Outriders

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a very specific performance envelope in Outriders, one defined by the GPU’s integrated-class design. The measured data shows that the Arc B370’s performance is the primary constraint, making settings and resolution choices critical for achieving a playable experience. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to determine the optimal configuration and what it reveals about the system’s capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

The data strongly suggests that the Low preset is the only reliable path to a smooth experience, and even then, only at 1920x1080. At this resolution, the Low preset delivers an average of 104 FPS, which is the only measured configuration to exceed the 100 FPS threshold. This is a clear outlier in the dataset, as every other combination of settings and resolution falls below this mark. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 75 FPS, which is playable but represents a significant 28% drop from the Low preset. The High preset at 1080p further drops to 57 FPS, which is still within a reasonable range for a looter shooter, but the trend is clear.

For players prioritizing a stable, high-refresh-rate experience, the Low preset at 1080p is the definitive choice. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 29 FPS, a substantial hit that suggests the GPU is heavily taxed by the increased visual fidelity. The data shows that the Ultra preset is not viable for this combo, as it yields an average of 41 FPS at 1080p, dropping to a near-unplayable 13 FPS at 4K. The measured frame times for Medium settings show a min-to-max spread of 64 to 87 FPS at 1080p, which indicates some inconsistency, but the average is still respectable.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only one that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, achieving 65 FPS. This is a viable option for 1440p gaming, but it requires the lowest visual quality. High and Medium at 1440p fall to 36 and 48 FPS respectively, which are below the smoothness threshold for a fast-paced action game. Based on the data, the best experience is unequivocally the Low preset at 1920x1080, which provides the highest average FPS and the most headroom for maintaining a consistent frame rate during intense combat sequences.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo achieves a consistently high frame rate. At 1080p, the Low preset averages 104 FPS, while the next best result is the Medium preset at 75 FPS. At 1440p, the Low preset drops to 65 FPS, and at 4K, even the Low preset only manages 34 FPS.

Q: Can this system run Outriders at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but the performance is not viable for smooth gameplay. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 ranges from 13 FPS on the Ultra preset to 34 FPS on the Low preset. The Medium preset at 4K shows a min/max of 21 to 29 FPS, highlighting that the experience is consistently below 30 FPS, which is far from ideal.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare to High in terms of performance?

A: The Medium preset provides a significant performance advantage over High. At 1920x1080, Medium averages 75 FPS compared to High’s 57 FPS, a difference of 18 FPS. At 2560x1440, the gap widens, with Medium at 48 FPS and High at 36 FPS. This suggests that the Arc B370 has a steep performance curve when moving from Medium to High settings.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever a good choice for this combo?

A: No, the data clearly shows that the Ultra preset is not playable. At 1080p, it produces an average of 41 FPS, which is below the standard for a smooth experience. At 1440p, it drops to 26 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 13 FPS. The performance cost of the Ultra preset is too high for this specific GPU.

Q: What kind of frame rate consistency can be expected on Medium settings?

A: The data provides min and max FPS values only for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the range is 64 to 87 FPS, showing a 23 FPS variance. At 1440p, the range is 40 to 55 FPS, a 15 FPS variance. At 4K, the range is 21 to 29 FPS. This indicates that while the average is stable, there are noticeable dips that could be perceptible during gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance percentile relate to the FPS results?

A: The Intel Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, which indicates it is a low-performance part. This is directly reflected in the measured FPS data, where the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU’s low ranking is a primary indicator of why the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that yields a high average FPS.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear bottleneck in this system for Outriders. The GPU’s specifications show a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W, which is characteristic of an integrated graphics processor (IGP). This low power envelope and the "System Shared" memory configuration directly limit its performance. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning it shares system memory, which is a significant disadvantage compared to dedicated VRAM in a graphically demanding game like Outriders.

The data shows a stark picture of this limitation. The GPU’s only benchmark score is 1184 in 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and AMD Radeon HD 7650M, which underscores its integrated-class performance level. This is why the FPS scales so poorly with settings. For example, at 1080p, moving from Low to High drops the average FPS from 104 to 57. This 45% reduction is a direct result of the GPU’s limited shading units (1280) and texture mapping units (40), which are overwhelmed by the increased rendering load at higher quality presets.

The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. At 4K, the Low preset only achieves 34 FPS, while the Ultra preset manages just 13 FPS. This shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU cannot handle the pixel fill rate required at that resolution. The GPU's pixel rate is listed as 48.00 GPixel/s, but the sheer number of pixels at 4K (over 8 million) proves to be too much for the silicon to process at a high frame rate. The performance is so constrained that the only way to achieve a fluid experience is to drastically reduce the rendering load, which is why the Low preset at 1080p is the only acceptable configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 104 FPS average.
• Medium: 75 FPS average, with a min of 64 and max of 87.
• High: 57 FPS average.
• Ultra: 41 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly:

• Low: 65 FPS average.
• Medium: 48 FPS average, with a min of 40 and max of 55.
• High: 36 FPS average.
• Ultra: 26 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the combo is pushed to its limits:

• Low: 34 FPS average.
• Medium: 25 FPS average, with a min of 21 and max of 29.
• High: 19 FPS average.
• Ultra: 13 FPS average.

The data shows a clear pattern: the Low preset is always the highest performer, and the Ultra preset is always the lowest. The Medium preset provides a middle ground, and it is the only preset where min/max data was recorded, offering insight into frame time consistency. The 1080p Low result of 104 FPS is the standout figure, offering a playable experience that is over 50% faster than the next best setting (75 FPS on Medium). The 1440p Low result of 65 FPS is also notable, as it shows the combo can handle a higher resolution when visual quality is sacrificed. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with the best case being 34 FPS on Low, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the heavy reliance on the GPU. Looking at the Low preset, which is the best-case scenario for each resolution, the average FPS drops from 104 at 1080p to 65 at 1440p, a 37.5% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 65 to 34, another 47.7% decrease. This means the total drop from 1080p to 4K is a 67% reduction in performance. This non-linear scaling is expected as the pixel count increases geometrically (1080p has ~2 million pixels, 1440p has ~3.7 million, and 4K has ~8.3 million). The GPU must process significantly more data at each higher resolution.

The scaling pattern indicates that the system is heavily GPU-limited. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU workload doesn't change with resolution. Instead, we see a massive drop, which confirms the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting factor. The data suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is working near its maximum capacity, as the jump to 1440p causes a disproportionate loss in performance. This is further supported by the fact that the Ultra preset at 1080p (41 FPS) is only slightly better than the Low preset at 1440p (65 FPS), showing that the GPU struggles equally with high settings at a lower resolution as it does with low settings at a higher resolution. The resolution scaling analysis points to a system where the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the demands of Outriders at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. In the context of Outriders, this CPU is not the limiting factor in the measured results. The CPU's benchmark scores are respectable, placing it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 11860, and its single-core score is 1674, which indicates solid performance for a modern game.

The data reveals that the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 and the max-thread score of 4023 show that the CPU's multi-threaded performance is consistent. The high single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark is particularly important for gaming, as many game engines rely heavily on a few cores. The CPU's nearest rival is the Intel Core i5-9500, with a deltaPct of 0.3%, meaning the i3-12100F is essentially on par with that older 6-core part in synthetic benchmarks.

The evidence for the CPU not being the bottleneck is that the FPS scales dramatically with resolution and settings. If the CPU were the constraint, the FPS would be similar at 1080p and 4K, as the CPU's workload is largely independent of resolution. The fact that the FPS drops from 104 at 1080p Low to 34 at 4K Low shows that the GPU is the component that is being overwhelmed. The CPU is likely waiting on the GPU to finish rendering frames, leaving its performance headroom untapped. This is a classic case of a mid-range CPU paired with a low-end GPU, where the CPU's capabilities are not fully utilized due to the GPU's limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2679 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This places the combo in the bottom 8% of all configurations tested, which is a poor result. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's weak performance, as the CPU is a relatively capable part.

The combo's rank is consistent with the GPU's individual performance percentile. The Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, while the i3-12100F is in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. This mismatch highlights the system's imbalance. The data suggests that the GPU is holding the entire system back, preventing the CPU from achieving higher frame rates. The combo's rank of 2679 out of 2913 is a direct reflection of the GPU's inability to handle the game's demands at playable settings. The ranking implies that a vast majority of other system configurations, even those with older or weaker CPUs, would outperform this combo in Outriders due to having a more capable GPU. This is a case where the GPU choice has a disproportionately negative impact on the overall gaming experience, making the combo a poor performer for this specific title.