Outriders

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti lands at rank 562 out of 1693 tested combos in Outriders. That places this configuration in the upper third of all systems evaluated, a solid position for a looter shooter that rewards sustained firefights and stable framerates. The rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other at most settings, though the data reveals some interesting asymmetries when pushing higher visual fidelity.

Benchmark results indicate this combo sits comfortably ahead of a large portion of the field, but it is not near the top tier. The CPU alone holds the 88th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 74th percentile among all graphics cards. When combined, the system's overall performance in Outriders suggests the game's engine leverages both components effectively, though the GPU becomes the more significant constraint at higher resolutions and settings. The gap between rank 562 and the top performers stems primarily from the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than any CPU limitation, as the i5-14400F's benchmark scores are notably strong relative to its rivals.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 Ti brings 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1575 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and the memory operates at 19 Gbps effective. These specifications translate directly into Outriders' performance characteristics, particularly at higher resolutions where bandwidth and VRAM capacity become critical.

At 4K Ultra, the combo averages just 37.8 FPS, indicating the GPU is heavily taxed by the game's demanding effects and texture loads. The 8 GB VRAM buffer appears sufficient at this resolution, but the raw compute throughput of 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 is the limiting factor. Dropping to 4K High raises the average to 52.8 FPS, a 40% improvement that suggests the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately expensive rendering features rather than a linear scaling of load. The GPU's 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present but appear underutilized in this title, as the performance deltas between presets follow a more traditional rasterization pattern.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows it sitting near the AMD Radeon RX 6700, with a delta of -0.8%, and the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 at -0.9%. These close scores in synthetic tests do not fully capture Outriders' specific demands, where the RTX 3070 Ti's architecture shows particular strengths at 1440p Medium and High, achieving 136.1 and 102.5 FPS respectively.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Outriders?

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At High settings, the combo averages 102.5 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds while still delivering substantial visual quality over 1080p. 4K is playable at Medium (67.6 FPS) but requires compromises.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 30849 places it extremely close to the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (30755, delta 0.3%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (31112, delta -0.8%). These differences are within noise, suggesting comparable raw compute capabilities.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F holding back the RTX 3070 Ti in Outriders?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 229.6 FPS, which is far beyond typical display refresh rates and indicates the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. At 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with the CPU's strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093) not being the constraint.

Q: What settings preset provides the most balanced experience?

A: At 1440p, Medium offers 136.1 FPS, which is 33% higher than High's 102.5 FPS while presumably retaining most visual features. The jump from Medium to High costs 34.6% performance, making Medium the more efficient choice for competitive play.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-14400F's average benchmark score of 32508 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, delta 0%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446, delta 0.2%). The AMD Ryzen 7 250 leads by just 0.2% with a score of 32584.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 67.6, which is playable. At 4K Low, it reaches 96.9 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 37.8 FPS, which is below smooth gameplay standards, indicating the 8 GB VRAM and GPU compute limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern across all four presets at each resolution. Starting at 1080p, the combo delivers 229.6 FPS on Low, 204.9 FPS on Medium, 160.3 FPS on High, and 113.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is modest at 10.8%, while Medium to High costs 21.8%, and High to Ultra costs 29.2%. This progressive scaling suggests the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately impact performance.

Moving to 1440p, the numbers show 185.4 FPS on Low, 136.1 FPS on Medium, 102.5 FPS on High, and 71.3 FPS on Ultra. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 19-25% performance across presets, which aligns with the pixel count increase of 78%. At 4K, the pattern shifts more dramatically: 96.9 FPS on Low, 67.6 FPS on Medium, 52.8 FPS on High, and 37.8 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low to 4K Ultra delta is 61%, the largest spread in the dataset, indicating the GPU's resources are severely strained at this resolution.

The 4K results are particularly telling. The jump from 4K Low (96.9 FPS) to 4K Medium (67.6 FPS) costs 30.2%, while 4K Medium to 4K High costs 21.9%, and 4K High to 4K Ultra costs 28.4%. These non-linear drops suggest that different presets stress different parts of the GPU, with Ultra likely enabling additional shading complexity or texture filtering that the 8 GB VRAM cannot efficiently accommodate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provide solid fundamentals for game logic and physics calculations. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's role in Outriders becomes evident when examining the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 229.6 FPS result demonstrates that the CPU can drive high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck, as the GPU is not overly taxed at this setting. However, the 1080p Ultra result of 113.5 FPS indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase, with the CPU having ample headroom. The CPU's passmark multithread score of 25783 and single-thread score of 3723 suggest it handles Outriders' multi-threaded workload efficiently, though the game does not appear to be heavily CPU-bound based on the data.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-14400F's average benchmark score of 32508 is statistically tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446), and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584). This clustering indicates that the CPU's performance is well within the expected range for its class, and Outriders' performance is not being penalized by CPU selection.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high frame rates, the 1440p Medium preset delivers 136.1 FPS, which is ideal for fast-paced combat and smooth aiming. This setting provides a 33% performance uplift over High while likely retaining most visible details. At 1080p, Medium achieves 204.9 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors, making it a strong choice for competitive play or high-refresh displays.

For visual fidelity enthusiasts, the 1440p High preset at 102.5 FPS offers a compelling balance. The data shows this is the highest setting that maintains triple-digit frame rates at 1440p. The 4K Medium preset at 67.6 FPS is the minimum recommended for 4K displays, as the 4K High result of 52.8 FPS approaches the threshold where motion smoothness degrades noticeably. The 4K Ultra preset at 37.8 FPS should be avoided for gameplay, as it falls below the 40 FPS threshold generally considered the minimum for playable action games.

The most efficient configuration across all resolutions appears to be Medium settings. At 1080p Medium (204.9 FPS), 1440p Medium (136.1 FPS), and 4K Medium (67.6 FPS), the performance per visual quality trade-off is steepest. This suggests Outriders' Medium preset omits the most performance-intensive effects while retaining core visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals critical insights about system limitations. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 229.6 FPS at 1080p to 185.4 FPS at 1440p (a 19.2% decrease) and then to 96.9 FPS at 4K (a 47.7% decrease from 1440p). This pattern shows that at Low settings, the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p, allowing the CPU to push frame rates higher. The 1440p to 4K drop of 47.7% is steeper than the pixel count increase of 125%, indicating the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute limits become binding.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is more severe. From 1080p Ultra (113.5 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (71.3 FPS), the drop is 37.2%, and from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (37.8 FPS), the drop is 47.0%. The total 1080p to 4K Ultra decrease is 66.7%, which closely tracks the 4x pixel count increase, suggesting the system is purely GPU-bound at this preset. The consistency of the Ultra scaling across resolutions indicates the CPU maintains adequate frame pacing even under heavy GPU load.

The data points to the GPU as the primary limiting factor at 1440p and above, while the CPU's capabilities are only fully exercised at 1080p Low. The 4K Low result of 96.9 FPS versus 1080p Low's 229.6 FPS shows a 57.8% reduction, which is less than the 75% pixel reduction from 4K to 1080p, indicating some CPU involvement at lower resolutions. Overall, this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where the balance between CPU and GPU allows for high frame rates across all presets except Ultra.