Outriders

The data for Outriders with the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, but with a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as pixel count increases. This combination sits at rank 892 out of 1693 tested combos in this game, placing it just above the midpoint of the database. The CPU’s benchmark percentile of 72 against all processors and the GPU’s percentile of 77 suggest a balanced pairing on paper, but the measured FPS reveals that the balance changes dramatically depending on whether the workload is 1080p or 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 97 FPS at 1920x1080 to 59.1 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 34.6 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 64.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a massive hit. At Low settings, the drop is even more pronounced in absolute terms: from 209.6 FPS at 1080p down to 157.4 FPS at 1440p and 80.2 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 61.7%, which indicates that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is still the primary limiter at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern tells a clear story. At 1080p, the CPU has room to push high frame rates, with Low settings reaching 209.6 FPS. This suggests that the Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads boosting to 4.30 GHz, is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions. However, when moving to 1440p, the frame rates across all settings drop noticeably, and at 4K, the GPU becomes the undeniable bottleneck. The gap between Low and Ultra settings grows with resolution: at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 112.6 FPS, while at 4K, that same gap shrinks to 45.6 FPS. This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are saturated, making the settings preset less impactful relative to the raw pixel workload.

The data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this pairing. At High settings, 1440p delivers 86.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K at High only manages 43.7 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings is a 49.6% reduction, which is substantial but not as catastrophic as the 64.3% drop seen at Ultra. This indicates that the RX 6700 XT, with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth, can handle 1440p comfortably but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with the most demanding settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Outriders?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings delivers 86.7 FPS, which is the highest frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual quality. At 4K, even Medium settings only reach 60.8 FPS, so 1440p is the practical ceiling for this pairing.

Q: Does the Core i3-12100F bottleneck the RX 6700 XT?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor, as Low settings reach 209.6 FPS but Ultra only reaches 97 FPS, suggesting the GPU is still capable of more work. However, at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with frame rates dropping by 49.6% or more from 1080p to 4K.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 33721, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000. However, it is 1% lower than the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and RX 480, though those are likely older architectures with different feature sets.

Q: Is the i3-12100F a strong performer relative to other CPUs?

A: The CPU has a percentile ranking of 72 against all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 13516. It sits just 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and is 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K, indicating that its 4-core, 8-thread design with a 4.30 GHz boost clock is competitive for gaming.

Q: What settings preset should I avoid at 4K?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K delivers only 34.6 FPS, which is below playable standards for most users. Even High at 4K struggles at 43.7 FPS, so 4K gaming with this combo requires accepting Low or Medium settings for smoother gameplay.

Q: How much performance is lost from Low to Ultra at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, the drop from Low (209.6 FPS) to Ultra (97 FPS) is 112.6 FPS, a 53.7% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is 98.3 FPS (157.4 to 59.1), a 62.4% reduction. At 4K, the drop is 45.6 FPS (80.2 to 34.6), a 56.9% reduction.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Outriders at 4K. The GPU’s base clock of 2321 MHz and boost clock of 2581 MHz, with a game clock of 2424 MHz, allow it to push significant pixel throughput, as evidenced by its 165.2 GPixel/s pixel rate and 413.0 GTexel/s texture rate. These specs translate to a 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 performance figure, which is substantial for a mid-range card.

The GPU’s benchmark results show a passmark G3D score of 19786 and a DirectX 12 score of 77, which are consistent with its percentile ranking of 77 against all GPUs. In Outriders, the GPU’s role becomes apparent when comparing the 1080p and 4K results at the same settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 209.6 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 80.2 FPS. This 129.4 FPS difference is almost entirely due to the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth being overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixel workload at 4K. The GPU’s 40 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support suggest it has headroom for advanced effects, but the measured data shows that raw rasterization is the primary demand in this title.

The RX 6700 XT’s memory configuration is particularly relevant here. With 12 GB of VRAM, the card does not run out of memory at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that even Ultra settings produce playable (if low) frame rates. However, the 384.0 GB/s bandwidth is the limiting factor at 4K, as the GPU cannot move data fast enough to feed its 2560 shading units. This is why the difference between Medium (60.8 FPS) and High (43.7 FPS) at 4K is 17.1 FPS, while at 1080p, the same settings gap is 41.5 FPS. The GPU’s compute power is sufficient for lower resolutions, but memory bandwidth becomes the wall at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all presets. Low settings average 209.6 FPS, Medium averages 178.4 FPS, High averages 136.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 97 FPS. This represents a wide spread, with Ultra being 53.7% slower than Low. The 1080p results indicate that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU should theoretically be able to push beyond 209.6 FPS with its 13.21 TFLOPS compute power.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop to 157.4 FPS at Low, 111.4 FPS at Medium, 86.7 FPS at High, and 59.1 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 98.3 FPS, which is a 62.4% reduction. This resolution shows the GPU beginning to take over as the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is larger at Lower settings (24.9% for Low) than at Ultra (39.1% for Ultra).

At 3840x2160, the results are 80.2 FPS at Low, 60.8 FPS at Medium, 43.7 FPS at High, and 34.6 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results are the clearest indication of GPU saturation. Even at Low settings, the card cannot maintain 60 FPS consistently, averaging 80.2 FPS but dropping to 34.6 FPS at Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 45.6 FPS, which is the smallest absolute gap across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is fully occupied at this pixel count.

The data across all resolutions shows that Medium settings at 1440p (111.4 FPS) provide the best balance of visual quality and performance, while 4K gaming requires sacrificing quality for playability, with Low settings being the only preset that stays above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset at 97 FPS is the best choice, as it provides the highest visual fidelity while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS standard. The data shows that even at Ultra, the system has headroom, so players with 144Hz monitors could consider High settings at 136.9 FPS for a smoother experience without a massive visual penalty.

At 1440p, the High preset at 86.7 FPS is the recommended setting. This delivers a 60 FPS+ experience with good visual quality. Medium at 111.4 FPS is preferable for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual trade-off from High to Medium is significant. Ultra at 59.1 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided for consistent gameplay.

For 4K, the only viable preset for smooth gameplay is Low, which averages 80.2 FPS. Medium at 60.8 FPS is borderline playable but may experience dips below 60 FPS in heavy scenes. High at 43.7 FPS and Ultra at 34.6 FPS are not recommended for action-heavy looter shooters, as the frame rate drops will impact responsiveness. The data suggests that 4K is not this combo’s strength, and users should either drop to 1440p or accept Low settings at 4K.

The measured FPS rows indicate that the system is most efficient at 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU can leverage its 12 GB VRAM and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth without hitting the memory wall. For the best overall experience, 1440p High is the sweet spot, as it balances the CPU’s 4-core limitation with the GPU’s raw power.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a crucial role in this system, particularly at 1080p. With 4 cores and 8 threads, this Alder Lake chip has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 10 nm process and 12 MB of shared L3 cache provide solid single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 and Geekbench single-core score of 2224. The CPU’s passmark single-thread score of 3444 places it in a strong position for gaming, which relies heavily on single-threaded performance.

The CPU’s benchmark data shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a 3DMark 4-thread score of 2859, which indicates that its 4 cores are well-utilized in gaming workloads. In Outriders, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p, where the system achieves 209.6 FPS at Low settings. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the 4-core, 8-thread configuration may limit performance in scenes with many AI enemies or physics calculations.

The CPU’s percentile ranking of 72 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516, places it above the Intel Core i7-7700K by 1.8% and just 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX. This is a remarkable result for a 4-core chip, indicating that the high boost clock of 4.30 GHz compensates for the lower core count. In Outriders, the CPU’s impact is felt more at 1080p than at higher resolutions, as the data shows that the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 112.6 FPS, which is the largest gap across all resolutions. This implies that the CPU can push the GPU harder at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck.

The CPU’s memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, allows for flexibility in system configuration, but the 12 MB L3 cache is the key factor for gaming. The data from the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 and 8-thread score of 4026 shows that the CPU’s multi-threaded performance is consistent, which is important for Outriders’ background processes. Overall, the i3-12100F provides adequate CPU performance for this GPU, but users seeking higher frame rates at 1080p with Ultra settings may benefit from a CPU with more cores, as the GPU has demonstrated it can exceed 200 FPS when properly fed.