Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 pairing delivers a 1080p experience that is heavily CPU-bound, while 4K performance craters under the GPU’s memory and compute limits. The data shows a dramatic scaling curve: at Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 243.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 108.8 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 134.8 FPS. This indicates that while the RTX 3080 has substantial headroom at lower resolutions, the transition to 4K overwhelms its 10 GB VRAM buffer and 320-bit memory interface, making the GPU the definitive bottleneck in this title at higher pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second reveal a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 243.6 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Low result of 108.8 FPS. This 55% performance drop from 1080p to 4K at the lowest preset suggests that the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than it can render at higher resolutions. The 1080p Low figure also represents the only measured point above 240 FPS, indicating a hard ceiling imposed by the CPU’s single-thread performance rather than the GPU’s raw throughput.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling is less severe but still pronounced: 212.6 FPS at 1080p falls to 148.3 FPS at 1440p and then to 76.0 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Medium is 72.3 FPS, which is larger than the 64.3 FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p. This nonlinear degradation points to the RTX 3080’s memory bandwidth becoming saturated as pixel count increases, with the 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth unable to sustain the higher fill rate demanded by 4K. At High settings, the 1080p result of 173.7 FPS drops to 108.6 FPS at 1440p and finally to 57.1 FPS at 4K—the latter being just above the 60 FPS target but requiring a substantial settings compromise.

Ultra settings expose the worst scaling: 124.3 FPS at 1080p, 82.4 FPS at 1440p, and a marginal 44.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 35.8% lower than the 1440p Ultra figure, and the absolute difference of 79.7 FPS between 1080p and 4K Ultra demonstrates that this configuration cannot maintain playable frame rates at maximum quality in 4K. The data consistently shows that the RTX 3080’s 10 GB GDDR6X memory is the limiting factor at 4K, as the gap between High and Ultra at that resolution (12.5 FPS) is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (18.9 FPS), suggesting that texture and shading complexity are hitting VRAM capacity ceilings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080’s specifications directly explain the measured performance cliffs. With a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, the Ampere architecture GPU relies on its 8704 shading units to push frames, but the 10 GB memory capacity and 320-bit bus width become restrictive at higher resolutions. The 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth is a theoretical figure that the data shows is insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 44.6. This is the only measured result below 50 FPS, and it correlates with the GPU’s 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs, indicating that while it is a strong performer, it is not in the top tier for 4K gaming.

The GPU’s 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but do not appear to offload enough work in Outriders to prevent the frame rate collapse at 4K. The FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS suggests ample compute headroom, yet the 4K High result of 57.1 FPS shows that raw compute is not the bottleneck—memory bandwidth is. The gap between 4K Medium (76.0 FPS) and 4K High (57.1 FPS) is 18.9 FPS, while the gap between 4K High and 4K Ultra (44.6 FPS) is 12.5 FPS. This narrowing delta as settings increase implies that the GPU’s memory subsystem is saturated, and additional graphical fidelity costs more in bandwidth than the compute units can compensate for.

At 1440p, the RTX 3080 shows its strength: the Low preset achieves 203.4 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 82.4 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently higher than their 4K counterparts by margins ranging from 37.8 FPS (Ultra) to 94.6 FPS (Low). This suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this GPU, where the 320-bit bus can feed the shading units without excessive wait states. The GPU’s 96 ROPs and 272 TMUs are adequate for 1440p rasterization, and the 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for the texture loads at that resolution, unlike at 4K where the data implies capacity-related stuttering or texture thrashing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600’s 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, provide the foundation for the high frame rates seen at 1080p. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz and base clock of 3.80 GHz, combined with a 32 MB L3 cache, allow it to keep pace with the RTX 3080 at lower resolutions. The single-thread benchmark score of 999 in 3dmark_single_thread and 3246 in Cinebench R23 single-core indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for Outriders’ game logic and draw call processing. The 1080p Low result of 243.6 FPS is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU has more headroom to render frames than the CPU can issue.

The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (which has an average score only 0.2% lower) and the Intel Core i9-11900K (0.3% lower). This competitive positioning explains why the 1080p frame rates do not vary dramatically between Low and Medium settings: the CPU’s multithreaded score of 22992 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can handle the increased draw calls at Medium without becoming a bottleneck. However, the drop from 243.6 FPS at 1080p Low to 212.6 FPS at 1080p Medium (31 FPS) is more attributed to GPU workload than CPU limitations, as the GPU’s 8704 shading units begin to process more complex shaders.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s for DDR5 dual-channel support is sufficient for the data throughput required by Outriders, but it does not scale with resolution increases. At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor, evidenced by the fact that 4K Low (108.8 FPS) and 4K Medium (76.0 FPS) are both well above the 4K High (57.1 FPS) and Ultra (44.6 FPS) results. The 12 threads are adequate for the game’s multithreaded workload, as the passmark_multithread score of 27058 indicates robust parallel performance. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node contribute to sustained boost clocks without thermal throttling, which is essential for maintaining the 1080p frame rates above 200 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports a clear hierarchy of settings based on resolution targets. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 173.7 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a 49.4 FPS improvement over Ultra (124.3 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate well above any refresh rate. The Low preset at 243.6 FPS offers diminishing visual returns, and Medium at 212.6 FPS is only 38.9 FPS faster than High, making High the optimal balance for most users. At 2560x1440, the High preset at 108.6 FPS is the best experience, as it exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by 48.6 FPS and is only 39.8 FPS slower than Medium (148.3 FPS) but delivers superior image quality. The Ultra preset at 82.4 FPS is playable but sacrifices 26.2 FPS compared to High, which is a significant margin for competitive play.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 76.0 FPS is the recommended setting, as it clears the 60 FPS target by 16 FPS and is 18.9 FPS faster than High (57.1 FPS). The High preset at 57.1 FPS is borderline playable but risks drops below 60 FPS, while Ultra at 44.6 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 108.8 FPS at 4K is technically playable, but it degrades visual fidelity to a point where the game’s environments lose detail. The data indicates that at 4K, the Medium preset provides the best compromise between frame rate and visual quality, as the 76.0 FPS result is the only 4K setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS without resorting to Low.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 390th out of 1693 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the top 23% of all configurations. This ranking is consistent with the CPU’s 83rd percentile and the GPU’s 80th percentile, indicating that the pairing is well-matched for this game. The combo’s position relative to other tested systems suggests that while it is not in the top tier, it outperforms the majority of setups, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the data shows frame rates above 200 FPS at Low settings. The 390th rank also reflects the 4K limitations, as the 44.6 FPS Ultra result at 4K pulls the overall assessment down compared to combos with more VRAM or higher memory bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low 243.6, Medium 212.6, High 173.7, and Ultra 124.3. The spread between Low and Ultra is 119.3 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact at this resolution. At 2560x1440, the values are Low 203.4, Medium 148.3, High 108.6, and Ultra 82.4. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 121.0 FPS, but the absolute values drop significantly. At 3840x2160, the values are Low 108.8, Medium 76.0, High 57.1, and Ultra 44.6. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64.2 FPS, which is the smallest absolute spread across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor. The 1440p High result of 108.6 FPS is nearly identical to the 4K Low result of 108.8 FPS, demonstrating that the RTX 3080 can achieve the same frame rate at 4K with Low settings as it does at 1440p with High settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Outriders?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 is optimal, as the High preset delivers 108.6 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 82.4 FPS. The 1920x1080 results are higher but may be CPU-limited, while 4K results drop below 60 FPS on High and Ultra.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The 1080p High result is 173.7 FPS, and the 4K High result is 57.1 FPS, representing a loss of 116.6 FPS (approximately 67% reduction). This indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 3080’s 10 GB VRAM sufficient for Outriders at 4K Ultra?

A: No. The 4K Ultra result of 44.6 FPS is the lowest measured value, and the 10 GB memory capacity paired with the 320-bit bus appears to cause a significant performance penalty compared to 1440p Ultra (82.4 FPS).

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7600 compare to other CPUs in this benchmark?

A: The CPU ranks in the 83rd percentile and has an average benchmark score of 26617. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, has an average score of 26574 with a delta of 0.2%, meaning the 7600 is effectively tied with that processor.

Q: What settings should be used for a consistent 60 FPS at 4K?

A: The Medium preset at 4K produces 76.0 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 60 FPS except for Low (108.8 FPS). High and Ultra at 4K produce 57.1 and 44.6 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS target.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 1080p Low?

A: The 1080p Low result of 243.6 FPS is the highest measured frame rate, and given the CPU’s strong single-thread score of 999 in 3dmark_single_thread, the data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU has more headroom to render additional frames.