Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a looter-shooter experience that is heavily dictated by resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiting factor; at 4K, the GPU takes over, creating a predictable scaling curve. The measured data shows that dropping from 1080p to 4K costs about 55% of the average frame rate at Ultra settings, which is a significant but expected hit for a game with this visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS deltas between resolutions reveal where the bottleneck sits. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 199.1 FPS, but at 1440p it drops to 174.6 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 136.6 FPS. This 31% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings suggests the RTX 4090 is still feeding frames faster than the Ryzen 5 5600 can process at the lower resolutions. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is holding back the GPU's full potential at 1080p.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is steeper. The 1080p result of 143.8 FPS drops to 120.1 FPS at 1440p, then plunges to 64.7 FPS at 4K. That 4K Ultra figure is only 45% of the 1080p Ultra number, which indicates a shift from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily by the 4K Ultra preset, while the CPU has more headroom.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern but with less extreme drops. Going from 181.2 FPS at 1080p to 155.6 FPS at 1440p, then to 116.7 FPS at 4K, the scaling is almost linear. This suggests Medium is the sweet spot where neither component is completely overwhelmed. High settings follow the same trend: 160.6 FPS at 1080p, 136.8 FPS at 1440p, and 88.1 FPS at 4K.

What the data makes clear is that this game rewards lower resolutions for high refresh rates. At 1080p, even Ultra settings clear 143 FPS, which is enough for most high-refresh monitors. At 4K, only Low settings break 136 FPS; Ultra drops below 65 FPS, making it less ideal for competitive play but still playable for slower-paced encounters.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 bottlenecking the RTX 4090 in Outriders?

A: At 1080p, yes. The CPU scores show a 79th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with a single-thread score of 882 in 3dmark. The FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is only 24.5 FPS, indicating the CPU is limiting the GPU's output. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the 71.9 FPS drop between 1440p and 4K at Ultra settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1440p offers the best balance. High settings produce 136.8 FPS, which is only 23.8 FPS less than 1080p High but significantly more than the 88.1 FPS at 4K High. The 1440p Ultra result of 120.1 FPS is also strong, delivering a 55.4 FPS advantage over 4K Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's VRAM affect Outriders performance?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than sufficient for this game. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU is producing 64.7 FPS, which is a playable result. The 384-bit bus width and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth prevent memory bandwidth from becoming a constraint at any resolution.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600 a good pairing for the RTX 4090 in this specific game?

A: The combo ranks 247th out of 1693 tested combinations, placing it in the top 15% of all pairings. The CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a 3.50 GHz base clock and 4.40 GHz boost is sufficient for this title, though the 1080p results suggest a stronger CPU would extract more frames.

Q: What settings should I use for 4K?

A: Medium settings provide 116.7 FPS, which is a 52 FPS improvement over Ultra's 64.7 FPS. Low settings push that further to 136.6 FPS. If visual quality matters more than raw frame rate, High at 88.1 FPS is the compromise.

Q: Can this combo handle high refresh rate 1080p gaming?

A: Yes. Low settings hit 199.1 FPS, Medium reaches 181.2 FPS, and High manages 160.6 FPS. Even Ultra clears 143.8 FPS, meaning a 144Hz monitor can be fully utilized at almost any preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, especially at 4K. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is a major asset; the game's 4K Ultra preset demands high memory capacity, and the card's 384-bit bus width provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth to keep textures streaming. The base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are high, but the data suggests they are not the primary limiter at lower resolutions.

At 4K, the GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is fully utilized. The jump from 1440p Ultra (120.1 FPS) to 4K Ultra (64.7 FPS) is a 55.4 FPS loss, which aligns with the 2.25x pixel count increase. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are relevant for the game's visual effects, though the measured FPS rows do not isolate ray tracing performance.

The GPU's 91st percentile ranking versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473, confirms its top-tier status. However, the nearest rivals are workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000, which have different driver optimizations. In Outriders specifically, the RTX 4090's raw power means it is rarely the bottleneck until 4K Ultra, where the 64.7 FPS result is still respectable.

The 450 W TDP and 850 W suggested PSU indicate this is a power-hungry card, but the performance data justifies the requirement. The 16-pin power connector and triple-slot design are physical considerations, but the benchmark results show that the card delivers consistent frame rates across all tested presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + RTX 4090 combination ranks 247th out of 1693 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the 85th percentile of all pairings, which is strong but not elite. The rank reflects the CPU's limitations at lower resolutions; a faster processor would likely push this combo higher.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (0.6% faster), AMD EPYC 9554P (0.6% slower), and AMD EPYC 9534 (0.6% slower). These are all server-class chips, which indicates the Ryzen 5 5600's 79th percentile ranking is competitive in multithreaded workloads but not exceptional.

The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (-0.4% score difference), NVIDIA Tesla P40 (0.5% faster), and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (-0.9% slower). These are also professional cards, meaning the RTX 4090's 91st percentile ranking is among the best consumer options. The combo's overall rank is dragged down by the CPU, not the GPU.

For context, the 247th rank out of 1693 means there are 246 faster combos, but also 1446 slower ones. This is a top-tier result for a mid-range CPU paired with a flagship GPU. The data suggests that the RTX 4090 is operating at near its full potential at 4K, but at 1080p, the CPU is leaving performance on the table.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of presets. At 1080p, Ultra is the best choice for visual fidelity, as it still produces 143.8 FPS. This is above the 144Hz threshold for many monitors, making it a no-compromise option. At 1440p, High settings at 136.8 FPS are the sweet spot; Ultra drops to 120.1 FPS, which is still smooth but offers diminishing returns for the visual cost.

At 4K, the recommendation is Medium. The 116.7 FPS result is playable and looks significantly better than Low's 136.6 FPS. Ultra at 64.7 FPS is too taxing for the frame rate benefit; High at 88.1 FPS is a middle ground but sacrifices the smoothness that Medium provides. For competitive play at 4K, Low settings are viable, but Medium offers a better balance of image quality and responsiveness.

The data shows that the game scales well with settings. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 55.3 FPS, while at 4K it is 71.9 FPS. This indicates that Ultra settings have a higher GPU cost at higher resolutions. For the best experience, prioritize Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are: Low at 199.1 FPS, Medium at 181.2 FPS, High at 160.6 FPS, and Ultra at 143.8 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 55.3 FPS, showing a consistent decline as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low at 174.6 FPS, Medium at 155.6 FPS, High at 136.8 FPS, and Ultra at 120.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 54.5 FPS, similar to 1080p, but the overall frame rates are roughly 15-20% lower.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 136.6 FPS, Medium at 116.7 FPS, High at 88.1 FPS, and Ultra at 64.7 FPS. The Low to Ultra gap widens to 71.9 FPS, indicating that Ultra has a proportionally higher cost at 4K. The 4K Low result is still faster than 1080p Ultra, which highlights the GPU's capability.

The largest single drop across all data points is from 4K High (88.1 FPS) to 4K Ultra (64.7 FPS), a loss of 23.4 FPS. The smallest drop is from 1080p Low to 1080p Medium, which is 17.9 FPS. These figures confirm that the RTX 4090 has enough headroom to handle Medium settings at 4K without major frame rate penalties.