Outriders

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Outriders. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is overwhelmingly dominant, yet the CPU's capabilities become the defining factor at lower resolutions. This combination ranks in the 88th percentile of all tested GPUs and the 73rd percentile for the CPU, but the measured frame rates tell a more nuanced story about where the true performance ceiling lies. The RTX 4090, with its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, is clearly the star, but the i5-12400F's six Performance cores and 12 threads must keep up.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shifting balance of power between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 172 FPS, but at 1440p this drops to 148 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 86 FPS. This represents a 50% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial hit that indicates the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data suggests that at 1080p, the Core i5-12400F is holding back the RTX 4090, preventing it from reaching its full potential.

Examining the Low preset tells a similar story with even more clarity. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 215 FPS, which drops to 185 FPS at 1440p and 149 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 30 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 36 FPS. This relatively even distribution of performance loss suggests that the system is hitting a CPU-imposed ceiling at 1080p, where the GPU has ample headroom but the processor cannot feed it frames fast enough. The i5-12400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 18 MB of shared L3 cache are working hard, but they cannot match the raw throughput of the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data with minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p Medium, the average is 191 FPS with a minimum of 163 and maximum of 220. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 164 FPS with a minimum of 140 and maximum of 189. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 and maximum of 132. The minimum frame rates are particularly telling: the 97 FPS minimum at 4K shows that even the most demanding scenes remain playable, but the 163 FPS minimum at 1080p reveals that the CPU is struggling to maintain consistent frame pacing when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

Ultra settings provide the most dramatic scaling. The system delivers 153 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 119 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and a playable 62 FPS at 4K Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 91 FPS, representing a 59.5% decrease. This is the largest percentage drop across all settings, which makes sense because Ultra settings place the heaviest load on the GPU, amplifying the performance difference as resolution increases. The data clearly shows that Outriders is heavily GPU-bound at 4K, while at 1080p the Core i5-12400F becomes the limiting component, especially at lower graphical presets.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Outriders?

A: The data indicates yes, particularly at 1080p. With Low settings at 1080p producing 215 FPS versus 149 FPS at 4K, the frame rate difference of 66 FPS suggests the CPU limits performance when the GPU has excess capacity. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as evidenced by the larger performance drops across settings.

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1440p offers the best balance. At High settings, it delivers 148 FPS, which is only 24 FPS less than 1080p but provides significantly more visual detail. The 1440p Medium preset also shows strong performance with a 164 FPS average and a 140 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's memory configuration affect Outriders performance?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provides substantial headroom for Outriders. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, which would stress memory bandwidth, the system maintains a 62 FPS average. This memory capacity is far beyond what Outriders requires, ensuring no VRAM-related stuttering.

Q: Can this system achieve 4K 60 FPS in Outriders?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings. The 4K Medium preset produces a 115 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum, comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. However, 4K Ultra drops to 62 FPS average with no minimum recorded, suggesting it is right at the edge of playability.

Q: How does the i5-12400F's performance compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400F's average benchmark score is 19,039, placing it nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19,047, 0% difference) and Intel Core 3 201E (19,056, -0.1%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (18,982, 0.3% difference) and AMD EPYC 7773X (18,979, 0.3% difference).

Q: What does the combo rank of 436 out of 3710 indicate about this pairing?

A: This rank places the combination in the top 11.7% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Outriders. This high ranking reflects the RTX 4090's dominant performance, despite the i5-12400F's more modest processing power, showing that the GPU carries most of the performance weight in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed performance driver in this pairing. With 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation pipelines, the GPU possesses immense raw processing capability. Its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate ensure that Outriders' particle effects and environmental details render with minimal delay. The boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with a 2235 MHz base clock, provides the frequency headroom needed for sustained high frame rates.

The memory subsystem is equally impressive. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at 21 Gbps effective, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth across a 384-bit bus. This configuration is particularly relevant for Outriders at 4K resolution, where the game's detailed textures and large environments demand substantial memory throughput. The data supports this: at 4K Medium, the system achieves 115 FPS, and at 4K High it maintains 86 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU's memory bandwidth is sufficient even for demanding settings.

The RTX 4090's 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores provide additional processing capabilities, though Outriders' benchmark data does not specifically isolate ray tracing performance. The GPU's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are critical for maintaining the high frame rates observed in the benchmark results. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347, confirms its position as a top-tier performer.

However, the GPU's full potential is not always realized due to the CPU constraint. At 1080p Low, the system produces 215 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it drops to 153 FPS, a 62 FPS difference. This scaling suggests that while the GPU can handle the increased graphical load at Ultra settings, the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully utilized. The RTX 4090's 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design indicate it is built for sustained heavy loads, which aligns with the demanding 4K Ultra settings that push it to 62 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for this hardware combination. At 4K resolution, Medium settings offer the best experience, delivering a 115 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum. This is a significant improvement over High settings, which produce 86 FPS, and a massive jump from Ultra, which drops to 62 FPS. The Medium preset balances visual quality with performance, ensuring smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much graphical fidelity.

For 1440p gaming, High settings are the sweet spot, producing 148 FPS. This is only slightly below the 164 FPS achieved at Medium, but the visual upgrade is substantial. The Ultra preset at 1440p still delivers a respectable 119 FPS, so players prioritizing image quality can opt for Ultra without falling below the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings at 1440p provide 185 FPS, but this is likely unnecessary given the headroom available at higher presets.

At 1080p, Ultra settings are the clear recommendation, delivering 153 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the best visual experience. The High preset at 172 FPS and Medium at 191 FPS offer diminishing returns in terms of competitive advantage, as the game is already running at extremely high frame rates. The Low preset at 215 FPS is only useful for players with 240 Hz or higher refresh rate monitors who prioritize maximum frame rate over visuals.

For players with high refresh rate displays, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the most consistent experience, with a 140 FPS minimum and 189 FPS maximum. This range ensures smooth gameplay even in intense combat scenarios. The 4K Medium setup is also viable for 120 Hz displays, as the 97 FPS minimum stays above the 60 FPS threshold, though it may not fully saturate a 120 Hz panel.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 436th out of 3,710 tested combinations in Outriders. This places the pairing in the top 11.7% of all systems tested, which is an impressive result given the CPU's more modest specifications. The ranking reflects the RTX 4090's dominant performance, which compensates for the i5-12400F's limitations in CPU-bound scenarios.

This high ranking is particularly notable when considering the CPU's benchmark performance. The i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19,039 places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19,047, 0% difference) and Intel Core 3 201E (19,056, -0.1%). The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at 3,481 in PassMark, is adequate for gaming, but its multi-thread score of 19,433 and Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 12,380 are more modest.

The RTX 4090, by contrast, ranks in the 88th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 60,347. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% difference) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% difference), though these comparisons are based on aggregate scores rather than Outriders-specific performance. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 and PassMark G3D score of 38,194 demonstrate its raw capabilities.

The combination's ranking suggests that in Outriders, the GPU's strengths are more important than the CPU's weaknesses. The game appears to be heavily GPU-bound, especially at higher resolutions, which allows the RTX 4090 to dominate. However, the 436th rank also indicates that there are 435 combinations that perform better, likely featuring more powerful CPUs that can better feed the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions. This is consistent with the observed frame rate data, which shows CPU limitations at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all resolutions and settings. At 4K (3840x2160), the system produces an average of 86 FPS on High settings, 149 FPS on Low, 115 FPS on Medium, and 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset includes detailed minimum and maximum values of 97 and 132 FPS respectively, offering the most complete picture of performance variance at this resolution.

At 1440p (2560x1440), High settings deliver 148 FPS average, Low settings produce 185 FPS, Medium achieves 164 FPS, and Ultra maintains 119 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 140 FPS and maximum of 189 FPS, demonstrating consistent performance. The Ultra preset's 119 FPS average is particularly strong, showing that the system can handle high graphical loads at this resolution.

At 1080p (1920x1080), the system achieves its highest frame rates: 172 FPS on High, 215 FPS on Low, 191 FPS on Medium, and 153 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset records a minimum of 163 FPS and maximum of 220 FPS, the highest maximum frame rate in the entire dataset. This indicates that at 1080p, the system has significant performance headroom, though the CPU begins to limit the GPU's potential.

The progression across resolutions shows a clear pattern: frame rates decrease consistently as resolution increases, with the most significant drops occurring at Ultra settings. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 66 FPS, at Medium settings it is 76 FPS, at High settings it is 86 FPS, and at Ultra settings it is 91 FPS. This increasing gap at higher settings confirms that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as both resolution and graphical load increase, while the CPU's role diminishes. The i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, are sufficient to maintain playable frame rates throughout, but they cannot match the RTX 4090's raw performance at lower resolutions.