Outriders

The data for Outriders with the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT shows a configuration that is heavily skewed toward GPU performance at higher resolutions, while the CPU proves sufficient at 1080p. This pairing lands in the 1126th position out of 3710 tested combinations, placing it in the upper third of all system configs for this title. The measured frame rates reveal a clear scaling pattern: as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, but the quad-core processor still manages to keep up at lower settings without becoming a liability.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that the RX 6800 XT is the dominant factor in this equation. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 170 FPS at 1920x1080 to 108 FPS at 2560x1440, then down to 57 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. The trend is similar at Medium settings, where 189 FPS at 1080p becomes 144 FPS at 1440p and 75 FPS at 4K.

The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 212 FPS at 1080p, 182 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest settings, 4K performance remains above 100 FPS, which indicates that the GPU still has headroom when the graphical load is reduced. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, delivering 124 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and just 41 FPS at 4K — the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the CPU is doing meaningful work to feed the GPU, as the frame rates at Low and Medium settings (212 and 189 FPS) are high enough to strain even a capable processor. At 1440p and above, the GPU's rendering load increases enough that the CPU's role diminishes, and the scaling pattern becomes purely GPU-bound. The fact that 4K Low (104 FPS) is nearly double 4K High (57 FPS) reinforces that the RX 6800 XT's raw compute is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, not the i3-12100F's four cores.

FAQ

Q: Is this CPU-GPU combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Outriders?

A: The data shows excellent performance at both resolutions. At 1080p High, the average is 170 FPS, and at 1440p High, it drops to 108 FPS. Both are well above 60 FPS, but 1440p offers a better balance between visual fidelity and frame rate, especially since 4K High only achieves 57 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: It depends on the settings. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 75, which is playable, and 4K Low reaches 104 FPS. However, 4K High (57 FPS) and 4K Ultra (41 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS mark, so you would need to compromise on visual quality for a smooth 4K experience.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 48477, which is 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile (47743), 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A550M (49737), 3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49957), and 3% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001). It sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU's synthetic benchmark standing relative to its competitors?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494, placing it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. It performs essentially identically to the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta), and is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-9500 (13452). It trails the Intel Core 5 120UL by 0.7% and the Intel Core i7-1250U by 1.1%.

Q: Does the game favor the GPU more than the CPU at higher resolutions?

A: Yes. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, with the biggest percentage drops occurring between 1440p and 4K. For example, High settings drop from 108 FPS at 1440p to 57 FPS at 4K, a 47% reduction, which is a clear sign of GPU-bound performance.

Q: Are there any settings where the CPU becomes a bottleneck?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 212, which is high enough that the i3-12100F's four cores might limit maximum frame rates. However, even at 1080p Ultra (124 FPS), the GPU is still the primary driver. The CPU's synthetic scores, like the Cinebench R23 multicore result of 11860, indicate it has enough single-thread performance for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience on this hardware, the Medium preset at 1440p is the standout choice. It delivers 144 FPS average with a minimum of 123 FPS and maximum of 166 FPS, which is well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. This combination offers a significant visual upgrade over Low settings while maintaining a frame rate that is more than double the 4K High result.

If you prefer 1080p, the Medium preset also shines with 189 FPS average and a minimum of 160 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p (124 FPS) is also acceptable, but the jump from Medium to Ultra costs 65 FPS, which is a steep price for marginal visual gains. At 4K, the Medium preset (75 FPS) is the only option that provides a playable experience above 60 FPS without dropping to Low (104 FPS), which sacrifices too much detail.

Avoid Ultra settings at 1440p and 4K, as the 78 FPS and 41 FPS averages respectively are not worth the visual improvements over Medium. High settings at 4K (57 FPS) are borderline, but the 18 FPS difference from Medium makes it a poor trade-off. For competitive play or maximum frame rates, 1080p Low (212 FPS) is the clear winner, but for most players, 1440p Medium offers the best balance of quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 6800 XT shows its strength with high frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 212 FPS, Medium yields 189 FPS (160 minimum, 217 maximum), High reaches 170 FPS, and Ultra drops to 124 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 88 FPS, which indicates that the GPU has plenty of headroom at this resolution, and the CPU can keep up with even the most demanding settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers scale down predictably. Low settings average 182 FPS, Medium averages 144 FPS (123 minimum, 166 maximum), High averages 108 FPS, and Ultra averages 78 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is now 104 FPS, showing that the GPU is starting to feel the load of additional pixels. The Medium preset's minimum of 123 FPS is still comfortably above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Low settings average 104 FPS, Medium drops to 75 FPS (64 minimum, 87 maximum), High falls to 57 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 41 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 63 FPS, but the absolute values are much lower than at 1440p. The Medium preset's minimum of 64 FPS is the only sub-4K result that stays above 60 FPS, aside from Low's 104 FPS average.

The 4K High result of 57 FPS is notable because it is the only High preset across all resolutions that fails to reach 60 FPS. This suggests that the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB of VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures, but the GPU's compute units are maxed out at this resolution and settings combination.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the workhorse of this configuration, and its specifications explain the measured results. With 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, the GPU has massive parallel throughput. The boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz allow it to sustain high frame rates, while the base clock of 1825 MHz provides a solid foundation for less demanding scenes.

Memory is a strong point for this card. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than enough for Outriders' textures even at 4K. The 72 ray tracing cores are present, though the game's performance scaling suggests that traditional rasterization is the primary workload. The GPU's FP32 performance of 20.74 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s are consistent with the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p.

Synthetic benchmarks confirm the GPU's position. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3689 and Passmark G3D score of 24980 place it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, is 1.5% slower on average, while the Intel Arc A550M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti are 2.5% and 3% faster respectively. This data aligns with the real-world gaming results, where the GPU excels at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's 300 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it is a power-hungry component, but the performance it delivers justifies the power draw. With a suggested PSU of 700 W and two 8-pin connectors, it is a demanding card that requires a quality power supply. The memory clock of 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) ensures that the VRAM bandwidth is never a bottleneck, even in the most texture-heavy scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a four-core, eight-thread processor that plays a supporting role in this setup. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide adequate single-thread performance for Outriders, which is a game that does not heavily utilize many cores. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core help reduce latency in game logic and physics calculations.

Synthetic benchmarks show that the CPU is competent but not exceptional. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674 indicate that it can handle modern games, while the Geekbench multicore score of 7252 and single-core score of 1932 reinforce this. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 and 8-thread score of 4026 suggest that the processor's performance scales well with additional threads, up to its physical core limit.

The CPU's 58 W TDP and 10 nm process node make it a power-efficient choice, but its 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it below many mainstream processors. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, has an identical average score of 13492, while the Core i5-9500 is 0.3% slower. The Core 5 120UL and Core i7-1250U are 0.7% and 1.1% faster respectively, which means the i3-12100F is not a bottleneck in this game at most settings.

At 1080p Low, the CPU's role becomes more apparent, as the 212 FPS average approaches the limit of what a quad-core processor can feed to the GPU. However, even at 1080p Ultra (124 FPS), the CPU has enough headroom. The Passmark single-thread score of 3444 and the Cinebench R20 single-core score of 703 confirm that the processor's single-thread performance is sufficient for Outriders' game logic, which is the primary CPU load in this title.