Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a stark illustration of how resolution dictates performance in Outriders. The data shows a clear progression from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state at 4K, with the frame rate scaling closely with the pixel count. At 1920x1080, the combination produces an average of 250 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 215 FPS at 2560x1440, and then further to 158 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 58% reduction in average frame rate from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset, a scaling pattern that strongly suggests the CPU is the primary limiting factor at the lower resolution. The 7700 with its 8 cores and 16 threads has enough headroom to feed the RTX 4090 at 1080p, but as the resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows, shifting the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate deltas between resolutions are the most informative metric here. At the High preset, the average FPS moves from 200 at 1920x1080 to 165 at 2560x1440, and finally to 86 at 3840x2160. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steep, a 47.9% decrease, which is nearly identical to the 48.2% drop seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p. This linear decline in performance relative to the pixel count increase indicates that the RTX 4090's rendering pipeline is the constraining factor at these settings. The GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are not being exhausted at these resolutions, but the sheer number of pixels at 4K requires significant compute throughput, which the data shows is the limiting factor.

At the Medium preset, the scaling is more compressed. The average FPS at 1080p is 222, at 1440p it is 191, and at 4K it drops to 115. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings shows a 39.8% performance loss, which is less severe than the loss at High settings. This suggests that at Medium settings, the CPU is still partially contributing to the performance ceiling at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with average FPS of 177 at 1080p, 119 at 1440p, and only 62 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, representing a 65% performance drop from the 1080p Ultra figure. This indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a massive load on the GPU, making it the unequivocal bottleneck at all resolutions.

The Low preset data reveals the purest form of the CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 250, which is the highest value in the entire measured set. Moving to 1440p Low, the average is 215, a 14% drop, and at 4K Low, it is 158, a 26.5% drop from 1440p. These percentage losses are much smaller than those seen at higher settings, which is a classic sign that the CPU is limiting performance at 1080p and even 1440p. The RTX 4090 is capable of rendering these frames at a much higher rate than the CPU can issue draw calls, so the CPU's performance, measured at 3dmark_16_threads score of 8484, becomes the ceiling. Only at 4K Low does the GPU start to catch up, but even then, the frame rate of 158 FPS is substantial.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting a smooth experience on a high-refresh-rate monitor, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the optimal balance. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average FPS is 222, with a minimum of 189 and a maximum of 256. This provides a very high frame rate with a relatively narrow variance, indicating stable performance. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 191 FPS, with a minimum of 162 and a maximum of 219, which is still excellent for most high-refresh displays. The Medium preset at 4K yields an average of 115 FPS, with a minimum of 97 and a maximum of 132. This is a playable frame rate, but the minimum of 97 FPS suggests that there can be noticeable dips below the average.

The High preset is a viable alternative for those who want improved visual quality without sacrificing too much performance. At 1080p High, the average is 200 FPS, which is still very high. At 1440p High, the average is 165 FPS, which is also good. However, the 4K High result of 86 FPS is a significant step down, and might be considered too low for some players who prioritize smoothness. The Ultra preset is only recommended for players with a 1080p or 1440p display who prioritize maximum visual fidelity. The 1080p Ultra average of 177 FPS is still high, and the 1440p Ultra average of 119 FPS is playable. The 4K Ultra average of 62 FPS is the only result in the dataset that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less ideal for a consistently smooth experience. The Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates, offers diminished visual quality and is not necessary given the headroom available at higher settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's specifications provide context for its performance in Outriders. The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using a 5 nm process from TSMC, and features a substantial 76,300 million transistors. Its memory configuration includes 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The boost clock is listed as 2520 MHz, which is the speed at which the GPU operates under load. The data shows that this memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor in Outriders, as the performance scaling aligns with pixel count rather than memory capacity. The GPU's compute capabilities, measured by its FP32 throughput of 82.58 TFLOPS, are the primary driver of the results.

The RTX 4090's 16,384 shading units are the processing elements responsible for the game's pixel and vertex work. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's shading units are fully saturated, resulting in the 62 FPS average. The data indicates that the GPU's role is to render the scene at the target resolution and settings, and the frame rate is directly proportional to the amount of work required. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are available for ray tracing and DLSS features, but the measured FPS data does not include specific settings for these features, so their impact is not directly observable. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 88 places it in the top tier of all GPUs in the benchmark database, which is consistent with the high frame rates observed across all resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds a combo rank of 160 out of 3710 tested combinations in Outriders. This places it in the top 4.3% of all tested combos, indicating that it delivers near-top-tier performance for this specific game. The rank is a holistic measurement that accounts for the combined capabilities of both the CPU and GPU. The CPU's performance, as indicated by its avgBenchmarkScore of 40081, is a strong contributor, as is the GPU's avgBenchmarkScore of 60347. The rank suggests that while there are 159 other combos that perform better in this game, the vast majority of systems will deliver lower frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 with an avgScore of 40048 and a deltaPct of 0.1, the Intel Core 5 221E with a score of 40144 and a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Ryzen 9 270 with a score of 40246 and a deltaPct of -0.4. These differences are negligible, indicating that the 7700 is squarely in the mid-range of its performance tier. The GPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a score of 60326 and a deltaPct of 0, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 with a score of 60140 and a deltaPct of 0.3. The performance difference between the RTX 4090 and these rivals is minimal in the synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS data shows its dominance in Outriders. The combo rank of 160 is a strong position, but it also indicates that there is room for improvement, likely with a higher-end CPU that can keep up with the RTX 4090 at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Outriders?

A: The highest average frame rate is 250 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: At which resolution and settings does this combo fail to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The only configuration that falls below 60 FPS is 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra preset, which yields an average of 62 FPS.

Q: How does the performance at 2560x1440 Medium compare to 1920x1080 Medium?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset produces an average of 191 FPS, while the 1920x1080 Medium preset produces an average of 222 FPS. This represents a 14% decrease in performance when moving to the higher resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo at 3840x2160 Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 3840x2160 Medium is 97, with a maximum of 132 and an average of 115.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1920x1080 Low settings?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p Low, as the frame rate of 250 FPS is likely limited by the CPU's ability to process game logic and issue draw calls, not the GPU's rendering speed.

Q: How does this combo's overall rank in Outriders compare to other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 160th out of 3710 tested combinations in the game, placing it in the top percentile of all systems tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance across settings is as follows: Low averages 250 FPS, Medium averages 222 FPS with a minimum of 189 and a maximum of 256, High averages 200 FPS, and Ultra averages 177 FPS. The variance between the minimum and maximum at Medium settings is 67 FPS, which is the largest spread in the dataset. This indicates that while the average is high, the frame pacing can be inconsistent during demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low averages 215 FPS, Medium averages 191 FPS with a minimum of 162 and a maximum of 219, High averages 165 FPS, and Ultra averages 119 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 96 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for the highest visual settings. The Medium preset maintains a high average with a minimum above 60 FPS, making it a reliable choice.

At 3840x2160, the data shows: Low averages 158 FPS, Medium averages 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 and a maximum of 132, High averages 86 FPS, and Ultra averages 62 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 60.8% reduction in average frame rate. The High and Ultra presets at this resolution are the only configurations where the average FPS drops below 100, indicating that the GPU's rendering workload is the dominant factor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a desktop processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with a 5 nm process. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The processor has a 65W TDP and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. Its cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 18760 and a single-core score of 1930.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rate of 250 FPS is capped by the CPU's performance. The CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 8484 and its max_threads score of 8479 indicate that its multi-threaded performance is consistent. The game appears to be well-optimized for multi-threading, as the 8-core, 16-thread configuration of the 7700 allows it to maintain high frame rates. However, the CPU's performance is not the primary constraint at 4K, where the GPU takes over. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 87 places it in the upper tier of processors, confirming its ability to support high-end GPUs in most scenarios. The data shows that the 7700 provides a solid foundation for the RTX 4090, but its influence on frame rate diminishes as resolution increases.