Outriders

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination sits at the very top of the Outriders benchmark leaderboard, ranking 1st out of 1,693 tested CPU and GPU pairings. This is a flagship pairing built around AMD's 16-core Zen 5 architecture and NVIDIA's Blackwell 2.0 GPU, and the measured frame rates reflect that positioning. The data shows this combo is capable of pushing Outriders well past the 60 FPS threshold at every settings preset tested, even at 4K Ultra, which is the most demanding configuration in the dataset.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings 16 cores and 32 threads to the table, with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz. This is a Zen 5 part built on the Granite Ridge codename, using a 4 nm process from TSMC. The CPU's cache layout includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a large 128 MB of shared L3 cache. For a looter shooter like Outriders, which features dense enemy encounters and numerous particle effects, this combination of high core count and substantial cache helps maintain consistent frame pacing.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 71,660. Its closest rival in the data is the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270, which scores 71,056 and trails by 0.9%. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70,420, putting the 9950X3D 1.8% ahead of its non-3D V-Cache sibling. The Intel Xeon 6517P scores 73,050, which is 1.9% higher, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,104, which is 2.2% lower. In multi-threaded workloads, the 9950X3D posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 59,712, while its single-core score is 8,430. The 3DMark results show a max-thread score of 17,184 and a single-thread score of 1,292, indicating strong scaling across all core counts.

In Outriders specifically, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at lower resolutions, but it still provides enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090. The measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 289.7 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU far more frames than the game's rendering pipeline can output at higher settings. The 128 MB of L3 cache is particularly relevant for this game type, as it reduces memory latency when the engine streams in new enemy AI routines and loot drop calculations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It carries 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU's base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines give it a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS.

The RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, scores 84,241 and is just 0.1% behind. The RTX 5050 Mobile scores 84,171, trailing by 0.2%, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scores 83,209, which is 1.3% lower. The NVIDIA CMP 40HX scores 85,637, putting it 1.6% ahead. In synthetic tests, the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 14,411, and Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 380,114 and 379,571 respectively.

For Outriders, the 32 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond what this game requires at any resolution, meaning memory pressure is never a limiting factor. The high bandwidth and raw compute throughput allow the GPU to maintain high frame rates even when shadow quality, ambient occlusion, and post-processing effects are maxed out. The data shows the GPU scales almost linearly with resolution when settings are held constant, which is a hallmark of a compute-bound scenario rather than a memory-bandwidth-limited one.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 289.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 249.7 FPS, a 13.8% reduction. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 165 FPS, which is 43% lower than the 1080p Low result. This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the GPU is still the primary limiter even at 1080p, but the CPU's headroom allows the system to push very high frame rates.

At High settings, the scaling is more pronounced. The 1080p High result is 231.9 FPS, 1440p High is 172.6 FPS (a 25.6% drop), and 4K High is 88.1 FPS (a 62% drop from 1080p). This steeper decline at higher settings points to the GPU becoming increasingly saturated as shader complexity grows. The Ultra preset shows the largest relative drop: 1080p Ultra runs at 193.5 FPS, 1440p Ultra at 124.8 FPS, and 4K Ultra at 61.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is 68% lower than the 1080p Ultra figure, confirming that the RTX 5090 is the limiting component at the highest resolutions and settings.

The Medium preset sits between these extremes, with 259.5 FPS at 1080p, 223.1 FPS at 1440p, and 119 FPS at 4K. Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Medium is smaller than at High, suggesting that the game's Medium settings reduce some of the more demanding effects that disproportionately impact higher resolutions. Overall, the data shows that this combo is GPU-bound at all measured configurations, with the CPU providing more than enough performance to keep the RTX 5090 fed.

FAQ

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9950X3D a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 in Outriders?

A: No. The 9950X3D ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 71,660, and the measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 289.7 FPS. The CPU's 16 cores and 128 MB of L3 cache provide ample headroom, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale downward with resolution and settings in a pattern consistent with GPU limitation.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 84,306, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 5090 D (84,241) and 0.2% higher than the RTX 5050 Mobile (84,171). It is 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (83,209), but the NVIDIA CMP 40HX scores 85,637, which is 1.6% higher than the RTX 5090.

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

A: The data shows playable performance at all resolutions, but 1440p High at 172.6 FPS offers a strong balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 61.8 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, while 1440p Low runs at 249.7 FPS for maximum responsiveness.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the 1080p result is 193.5 FPS, and the 4K result is 61.8 FPS. This represents a 68% reduction in average frame rate. This large drop confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, as the CPU's performance is unchanged across resolutions.

Q: Does the 32 GB of VRAM on the RTX 5090 matter for Outriders?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is far more than Outriders requires at any measured settings. The game's highest VRAM usage would not be close to this capacity, so memory is never a constraint. The GPU's compute performance, not memory capacity, determines the frame rates in the data.

Q: How does the 9950X3D's multi-threaded performance compare to the 9950X?

A: The 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 71,660, which is 1.8% higher than the 9950X's 70,420. In Cinebench R23 multi-core, the 9950X3D scores 59,712. This small delta suggests the 3D V-Cache provides a modest uplift in overall synthetic performance, though the real benefit is in gaming scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data offers a clear picture of how each settings preset affects performance. At 1080p, all four presets exceed 190 FPS, with Low at 289.7 FPS, Medium at 259.5 FPS, High at 231.9 FPS, and Ultra at 193.5 FPS. Since even the Ultra preset maintains a very high frame rate at 1080p, there is no reason to sacrifice visual quality at this resolution. The Ultra preset provides the best experience, as the GPU has ample headroom.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 124.8 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience for fast-paced combat. High runs at 172.6 FPS, offering a 38% improvement over Ultra while likely retaining most of the visual fidelity. For players who prioritize frame rate over absolute image quality, High is the recommended preset at 1440p. Medium runs at 223.1 FPS, but the visual downgrade is likely noticeable compared to High.

At 4K, the Ultra preset falls to 61.8 FPS, which is just barely above the 60 FPS mark. This leaves little margin for demanding combat sequences with many enemies on screen. High at 4K runs at 88.1 FPS, providing a 43% improvement over Ultra and much more comfortable headroom. Medium at 4K reaches 119 FPS, which is a significant jump. Given that the High preset at 4K delivers 88.1 FPS, it is the recommended choice for 4K gaming. Low at 4K runs at 165 FPS, but the visual quality loss is substantial and unnecessary given the performance available at Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the Outriders benchmark with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and RTX 5090 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 289.7 FPS. The Medium preset averages 259.5 FPS. High averages 231.9 FPS. Ultra averages 193.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 96.2 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant additional load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 249.7 FPS. Medium averages 223.1 FPS. High averages 172.6 FPS. Ultra averages 124.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 124.9 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, showing that the Ultra preset's effects scale with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 165 FPS. Medium averages 119 FPS. High averages 88.1 FPS. Ultra averages 61.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 103.2 FPS. Notably, the 4K Ultra result of 61.8 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 100 FPS, and it is still above the 60 FPS threshold for playable performance.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings, the Low preset drops from 289.7 FPS at 1080p to 249.7 FPS at 1440p (a 40 FPS reduction) and then to 165 FPS at 4K (an additional 84.7 FPS reduction). The Medium preset drops from 259.5 FPS at 1080p to 223.1 FPS at 1440p (36.4 FPS) and then to 119 FPS at 4K (104.1 FPS). The High preset drops from 231.9 FPS at 1080p to 172.6 FPS at 1440p (59.3 FPS) and then to 88.1 FPS at 4K (84.5 FPS). The Ultra preset drops from 193.5 FPS at 1080p to 124.8 FPS at 1440p (68.7 FPS) and then to 61.8 FPS at 4K (63 FPS).

These numbers show that the RTX 5090 scales predictably with resolution, and the 9950X3D never becomes the limiting factor. The data confirms that this combo is a top-tier pairing for Outriders, capable of driving high refresh rate displays at 1080p and 1440p, and maintaining 4K performance above 60 FPS even at the highest settings.