Outriders

# Outriders with AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The data for Outriders with this AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination shows a system that sits in the 68th percentile of all tested combos for this game, ranking 920th out of 2913 configurations. What stands out immediately is the dramatic swing in performance across settings and resolutions — from 278 FPS at 1080p Low down to 36 FPS at 4K Ultra — which suggests the RTX 3070 becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises, while the CPU's 8-core/16-thread design with a 96 MB L3 cache keeps low-resolution frame rates exceptionally high.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how this combo scales as resolution increases, and the pattern is telling. At 1080p Low, the system produces 278 FPS — a figure that indicates the CPU and GPU are both working efficiently, with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's 5.60 GHz boost clock and the RTX 3070's 1725 MHz boost clock providing ample headroom. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 175 FPS, a 37% reduction that shows the GPU starting to feel the pixel load. At 4K Low, the average falls to 92 FPS, which is a 67% drop from 1080p Low — a steep decline that points squarely at the RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth as the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior across the settings presets reinforces this interpretation. At Medium settings, the progression goes from 202 FPS at 1080p, to 128 FPS at 1440p, to 67 FPS at 4K — each step down representing roughly a 37-48% loss. At High settings, the same pattern holds: 152 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with 109 FPS at 1080p dropping to 69 FPS at 1440p and just 36 FPS at 4K. That final Ultra 4K figure is less than a third of the 1080p Ultra result, and it suggests the RTX 3070's 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical effects.

The fact that 1080p Low achieves 278 FPS while 4K Ultra limps to 36 FPS — a 7.7x difference — indicates that the CPU is rarely the limiting component in this pairing. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 4.70 GHz, are more than capable of feeding frames at lower resolutions. The data implies that players targeting 4K will need to make significant compromises, while those at 1080p have enormous overhead to spare.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 920th out of 2913 tested combos for Outriders, placing it in the 68th percentile overall. That rank is respectable but not elite, and the data suggests why: while the CPU is a top-tier part — the Ryzen 7 9850X3D sits in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 58386 — the GPU is more mid-pack, with the RTX 3070 landing in the 61st percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 17208. The combination of a very strong CPU with a moderately strong GPU produces a system that excels at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database provides context for its position. The RTX 3070's average score of 17208 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT at 17083, a 0.7% difference. It also trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037, 1% ahead) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019, 1.1% ahead), while trailing the NVIDIA Tesla K40c (17468, -1.5%). These narrow margins show that the RTX 3070 is clustered tightly with its performance peers, and in Outriders specifically, the 4K results reflect that mid-pack positioning.

For the CPU, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. Its average score of 58386 is just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323), 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115), and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826). This clustering at the top of the CPU charts means the processor is delivering near-maximum performance in this game, and any frame rate limitations in Outriders are almost certainly GPU-bound rather than CPU-bound.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of which presets deliver the best experience at each resolution. Starting with 1080p, the Medium preset at 202 FPS (with a minimum of 172 FPS and maximum of 232 FPS) offers an excellent balance — the frame rate is high enough for any display refresh rate, and the minimum FPS suggests stability. High at 152 FPS is also very playable, while Ultra at 109 FPS is still smooth but shows a significant drop from Medium. For competitive play at 1080p, Low at 278 FPS is the obvious choice, but for most players, Medium or High will provide better visual fidelity without sacrificing responsiveness.

At 1440p, the data points to High as the sweet spot. The 96 FPS average at High settings is comfortably above 60 FPS, and while Medium reaches 128 FPS (with a range of 108-147 FPS), the visual improvement from High likely justifies the 32 FPS cost. Ultra at 69 FPS is borderline — it hits the 60 FPS threshold but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Low at 175 FPS is overkill for most displays and sacrifices too much visual quality.

At 4K, the recommendations become more constrained. Medium at 67 FPS (minimum 57 FPS) is the only preset that stays near the 60 FPS target, and even then the minimum dips below it. High at 50 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced looter shooter combat, while Low at 92 FPS is the only way to get a truly smooth 4K experience. Ultra at 36 FPS is not recommended for anything other than screenshots. The data suggests that 4K players should stick with Medium or drop the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full set of measured results provides a comprehensive view of this combo's performance. At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 92 FPS, Medium 67 FPS (with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 77), High 50 FPS, and Ultra 36 FPS. At 2560x1440, the progression is: Low 175 FPS, Medium 128 FPS (minimum 108, maximum 147), High 96 FPS, and Ultra 69 FPS. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 278 FPS, Medium 202 FPS (minimum 172, maximum 232), High 152 FPS, and Ultra 109 FPS.

Several observations emerge from these numbers. First, the gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution decreases: at 1080p, Ultra is 169 FPS slower than Low (278 vs 109), while at 4K, the gap is 56 FPS (92 vs 36). This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so heavily loaded that preset differences matter less in absolute terms, but at lower resolutions, the GPU has enough spare capacity to render more effects without collapsing frame rates. Second, the Medium preset consistently provides the only data with minimum and maximum FPS values, suggesting it was the only preset stable enough for detailed measurement — the other presets likely had too much variance or the measurements were simplified.

The minimum FPS values for Medium are particularly informative: at 1080p, the minimum is 172 FPS, which is still higher than the 4K Low average of 92 FPS. This shows that even in demanding scenes, the system at 1080p Medium never dips below what most players would consider excellent performance. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 108 FPS is still very smooth, while at 4K Medium, the minimum of 57 FPS occasionally drops below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that 4K Medium is right at the edge of playability.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 is built on the GA104 chip with 8 nm process technology from Samsung, packing 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. With 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, the GPU offers 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 20.31 TFLOPS of FP16 (1:1). It also includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, though Outriders does not appear to leverage ray tracing based on the measured results.

The VRAM situation is worth examining. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, the RTX 3070 is at the edge of what modern games require at high resolutions. The 4K results — particularly the steep drop from Medium (67 FPS) to High (50 FPS) to Ultra (36 FPS) — suggest that memory capacity or bandwidth is contributing to the performance cliff. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is substantial, but at 4K with high-resolution textures, the 8 GB pool may force the GPU to compress data or reduce texture quality, explaining why the High and Ultra presets see such dramatic frame rate losses.

The GPU's clock behavior also plays a role. With a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1725 MHz, the RTX 3070 has a modest overclocking headroom, but in Outriders, the actual sustained clocks are not measured in the data. Given the 220 W TDP and the suggested 550 W PSU, the card is clearly designed for high-end gaming, but the 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS shows that it cannot handle the most demanding settings at maximum resolution. The pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s are impressive on paper, but the real-world results tell a more nuanced story.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in Outriders?

A: The data shows 1440p High at 96 FPS provides a strong balance of visual quality and smoothness, while 1080p Medium at 202 FPS (minimum 172 FPS) is the most comfortable option for high-refresh-rate displays. At 4K, Medium at 67 FPS is the only preset that approaches 60 FPS.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so dramatically from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop from 278 FPS at 1080p Low to 92 FPS at 4K Low — a 67% reduction — indicates the RTX 3070 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed by the pixel load at 4K, while the CPU's 5.60 GHz boost clock keeps 1080p performance extremely high.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the performance in Outriders?

A: The evidence points to the GPU. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D ranks in the 92nd percentile among CPUs with 8 cores and 16 threads, while the RTX 3070 ranks in the 61st percentile among GPUs. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 278 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU drops to 36 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K Medium, the average is 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS, which is playable but occasionally dips below 60 FPS. At 4K Low, the average jumps to 92 FPS, making it the best option for 4K smoothness. High (50 FPS) and Ultra (36 FPS) are not recommended for gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 17208 is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17083), 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037), and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019), while trailing the NVIDIA Tesla K40c (17468) by 1.5%.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the RTX 3070?

A: The launch MSRP is 499 USD. The data shows the card is end-of-life, having been released in 2020, but it still performs competitively in Outriders at 1080p and 1440p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a Zen 5 architecture processor (Granite Ridge codename) built on a 4 nm process from TSMC, with 8 cores and 16 threads. It operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts up to 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The 96 MB shared L3 cache is a defining feature of the X3D series, and in Outriders, this large cache likely explains why the CPU never appears to bottleneck the GPU at any resolution.

The processor's benchmark scores reinforce its high-end positioning. In Cinebench R23, it scores 22807 multi-core and 2228 single-core. In Cinebench R15, the scores are 3551 multi-core and 343 single-core. Passmark results include 41318 multithread, 4704 single-thread, 123140 integer math, 81998 floating point math, and 474501 data compression. The CPU's percentile ranking of 92 among all CPUs, with an average score of 58386, places it just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900.

In the context of Outriders, the CPU's role is best understood by looking at the 1080p Low result of 278 FPS. This is an exceptionally high frame rate that most GPUs could not feed, and it indicates the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is providing enough single-thread performance (4.70 GHz base, 5.60 GHz boost) to keep the RTX 3070 fully occupied. The 16 threads also help with the game's background tasks, though Outriders is not known for heavy multi-threading. As resolution increases, the CPU's influence diminishes — the 4K results are nearly identical to what any modern 8-core CPU would produce — confirming that this is a GPU-limited scenario at high resolutions.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, along with PCIe Gen 5 support with 24 lanes, ensures that data transfer to the GPU is not a limiting factor. The integrated Radeon Graphics are present but irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU. Overall, the data shows the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is more than sufficient for Outriders, and the system's performance ceiling is determined by the RTX 3070's capabilities, especially at 4K.