Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a fascinating dataset in Outriders, revealing a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but exhibits surprising CPU limitations at 1080p. This combination, ranking 28th out of 2913 tested combos, delivers a spectrum of performance from a highly playable 62 FPS at 4K Ultra to a blistering 290 FPS at 1080p Low. The measured frames paint a clear picture of a system whose bottleneck shifts dramatically depending on the resolution and settings chosen, making it an excellent case study for understanding the balance between a high-end CPU and a flagship GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear and predictable trend: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop, but the rate of that drop tells a compelling story about the limiting component. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at the High preset shows a steady decline from 232 FPS to 165 FPS to 86 FPS. This is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 4090's rendering workload becomes the primary constraint as pixel count rises.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 165 to 86, a reduction of roughly 48%. This significant performance hit at 4K is expected, as the GPU must process over twice the number of pixels compared to 1440p. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient, so the limitation is clearly the raw compute power required to fill those pixels, not memory capacity.

However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less dramatic, with FPS dropping from 232 to 165 (a ~29% decrease). This smaller relative drop suggests that at 1080p, the system is not purely GPU-bound. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is starting to become a more significant factor. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is able to feed frames fast enough to keep the GPU busier, but it is still not the absolute bottleneck, as the GPU is still the component that sees the largest workload increase with resolution.

The story is similar at the Ultra preset, where the frame rates are lower across the board. The drop from 1080p (188 FPS) to 1440p (119 FPS) is a 37% reduction, while the drop from 1440p to 4K (62 FPS) is a 48% reduction. This consistent pattern across presets reinforces that the RTX 4090 is the defining performance limit at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 62 FPS is the most demanding scenario in the dataset and shows a nearly three-fold performance reduction from the 1080p Low result, highlighting the immense scaling challenge posed by 4K rendering.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Outriders?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 290 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Does this system maintain playable frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes, the data shows playable results at 4K, ranging from an average of 62 FPS at Ultra settings to 158 FPS at Low settings. The Medium preset provides a comfortable 115 FPS average.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for this GPU in Outriders?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU becomes a relative bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the scaling to 1440p is less severe than the scaling from 1440p to 4K, suggesting the Ryzen 7 9700F is more involved in performance at 1080p, though it still delivers very high frame rates.

Q: How much of a performance gain is there from using Low settings over Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS increases from 119 on Ultra to 249 on Low, representing a performance gain of more than double.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 62 FPS, which was measured at 3840x2160 with the Ultra settings preset.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested combinations?

A: This specific configuration ranks 28th out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the top 1% of all systems tested.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings balance depends heavily on the user's target resolution and refresh rate. For gamers with a 60Hz 4K display, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 is viable, with an average of 62 FPS. This is the most demanding setting and provides the highest visual fidelity while still hitting the 60 FPS target. However, for those who prefer a higher frame rate buffer, the High preset at 4K offers a substantial improvement to 86 FPS, which is a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS and likely a better choice for smoother gameplay.

At 1440p, the data strongly supports the High preset as the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. It delivers an average of 165 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz or 165Hz displays, while the Ultra preset's 119 FPS would still be playable but leaves performance on the table for less visual gain. The Medium preset offers an even higher 219 FPS, which is beneficial for 240Hz panels, but the visual quality reduction from High may not be worth the extra frames for most users.

For 1080p, the system is so powerful that even the Ultra preset provides a high 188 FPS average. The High preset at 232 FPS is a better match for 240Hz monitors, and the Low preset at 290 FPS is the only way to approach 300 FPS, which is only relevant for the most extreme high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 258 FPS is a balanced option for 240Hz displays that want a slight visual improvement over Low. In summary, High settings at 1080p or 1440p, and High or Ultra at 4K, provide the best experiences per the measured rows.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Outriders is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance. The Low preset yields an average of 290 FPS. The Medium preset averages 258 FPS, with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 297 FPS. The High preset averages 232 FPS. The most demanding Ultra preset still achieves an average of 188 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, frame rates remain very high. The Low preset delivers an average of 249 FPS. The Medium preset averages 219 FPS, with a minimum of 187 FPS and a maximum of 252 FPS. The High preset averages 165 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 119 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. The Low preset still provides a highly playable average of 158 FPS. The Medium preset averages 115 FPS, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. The High preset averages 86 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 62 FPS.

This data shows a consistent, linear performance scaling across all three resolutions. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, showing a spread of roughly 30-35 FPS at each resolution, suggesting minor frame time variance.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware, the Ryzen 7 9700F and RTX 4090 combination is a top-tier performer. With a rank of 28 out of 2913 tested combos, this system sits in the 99th percentile of all configurations tested in Outriders. This ranking underscores the immense potential of this pairing, placing it among the elite few that can push this game to its limits.

The ranking reflects the strength of both components. The RTX 4090's raw power, evidenced by its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth, is a massive contributor. This is paired with the Ryzen 7 9700F, which, while not the absolute fastest CPU, boasts a strong single-thread score and an 8-core, 16-thread configuration that is more than capable of feeding the GPU. The results show that this system is not leaving significant performance on the table, as its high rank indicates it is performing in line with other top-tier combinations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is built on the Zen 5 architecture and is a modern 8-core, 16-thread processor. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide substantial processing power for game logic and physics. In the context of Outriders, the data suggests the CPU is a capable partner, but not the primary performance limiter. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 indicate strong performance that can keep up with the demands of a modern looter shooter.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. The performance scaling from 1080p (232 FPS on High) to 1440p (165 FPS on High) shows a 29% decrease, which is less than the 48% decrease seen from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is approaching its limit in feeding the GPU with draw calls and game state updates, preventing the GPU from reaching its absolute maximum potential. However, with an 8-core, 16-thread design and a 5.50 GHz boost clock, it still delivers incredibly high frame rates, making it a non-issue for the vast majority of gaming scenarios. The benchmark results indicate that this CPU is more than sufficient for Outriders, with the GPU being the clear limiting factor at all but the lowest resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed performance leader in this pairing. With a massive 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, it offers a staggering 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its 16384 shading units and boost clock of 2520 MHz deliver a peak FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. These specifications make it an absolute powerhouse for rendering high-resolution textures and complex visual effects, which is exactly what a game like Outriders demands at 4K.

The GPU's dominance is clear in the FPS data. It is the primary reason why the system can maintain 158 FPS at 4K Low and 86 FPS at 4K High. The scaling between presets at 4K (158 Low, 115 Medium, 86 High, 62 Ultra) demonstrates the GPU's workload scaling directly with visual complexity. The 24 GB VRAM capacity is more than adequate for Outriders, ensuring that texture loading and memory allocation are not bottlenecks. The GPU is the star of the show, and the data consistently shows it to be the determining factor for performance at 1440p and 4K resolutions, with the CPU only beginning to exert its influence at 1080p.