Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination occupies the 653rd position out of 1693 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the 61st percentile of all systems. This mid-pack ranking is notable because the RTX 5090 is a flagship-class GPU, while the Ryzen 7 3700X is a 2019-era eight-core processor. The data suggests that the pairing's overall standing is constrained by the CPU's age rather than the GPU's capability, as the GPU's individual benchmark percentile sits at 94, while the CPU's percentile is 85.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 653 out of 1693 tested configurations places it firmly in the upper-middle tier of the database. This is a substantial gap from the top-performing combos, which typically pair the most recent high-core-count CPUs with the newest GPUs. The Ryzen 7 3700X's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark charts—the Intel Core i5-12600, Intel Core i5-12600H, AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, and AMD EPYC 7203P—all have average scores within 0.2% of each other, indicating that the 3700X is competitive with these mid-range and enterprise parts. However, the 3700X lacks the single-thread headroom of newer architectures, which matters in Outriders' physics-heavy combat scenarios.

The RTX 5090, by contrast, sits at the 94th percentile among all GPUs, with its closest rivals being the RTX 5090 D (0.1% faster), RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% faster), AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% slower), and NVIDIA CMP 40HX (1.6% faster). The GPU's average benchmark score of 84,306 is nearly three times the CPU's average of 28,631, underscoring the massive imbalance in this pairing. In Outriders, this imbalance manifests as the CPU becoming the limiting factor at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over at 4K.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 brings 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This is far more memory bandwidth and capacity than Outriders requires, even at maximum settings. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz are high for a Blackwell 2.0 part, and the 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the theoretical peak. In practice, the measured frames per second in Outriders do not scale linearly with these specs, because the game's engine is not optimized to fully utilize such a wide GPU.

The RTX 5090's 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs contribute to a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. These figures suggest the GPU can handle Outriders' particle effects and environmental destruction without breaking a sweat. Yet the benchmark data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo only reaches 165.7 FPS, which is far below what the GPU could theoretically produce if the CPU were not a bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's role becomes more prominent, as the frame rate drops to 62.5 FPS, indicating that the rendering load is now substantial enough to engage the GPU more fully.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of CPU-limiting at 1080p and GPU-limiting at 4K. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 133.1 to 113.1, a 15% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at High, the drop is from 113.1 to 90, a 20.4% reduction. This scaling is not linear; the 4K penalty is more severe because the GPU is now working harder to fill the additional pixels.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is even more pronounced. The 1080p Low result of 165.7 FPS drops to 138.1 at 1440p (16.7% decrease) and then to 114.9 at 4K (16.8% decrease). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low settings suggests that the CPU is still the primary constraint even at 4K Low, because the GPU has plenty of headroom at these low graphical demands. The 1080p Low to 4K Low spread of 50.8 FPS indicates that the CPU's performance ceiling is around 165 FPS in this game, regardless of GPU capability.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is steeper. The 1080p Ultra result of 114.8 FPS drops to 98.3 at 1440p (14.4% decrease) and then to 62.5 at 4K (36.4% decrease). This much larger 4K penalty at Ultra indicates that the GPU is now the limiting component, as the increased shading and texture work at 4K Ultra overwhelms the RTX 5090's immense but not infinite resources. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 27.5 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 18.3 FPS, further confirming that Ultra settings disproportionately tax the GPU at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers 165.7 FPS at Low, 145.9 FPS at Medium, 133.1 FPS at High, and 114.8 FPS at Ultra. The step from Low to Medium costs 19.8 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 18.3 FPS. These are relatively shallow penalties, indicating that the CPU is holding the system back from reaching the RTX 5090's potential. A newer, faster CPU would likely push the 1080p Low result closer to the GPU's rendering limit, but with this Ryzen 7 3700X, the frame rates plateau around 165 FPS.

At 1440p, the results are 138.1 FPS at Low, 125.2 FPS at Medium, 113.1 FPS at High, and 98.3 FPS at Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 39.8 FPS, which is narrower than the 50.9 FPS delta at 1080p. This narrowing suggests that the GPU is beginning to take on more of the load as pixel count increases, but the CPU is still contributing to the bottleneck. The 1440p High result of 113.1 FPS is only 20 FPS below the 1080p High result, showing that the resolution increase does not proportionally penalize performance when the CPU is the constraint.

At 4K, the measured results are 114.9 FPS at Low, 98.9 FPS at Medium, 90 FPS at High, and 62.5 FPS at Ultra. The Low to Medium penalty is 16 FPS, while the High to Ultra penalty is 27.5 FPS. This is the only resolution where Ultra settings impose a severe cost, and it is also the only resolution where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The 4K Ultra result of 62.5 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, though it is still playable.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 1080p, the High preset at 133.1 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as the jump to Ultra only yields a marginal visual improvement while costing 18.3 FPS. The Low preset at 165.7 FPS is suitable for competitive play, but it sacrifices too much graphical detail for a 32.6 FPS gain over High. Medium at 145.9 FPS is a reasonable middle ground, but High provides better image quality for only 12.8 FPS less.

At 1440p, the High preset at 113.1 FPS is the recommended choice for most players. It delivers a smooth experience well above 60 FPS while maintaining good visual quality. The Ultra preset at 98.3 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize visuals, as it remains above 90 FPS. Medium at 125.2 FPS is acceptable for faster-paced play, but the visual downgrade from High is noticeable in Outriders' detailed environments. Low at 138.1 FPS is only for players who absolutely need maximum frame rates, as the game's art style suffers significantly at low settings.

At 4K, the situation is more complex. The High preset at 90 FPS is the clear winner, offering a smooth experience with high visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 98.9 FPS is also good, but the 8.9 FPS gain over High does not justify the reduced texture quality. The Ultra preset at 62.5 FPS is borderline playable, but the 27.5 FPS drop from High is steep for what is often a subtle visual upgrade in this game. The Low preset at 114.9 FPS is surprisingly strong, indicating that at 4K Low, the GPU still has enough headroom to push high frame rates, but the game looks noticeably worse. For most users, 4K High at 90 FPS represents the sweet spot, providing a high-refresh-rate experience without compromising the game's presentation.