Outriders

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 delivers a playable experience in Outriders at 1080p, but the data shows a dramatic collapse in performance as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 111.6 FPS, which drops to 80.7 FPS at Medium, 58.3 FPS at High, and 42.0 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 62.4% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the GPU is heavily taxed by the game's higher graphical presets even at the most forgiving resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates fall to 66.4 FPS (Low), 48.3 FPS (Medium), 36.2 FPS (High), and 27.9 FPS (Ultra). The step from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings costs 45.2 FPS, a 40.5% drop, which is a steeper decline than the 29.1% drop observed when moving from Low to Medium at the same resolution. This pattern suggests that the RX 580's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput become limiting factors as the pixel count increases, with the 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to feed the render output units.

At 3840x2160, the results are borderline unplayable except at the lowest preset. The average FPS at 4K Low is 38.7, but this falls to 24.1 at Medium, 18.7 at High, and just 16.1 at Ultra. The gap between 4K Low and 4K Ultra is 22.6 FPS, a 58.4% reduction, mirroring the relative penalty seen at 1080p. However, the absolute numbers reveal a hard ceiling: the jump from 1440p Low (66.4 FPS) to 4K Low (38.7 FPS) loses 27.7 FPS, a 41.7% drop, which is nearly identical to the percentage loss from 1080p to 1440p. This linear scaling with resolution indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck across all tested configurations, with the CPU's headroom going unused.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides a solid foundation for Outriders, but its contribution to the measured frame rates is secondary to the GPU. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the processor operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This configuration delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935 and a single-core score of 2249, placing the CPU in the 77th percentile versus all CPUs. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-9700, scores 19831 in the average benchmark, a delta of just 0.1%, meaning the i5-12400 is effectively tied with that older eight-core part.

The benchmark data shows that the CPU is not the limiting component in Outriders, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the easiest workload, the combo reaches 111.6 FPS, suggesting the CPU can push well beyond that figure if the GPU allowed it. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5873 and the max-thread score of 5890 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, while the single-thread score of 910 supports the idea that the processor can handle the game's logic and physics without creating a bottleneck. The PassMark multi-thread score of 18747 and single-thread score of 3456 further confirm this, with the CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache providing ample room for game data.

The i5-12400's 65W TDP and 10nm process node make it an efficient pairing, but the data suggests that its performance headroom is not fully utilized in this combination. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 6692 and single-core score of 944 show that the processor is capable of sustained workloads, yet the frame rates at 4K Ultra (16.1 FPS) are so low that the CPU is likely idle waiting for the GPU to finish rendering each frame. The CPU's 77th percentile ranking versus all CPUs and its near-identical average benchmark score to the i7-9700 (delta 0.1%) indicate that upgrading the GPU would yield far larger gains than swapping the processor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the dominant factor shaping the measured results in Outriders. With 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU offers 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p but insufficient for higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1257 MHz and boost clock of 1340 MHz drive 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units, producing a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 6.175 TFLOPS gives the card a theoretical compute ceiling, but the measured frame rates show that memory bandwidth is the more pressing constraint.

The GPU's 53rd percentile ranking versus all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack, with an average benchmark score of 13559. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, scores 13564, a delta of 0%, meaning the two cards are statistically indistinguishable in synthetic benchmarks. However, in Outriders, the RX 580's performance varies wildly by settings. At 1080p Low, the card achieves 111.6 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 16.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is consistent: a 62.4% drop at 1080p, a 58.0% drop at 1440p, and a 58.4% drop at 4K. This uniformity suggests that the GPU's compute resources are being saturated at all resolutions, with the memory subsystem preventing any meaningful gains from lower pixel counts.

The 14nm Polaris 20 chip, with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, is an older architecture that lacks the modern features found in newer GPUs. The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 43 and Vulkan score of 45173 (from Geekbench) indicate that the card can handle modern APIs, but the PassMark DirectX 12 score of 43 is low relative to the DirectX 11 score of 60, suggesting that the card may not be optimally utilizing DirectX 12's features in Outriders. The 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the card's 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth become severe bottlenecks, as evidenced by the 38.7 FPS at Low settings versus the 111.6 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS, with 111.6 FPS at Low and 80.7 FPS at Medium. At 1440p, only the Low preset (66.4 FPS) crosses the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K never reaches 40 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score is 13559, which is essentially identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570's 13564, a delta of 0%. It is also within 0.1% of the GTX 950's 13549 score and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455's 13416 score.

Q: Does the i5-12400 bottleneck the RX 580 in Outriders?

A: No, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 111.6 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 16.1 FPS, showing that the CPU has sufficient headroom to push higher frame rates if the GPU could deliver them.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 66.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 27.9 FPS, a difference of 38.5 FPS or a 58.0% reduction. This is consistent with the 62.4% reduction seen at 1080p.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for Outriders?

A: The combo ranks 1578 out of 1693 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 6.8% of all tested setups. This low ranking reflects the RX 580's mid-tier performance relative to modern GPUs.

Q: Is the RX 580's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Outriders at higher resolutions?

A: The 8 GB VRAM is not the primary issue; the 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are. At 4K Low, the combo manages 38.7 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 16.1 FPS, indicating that memory bandwidth, not capacity, is the constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination ranks 1578 out of 1693 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the bottom 6.8% of all setups. This rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance ceiling, as the CPU is a modern part that scores in the 77th percentile versus all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 53rd percentile. The discrepancy between the two components is stark: the CPU's average benchmark score of 19850 is competitive with the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, delta -0.2%), while the GPU's average score of 13559 is virtually tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564, delta 0%).

The combo's low rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capability but rather the GPU's age and architecture. The RX 580's 14nm Polaris 20 chip, released in 2017, lacks the efficiency and features of newer GPUs, and its 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 performance is insufficient for high-end gaming at 1440p and 4K. The data shows that even at 1080p Ultra, the combo only reaches 42.0 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The rank of 1578 out of 1693 means that the vast majority of tested combinations outperform this setup, primarily due to more capable GPUs.

For context, the combo's performance at 1080p Low (111.6 FPS) would be considered acceptable for competitive play, but the drop to 16.1 FPS at 4K Ultra highlights the GPU's limitations. The ranking suggests that users seeking higher frame rates would benefit more from upgrading the GPU than the CPU, as the i5-12400 has ample headroom. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928, delta -0.4%), show that the i5-12400 is not a bottleneck, so the low rank is attributable to the GPU's mid-tier standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Outriders with the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 580 covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo's capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows:

• Low: 111.6 FPS
• Medium: 80.7 FPS
• High: 58.3 FPS
• Ultra: 42.0 FPS

The spread from Low to Ultra is 69.6 FPS, with a 62.4% reduction. The step from Low to Medium costs 30.9 FPS (27.7% drop), while the step from Medium to High costs 22.4 FPS (27.8% drop), and High to Ultra costs 16.3 FPS (28.0% drop).

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are:

• Low: 66.4 FPS
• Medium: 48.3 FPS
• High: 36.2 FPS
• Ultra: 27.9 FPS

The spread from Low to Ultra is 38.5 FPS, a 58.0% reduction. The step from Low to Medium costs 18.1 FPS (27.3% drop), Medium to High costs 12.1 FPS (25.1% drop), and High to Ultra costs 8.3 FPS (22.9% drop). Interestingly, the percentage drop between settings narrows at higher resolutions, suggesting that the GPU's compute resources are being saturated regardless of preset.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are:

• Low: 38.7 FPS
• Medium: 24.1 FPS
• High: 18.7 FPS
• Ultra: 16.1 FPS

The spread from Low to Ultra is 22.6 FPS, a 58.4% reduction. The step from Low to Medium costs 14.6 FPS (37.7% drop), Medium to High costs 5.4 FPS (22.4% drop), and High to Ultra costs 2.6 FPS (13.9% drop). At 4K, the differences between High and Ultra become negligible, indicating that the GPU has hit a hard performance wall.

Comparing across resolutions, the data shows that moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings results in a 40.5% drop at Low (111.6 to 66.4 FPS), a 40.1% drop at Medium (80.7 to 48.3 FPS), a 37.9% drop at High (58.3 to 36.2 FPS), and a 33.6% drop at Ultra (42.0 to 27.9 FPS). Moving from 1440p to 4K results in a 41.7% drop at Low (66.4 to 38.7 FPS), a 50.1% drop at Medium (48.3 to 24.1 FPS), a 48.3% drop at High (36.2 to 18.7 FPS), and a 42.3% drop at Ultra (27.9 to 16.1 FPS). The largest percentage drop occurs at Medium settings when moving from 1440p to 4K, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth is most strained at that preset.