Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a fundamentally GPU-limited experience in Outriders, with frame rates collapsing as resolution increases. The data shows a clear narrative: this combo is positioned in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and the measured FPS confirms that the Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck across all tested settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and consistent across all four settings presets, highlighting a GPU that simply cannot sustain playable frame rates at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 115 at 1920x1080 to 72 at 2560x1440, a 37% reduction, and then to 38 at 3840x2160, a 67% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the Arc B390’s rendering throughput is exhausted early, with each pixel doubling at 4K (four times the 1080p pixel count) causing a disproportionate hit to performance.

The Medium preset tells a similar story, though the absolute numbers are lower. At 1920x1080, the combo averages 83 FPS, dropping to 53 at 2560x1440 and further to 28 at 3840x2160. The High preset shows 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 at 1440p, and 21 at 4K. Ultra settings are the most punishing, with the combo managing only 45 FPS at 1080p, 29 at 1440p, and a barely interactive 15 FPS at 4K.

What is notable is the scaling ratio between 1080p and 1440p. For Low settings, the 115 to 72 drop represents a 37% loss, while Medium drops 36% (83 to 53), High drops 37% (63 to 40), and Ultra drops 36% (45 to 29). This uniformity across presets strongly suggests the bottleneck is purely the GPU’s compute and memory subsystem, not any CPU limitation. If the Ryzen 5 5600X were a limiting factor at lower resolutions, the scaling would show a flatter curve at 1080p, but the consistent proportional drops indicate the Arc B390 is saturated even at 1080p on Low settings.

The 4K results are particularly telling. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Low settings (72 to 38) is a 47% reduction, while Medium (53 to 28) is also a 47% drop, High (40 to 21) is 48%, and Ultra (29 to 15) is 48%. This near-identical percentage loss across all presets at the 4K step confirms that the GPU is running at its absolute limit, with no headroom for increased resolution demands. The 4K Medium preset also provides the only min/max data in the pack at this resolution, showing a range of 23 to 32 FPS, which illustrates significant frame pacing instability even within an already low average.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested CPU-GPU combinations for Outriders, this pairing ranks 2582 out of 2913 combos. That places it in the bottom 11% of all configurations tested, which aligns with the GPU’s own 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The combo’s position is driven almost entirely by the Arc B390’s weak absolute performance; the Ryzen 5 5600X is a strong CPU in its own right, ranking in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, but it cannot compensate for the GPU’s limitations.

The gap between this combo and the top configurations is substantial. Given that the Arc B390’s benchmark scores are comparable to legacy NVIDIA parts like the GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% higher) and GeForce 800M (1.5% higher), the combo’s rank reflects a GPU that is several generations behind modern gaming standards. The data shows that for Outriders, a game that demands consistent frame delivery for its looter-shooter combat, this rank of 2582 suggests the experience will be unsatisfactory at any resolution above 1080p with medium-to-high settings.

It is worth remembering the combo’s rank is not solely a factor of the GPU, as the CPU does contribute to the overall system. However, the CPU’s percentile (75th) versus the GPU’s percentile (9th) makes it clear which component is dragging the combo down. The Ryzen 5 5600X’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838 and single-core score of 1541 are respectable, but the GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of just 1482 is the defining metric for gaming performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. Its specifications reveal a part designed for low-power, portable devices rather than desktop gaming: a base clock of 300 MHz and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. The GPU also includes 12 ray tracing cores, though the measured FPS data suggests ray tracing is not a factor in these results given the overall low performance.

The most critical limitation is the memory configuration. The Arc B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and relies on the system’s DDR4 memory (in this case, the Ryzen 5 5600X’s dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth). The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which in practice means the GPU is competing with the CPU for memory access. This is the likely cause of the severe frame rate drops at higher resolutions, where the GPU needs to access larger textures and framebuffers.

The GPU’s pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute of 7.680 TFLOPS. These numbers, while not directly comparing to rivals, are consistent with an integrated part. The GPU’s 80 W TDP and IGP slot width confirm it is not a discrete card, and its display outputs are "Portable Device Dependent," indicating this combo would be found in a laptop or compact system.

The benchmark data available for the Arc B390 is limited to a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. This score places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals being the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, 1.3% higher), GeForce 800M (score 1460, 1.5% higher), GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, 2.5% higher), and GeForce GT 710 (score 1443, 2.7% higher). The fact that this modern Intel part is only slightly faster than a GeForce GT 710, a card from 2014, underscores how unsuitable it is for a demanding title like Outriders at resolutions above 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings yield an average of 115 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches high-refresh-rate gaming. Medium settings drop to 83 FPS, with a measured range of 71 to 96 FPS, indicating some frame time variance. High settings produce 63 FPS, which is borderline playable for a shooter. Ultra settings fall to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target most players prefer for a fast-paced looter shooter.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades significantly. Low settings average 72 FPS, which is still playable but a substantial drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 53 FPS, with a range of 45 to 61 FPS, meaning the combo will frequently dip below 60 FPS. High settings average 40 FPS, which is marginal for a game requiring quick reflexes. Ultra settings average 29 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the combo is essentially not viable for Outriders. Low settings average 38 FPS, which is stuttery. Medium settings average 28 FPS, with a range of 23 to 32 FPS, showing severe frame pacing issues. High settings average 21 FPS, and Ultra settings average 15 FPS, which is near-slideshow territory. For a game that relies on responsive combat, these 4K numbers are not functional.

The data also reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (115 FPS) and Ultra (45 FPS) is 70 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 43 FPS (72 vs 29). At 4K, the difference is 23 FPS (38 vs 15). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is so overwhelmed by pixel count that it cannot differentiate between settings presets effectively, as the rendering pipeline is fully saturated regardless of quality level.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this combo in Outriders?

A: The only configuration that delivers a consistently high frame rate is 1920x1080 with Low settings, averaging 115 FPS. For a more balanced visual experience, 1080p Medium (83 FPS) or 1080p High (63 FPS) are playable, but 1440p and 4K should be avoided for competitive play.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. It is only 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 1.5% faster than the GeForce 800M, with the GeForce GT 710 trailing by 2.7%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600X the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The Ryzen 5 5600X ranks in the 75th percentile of all CPUs with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838. The consistent FPS scaling across resolutions points to the Arc B390 as the limiting component, as the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: Can this combo run Outriders at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not playably. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 38 on Low settings, with Ultra settings yielding just 15 FPS. The Medium preset shows a range of 23 to 32 FPS, indicating unstable performance.

Q: What does the combo’s rank of 2582 out of 2913 mean?

A: It places this configuration in the bottom 11% of all tested CPU-GPU combos for Outriders. This rank is primarily due to the GPU’s low absolute performance, as the CPU is a strong component.

Q: Does the Arc B390 have dedicated VRAM?

A: No. The GPU uses System Shared memory, with the memory type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." This means it relies on the system’s DDR4 memory, which is a significant performance limitation.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer) on a 7 nm process from TSMC. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a 32 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and includes ECC memory support.

In terms of CPU performance, the Ryzen 5 5600X demonstrates strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 11838 and single-core score is 1541. In Geekbench, it scores 9173 multicore and 1989 single-core. The CPU also shows solid results in 3DMark tests, with a max threads score of 5588 and a single thread score of 917. Its Passmark scores are robust, including 21858 for multithread and 3364 for single thread.

The CPU’s percentile ranking of 75th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21771, places it near the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (score 21749, 0.1% higher) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (score 21874, 0.5% lower). This indicates the CPU is a capable mid-range performer that should not bottleneck most games.

However, in this specific combo, the CPU’s role is overshadowed by the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low settings (115 FPS), the system is not CPU-limited, as the Ryzen 5 5600X can handle frame rates well above 115 FPS in most scenarios. The evidence for this is the resolution scaling: if the CPU were limiting, we would see similar FPS at 1080p and 1440p, but instead the FPS drops proportionally with pixel count, which is a classic GPU-bound signature.

The CPU’s 12 threads and 32 MB L3 cache are sufficient for Outriders’ multi-threaded rendering and physics workloads. The 4.60 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-threaded performance for game logic and AI. Yet, the CPU’s potential is entirely capped by the Arc B390’s inability to render frames quickly enough. At 4K Ultra, the 15 FPS result is a pure GPU limitation, as the CPU is likely idle waiting for the GPU to complete each frame.

To sum up, the Ryzen 5 5600X is a high-quality CPU that performs its role admirably, but the Intel Arc B390 is a severely underpowered GPU for a game like Outriders. The combo’s performance is dictated entirely by the GPU’s limitations, and users would need to drastically reduce resolution and settings to achieve playable frame rates. This is a pairing where the CPU is wasted potential, as the GPU cannot deliver the frame rates that the CPU is capable of supporting.