Outriders

# Outriders with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a fascinating performance profile in Outriders, one that shifts character dramatically depending on resolution and quality preset. At 1080p Low, the combo pushes 290 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 58 FPS — a 5x spread that reveals a system transitioning from CPU-bound to GPU-bound as pixel count rises. This analysis digs into the measured data to understand where each component's influence begins and ends.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and uneven across settings, which tells a clear story about bottleneck behavior. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 290 FPS at 1080p to 249 FPS at 1440p (a 14% reduction) and then to 148 FPS at 4K (another 41% drop). This progression suggests the GPU becomes increasingly taxed as resolution climbs, but the 1080p-to-1440p step is modest — likely because the CPU is still the limiting factor at 1080p Low, holding the system back from pushing even higher frame rates.

At High settings, the scaling is more dramatic: 232 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p (down 34%), and 81 FPS at 4K (down 47% from 1440p). The larger relative drop from 1080p to 1440p here compared to Low settings indicates that the extra graphical work at High is already engaging the GPU more fully at 1080p, making the resolution scaling more linear as GPU load increases.

Ultra settings show the most severe resolution penalty: 177 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p (down 37%), and 58 FPS at 4K (down 48%). The 4K Ultra result of 58 FPS is the lowest measured on this page, and the consistent pattern — each resolution step cutting roughly 37-48% of performance at Ultra — points to a purely GPU-limited scenario at the highest quality tier. The CPU is clearly not the constraint here, as even a weaker processor would likely deliver similar results at 4K Ultra.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 258 FPS at 1080p, 206 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result of 108 FPS is notably higher than the 4K High result of 81 FPS, suggesting that Medium removes enough GPU workload to keep frame rates comfortably above 60 FPS. Overall, the resolution scaling data indicates the RTX 5080 is the dominant performance limiter at 4K across all settings, while the Ryzen 7 9700F's influence is most visible at 1080p Low where the GPU is underutilized.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 2913 tested combos for Outriders, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 55th. That top 2% placement is strong, but it's worth questioning whether the ranking reflects the CPU, the GPU, or the synergy between them. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 87, meaning it outperforms 87% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 94 — a higher relative standing for the processor. This suggests the CPU is less of a limiting factor than the GPU, yet the combo still lands in the 55th spot overall.

The CPU's nearest rivals offer context for its contribution. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 on average, just 0.2% below the 9700F's 69996, while the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163, a 0.2% margin above. These are essentially statistical ties, meaning the 9700F is competing directly with top-tier desktop and mobile parts from the previous generation. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X trails by 0.7%, and the Intel Core i7-14700K is 0.9% behind — all within a 1.1% band, which indicates the CPU is performing at the very top of its class.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5080's nearest rivals show a tighter clustering. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, just 0.6% below the 5080's 56083, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 0.7% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 2.3%, while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is actually 2.2% ahead. This places the 5080 in a competitive mid-pack, but the combo ranking of 55th out of 2913 suggests the pairing works well together in Outriders specifically, likely because the game responds favorably to the CPU's strong single-thread performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for choosing settings based on your target frame rate and resolution. At 1080p, every preset delivers playable performance, but the differences are revealing: Low hits 290 FPS, Medium 258 FPS, High 232 FPS, and Ultra 177 FPS. The step from High to Ultra costs 55 FPS (24% reduction), which is substantial, but even Ultra at 177 FPS is far beyond what most displays can show. For competitive play at 1080p, Low or Medium makes sense to maximize frame rates, but the data shows the CPU is likely capping performance at this resolution — the 290 FPS at Low is only 32 FPS higher than High, suggesting diminishing returns from lowering settings further.

At 1440p, the story shifts. Low delivers 249 FPS, Medium 206 FPS, High 154 FPS, and Ultra 111 FPS. The Medium preset at 206 FPS is a strong balance — it's only 17% below Low but 34% above High, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh 1440p monitors. Ultra at 111 FPS is still playable but offers diminishing visual gains for the 45 FPS cost compared to Medium.

At 4K, the choices become more critical. Ultra drops to 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many consider minimum for smooth gameplay. High at 81 FPS is the better choice for visual quality while staying above 60 FPS, and Medium at 108 FPS provides headroom for demanding scenes. Low at 148 FPS is available for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals, but the jump from Medium to Low only gains 40 FPS — a smaller margin than the 27 FPS gained from High to Medium. For the best experience at 4K, the data supports High or Medium, depending on whether visual fidelity or frame rate stability matters more.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low averages 290 FPS, Medium 258 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and maximum of 297 FPS, High 232 FPS, and Ultra 177 FPS. The min/max data for Medium shows a 78 FPS spread, indicating some scene-to-scene variance, but the 219 FPS minimum is still exceptionally smooth. The 1080p results suggest the CPU is the primary limiter at this resolution, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop noticeably. Low averages 249 FPS, Medium 206 FPS with a min of 175 FPS and max of 237 FPS, High 154 FPS, and Ultra 111 FPS. The Medium preset's 62 FPS min/max spread is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is now taking on more consistent load. The 1440p numbers indicate a balanced system where both CPU and GPU contribute to performance, with no single component clearly dominating.

At 3840x2160, the GPU takes over as the limiting factor. Low averages 148 FPS, Medium 108 FPS with a min of 91 FPS and max of 124 FPS, High 81 FPS, and Ultra 58 FPS. The Medium min of 91 FPS is notable — it's the only 4K measurement with a reported minimum, and it stays above 60 FPS even in demanding scenes. The Ultra result of 58 FPS is the only average below 60 FPS on the entire page, marking it as the sole configuration that fails to maintain smooth gameplay by traditional standards.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory runs across a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1875 MHz, which translates to 30 Gbps effective. These specifications position the card as a high-end part, and its benchmark scores reflect that: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8637 and a Passmark G3D score of 36565.

In Outriders, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. The 4K results — 148 FPS at Low, 108 FPS at Medium, 81 FPS at High, and 58 FPS at Ultra — show a clear GPU-bound scenario where the card's raw compute and memory bandwidth determine performance. The 16 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this game even at 4K Ultra, as the measured frame rates don't suggest any memory capacity bottlenecks. The card's 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs provide the pixel throughput needed for high-resolution rendering, and the 293.1 GPixel/s pixel rate and 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 87 places it above most cards, but its nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon 8060S at 0.6% lower and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 0.7% lower — are surprisingly close in average benchmark scores. This suggests the 5080's advantage in Outriders comes from game-specific optimizations or driver behavior rather than raw hardware dominance. The 4K Ultra result of 58 FPS, while low, is still playable, and the fact that High at 4K hits 81 FPS indicates the card has enough headroom for high-quality gaming at 4K with some settings adjustments.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It runs at a base clock of 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and its 65 W TDP is notably low for a desktop part with this performance level. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample memory hierarchy for gaming workloads. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 confirm strong performance in both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded scenarios.

The CPU's role in Outriders is most evident at 1080p, where it appears to limit frame rates. At 1080p Low, the 290 FPS average is likely near the CPU's maximum output for this game, as the GPU would be capable of higher frame rates if unconstrained. The relatively small gap between Low (290 FPS), Medium (258 FPS), and High (232 FPS) at 1080p supports this interpretation — if the GPU were the limiting factor, the gaps between settings would be larger. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69996, places it just 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.2% below the Intel Core i7-14700KF, indicating it's performing at the top of its class.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence wanes. The 4K results show consistent frame rate scaling with settings, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance. However, the CPU's strong single-thread performance likely prevents any frame pacing issues or hitches that could occur with weaker processors. The 1080p Medium min of 219 FPS and max of 297 FPS show a 78 FPS variance, which could be CPU-related scene complexity, but the overall experience remains smooth. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR5 support ensure it can feed the GPU efficiently without becoming a bottleneck at 1440p and above.

FAQ

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo in Outriders?

A: The data shows High at 81 FPS and Medium at 108 FPS are both above 60 FPS, while Ultra drops to 58 FPS. High offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, with Medium providing additional headroom if you prioritize smoother gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The small FPS gaps between Low (290), Medium (258), and High (232) at 1080p suggest the CPU is the primary limiter at this resolution. The GPU has the capacity to render frames faster, but the Ryzen 7 9700F caps output around 290 FPS at Low.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 56083 is 0.6% above the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. However, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is 2.2% higher, meaning the 5080 isn't the absolute top performer in its tier.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: No, the 4K Ultra average is 58 FPS, which falls slightly below 60 FPS. However, the 4K High preset at 81 FPS and Medium at 108 FPS both exceed 60 FPS, so you can achieve smooth 4K gameplay by dropping one setting tier.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark percentile and what does it mean?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has a percentileVsAllCpus of 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 69996 places it within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.2% below the Intel Core i7-14700KF.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5080 have and is it enough for Outriders?

A: The RTX 5080 has 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus. The measured frame rates show no signs of memory capacity issues at any resolution or setting, indicating 16 GB is sufficient for Outriders at 4K Ultra.