Outriders

# Outriders with AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D + Intel Arc B390

This combination pairs AMD's flagship 8-core Zen 5 processor with Intel's integrated Arc Graphics-M solution, and the benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited across every resolution tested in Outriders. The Arc B390, which sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, produces frame rates that range from playable at 1080p Low to essentially unplayable at 4K Ultra, while the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's 92nd-percentile CPU performance remains largely untapped. The measured results show a clear pattern: this is a CPU that could drive far more capable graphics hardware, but with this IGP, Outriders demands settings discipline and resolution compromises to achieve acceptable performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a straightforward story about where the bottleneck lives. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 115 FPS at 1920x1080 to 72 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 38 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a far steeper decline than what a CPU-limited scenario would produce. When a processor is the limiting factor, resolution changes typically have minimal impact on frame rates; here, the scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload.

Looking at High settings, the pattern repeats: 63 FPS at 1080p drops to 40 FPS at 1440p and then to 21 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is only one-third of the 1080p figure, confirming that the Arc B390's rendering throughput is the dominant constraint. Even at Medium settings, where the 1440p result includes a measured minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS, the 4K average falls to 28 FPS with a minimum of 23 FPS — indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain any kind of smooth experience at higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior suggests that Outriders is exceptionally sensitive to pixel count on this hardware. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is roughly 37-40% across all settings presets, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is another 45-50%. This compounding degradation means that each step up in resolution roughly halves the available performance headroom. The data strongly indicates that the integrated GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are exhausted well before the CPU's capabilities come into play. For anyone considering this combo, the resolution scaling results argue strongly for staying at 1080p, where the Arc B390 can at least approach playable territory on lower presets.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process with 1,536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. Its boost clock reaches 2500 MHz from a 300 MHz base, producing 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," which means the GPU's performance is tied to whatever DDR5 memory the host system provides. The 80 W TDP and IGP form factor make clear this is not designed for demanding gaming workloads.

In Outriders specifically, the GPU's limitations are stark. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places the Arc B390 at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% ahead), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% ahead), GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% ahead), and GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% ahead). These are all entry-level or ancient parts, which puts the Arc B390's gaming expectations into perspective. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 15 FPS average — a slideshow by any standard. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 45 FPS average is borderline, and the lack of measured minimum/maximum values for Ultra presets suggests inconsistent frame pacing.

The 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are technically present, but with this level of raw throughput, enabling any RT features in Outriders would be counterproductive. The FP16 rate of 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1) shows the architecture has some compute headroom, but the 24 ROPs and shared memory bandwidth are severe bottlenecks for a game that needs to fill a 4K framebuffer. The texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s is also modest, which explains why High and Ultra presets cause such significant frame rate drops compared to Low. The GPU's role in this combo is simple: it is the limiting factor at every resolution, and its performance ceiling is roughly 115 FPS at 1080p Low — a result that flatters the hardware because the CPU is doing very little work.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, base clock of 4.70 GHz, and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, 1 MB L2 per core, and 80 KB L1 per core, built on TSMC's 4 nm process with 8,315 million transistors. The 120 W TDP and unlocked multiplier indicate a high-end desktop part, and its benchmark results confirm that positioning: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22,807, single-core of 2,228, and a Passmark multi-thread score of 41,318. The CPU sits at the 92nd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 58,386.

In Outriders, however, the CPU's role is almost entirely passive. The measured frame rates are so low that the processor never approaches its limits. Consider the nearest CPU rivals: the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58,323 (0.1% behind), the Intel Xeon w5-2545 scores 58,504 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58,115 (0.5% behind), and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 scores 58,826 (0.7% ahead). All of these processors are within 1% of the 9850X3D's average score, yet none of them would meaningfully change Outriders performance with an Arc B390 attached. The game's CPU demands are easily satisfied by any of these parts; the GPU is the constraint.

The 8-core/16-thread configuration with high boost clocks is more than adequate for Outriders' looter-shooter mechanics, which typically involve physics calculations, AI pathfinding, and particle effects. The 96 MB L3 cache helps with data locality, and the Passmark data encryption score of 22,856 and integer math score of 123,140 show strong general-purpose throughput. But in this game, the CPU's contribution is limited to ensuring the GPU receives frames as fast as it can render them. At 1080p Low, the 115 FPS average is likely near the GPU's maximum output, not the CPU's. The data indicates that if you paired this CPU with a discrete GPU, the 9850X3D would have no trouble feeding it in Outriders, but with the Arc B390, the processor is effectively idle for large portions of each frame.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2,582 out of 2,913 tested combinations in Outriders, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems measured. This is a poor result, but it is entirely attributable to the GPU component. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and given that the Arc B390 sits at the 9th GPU percentile while the CPU sits at the 92nd, the ranking is exactly what the hardware disparity would predict. The combo is essentially a high-end CPU shackled to an entry-level integrated GPU, and Outriders' results show the consequences.

For context, the 2,582nd rank out of 2,913 means there are only 331 tested combos that perform worse. Those worse-performing systems would almost certainly feature older or weaker integrated graphics or very dated discrete GPUs. The data shows that this combo's best result — 115 FPS at 1080p Low — is respectable for an IGP but far from competitive with even mid-range discrete solutions. The gap between this combo and the median tested system is substantial, and the gap to top-tier combos is enormous. If you are building a system for Outriders specifically, this rank should be a warning: the CPU investment is wasted unless you plan to upgrade the GPU later.

The percentile data reinforces this assessment. The CPU's 92nd-percentile standing means it is better than 92% of all processors, but the GPU's 9th-percentile standing means it is worse than 91% of all GPUs. When combined, the system's performance is dictated by the weaker component, and the resulting rank reflects that. The takeaway is straightforward: this combo is only suitable for Outriders at low resolutions and settings, and even then, the experience will be modest. The 9850X3D is a future-proofing play, but the Arc B390 is a temporary solution at best.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience comes from running Outriders at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. At this configuration, the average FPS is 115, which is smooth and responsive, and there are no reported minimum or maximum values to suggest frame pacing issues. This is the only settings combination in the entire measured set that exceeds 100 FPS, and it does so by a wide margin. The 1080p Medium preset delivers 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 and maximum of 96, which is also playable, but the 32 FPS drop from Low to Medium suggests that the visual improvements are not worth the performance cost on this hardware.

At 1440p, the Low preset yields 72 FPS, which is acceptable for casual play, but the Medium preset drops to 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 — borderline for a looter shooter where fast reactions matter. At 4K, every preset is below 40 FPS, with Ultra at 15 FPS being completely unplayable. The data shows that 1080p Low is the sweet spot, and 1080p Medium is the maximum settings level that maintains a playable frame rate. Any higher preset or resolution will result in a compromised experience.

For players who prioritize visuals over frame rate, 1080p High at 63 FPS is technically playable, but the 52 FPS gap between Low and High indicates that the GPU is being pushed hard. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is at the edge of playability, and the lack of minimum/maximum data for that preset suggests potential stuttering. The recommendation is clear: stick with 1080p Low for competitive play, or 1080p Medium if you want slightly better visuals without sacrificing too much performance. There is no scenario where 4K is viable on this combo, and 1440p should only be considered with Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression: Low averages 115 FPS, Medium averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 and maximum of 96, High averages 63 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 32 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs another 20 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 18 FPS. This scaling indicates that each preset tier adds significant GPU workload, and the differences between presets are not linear — the jump from Low to Medium is the most expensive in absolute terms.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low averages 72 FPS, Medium averages 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 and maximum of 61, High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The 1440p results are roughly 63% of the 1080p figures at each preset, which aligns with the resolution scaling expectations. The Medium preset's minimum of 45 FPS is concerning because it suggests that even moderate action scenes can cause noticeable frame drops. The Ultra preset at 29 FPS is borderline unplayable for a shooter.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low averages 38 FPS, Medium averages 28 FPS with a minimum of 23 and maximum of 32, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. None of these are playable for a looter shooter, where consistent frame rates are critical for aiming and dodging. The Medium preset's minimum of 23 FPS indicates that the system can dip into single-digit territory during heavy scenes, even though the average is 28. The 4K Ultra result of 15 FPS is the worst measured configuration, and it is roughly 13% of the 1080p Low result, highlighting the extreme performance gradient across this combo's operating range.

The complete picture shows that this system has a usable envelope of roughly 115 FPS at 1080p Low down to 15 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data is consistent and predictable, with no anomalies that would suggest driver issues or thermal throttling. For Outriders, the practical takeaway is that 1080p is the only resolution that offers a consistently playable experience, and even there, the preset selection is critical. The measured FPS values across all 12 configurations provide a complete map of this combo's capabilities, and they all point to the same conclusion: the GPU is the limiting factor, and the CPU is waiting for a better graphics card to unlock its potential.