Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the Intel Arc B390 integrated GPU presents a striking imbalance in Outriders: a top-tier 8-core Zen 5 processor harnessed to a graphics solution whose 3DMark Steel Nomad score lands in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. The measured frame rates confirm this bottleneck, with the system consistently falling below playable thresholds at higher settings. For this specific configuration, the Low preset is the only viable choice for achieving fluid gameplay, delivering 115 FPS at 1080p and 72 FPS at 1440p. While the Medium preset at 1080p produces a respectable 83 FPS, the drop to 53 FPS at 1440p and 28 FPS at 4K demonstrates that this GPU lacks the headroom for meaningful visual upgrades. The High preset is marginal at 1080p (63 FPS) and falls below 60 FPS at 1440p (40 FPS). Ultra is not a practical option, as it produces 45 FPS at 1080p and only 15 FPS at 4K. The recommendation is unequivocal: prioritize frame rate over fidelity by selecting Low settings, especially given the GPU's limited pixel throughput of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s.

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results indicate a clear hierarchy of performance across the four tested presets. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves an average of 115 FPS, which is 32 FPS higher than Medium (83 FPS) and 52 FPS higher than High (63 FPS). The jump from Low to Medium costs 32 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs an additional 20 FPS. This steep performance penalty per tier suggests that the rendering pipeline is severely constrained by the Arc B390's compute resources (7.680 TFLOPS FP32) rather than memory bandwidth, which is system-dependent.

The 1440p results reinforce this conclusion. Low settings produce 72 FPS, which is still comfortably playable, but Medium drops to 53 FPS and High plummets to 40 FPS. At 4K, the situation becomes untenable: Low yields 38 FPS, Medium 28 FPS, and High 21 FPS. The measured data indicates that no preset at 4K achieves a 60 FPS average, making 4K gaming impractical for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p (83 FPS) is the only higher-fidelity option that maintains a strong frame rate, but the 32 FPS sacrifice over Low is significant. Given the GPU's 9th percentile standing and its nearest rivals (GeForce GT 520MX at 1.3% higher score, GeForce 800M at 1.5% higher), the Arc B390 is positioned at the very bottom of the discrete GPU hierarchy. For a consistent experience across all resolutions, Low is the recommended preset, as it is the only tier that delivers playable frame rates at both 1080p and 1440p.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The memory subsystem is entirely system-shared, meaning the GPU draws from the Ryzen 7 9700F's DDR5 memory pool rather than dedicated VRAM. This architecture has direct implications for Outriders' performance. The shared memory configuration means bandwidth is system dependent, which limits texture streaming and high-resolution buffer operations. The measured frame rates show a consistent pattern: the GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the primary constraint. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 15, which is 60% lower than 4K Low (38 FPS). This massive reduction is typical of a GPU that runs out of compute throughput long before hitting memory bottlenecks.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places the Arc B390 at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% higher score) and GeForce 800M (1.5% higher). These are legacy mobile parts from over a decade ago, underscoring how far behind the B390 is in raw graphics performance. The 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are present on paper, but the pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s cannot sustain modern game workloads. In Outriders, the GPU's role is strictly the limiting factor: the CPU is vastly more powerful, but the B390's 80 W TDP and IGP form factor (no power connectors, portable device dependent outputs) cap its ability to render complex scenes. The data shows that even at Low settings, the GPU is working near its maximum, as evidenced by the 115 FPS at 1080p being the ceiling for this combo.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 43 FPS drop (115 to 72 FPS, a 37% reduction), while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 34 FPS (72 to 38 FPS, a 47% reduction). This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck; a CPU-bound system would show less dramatic drops at higher resolutions because pixel fill rate becomes the limiting factor. The Arc B390's 24 ROPs and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for 4K workloads, where the number of pixels quadruples compared to 1080p.

At Medium settings, the scaling is even more severe. The 1080p average of 83 FPS drops to 53 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 28 FPS at 4K (a 47% reduction from 1440p). The 4K Medium result includes a minimum FPS of 23 and maximum of 32, showing noticeable frame time variance. The High preset follows a similar trajectory: 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop), and 21 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop). The consistency of these percentage reductions across presets suggests that resolution scaling is independent of the settings tier, reinforcing that the GPU's raw throughput is the limiting component. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is nowhere near saturation at these frame rates; its PassMark multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 indicate substantial CPU headroom. The data confirms that no combination of settings can overcome the GPU's resolution ceiling, making 1080p and 1440p the only viable targets, with Low settings required for smooth gameplay at the latter.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where all presets achieve at least 45 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset (72 FPS) and Medium preset (53 FPS) exceed 30 FPS. 4K is not viable, as the highest average FPS is 38 on Low settings.

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

A: The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is 1.3% lower than the GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% lower than the GeForce 800M (1460), and 2.5% lower than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446). This places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700F bottleneck the Arc B390 in Outriders?

A: No. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 indicate high processing power. The GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance is far below what is needed to stress the CPU, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns across resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset averages 115 FPS while Ultra averages 45 FPS. This represents a 70 FPS (61%) reduction for the highest visual quality, which is a substantial trade-off for this GPU.

Q: Can this combo run Outriders at 4K with acceptable frame rates?

A: No. The best 4K result is 38 FPS on Low settings. Medium produces 28 FPS, High produces 21 FPS, and Ultra produces 15 FPS. None of these are close to the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2582 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's severe performance limitation rather than the CPU, which ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2582 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the bottom 11.4% of all configurations. This rank is almost entirely determined by the GPU's performance ceiling, as the CPU component is exceptionally strong. The Ryzen 7 9700F achieves a 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69996. Its nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% higher score), Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% lower score), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% higher score), and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% higher score). These deltas are negligible, meaning the 9700F is performing at the top tier of desktop processors.

In contrast, the Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU ranking and its nearest rivals (all legacy NVIDIA mobile parts) drag the combo down. The measured FPS data confirms that the system is GPU-bound across all tested settings. The combo rank of 2582 reflects a fundamental mismatch: a CPU capable of handling high-end workloads is paired with a GPU that cannot deliver playable frame rates at higher presets. For context, the combo's best measured result (115 FPS at 1080p Low) is the maximum achievable output, and this is only possible because the Low preset minimizes the GPU's workload. The rank would likely improve if paired with a discrete GPU of moderate capability, but as configured, the data shows this combo is suited only for low-fidelity gaming at 1080p or 1440p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor (Granite Ridge codename) manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC, with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core, position it as a high-performance desktop part. The CPU's PassMark benchmarks show strong results: a multithread score of 36470, single-thread score of 4691, floating-point math score of 77955, and integer math score of 120788. These figures place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with a 0.2% performance delta compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and Intel Core i7-14700KF.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, physics calculations, and game logic. With a PassMark physics score of 2122 and data compression score of 421988, the 9700F is more than capable of handling these tasks. The measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU throttling: if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain similar across resolutions, but instead we observe significant drops from 1080p to 4K. The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) provide ample memory bandwidth for the system-shared GPU. The 9700F's 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die highlight its efficiency, but this power is untapped in this configuration. The data suggests that the CPU could support frame rates several times higher than what the Arc B390 delivers, making it the superior component in this pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Outriders spans three resolutions and four settings presets, with 12 total data points. At 1080p, the results are as follows: Low averages 115 FPS, Medium averages 83 FPS (minimum 71, maximum 96), High averages 63 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. The 32 FPS gap between Low and Medium is the largest single-step reduction, indicating that Medium introduces significant rendering complexity that the GPU struggles to handle. The minimum FPS for Medium (71) is higher than the High preset's average (63), suggesting that High's additional effects cause more frequent frame drops.

At 1440p, the performance degrades predictably: Low averages 72 FPS, Medium averages 53 FPS (minimum 45, maximum 61), High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 45 FPS is still above the 30 FPS playability threshold, but just barely. The step from Medium to High at 1440p (13 FPS drop) is less severe than at 1080p (17 FPS drop), indicating that the GPU is becoming pixel-bound rather than shader-bound. At 4K, the results are: Low averages 38 FPS, Medium averages 28 FPS (minimum 23, maximum 32), High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The 4K Medium data shows a narrow band of 23-32 FPS, suggesting consistent performance but at an unplayable level. The 4K Low result of 38 FPS is the only 4K data point above 30 FPS, but still falls short of the 60 FPS target. The overall data pattern shows that the Arc B390's performance ceiling is reached at 1080p Low, with every additional setting or resolution increase resulting in disproportionate FPS losses.