Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents an extreme asymmetry in Outriders: a top-tier 12-core processor driving a graphics solution whose benchmark percentile sits at just 9, with measured frame rates that place this combination near the very bottom of the database. The data shows a system where the CPU is effectively idle from a gaming bottleneck perspective, while the GPU is overwhelmed at every resolution above 1080p Low.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling curve. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 115 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 72 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 38 FPS, which is 67% lower than the 1080p Low result. This steep decline with each pixel count increase is the signature of a graphics card that has exhausted its rendering capacity well before the CPU can become a limiting factor.

The High settings preset tells a similar story but with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p High, the average is 63 FPS. Dropping to 1440p High yields 40 FPS, and at 4K High the average is just 21 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings is a 47.5% performance loss, which is proportionally larger than the Low preset’s drop from 1440p to 4K (47.2%). This indicates that as settings increase, the GPU’s fill rate and shading throughput become even more strained, making the resolution penalty steeper.

Medium settings show the most complete data, with min and max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 83 FPS with a min of 71 and max of 96. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 53 FPS, with min 45 and max 61. At 4K Medium, the average is 28 FPS, with min 23 and max 32. The min-to-max spread at 4K Medium is only 9 FPS, suggesting that frame pacing is consistent but the overall performance is too low for comfortable play. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Medium is 36.1%, and between 1440p and 4K Medium is 47.2%.

Ultra settings are nearly unplayable beyond 1080p. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 45 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 29 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, the average is just 15 FPS. The drop from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra is 35.6%, and from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 48.3%. The 4K Ultra result of 15 FPS is below the minimum threshold for any smooth gameplay experience, and even the 1080p Ultra average of 45 FPS would feel stuttery in a fast-paced looter shooter.

What this scaling pattern says about the limiting component is unambiguous. The CPU’s performance headroom is never tested because the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough at any resolution above 1080p Low. The fact that 1080p Low reaches 115 FPS while 1080p Ultra drops to 45 FPS—a 60.9% reduction—confirms that the GPU’s shader units and memory subsystem are the binding constraint. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has the single-thread and multi-thread capacity to handle far higher frame rates, but the Arc B390’s 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and system-shared memory simply cannot deliver.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is built on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 3 nm process. Its base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM; the GPU uses the same DDR5 memory pool as the CPU, with bandwidth described as “System Dependent.” This is a critical weakness for a game like Outriders, which relies on streaming large texture assets and particle effects.

The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. Its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s. The FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). There are 12 ray tracing cores, though the measured benchmarks do not indicate whether ray tracing was enabled in any of the tested presets. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which are all modern APIs that Outriders can leverage.

The GPU’s benchmark standing is poor. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with a score of 1463 (1.3% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% lower). These are all extremely low-end parts from previous generations, which contextualizes the Arc B390’s position: it is competing with entry-level GPUs from over a decade ago, not with modern discrete graphics cards.

The system-shared memory is particularly problematic for Outriders. The game’s High and Ultra presets likely require several gigabytes of video memory for textures and geometry. With no dedicated VRAM, the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth, and the “System Dependent” bandwidth means performance can vary based on the system’s memory configuration. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Medium, the average of 83 FPS is modest, and at 1440p Medium it falls to 53 FPS. This suggests that memory bandwidth constraints are biting early, well before the GPU’s compute units are fully saturated.

The boost clock of 2500 MHz is not exceptional, but the architecture’s low transistor count and limited ROPs are the real bottlenecks. With only 24 ROPs, the pixel fill rate is capped at 60.00 GPixel/s, which explains why 4K resolutions crush performance. At 3840x2160, there are 8.3 million pixels per frame; at 60 GPixel/s, the theoretical maximum fill rate would allow about 7 frames per millisecond, but real-world efficiency losses bring the measured average far lower, as seen in the 21 FPS High, 28 FPS Medium, and 15 FPS Ultra results at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured FPS data, the only playable preset at 1080p is Low, which delivers 115 FPS average. Medium at 1080p provides 83 FPS, which is also acceptable for a looter shooter, but the jump from Low to Medium costs 32 FPS. High at 1080p drops to 63 FPS, which is still technically playable but may feel less fluid during intense combat encounters. Ultra at 1080p is 45 FPS, which is borderline for a game that rewards fast aiming and quick reactions.

At 1440p, the situation tightens. Low settings produce 72 FPS, which is smooth. Medium produces 53 FPS, which is playable but with noticeable compromises. High drops to 40 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS. For a 1440p monitor, Low is the recommended preset if frame rate consistency is the priority, while Medium offers a better visual experience at the cost of 19 FPS versus Low.

At 4K, no preset is truly playable. Low yields 38 FPS, Medium yields 28 FPS, High yields 21 FPS, and Ultra yields 15 FPS. Even the Low preset at 4K would be a poor experience in a game where enemy density and particle effects can cause sudden frame drops. The min FPS data for Medium at 4K is 23 FPS, which means the experience can dip well below the average during heavy scenes.

The best experience per the measured rows is clearly 1080p Low or 1080p Medium. Low provides the highest headroom above 60 FPS, with 115 FPS average, while Medium at 83 FPS still offers a substantial margin. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, 1080p High at 63 FPS is the highest preset that stays near the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra should be avoided entirely, as even at 1080p it only reaches 45 FPS, and the visual uplift from High to Ultra is rarely worth a 28.6% performance penalty in a fast-paced game.

The data suggests that this combo is not suited for 1440p or 4K gaming in Outriders. The GPU’s percentile rank of 9 means it is outpaced by 91% of all GPUs in the database, and the measured FPS confirms that even at lower resolutions, the visual settings must be kept modest. For a 1080p display with Low or Medium settings, the combo can deliver a playable experience, but anything above that requires either a resolution reduction or a settings drop.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 115 FPS. Medium settings average 83 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 96 FPS. High settings average 63 FPS. Ultra settings average 45 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 70 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s performance degrades significantly as shader complexity increases.

1440p: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 72 FPS. Medium settings average 53 FPS, with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS. High settings average 40 FPS. Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 43 FPS. The Medium preset’s min of 45 FPS shows that even this middle ground can have dips below the 60 FPS target.

4K: At 3840x2160, Low settings average 38 FPS. Medium settings average 28 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and maximum of 32 FPS. High settings average 21 FPS. Ultra settings average 15 FPS. No preset at 4K reaches even 40 FPS, and the Ultra result of 15 FPS is below the threshold for a consistent slideshow.

The Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range from 71 to 96 FPS shows a 25 FPS swing, which is noticeable but manageable. At 1440p, the range from 45 to 61 FPS is tighter, but the lower bound is already below playable thresholds for many users. At 4K, the range from 23 to 32 FPS is a 9 FPS spread, indicating that the GPU is running at its absolute limit with little headroom for demanding scenes.

Comparing presets at the same resolution, the drop from Low to Medium is consistent: 32 FPS at 1080p (115 to 83), 19 FPS at 1440p (72 to 53), and 10 FPS at 4K (38 to 28). The drop from Medium to High is 20 FPS at 1080p (83 to 63), 13 FPS at 1440p (53 to 40), and 7 FPS at 4K (28 to 21). The drop from High to Ultra is 18 FPS at 1080p (63 to 45), 11 FPS at 1440p (40 to 29), and 6 FPS at 4K (21 to 15). These diminishing absolute losses at higher resolutions are typical of a GPU that is already saturated; the relative percentage losses are actually larger at 4K, but the absolute frame counts are so low that the differences feel smaller.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2582 out of 2913 tested combinations in Outriders. This places it in the bottom 11.4% of all combos in the database. Given the GPU’s 9th percentile standing, this ranking is expected. The CPU’s percentile of 91 is irrelevant here because the GPU cannot translate CPU capability into frame rate.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the overall benchmark database are all NVIDIA parts from the GT 500 and 800 series. The GT 520MX is 1.3% slower, the GeForce 800M is 1.5% slower, the GT 625 OEM is 2.5% slower, and the GT 710 is 2.7% slower. These are not modern gaming GPUs; they are entry-level laptop and OEM parts. That the Arc B390 sits just slightly above them in the Steel Nomad DX12 test underscores its low absolute performance.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, in contrast, are all modern desktop processors. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF is 0.6% slower in average benchmark score, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K is 1.3% faster, the Intel Xeon 6505P is 2.0% faster, and the Intel Core i7-14700F is 2.1% faster. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D holds its own against these parts, but in Outriders, this CPU advantage translates to nothing because the GPU is the limiting factor.

The comboRankInGame of 2582 means that 331 other tested combos perform worse than this one. That is a small fraction of the 2913 total, confirming that this pairing is on the low end for Outriders. For context, the GPU’s percentile of 9 suggests that 91% of GPUs would perform better, which aligns with the combo ranking. The CPU’s high percentile does not lift the combo because the game is not CPU-bound at any measured settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on TSMC’s 4 nm process. Its base clock is 4.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The L3 cache is 128 MB, with 80 KB L1 and 1 MB L2 per core. It supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and it has 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. The TDP is 120 W. The launch MSRP is $599.

In CPU benchmarks, the 9900X3D scores 1269 in 3DMark single-thread, 2512 in 2-thread, 4885 in 4-thread, 9002 in 8-thread, 12490 in 16-thread, and 13795 in max-thread tests. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 6739 single-core and 47737 multi-core. Geekbench scores are 3041 single-core and 22884 multi-core. PassMark scores include 4646 single-thread and 56154 multithread. Its average benchmark score is 54762, with a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs.

These are excellent numbers. The single-thread performance of 6739 in Cinebench R23 and 1269 in 3DMark single-thread would allow the CPU to feed frames far faster than the GPU can render them. The multi-thread scores, particularly the 47737 in Cinebench R23 and 13795 in 3DMark max-threads, indicate that even heavily threaded workloads in Outriders—such as physics calculations and AI for large enemy groups—would not strain this processor.

However, in the measured FPS data, the CPU’s role is entirely passive. At 1080p Low, the average of 115 FPS is the highest measured result, but that is still a modest figure for a CPU of this caliber. A single-thread score of 1269 in 3DMark suggests that the CPU could support 200+ FPS in many titles, but the Arc B390 cannot produce those frames. The CPU’s base and boost clocks of 4.40 and 5.50 GHz are high, but the GPU’s boost clock of 2500 MHz with only 1536 shading units caps the frame rate.

The memory support of DDR5 with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth is another area where the CPU is ahead of the GPU’s needs. Since the GPU uses system-shared memory, the CPU’s memory controller could theoretically provide fast access, but the “System Dependent” bandwidth for the GPU means the actual performance is limited by the integrated graphics’ ability to use that bandwidth efficiently. The CPU’s 128 MB L3 cache is irrelevant to the GPU’s rendering workload.

The 9900X3D’s nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which is 0.6% slower in average score, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, which is 1.3% faster. The Xeon 6505P is 2.0% faster, and the Core i7-14700F is 2.1% faster. These deltas are all within a few percentage points, meaning the 9900X3D is competitive with modern mid-range and high-end desktop CPUs. But in Outriders, this competitive position does not translate to better frame rates because the GPU is the sole determinant of performance.

The CPU’s 12 cores and 24 threads are far more than Outriders requires. The game is not known for heavy multi-threading, and even if it were, the GPU would still be the bottleneck. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 6739 in Cinebench R23 suggests that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would need to feed frames quickly, it has massive headroom. The measured 115 FPS at 1080p Low is likely limited by the GPU’s vertex processing and pixel fill, not by the CPU’s draw call handling.

In summary, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a top-tier processor that provides no benefit to this specific combo in Outriders. The GPU’s 9th percentile performance and its system-shared memory architecture create a hard ceiling that no CPU can overcome. The data shows that the combo’s rank of 2582 out of 2913 is almost entirely due to the GPU’s limitations, while the CPU’s 91st percentile standing is wasted in this configuration. For anyone considering this pairing, the measured FPS indicates that the CPU is overkill for the GPU, and the practical experience will be dictated by the Arc B390’s modest capabilities, not the 9900X3D’s substantial compute power.