Outriders

# Outriders: Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a formidable Outriders experience, with measured frame rates ranging from 56 FPS at 4K Ultra to 214 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination ranks 539th out of 3,710 tested combos in the database, placing it in the top 15% of all systems tested. The data reveals a setup that is GPU-bound at higher resolutions but begins to show CPU limitations at 1080p, making it a versatile option for both high-refresh-rate monitors and 4K displays.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 171 FPS at 1080p to 147 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 24 FPS, and then further to 78 FPS at 4K, another 69 FPS drop. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting component at higher pixel counts, as the RTX 4080's rasterization throughput is stretched by the 8.3 million pixels at 3840x2160.

The scaling behavior differs by preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs only 31 FPS (from 214 to 183), while moving to 4K costs another 40 FPS (down to 143). The relatively smaller drop between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings suggests that the CPU is holding the system back at lower resolutions, where the GPU has headroom to render frames quickly but the processor cannot feed it fast enough. At 4K Low, the 143 FPS average still demonstrates strong GPU headroom, but the gap between Low and High at 4K (143 vs 78 FPS) reveals how much the RTX 4080's workload scales with visual complexity.

Medium settings show a similar slope: 190 FPS at 1080p, 163 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K. The 59 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium is proportionally smaller than the 93 FPS difference at High, indicating that Medium presets reduce the GPU load enough to allow the i5-12400 to keep better pace. Ultra settings exhibit the largest absolute scaling penalty, with 151 FPS at 1080p dropping to 108 FPS at 1440p and then to 56 FPS at 4K—a total loss of 95 FPS from the lowest to highest resolution.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is partially CPU-limited at all settings, as the frame rate differences between presets are compressed. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as evidenced by the massive spread between Low (143 FPS) and Ultra (56 FPS). For users targeting 4K, the RTX 4080's capabilities are the deciding factor; for 1080p esports-style play, the i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads become more relevant.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings deliver 151 FPS average, which is already above the 144 Hz threshold for most high-refresh monitors. The jump from High (171 FPS) to Ultra (151 FPS) costs 20 FPS but provides the maximum visual fidelity the game offers. For 1080p users with 144 Hz or 165 Hz displays, Ultra is the recommended choice, as the 151 FPS average still leaves room for frame time variance without dropping below the refresh threshold.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more nuanced. High settings produce 147 FPS, which is excellent for 144 Hz panels, while Ultra drops to 108 FPS, still playable but below the 144 Hz target. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 163 FPS, offering a 16 FPS advantage over High while presumably reducing some visual effects. Given that the difference between Medium and High at 1440p is only 16 FPS, High is the sensible default for most users, as it provides a meaningful visual upgrade for a modest performance cost. For those with 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitors, Medium at 1440p is the best balance, delivering 163 FPS with a minimum of 138 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. High settings produce a 78 FPS average, which is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but not for higher refresh rates. Medium at 4K offers 104 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, making it the only preset that comfortably exceeds 90 FPS at this resolution. Ultra at 4K drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that Medium at 4K is the sweet spot, providing a 26 FPS improvement over High while maintaining a minimum frame rate of 88 FPS. For 4K users, Medium is the recommended preset, as it balances visual quality with consistent performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 539th out of 3,710 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the 85th percentile of all systems. This rank reflects the strong synergy between the 6-core, 12-thread CPU and the Ada Lovelace GPU, which together deliver high frame rates across all resolutions. The position in the top 15% of all tested combos indicates that this pairing outperforms the vast majority of systems in this game, though it is not at the absolute top tier where newer or more expensive components reside.

The GPU's individual performance metrics support this ranking. The RTX 4080 achieves a percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,247 across multiple tests. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209, a delta of just 0.1%, meaning the two cards are virtually indistinguishable in raw compute performance. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and RX 6750 GRE 12 GB score 54,828 and 55,698 respectively, showing deltas of -1.1% and -2.6%, indicating that the RTX 4080 is slightly behind these AMD offerings in synthetic benchmarks, yet the measured Outriders performance remains strong.

The CPU's percentile rank of 72 among all processors places it above average, with an average benchmark score of 18,683. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 (18,697, delta -0.1%) and Intel Core i7-1355U (18,730, delta -0.3%), which are effectively tied in synthetic performance. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, provide sufficient compute for Outriders' looter-shooter gameplay, which typically relies on a mix of single-thread and multi-thread workloads.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 56, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. Users targeting 4K should select Medium (104 FPS) or High (78 FPS) presets for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests not entirely. At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 151 FPS (Ultra) to 214 FPS (Low), with a compressed spread that indicates the Intel Core i5-12400 becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 deliver 147 FPS average, which is suitable for 144 Hz monitors. For higher refresh rates, Medium provides 163 FPS with a minimum of 138 FPS, making it the best choice for 165 Hz or 240 Hz displays.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54,247 in average benchmarks, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, a delta of 0.1%. This means the two GPUs perform nearly identically in synthetic tests, and the measured Outriders results would likely be within a few FPS of each other.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core configuration limit performance in Outriders?

A: The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, appear sufficient for most scenarios, as evidenced by the high frame rates at all resolutions. However, the compression of FPS differences at 1080p suggests some CPU limitation at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only preset with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium, showing 161 FPS at 1080p, 138 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. Other presets did not report minimum values in the measured data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant performance driver in this combo, particularly at higher resolutions. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the card provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for handling the large texture datasets and effects typical of a looter shooter like Outriders. The GPU's memory clock runs at 1400 MHz with 22.4 Gbps effective speed, while the base and boost clocks are set at 2205 MHz and 2505 MHz respectively. These clock speeds, combined with 9,728 shading units and 304 TMUs, allow the card to achieve a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s.

The RTX 4080's FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS is the key spec driving raw rasterization in Outriders. At 4K Ultra, the card's workload is so heavy that it produces only 56 FPS, whereas at 4K Low it achieves 143 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU's throughput scales directly with the rendering load. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, as even the highest preset at 4K does not appear to cause memory-related stutters or frame drops in the measured data. The card's 320 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate a high-power component, but the benchmark results show it delivers commensurate performance.

The RTX 4080's percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs places it in the upper echelon of graphics cards. Its average benchmark score of 54,247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209), confirming that this card is at the top of its class. The nearest AMD rivals, the Radeon Pro W5700X and RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, score 54,828 and 55,698, slightly higher in synthetic tests, yet the RTX 4080's architectural advantages, such as 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, provide features that may benefit games with ray tracing, although Outriders' measured data does not specifically isolate RT performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 serves as the supporting component in this combo, providing 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture. With a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, the CPU delivers solid single-threaded performance, which is critical for game logic and frame pacing. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache, along with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, ensures that frequently accessed data remains close to the cores, reducing latency in gameplay scenarios.

The CPU's benchmark results show a balanced profile. In Cinebench R23, it scores 15,989 in multi-core and 2,257 in single-core, while Geekbench reports 8,564 multi-core and 1,848 single-core. These numbers indicate that the i5-12400 is capable of handling the multi-threaded workloads present in Outriders, such as physics simulations and AI pathfinding, without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. The PassMark multi-thread score of 18,747 and single-thread score of 3,456 further confirm its competence, with the CPU's percentile rank of 72 reflecting its position above the median of all processors.

In the measured Outriders data, the CPU's role becomes apparent at 1080p, where the frame rates across presets compress. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (214 FPS) and Ultra (151 FPS) is 63 FPS, while at 4K, the same preset comparison yields an 87 FPS difference (143 vs 56). This indicates that at lower resolutions, the i5-12400's 6 cores cannot always feed the RTX 4080 quickly enough to reach the GPU's maximum potential, particularly at Low settings where the GPU work is minimal. However, at 1440p and 4K, the CPU keeps pace adequately, as evidenced by the high frame rates at those resolutions.

The CPU's 12 threads, enabled by Hyper-Threading, provide sufficient parallelism for modern games, although Outriders may not fully utilize all 12 threads. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is strong, which is important for games that rely on a primary game thread. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD EPYC 7643 and Intel Core i7-1355U, show nearly identical average benchmark scores, indicating that the i5-12400 is well-positioned among its peers, though it does not lead its class.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides exact frame rates for 12 combinations of resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 214 at Low to 151 at Ultra. The Medium preset records 190 FPS with a minimum of 161 FPS and a maximum of 218 FPS, while High achieves 171 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 24 FPS, and between Medium and High is 19 FPS, with a further 20 FPS drop to Ultra. This pattern shows diminishing returns as settings increase, suggesting that the GPU is not fully saturated at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are more spread out. Low produces 183 FPS, Medium 163 FPS (with min 138, max 187), High 147 FPS, and Ultra 108 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 75 FPS, which is larger than the 63 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU begins to become more influential at 1440p. The Medium preset's minimum of 138 FPS ensures a smooth experience even during demanding scenes, while the High preset's 147 FPS average is just above the 144 Hz refresh rate.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings yield 143 FPS, Medium 104 FPS (with min 88, max 119), High 78 FPS, and Ultra 56 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra is 87 FPS, the largest spread across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The Medium preset's minimum of 88 FPS is the only 4K configuration that stays above 60 FPS at all times, while Ultra's 56 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target. These numbers provide a complete picture of the combo's capabilities, allowing users to select the optimal settings for their display and performance preferences.