Outriders

The Intel Core i5-13400F pairs a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake-S design with a 2.50 GHz base clock and a 4.60 GHz boost clock. This processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, shows a benchmark profile that places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs tested. In Outriders, the combination of physical cores and high boost clocks is sufficient to drive high frame rates without becoming the primary constraint at lower resolutions. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 1.25 MB help feed the GPU with data, particularly in scenes with many enemies where the looter-shooter genre typically creates heavy draw calls. The CPU’s 16 threads are fully utilized by the game’s engine, which scales well with multi-threaded performance; the 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and the max-thread score of 7307 are nearly identical, indicating that the processor’s performance is consistent across all cores. Single-thread performance is also solid, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 960, which matters for the game’s primary simulation thread, but the data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor before the CPU does in most settings.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-13400F bottleneck the RTX 4070 in Outriders?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS reaches 224, which is the highest measured value in this dataset. This suggests the CPU can push the GPU to its limits, but even at this resolution, the game is not completely CPU-bound, as the GPU still manages to produce a high frame rate. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 44 FPS, which is clearly a GPU limitation, not a CPU one.

Q: What is the performance difference between the i5-13400F and its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS?

A: The i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, while the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS scores 25284, resulting in a deltaPct of 0. This means the two processors are effectively tied in overall synthetic performance. In real-world gaming, the difference is negligible, and the choice between them would hinge on platform features rather than raw speed.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, while the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, giving the RTX 4070 a deltaPct of -1.3. This indicates the RTX 4070 is about 1.3% slower than the mobile RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks. In Outriders, this small gap would translate to a few frames per second at most.

Q: Which resolution provides the most balanced experience for this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High produces an average of 116 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. At 4K High, the average drops to 61 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Therefore, 1440p is the sweet spot for high refresh rates, while 4K is viable for a smoother cinematic experience.

Q: Is the CPU’s 65-watt TDP a limiting factor for sustained gaming performance?

A: The 65-watt TDP does not appear to limit performance in Outriders, as the benchmark results show consistent frame rates across the board. The processor’s boost clock of 4.60 GHz can be maintained under gaming loads without thermal throttling, given the efficiency of the Raptor Lake architecture. The CPU’s 77th percentile ranking further confirms its strong performance relative to other processors.

Q: How does the i5-13400F’s single-thread performance affect Outriders?

A: The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1880 and the single-thread score of 960 indicate robust single-core capability. Outriders relies on a main game thread for physics and game logic, and this processor’s high boost clock ensures that this thread is not a bottleneck, even when the GPU is under heavy load.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the average frame rate is 179 FPS; moving to 1440p High reduces this to 116 FPS, a drop of 35.2%. Further increasing to 4K High yields an average of 61 FPS, which is a 47.4% drop from 1440p. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s performance headroom is not fully taxed until the pixel count demands more from the renderer.

When comparing the Low settings across resolutions, the trend is even more pronounced: 1080p Low achieves 224 FPS, 1440p Low drops to 192 FPS, and 4K Low falls to 112 FPS. The 4K Low result being half of the 1080p Low result suggests that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the GPU is still the bottleneck at 4K. Conversely, the relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p (224 to 192 FPS) implies that the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU adequately at 1440p, but the GPU’s fill rate becomes a limiting factor as the pixel count grows.

The Ultra settings show the most significant impact from resolution scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 133 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 84 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 44 FPS. This steep decline highlights that Ultra presets, which likely include heavy post-processing and shadow effects, are extremely demanding on the GPU’s compute units. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Ultra (49 FPS) is larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K Ultra (40 FPS), indicating that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading rate become increasingly strained as resolution increases. Overall, the data shows that this combo is GPU-bound at all resolutions above 1080p, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the RTX 4070 to operate at its full potential.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Outriders, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 875th out of 3710 tested combos. This places it in the top 23.6% of all tested systems, which is a strong result for a mid-range processor paired with a high-end graphics card. The combo’s rank is influenced by the GPU’s high 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, which is the primary driver of frame rates in this game. The CPU’s 77th percentile ranking ensures that it does not drag down the overall performance, as it provides sufficient compute power to keep the GPU fed.

When compared to other combos, this setup outperforms the majority of systems, but it is not at the top of the charts. The 875th rank suggests there are 874 combinations that achieve higher average FPS, likely with more powerful GPUs or higher-end CPUs. However, the data shows that the RTX 4070’s performance is close to that of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (deltaPct of 0.1) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (deltaPct of 0.4), which means that this combo’s ranking is consistent with its GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores. The CPU’s close match to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (deltaPct of -0.3) further confirms that the processor is not a weak link in this pairing.

The combo’s rank is also reflected in the measured FPS results, which show that it can achieve high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles at 4K Ultra. This is typical for a GPU with 12 GB of VRAM and a 192-bit memory bus, as the demand for memory bandwidth increases with resolution. The rank of 875th out of 3710 is a solid mid-tier result, indicating that this combo is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p, while still being capable of 4K gaming at lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo is achieved at 1440p with High settings, which produces an average frame rate of 116 FPS. This provides a smooth and responsive gameplay experience while maintaining high visual fidelity. The High preset at 1440p offers a significant improvement over Medium (155 FPS) in terms of visual quality, while still delivering frame rates that are well above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. For players with 144Hz monitors, the 1440p High setting is the ideal choice, as it allows the GPU to push close to the refresh rate limit without sacrificing image quality.

At 1080p, the High preset (179 FPS) is the recommended choice for competitive play, as it offers a high frame rate that exceeds most high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 1080p (199 FPS) provides an even higher frame rate, but the visual difference between Medium and High is noticeable, and the extra 20 FPS is unlikely to be perceptible on a 144Hz monitor. The Ultra preset at 1080p (133 FPS) is not recommended, as it offers diminishing returns in visual quality while reducing the frame rate by 46 FPS compared to High.

For 4K gaming, the High preset (61 FPS) is the most balanced option, as it achieves a playable frame rate with good visual quality. The Medium preset at 4K (81 FPS) is also viable, but the difference in visual quality between Medium and High is significant, and the frame rate drop from 81 to 61 FPS is acceptable for a 60Hz display. The Ultra preset at 4K (44 FPS) is not recommended for a smooth experience, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced combat. The Low preset at 4K (112 FPS) offers a high frame rate, but the visual downgrade is severe, and it is only recommended for players who prioritize frame rate over graphics.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the highest average frame rate is achieved with Low settings at 224 FPS, followed by Medium at 199 FPS, High at 179 FPS, and Ultra at 133 FPS. The Medium preset also has recorded minimum and maximum FPS of 169 and 229, respectively, indicating a stable frame time distribution. The gap between Low and Ultra is 91 FPS, which shows that the Ultra preset’s additional effects have a significant impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 192 FPS, which is the highest in this resolution. Medium follows at 155 FPS with a minimum of 132 and a maximum of 178, while High averages 116 FPS and Ultra drops to 84 FPS. The performance delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 108 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is more stressed at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces an average of 112 FPS, which is still a high frame rate for 4K. Medium averages 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 and a maximum of 93, while High averages 61 FPS and Ultra falls to 44 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 68 FPS, which is smaller than at 1440p, but the absolute frame rates are much lower, making the Ultra preset unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the frame rate drops for all settings, and the gap between Low and Ultra narrows in absolute terms but widens in relative terms. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is 40.6% slower than Low, while at 4K, it is 60.7% slower, indicating that the GPU’s rendering workload scales non-linearly with pixel count.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, is the primary driver of frame rates in Outriders. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game’s textures at 1080p and 1440p, but becomes a limiting factor at 4K with Ultra settings. The GPU’s 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units handle the game’s lighting and particle effects, while its 64 ROPs manage the final pixel output. The boost clock of 2475 MHz ensures high throughput, and the 46 RT cores are available for ray-traced effects, although Outriders does not heavily rely on them.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reflect its strong performance: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 and a Passmark G3D score of 26927 place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, has a deltaPct of 0.1, indicating near-identical synthetic performance, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% slower. The GPU’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is more than enough for this game, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a key factor in the GPU’s role. At 4K Ultra, the game likely exceeds this capacity, causing the GPU to rely on slower memory paging, which contributes to the 44 FPS average. At 1440p, the VRAM usage is more manageable, allowing the GPU to maintain high frame rates. The GPU’s memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s are adequate for the game’s engine, but the 192-bit bus width is narrower than higher-tier cards, which becomes a bottleneck at extreme resolutions. Overall, the RTX 4070 is a capable GPU for Outriders, but its performance is limited by VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth at 4K Ultra settings.