Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 in Outriders presents a clear picture of a system where the graphics card is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the processor’s strength becomes evident at lower settings. The measured data shows a wide performance envelope, ranging from 32 FPS at 4K Ultra to 245 FPS at 1080p Low, with the CPU’s high core count and clock speeds ensuring that frame rates remain high whenever the GPU is not overwhelmed.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression across resolutions demonstrates a classic GPU-bound curve, with each step down in resolution yielding substantial performance gains. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 97 FPS at 1920x1080 to 61 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 36 FPS, and then further to 32 FPS at 3840x2160, which is less than one-third of the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are heavily taxed at 4K, as the pixel throughput requirement outpaces the GPU's compute resources.

Moving from High to Low settings at each resolution reveals the scaling behavior more precisely. At 1920x1080, the jump from High (134 FPS) to Low (245 FPS) represents an 83% increase, while at 2560x1440 the same settings change goes from 84 FPS to 155 FPS, an 85% improvement. At 3840x2160, Low yields 81 FPS versus 44 FPS on High, an 84% gain, showing that the GPU’s fill rate and shading units are the limiting factor across all resolutions when settings are reduced.

The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the system approaches a CPU-limited state, as the 245 FPS average is likely near the ceiling for the Ryzen 9 9900X3D in this title. The gap between Medium and High at 1080p is 44 FPS (178 vs. 134), while the gap between Low and Medium is 67 FPS (245 vs. 178), indicating diminishing returns as the GPU becomes more involved. At 4K, the scaling between Medium (59 FPS) and High (44 FPS) is only 15 FPS, confirming that the GPU is saturated and the CPU has ample headroom.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D brings 12 cores and 24 threads to Outriders, a game that benefits from multi-threaded processing but does not appear to scale linearly beyond a certain point. The processor’s base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz are high for a 12-core part, and its benchmark results show strong single-thread performance, which is relevant for games that rely on a primary rendering thread. In the 3dmark single-thread test, the CPU scores 1269, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 6739, both indicating solid per-core capability.

The CPU’s large 128 MB L3 cache is a notable feature, and in Outriders, this likely helps maintain consistent frame times by reducing memory latency during scene transitions and when many enemies are present. The benchmark data does not directly measure cache impact, but the FPS stability across settings—such as the 152-205 FPS range at 1080p Medium—suggests the CPU can feed the GPU without stutter. At 4K Ultra, where the GPU is the bottleneck, the CPU’s role is less critical, as the 32 FPS average is far below what the processor could deliver.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s average benchmark score of 54762 places it 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093) and 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053). These deltas are minor, indicating that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 9900X3D and these Intel parts would perform nearly identically. In Outriders, where the GPU is the limiter at most settings, this CPU difference would not manifest in measurable FPS changes, but at 1080p Low, the 245 FPS result shows the CPU can sustain high frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is found at 2560x1440 Medium, where the system averages 112 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and maximum of 129 FPS. This setting provides a smooth experience above 100 FPS on average, suitable for fast-paced combat, while retaining more visual fidelity than Low. The 96 FPS minimum indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not drop below a playable threshold.

For users with 1080p displays, High settings at 134 FPS are recommended, as the jump to Ultra only increases visual details but drops the average to 97 FPS, which is still smooth but leaves less headroom for dips. The 1080p Medium setting at 178 FPS is excessive for most monitors and sacrifices image quality unnecessarily. At 4K, the choice is more constrained: Medium at 59 FPS is playable but not ideal for competitive play, while Low at 81 FPS offers better frame pacing for a 60 Hz display. Ultra at 4K (32 FPS) is only suitable for slow-paced exploration, not combat.

The data shows that Low settings provide the highest frame rates at every resolution, but the visual downgrade is significant. For a game like Outriders, where readability of enemy attacks is crucial, Medium settings at 1440p strike the best compromise, as the 112 FPS average and 96 FPS minimum ensure consistent responsiveness without the blurriness of Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo in Outriders?

A: The highest measured average is 245 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that exceeds 200 FPS in the data.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, Medium settings yield 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS, while High drops to 44 FPS and Ultra to 32 FPS. Low settings reach 81 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X3D compare to its closest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The 9900X3D scores 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093) and 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053).

Q: Does the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM cause issues at any resolution?

A: The data does not show VRAM capacity errors, but the steep FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra (61 to 32 FPS) suggests the GPU’s memory bandwidth and capacity are insufficient for max settings at 4K.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1080p Medium?

A: The measured range is 152 FPS minimum to 205 FPS maximum, with an average of 178 FPS, indicating a variance of 53 FPS across the scene.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1800 out of 3710 tested combos, placing it in the middle of the database for Outriders performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip, is the limiting factor in this pairing at resolutions above 1080p. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest for a modern GPU. In Outriders, this bandwidth constraint becomes evident at 4K, where the average FPS at Ultra (32) is less than half of the 1440p Ultra result (61), despite the CPU having ample headroom.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and 3072 shading units deliver 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is sufficient for 1080p gaming at high settings. The measured 134 FPS at 1080p High demonstrates that the card is well-matched to this resolution, and the 245 FPS at Low shows it can push far beyond typical refresh rates when settings are reduced. However, the 48 ROPs and 96 TMUs limit the pixel and texture fill rates, which explains the disproportionate FPS drop at 4K where these resources are saturated.

The RTX 4060’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are older or integrated parts, with the AMD Radeon HD 7790 scoring 17666 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon 780M scoring 17588 (0.3% lower). This places the RTX 4060 in a performance tier that is adequate for Outriders at 1080p and 1440p, but not for 4K Ultra. The GPU’s 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates it is a mid-range part, and the data confirms that 1440p Medium or High is its sweet spot for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings average 245 FPS, Medium averages 178 FPS with a range of 152-205, High averages 134 FPS, and Ultra averages 97 FPS. The progression shows a consistent 30-40 FPS drop per settings tier, with the largest single drop from Low to Medium (67 FPS) and the smallest from High to Ultra (37 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the averages are 155 FPS on Low, 112 FPS on Medium (with a 96-129 range), 84 FPS on High, and 61 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 0.63x for Low (245 to 155), 0.63x for Medium (178 to 112), 0.63x for High (134 to 84), and 0.63x for Ultra (97 to 61). This consistent ratio indicates that the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count, but the absolute numbers are lower due to increased resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 81 FPS on Low, 59 FPS on Medium (with a 50-68 range), 44 FPS on High, and 32 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is 0.52x for Low (155 to 81), 0.53x for Medium (112 to 59), 0.52x for High (84 to 44), and 0.52x for Ultra (61 to 32). This more severe degradation suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth is the primary bottleneck, as the pixel count increase (2.25x) exceeds the bandwidth scaling.

The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings: 152 at 1080p, 96 at 1440p, and 50 at 4K. These minimums are 85%, 86%, and 85% of their respective averages, indicating that frame pacing is stable across resolutions on Medium. The lack of min/max data for other settings prevents a full analysis of frame consistency, but the available numbers suggest the system does not experience severe stutters.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 1800 out of 3710 tested combos in Outriders, placing it near the 51st percentile of the database. This middle-of-the-pack ranking reflects the mismatch between a high-end CPU and a mid-range GPU, where the CPU’s potential is not fully utilized at higher resolutions. The rank is likely pulled down by the GPU’s 61st percentile standing, as the CPU’s 91st percentile would otherwise suggest a top-tier result.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is not designed for maximum Outriders performance, but rather for a balanced 1080p experience with headroom for other tasks. The 1800th rank indicates that many combinations with stronger GPUs or more balanced pairings achieve higher FPS, especially at 1440p and 4K. However, the data shows that at 1080p Low, this combo outperforms most systems, as 245 FPS is a high result that only top-tier GPUs would exceed.

The ranking also reflects the RTX 4060’s position relative to its rivals, where the nearest competitors are within 1% of its average score. This means that swapping the GPU for a slightly different model would not significantly change the combo’s rank, as the CPU would remain the same. The combo’s rank is therefore more sensitive to GPU changes than CPU changes, which is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis showing the GPU as the primary limiter.