Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a top-tier experience in Outriders, securing a combo rank of 528 out of 3710 tested configurations. This places the pairing in the 86th percentile of all tested combos, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of systems in this specific title. The results show a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while still possessing enough CPU headroom to maintain excellent frame rates at 1080p. The data paints a picture of a high-end setup that offers flexibility across all settings, though the choice of preset has a pronounced and sometimes counterintuitive impact on performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 528 out of 3710 tested configurations is a strong indicator of its standing. It places the system comfortably in the top 15% of all tested hardware pairings for Outriders, demonstrating that this combination of CPU and GPU is well-suited for the game's demands. This ranking is not a surprise given the individual component strengths; the RTX 4080 itself sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, and the Ryzen 9 5950X is in the 91st percentile among all CPUs. When two components in the top 15% of their respective categories are combined, the resulting system is naturally going to perform at an elite level.

The benchmark data suggests that this combination is about as balanced as a high-end system can be for this title. While the GPU is the primary driver of performance, the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads ensure that it will never bottleneck the graphics card, even in less demanding settings. The ranking implies that users can expect a consistently smooth experience with minimal frame time hitches, as the system has ample resources to handle both the game's physics and AI calculations alongside the rendering workload.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the undisputed workhorse in this configuration. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a substantial 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Outriders at any resolution. The card's high memory capacity ensures that texture streaming and asset loading at 4K Ultra settings will not cause stutters, as evidenced by the playable frames at that demanding preset.

Clock speeds are another key factor in the GPU's performance. With a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, the card can sustain high frequencies under load. This allows it to push the polygonal and shader workloads of Outriders efficiently. The data shows that the GPU's headroom is so vast that in lower settings, it is able to produce frame rates well over 200, demonstrating that the card is never the limiting factor in those scenarios. The GPU's compute capabilities, including 9728 shading units and 304 tensor cores, further contribute to its ability to handle the game's visual effects without issue.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 at High settings provides an excellent balance, delivering 147 FPS. This is significantly higher than the 78 FPS at 4K High, and offers a smoother experience than the 1080p Ultra preset's 152 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5950X holding back the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 214 FPS, and the 5950X's high single-thread performance (a 3dmark_single_thread score of 944) ensures it can feed the GPU quickly. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads also provide ample headroom for background tasks and game logic.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The benchmark data shows them to be virtually identical. The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER has a score of 54209. The deltaPct is a mere 0.1%, indicating that performance between the two is indistinguishable in practical terms.

Q: Does the game prefer more CPU cores or higher clock speeds?

A: The 5950X has a boost clock of 4.90 GHz and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1614, which is strong. However, the game's performance scaling from 1080p to 4K (where FPS drops by more than 60%) suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, not the number of cores.

Q: Is it better to use the Low preset for maximum frame rate?

A: Yes, if raw frame rate is the goal, the Low preset at 1080p yields 214 FPS. However, the High preset at 1080p still produces a very high 172 FPS, suggesting that the visual fidelity of High is worth the modest performance cost.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes. At 4K High settings, the system averages 78 FPS, which is playable. While the 4K Ultra preset drops to 56 FPS, the Medium preset at 4K brings the frame rate up to a comfortable 104 FPS, offering a good balance of visual quality and performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for this hardware combination. The goal is to find a preset that maximizes visual quality while maintaining a consistently high frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset offers an excellent experience with an average of 172 FPS, which is only a minor drop from the 191 FPS of the Medium preset. The Ultra preset, at 152 FPS, is also highly playable but provides diminishing returns over High for the performance cost.

For 1440p, the High preset stands out as the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 147 FPS, which is a significant jump from the 108 FPS of the Ultra preset, while still looking considerably better than the Medium preset's 163 FPS. The 1440p High setting appears to be the optimal balance of image quality and fluidity, ensuring a competitive edge without sacrificing visual clarity.

At 4K, the situation changes. The Ultra preset is playable at 56 FPS, but the Medium preset offers a far smoother experience at 104 FPS. Given that the visual difference between Medium and High at 4K is often less noticeable than at lower resolutions, the Medium preset at 4K is the recommended choice for a 60+ FPS experience. The High preset at 78 FPS is also viable for those who prefer higher fidelity. The Low preset at 4K provides a staggering 143 FPS, but it is likely to introduce noticeable visual artifacts that detract from the experience on a large screen.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system is so powerful that even the Ultra preset produces a high average of 152 FPS. The Low preset pushes this to 214 FPS, with Medium at 191 FPS and High at 172 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at this resolution was 162 FPS on the Medium preset, suggesting that frame pacing is very consistent.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally high. The Low preset averages 184 FPS, while High and Medium average 147 FPS and 163 FPS, respectively. The Ultra preset drops to 108 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 139 FPS and a maximum of 188 FPS, indicating a broader but still acceptable frame time variance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload becomes the defining factor. The Low preset averages 143 FPS, which is remarkable for 4K. The Medium preset delivers a solid 104 FPS, with a minimum of 88 FPS. The High preset averages 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to an average of 56 FPS. This shows a clear progression where higher settings at 4K directly impact the average frame rate, but even the most demanding preset remains within the territory of playability.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, provides the computational foundation for this system. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensure it can handle both lightly-threaded tasks, like game logic, and heavily-threaded workloads with ease. In Outriders, the CPU's role is to feed the RTX 4080 with a constant stream of draw calls and physics calculations.

The benchmark data for the CPU shows excellent single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1614 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2083. This is crucial for a game engine that often relies on a few primary threads for core simulation. The strong multi-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017, ensures that the system remains responsive even when the GPU is maxed out. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is able to push the GPU to its limits, producing frame rates that are only constrained by the graphics card's own capabilities.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of frame rates from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 172 at 1080p to 147 at 1440p, a decrease of 25 FPS. Moving to 4K High, the frame rate drops to 78 FPS, a further decrease of 69 FPS. This massive drop from 1440p to 4K indicates that the RTX 4080's rendering workload is quadrupling in pixel count, and the GPU is struggling to keep up, despite its immense power.

This trend is even more pronounced at the Ultra preset. The 1080p Ultra average of 152 FPS falls to 108 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 56 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is over 48%, which is a clear sign that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's performance is essentially constant across these resolutions, so the bottleneck is unequivocally the graphics card's pixel and shading throughput. The fact that the 1080p Low preset hits 214 FPS, while 4K Low only reaches 143 FPS, reinforces this conclusion: the CPU has headroom to spare, but the GPU's fill rate is the ceiling.