Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers a playable, if not always smooth, experience in Outriders across the tested configurations. The data reveals a system where the CPU provides ample headroom, leaving the GPU as the primary determinant of frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance metrics to guide settings selection and clarify the roles of each component.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured average FPS, the optimal experience balances visual fidelity with smooth gameplay. At 1080p, the High preset is the clear recommendation, delivering an average of 119 FPS. While the Low preset reaches a much higher 218 FPS average, the jump to Medium provides a substantial increase in visual quality for a modest 39 FPS cost (from 158 to 119). The Ultra preset, at 86 FPS average, is still playable but the drop from High is significant enough that High offers the best trade-off.

At 1440p, the High preset remains the best choice, with an average of 75 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. The Medium preset offers a higher 100 FPS average, which may be preferable for competitive play, but High provides a better balance of detail and performance. The Ultra preset, at just 54 FPS average, falls below the ideal threshold and is not recommended for a consistent experience.

At 4K, the situation changes. The Low preset is the only configuration that achieves a consistently playable frame rate, with an average of 72 FPS. The Medium preset, at 52 FPS, is borderline and will be subject to noticeable dips, as indicated by its 44 FPS minimum. The High and Ultra presets at 39 and 28 FPS average, respectively, are not suitable for smooth gameplay. Therefore, for 4K, Low is the only viable setting from the measured data, and even then, the experience is less robust than at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its substantial 128 MB of L3 cache is a key feature. In Outriders, the data indicates that this CPU is not the bottleneck. Across all resolutions, the performance scaling is almost entirely dictated by the GPU. For instance, at 1080p, the average FPS scales from 86 at Ultra to 218 at Low, a range that is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. If the CPU were the limiting factor, frame rates would plateau regardless of resolution or settings.

The CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739, suggest it has far more processing power than is needed to feed the RTX 5050. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 12490 and max-thread score of 13795 reinforce this. Even at 1080p with the Low preset, where the GPU is working its hardest to produce 218 FPS, the CPU's single-thread performance of 1269 in 3DMark is sufficient to keep up. The data suggests that this processor will not hinder performance in Outriders, allowing the GPU to be the sole focus for optimization. Its percentile ranking of 91 among all CPUs further confirms its high-end positioning, meaning it is unlikely to be a weak link in this specific game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 2317 MHz with a boost of 2572 MHz. The GPU's role is evident in the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p High, the average is 119 FPS, but this drops to 75 FPS at 1440p and further to 39 FPS at 4K. This halving of performance with each major resolution step is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering, where the graphics card's fill rate and shading power are saturated.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a potential concern for Outriders at higher settings. The data shows that at 4K, the Ultra preset yields only 28 FPS, a drastic drop from the 39 FPS at High. This significant performance cliff suggests that the memory or the GPU's compute resources are overwhelmed. While the exact VRAM usage is not in the data, the severe drop from High to Ultra at 4K, and the generally poor performance at that resolution, points to the RTX 5050 being the primary constraint. Its passmark G3D score of 17326 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2502 place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, indicating a mid-range part that is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The data confirms that for Outriders, the GPU, not the CPU, determines the playable settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination to achieve 60+ FPS?

A: The data shows that both 1080p and 1440p can achieve over 60 FPS on the High preset, with averages of 119 FPS and 75 FPS, respectively. At 4K, only the Low preset achieves a 72 FPS average.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever playable?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p, where it averages 86 FPS. At 1440p, the Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, and at 4K, it drops to a 28 FPS average, which is not playable.

Q: At 4K, which settings should I use?

A: Based on the measured data, the Low preset is the only one that provides a smooth experience, with an average of 72 FPS. The Medium preset at 52 FPS is borderline, and the High and Ultra presets are too demanding.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D's average benchmark score is 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, 2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6505P, and 2.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700F. It is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between the Low and High presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 137 FPS, while the High preset averages 75 FPS. This represents a 62 FPS difference, showing a significant performance cost for higher visual quality.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. This is evident from the large FPS drops when increasing resolution or settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU has sufficient headroom, as indicated by its high benchmark scores and the fact that performance scales directly with GPU load.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and consistent decline as resolution increases, confirming the GPU-bound nature of this test. Moving from 1080p to 1440p on the High preset, the average FPS drops from 119 to 75, a 37% reduction. Scaling further to 4K, the average falls to 39 FPS, which is a 48% reduction from the 1440p figure and a 67% reduction from 1080p.

This pattern is consistent across all settings. For the Medium preset, FPS drops from 158 at 1080p to 100 at 1440p, then to 52 at 4K. The Low preset shows the same trend, with averages of 218, 137, and 72 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively. The Ultra preset follows suit, with averages of 86, 54, and 28 FPS. The consistent halving of performance from 1080p to 4K across all presets indicates that the RTX 5050's rendering capabilities are the primary bottleneck. The CPU is capable of maintaining high frame rates; it is the GPU's inability to process pixels fast enough at higher resolutions that causes the FPS to plummet. This scaling behavior is a textbook example of a graphics-card-limited system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measurements for each resolution and settings combination.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--------- | :------- | :------ | :------ | :------ |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 218 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 158 | 135 | 182 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 119 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 86 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 137 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 100 | 85 | 115 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 75 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 54 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 52 | 44 | 60 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 72 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | High | 39 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 28 | - | - |

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with measured minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the frame time is stable, with a minimum of 135 and a maximum of 182 FPS. At 1440p, the range narrows to 85-115 FPS. At 4K, the range is 44-60 FPS, showing a tighter but lower performance envelope. This suggests that the Medium preset provides a more consistent frame pacing than the other settings, which only have average values listed.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Outriders, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1715 out of 2913 total combos. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is consistent with the mid-range positioning of the RTX 5050 GPU.

The rank is a composite measure, but given the analysis above, it is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance. The CPU is a high-end part, but the overall in-game experience is capped by the graphics card. This ranking means that while this combination is far from the worst, there are 1714 other CPU-GPU pairings that deliver higher frame rates in Outriders. For a user prioritizing high refresh rate or 4K gaming, this combination would be a limiting factor. However, for a 1080p or 1440p gaming experience on High settings, the combination's rank reflects a competent, if not top-tier, performance level. The data indicates that the system is well-balanced for its intended mid-range GPU market segment, but it is not designed for maximum performance in this title.