Outriders

# Outriders with Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

The pairing of a 4-core Intel Core i3-12100F with the flagship-class RTX 4080 SUPER creates an unusual bottleneck profile in Outriders. The data shows this combo lands at rank 235 out of 1,693 tested combinations, placing it in the top 14% of all configs despite the stark core-count mismatch. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are clearly doing heavy lifting, but the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads cap performance in ways that become obvious when you trace FPS across resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a pattern that reveals where the bottleneck lives. At 1080p Low, the combo pushes 209.9 FPS, but at 4K Low it falls to 143.4 FPS—a 31.7% reduction. That scaling is far gentler than what you'd expect from a GPU-bound scenario, where 4K typically halves framerates. The reason is that the i3-12100F's single-thread strength (3,444 Passmark single-thread score, 893 3DMark single-thread) keeps 1080p from becoming CPU-limited, but the RTX 4080 SUPER still has headroom to spare even at 4K Low.

Crank settings to Ultra, and the picture changes dramatically. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 147.4 FPS; at 1440p Ultra it drops to 107.7 FPS; at 4K Ultra it falls to 57 FPS. That's a 61.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings, which is much closer to pure GPU-bound scaling. The 4K Ultra result of 57 FPS is particularly telling—it suggests the game is loading the GPU heavily enough that the CPU's 4 cores are no longer the primary constraint, letting the RTX 4080 SUPER's 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 throughput become the limiting factor.

The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution tells the same story. At 1080p, Low-to-Ultra costs 62.5 FPS (209.9 to 147.4). At 1440p, the same jump costs 77.3 FPS (185 to 107.7). At 4K, it costs 86.4 FPS (143.4 to 57). The widening delta as resolution increases confirms that the GPU is progressively taking over as the performance limiter—at 4K Ultra, the CPU's role in holding back framerates has largely faded.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 235 out of 1,693 tested configurations, this pairing sits comfortably in the top tier of Outriders setups. The rank reflects the combined capability of the i3-12100F and RTX 4080 SUPER, and notably, the GPU alone ranks in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs. The gap between those percentiles hints that the CPU is the weaker link in this pairing.

The i3-12100F's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show how close it is to much more expensive processors. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX scores 13,534 average, just 0.1% ahead of the i3's 13,516. The Intel Core i7-1250U is 0.4% behind, and the Core i3-10105 trails by 0.6%. Even the Core i7-7700K, a once-flagship chip, is only 1.8% ahead in average benchmark score. This clustering means the i3-12100F's 4 cores are punching well above their weight in general compute, which helps explain why the Outriders combo rank isn't worse than it is.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications make that clear. With 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, the GPU has massive parallel throughput resources. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores provide additional headroom for any ray-traced or DLSS workloads, though Outriders' measured results here don't isolate those features. The memory subsystem is equally formidable: 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus delivers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 4K textures and high-resolution rendering without memory pressure.

The clock behavior matters too. The base clock of 2,295 MHz and boost of 2,550 MHz are the numbers the GPU maintains under load, and they're consistent with the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency on a 5 nm TSMC process. The 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU indicate this is a power-hungry card, but the measured FPS shows that power is being converted into actual performance. The GPU's average benchmark score of 53,610 puts it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% ahead of the RTX 5070 Ti, placing it in the upper echelon of graphics cards tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers playable-to-excellent results across all settings. Low settings hit 209.9 FPS, Medium drops to 189.2 FPS, High manages 169.7 FPS, and Ultra still holds 147.4 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, even the most demanding settings are handled with ease—the RTX 4080 SUPER is nowhere near maxed out, and the i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock is doing what it can to feed frames.

Moving to 1440p, the scaling is smooth. Low produces 185 FPS, Medium 159.4 FPS, High 143.9 FPS, and Ultra 107.7 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 36.2 FPS, which is the largest single-setting jump at this resolution. This suggests Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately load the GPU's shading and texture units.

At 4K, the results separate cleanly by setting tier. Low yields 143.4 FPS, Medium 104.9 FPS, High 74.4 FPS, and Ultra 57 FPS. The drop from Medium to High at 4K is 30.5 FPS, and High to Ultra costs another 17.4 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the 57 FPS result is below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, meaning this pairing requires dropping to High settings at 4K to maintain a consistent 60+ FPS experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Outriders at 4K 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but not at Ultra settings. At 4K High, the combo averages 74.4 FPS, and at 4K Medium it hits 104.9 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 57 FPS, so you'll need to use High or Medium settings for a reliable 60 FPS experience.

Q: Is the i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game?

A: The data suggests partial bottlenecking at lower resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 147.4 FPS, but the GPU's 88th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 72nd percentile implies the CPU is limiting peak framerates. At 4K Ultra, the bottleneck shifts to the GPU, as evidenced by the 57 FPS result.

Q: How does the i3-12100F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i3-12100F scores 13,516 average, which is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13,534), 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13,462), 0.6% ahead of the Core i3-10105 (13,430), and 1.8% behind the Core i7-7700K (13,280).

Q: What's the best setting to use for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: Ultra settings at 1440p deliver 107.7 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds. If you want higher framerates, High settings yield 143.9 FPS, and Medium hits 159.4 FPS. All settings are playable at 1440p with this pairing.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM matter for Outriders?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for Outriders at any resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 57 FPS is likely compute-limited rather than VRAM-limited, given the GPU's memory bandwidth headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested configurations in Outriders?

A: It ranks 235th out of 1,693 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all systems. This is a strong result given the CPU's modest 4-core configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz are the key numbers for gaming performance, and the 12 MB shared L3 cache helps mitigate the low core count. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the measured FPS data doesn't specify which was used in testing.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark results reveal its strengths. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11,912 and single-core score of 1,681 show a processor that's competitive in single-threaded workloads but trails in heavily multi-threaded tasks. The Passmark multi-thread score of 14,015 and single-thread score of 3,444 reinforce this pattern. In a game like Outriders, which is a looter shooter that doesn't scale perfectly across many cores, the i3's strong single-core performance helps it punch above its 4-core count.

The nearest rival data shows the i3-12100F sitting within 1.8% of processors that are dramatically different in core counts and pricing tiers. This is largely due to the i3's high boost clock and efficient Alder Lake architecture. In Outriders specifically, the CPU's 4 cores are enough to maintain 147+ FPS at 1080p Ultra, but the gap between 1080p and 4K results indicates that the CPU is still a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The 4-core design means that scenes with heavy AI or physics calculations could cause framerate dips, though the measured average FPS numbers don't capture those transient moments.

For this pairing, the CPU's role is best described as "sufficient but not ideal." It's strong enough to avoid crippling the RTX 4080 SUPER at higher resolutions, but at 1080p, the GPU is waiting on the CPU to feed it frames. The 72nd percentile CPU ranking versus the 88th percentile GPU ranking makes this mismatch clear. If you're targeting 4K gameplay, the i3-12100F is adequate; if you're chasing 240 Hz at 1080p, it will hold back the GPU's full potential.