Outriders

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a system that scales predictably with pixel count, but with some notable nonlinearities. At 1080p with Low settings, the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination produces 215.1 FPS. Stepping up to 1440p drops that to 162.1 FPS, a reduction of roughly 25%. Moving to 4K brings the average down to 86.7 FPS, which is about 60% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern indicates that at 1080p the CPU is doing substantial work, but the GPU begins to take over as resolution climbs.

The scaling from High settings tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the pair delivers 143.2 FPS. At 1440p High, that falls to 91.9 FPS, a 36% drop. At 4K High, the average lands at 43.7 FPS, which is 69% below the 1080p figure. The gap between Low and High settings at each resolution is also telling. At 1080p, the difference between Low and High is 71.9 FPS. At 1440p, that gap narrows to 70.2 FPS. At 4K, the gap shrinks to 43.0 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes the limiting factor more aggressively as pixel count increases.

Ultra settings amplify this trend. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 35.1 FPS, which is below the commonly accepted 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The drop from High to Ultra at 4K is 8.6 FPS, while at 1080p the same settings change costs 39.3 FPS. The data shows that Ultra settings impose a heavier penalty at lower resolutions, where the CPU can feed frames faster, but at 4K the GPU is already saturated and the additional settings load has less relative impact.

The 4K Medium result of 61.5 FPS sits between Low and High, as expected, but it is notably closer to the Low result than to High. At 1440p Medium, the 119.6 FPS average is 42.5 FPS below the Low figure and 27.7 FPS above High. This suggests that Medium settings strike a balance where the GPU is still the primary constraint, but the CPU has enough headroom to maintain high frame delivery.

GPU Role

The RTX 5060 ships with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's base clock is 2280 MHz with a boost of 2497 MHz. It has 3840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, which matters for a game like Outriders that uses modern rendering features.

In the benchmark database, this GPU holds the 73rd percentile among all graphics cards. Its average benchmark score is 30109, placing it within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which scores 30097. The RTX 5060 also sits 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 570 (30158) and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (29969). Against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile, the desktop RTX 5060 is 0.6% faster (29928 vs 30109). These are tight margins, indicating that the RTX 5060 competes in a crowded performance band.

The measured FPS data shows that VRAM capacity becomes a factor at 4K Ultra. With 8 GB, the card can handle 4K High at 43.7 FPS, but Ultra drops to 35.1 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 17.8 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs only 8.6 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings at 4K are pushing against the memory bandwidth limit, as the 128-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle to feed the higher texture and geometry loads.

At 1080p, the GPU shows its strength. The 215.1 FPS Low result and 190.8 FPS Medium result indicate that the card is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 103.9 FPS average remains playable. The GPU compute score of 10899 in Passmark and the Geekbench OpenCL score of 120785 confirm that the card has substantial compute throughput, which helps with the particle effects and enemy density typical of looter shooters.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture. It runs at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boosts to 4.30 GHz. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards, but the 10 nm process and Intel Socket 1700 platform provide solid single-thread performance. The processor holds the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516.

In the nearest rivals list, the i3-12100F trails the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX by 0.1% (13534 vs 13516). It leads the Intel Core i7-1250U by 0.4% (13462) and the Intel Core i3-10105 by 0.6% (13430). Against the Intel Core i7-7700K, the i3-12100F is 1.8% faster (13280). These results show that the 4-core design punches above its weight in synthetic benchmarks, thanks to high boost clocks and efficient Alder Lake cores.

In Outriders, the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p. The 215.1 FPS Low result and 190.8 FPS Medium result suggest that the processor can feed the GPU with enough frames to exceed 200 FPS in less demanding settings. The single-thread score of 1681 in Cinebench R23 and 2224 in Geekbench indicate strong per-core performance, which is crucial for games that rely on a few heavily loaded threads. The multi-thread score of 11912 in Cinebench R23 shows that the 8 threads can handle background tasks without stealing resources from the game.

However, at 4K, the CPU's role diminishes. The difference between Low and High at 4K is 43.0 FPS, compared to 71.9 FPS at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, and the CPU has spare capacity. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 and 8-thread score of 4026 are nearly identical, confirming that the processor does not scale beyond its 4 physical cores in threaded workloads. For Outriders, which is not heavily multithreaded, this is adequate.

FAQ

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

A: At 1440p High, the system delivers 91.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1080p High, it reaches 143.2 FPS. The 4K High result of 43.7 FPS is below 60 FPS, so 1440p is the highest resolution that maintains smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5060 scores 30109 in average benchmark score, which is exactly 0% different from the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 30097. It is also 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 570 (30158) and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (29969).

Q: Is the Core i3-12100F a bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data suggests no. At 4K Low, the system produces 86.7 FPS, and at 4K High it drops to 43.7 FPS. The large gap between Low and High at 4K indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Q: What settings preset gives the highest frame rate?

A: Low settings at 1080p produce 215.1 FPS, which is the highest measured result. However, Medium settings at 1080p still hit 190.8 FPS, offering a better visual experience with only a 24.3 FPS penalty.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its single-threaded performance?

A: In Cinebench R23, the multi-core score is 11912, while the single-core score is 1681. The 3DMark 4-thread score of 2859 is significantly lower than the 8-thread score of 4026, showing that the processor benefits from its 8 threads but does not scale beyond 4 physical cores.

Q: Does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM limit performance at 4K?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 35.1 FPS suggests that the 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are strained at maximum settings. The drop from High to Ultra at 4K is only 8.6 FPS, indicating that the memory subsystem is near its limit.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings as the best balance for most users. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 190.8 FPS, which is only 24.3 FPS below Low but substantially better visually. At 1440p Medium, the 119.6 FPS result remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making it a viable option for high-refresh monitors. Even at 4K Medium, the 61.5 FPS average is just above 60 FPS, which is playable for most titles.

High settings are acceptable at 1080p (143.2 FPS) and 1440p (91.9 FPS), but at 4K High the 43.7 FPS result falls below the playable threshold. Ultra settings are only recommended at 1080p, where the 103.9 FPS average is still smooth. At 1440p Ultra, the 65.7 FPS result is borderline, and at 4K Ultra the 35.1 FPS is not suitable for fast-paced gameplay.

For users with 144Hz monitors, 1080p Medium or High is the optimal choice. For 1440p displays, Medium settings provide the best frame rate headroom. At 4K, users should stick to Medium or Low, as the 86.7 FPS Low result is the only 4K setting that clears 60 FPS comfortably.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 215.1 FPS on Low, 190.8 FPS on Medium, 143.2 FPS on High, and 103.9 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 111.2 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the results are 162.1 FPS on Low, 119.6 FPS on Medium, 91.9 FPS on High, and 65.7 FPS on Ultra. The spread narrows to 96.4 FPS, but the relative drop from Low to Ultra is similar to 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 86.7 FPS on Low, 61.5 FPS on Medium, 43.7 FPS on High, and 35.1 FPS on Ultra. The spread is only 51.6 FPS, confirming that the GPU becomes the primary constraint at 4K. The 4K Low result is the only 4K setting that exceeds 60 FPS, while 4K Medium barely clears it.

The combination rank in the game database is 771 out of 1693 combos, placing this hardware setup in the top 46% of tested configurations for Outriders. The data is measured, not estimated, providing reliable reference points for system builders.