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A570M, scores 58239, a 1.6% deficit, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X trails by 2.6% at 57661. These deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 5080 is closely matched with several other high-end parts in synthetic tests, though its real-world gaming performance in Outriders is what matters here.

The GPU's 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, but Outriders does not heavily utilize ray tracing based on the measured data. The 360 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a high-power part that benefits from the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, though the CPU's Gen 3 support does not appear to hinder performance. The 16 GB VRAM is ample for Outriders at 4K Ultra, and the fact that the frame rate drops to 56.3 FPS at that preset suggests the GPU is compute-bound rather than memory-limited.

The data shows that the RTX 5080's performance scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent across resolutions, with the largest absolute differences at 4K. This indicates that the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth are the key factors in determining Outriders' frame rates at high settings. The GPU's 89th percentile ranking relative to all GPUs underscores its position as a top-tier part, and the measured FPS in Outriders reflects that status, with even the most demanding preset remaining playable at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings shows a clear progression: Low delivers 186.7 FPS, Medium produces 165.6 FPS, High achieves 150.2 FPS, and Ultra yields 135.2 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 51.5 FPS, a 27% reduction when enabling the highest preset. This indicates that at 1080p, the GPU has sufficient headroom to render even the most demanding settings at frame rates above 135 FPS, making this resolution suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the same settings produce 162.4 FPS at Low, 146.9 FPS at Medium, 130.2 FPS at High, and 112.6 FPS at Ultra. The spread narrows slightly to 49.8 FPS, but the relative drop from Low to Ultra is 31%. This suggests that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of increased pixel count, though all presets remain above 110 FPS, providing a comfortable experience for most users.

At 3840x2160, the measurements show 132.5 FPS at Low, 110.6 FPS at Medium, 84 FPS at High, and 56.3 FPS at Ultra. The spread expands to 76.2 FPS, and the relative drop from Low to Ultra reaches 58%. This is the only resolution where any preset falls below 60 FPS, and the Ultra result of 56.3 FPS is the sole measured configuration that dips below that threshold. The data clearly shows that 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration, while 4K Low remains highly playable.

The combination of 6 CPU cores and the RTX 5080's 10752 shading units produces a balanced system at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU becoming the sole bottleneck at 4K. The measured FPS values across all 12 configurations provide a comprehensive picture of how this hardware handles Outriders, with the High preset at 1440p offering the best overall balance of performance and visual quality.