Outriders

# FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60+ FPS average in Outriders?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, only the Low preset (107 FPS average) and Medium preset (78 FPS average) exceed 60 FPS. The High preset at 4K falls to 58 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 42 FPS average. At 2560x1440, all four presets (Low 204, Medium 149, High 112, Ultra 81 FPS averages) comfortably exceed 60 FPS, making 1440p the practical ceiling for high-quality play.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High across different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra yields 128 FPS average versus High's 177 FPS average, a 49 FPS gap. At 2560x1440, Ultra produces 81 FPS average versus High's 112 FPS average, a 31 FPS gap. At 3840x2160, Ultra's 42 FPS average trails High's 58 FPS average by 16 FPS. The relative cost of Ultra increases as resolution drops, suggesting a growing CPU-bound component at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark percentile and what does that imply about its standing?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 23,172. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23,249, a delta of -0.3%, meaning the RTX 3080 is essentially tied with that card in aggregate benchmarks, despite the RTX 3080 being a much more capable gaming product in practice.

Q: What are the CPU's key specifications and how do they relate to its benchmark performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has 14 cores, 20 threads, a base clock of 3.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24,491 and a single-core score of 2,064. The CPU sits at the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48,618 accruing from tests like Geekbench multi-core (16,673) and PassMark multi-thread (38,682).

Q: What does the frame time data for Medium settings reveal about consistency?

A: For Medium settings, the measured FPS ranges show narrowing variance as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the range spans 199 to 269 FPS (70 FPS spread). At 2560x1440, the range is 126 to 171 FPS (45 FPS spread). At 3840x2160, the range tightens to 66 to 89 FPS (23 FPS spread). This pattern indicates that higher resolutions smooth out frame delivery, likely because the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck, reducing CPU-induced hitches.

Q: How does the combo rank in Outriders specifically?

A: The combo ranks 725th out of 3,710 tested combinations in Outriders, placing it in the top 20% of all tested systems. This rank reflects the measured FPS data across all resolution and settings combinations, not synthetic benchmarks.

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GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 employs the GA102 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, packing 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die. Its memory subsystem consists of 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 1440 MHz, boosting to 1710 MHz, with memory clocked at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). With 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 68 ray tracing cores, and 272 tensor cores, the GPU offers 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s.

In Outriders, the GPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate scaling across presets. At 3840x2160, the gap between Low and Ultra is dramatic: 107 FPS average versus 42 FPS average, a 65 FPS difference. This 2.5x performance spread indicates that Outriders' visual quality settings impose substantial rendering loads that scale with GPU compute and memory bandwidth. The RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM buffer and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the game's texture and geometry demands at 4K, as evidenced by the playable Medium preset (78 FPS) and near-playable High preset (58 FPS).

The 320-bit memory bus, combined with GDDR6X technology, provides the bandwidth needed for high-resolution rendering. At 1440p, the GPU maintains 112 FPS average on High settings, suggesting that the memory subsystem is not a limiting factor at this resolution. The GPU's 68 ray tracing cores, while not directly benchmarked in this game's data, contribute to the overall feature set that Outriders can leverage, though the measured FPS values reflect standard rasterization workloads.

The RTX 3080's benchmark percentile of 68 indicates it sits above the median GPU in the database, but its nearest rivals (P106-100 at 23,249, Radeon Pro Vega 16 at 23,250, RX 6600M at 23,273) all score within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's 23,172 average. This tight clustering in synthetic tests contrasts sharply with the RTX 3080's actual gaming performance, underscoring that Outriders' workload favors this Ampere architecture's specific strengths in geometry processing and bandwidth utilization.

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Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 177 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 drops this to 112 FPS average, a 37% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 58 FPS, another 48% reduction from 1440p. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component across all resolutions, as the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for the game's logic and physics.

The Low preset shows even more telling scaling. At 1080p, Low settings produce 263 FPS average, which drops to 204 FPS at 1440p (22% reduction) and 107 FPS at 4K (48% reduction from 1440p). The fact that 4K Low still achieves triple-digit FPS suggests that the GPU retains significant compute headroom even at this resolution when visual effects are minimized. The RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for the game's core rendering at 4K, with the performance gap between presets driven by additional shading complexity and memory pressure.

Medium settings provide the most instructive data for bottleneck analysis. The average FPS at 1080p is 234, at 1440p is 149, and at 4K is 78. The scaling factors are 0.64 (1080p to 1440p) and 0.52 (1440p to 4K). If the GPU were fully saturated, we would expect pixel-count-proportional scaling (0.44 from 1080p to 1440p, 0.25 from 1440p to 4K). The observed scaling is much gentler, indicating that at 1080p, the system is partially CPU-limited even with Medium settings. The CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock and 24 MB shared L3 cache help maintain high frame rates, but the data suggests that at 1080p Medium (234 FPS), the frame pacing is constrained by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU.

Ultra settings reveal the most GPU-bound scenario. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 42 FPS average, which is barely playable. The scaling from 1440p Ultra (81 FPS) to 4K Ultra (42 FPS) represents a 48% reduction, close to the pixel-count-proportional expectation. This indicates that Ultra settings at 4K fully saturate the RTX 3080's capabilities, with the GPU's 10 GB VRAM and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth becoming critical resources. The 42 FPS result suggests that for 4K Ultra play, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, as the CPU clearly has headroom given its 90th percentile standing.

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Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings average 263 FPS, Medium averages 234 FPS with a measured range of 199 to 269 FPS, High averages 177 FPS, and Ultra averages 128 FPS. The Medium preset's range shows the largest variance of any resolution-preset combination, indicating that at 1080p, the system's performance fluctuates significantly based on scene complexity. The 128 FPS Ultra result demonstrates that even the most demanding preset at 1080p remains well above 60 FPS, making this resolution suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance hierarchy remains consistent but with reduced headroom. Low averages 204 FPS, Medium averages 149 FPS (range 126 to 171 FPS), High averages 112 FPS, and Ultra averages 81 FPS. The Medium preset's variance narrows compared to 1080p, with a 45 FPS spread versus 70 FPS at 1080p. This suggests that at 1440p, the GPU becomes more consistently the bottleneck, smoothing out frame delivery. The Ultra preset's 81 FPS average indicates that 1440p Ultra is viable for 60+ FPS play, though it leaves little margin for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low averages 107 FPS, Medium averages 78 FPS (range 66 to 89 FPS), High averages 58 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS. The Medium preset's 23 FPS spread is the tightest of any resolution-preset combination, reinforcing that 4K workloads fully saturate the GPU and eliminate CPU-induced frame pacing variability. The High preset's 58 FPS average falls just short of 60 FPS, suggesting that players seeking 4K High would need to accept occasional dips below 60 FPS or adjust settings slightly. The Ultra preset's 42 FPS average is the only measured result below 60 FPS across all resolution-preset combinations, highlighting the steep cost of maximum visual quality at 4K.

The progression across resolutions for High settings—177 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, 58 FPS at 4K—shows that the RTX 3080 can handle 1440p High with substantial headroom but struggles at 4K High. The 58 FPS average at 4K High, combined with the 42 FPS at 4K Ultra, positions this combo as a 1440p-centric system for high-quality play, with 4K viable only at Medium or Low presets.

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Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that Medium settings at 2560x1440 offer the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 149 FPS average with a 126 to 171 FPS range provides excellent fluidity while maintaining a solid visual baseline. The 45 FPS variance is manageable, and the frame times remain well above 60 FPS even in the lowest measured percentile. This preset also leaves headroom for demanding scenes, as the minimum observed FPS of 126 is still double the 60 FPS threshold.

For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, High settings at 2560x1440 deliver 112 FPS average, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. The gap between High and Ultra at this resolution (112 FPS versus 81 FPS) represents a 31 FPS cost for Ultra's additional effects. Given that Ultra at 1440p still maintains 81 FPS average, players with 60 Hz displays could opt for Ultra without performance concerns. However, the frame rate buffer provided by High settings makes it the safer choice for competitive play or variable-refresh-rate displays.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings produce 128 FPS average, making this the only resolution where Ultra comfortably exceeds 120 FPS. For players with 144 Hz monitors, 1080p Ultra provides a near-optimal experience, though the 49 FPS gap between High (177 FPS) and Ultra (128 FPS) suggests that High is the better choice for 165 Hz or 240 Hz displays. The 263 FPS Low preset at 1080p demonstrates that the combo can push extremely high frame rates when visual effects are minimized, useful for esports-style play.

For 4K gaming, Medium settings at 3840x2160 (78 FPS average) represent the most practical choice, as High drops to 58 FPS and Ultra to 42 FPS. The Medium preset's 66 FPS minimum ensures that even the most demanding scenes maintain playable frame rates. Players with G-Sync or FreeSync displays could tolerate the High preset's 58 FPS average, but the Medium preset offers a more consistent experience. The data clearly indicates that 4K Ultra is not viable with this combo, as the 42 FPS average would compromise gameplay fluidity in a looter shooter genre that demands responsive aiming.

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CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores and 20 threads to the combo, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24,491 and a single-core score of 2,064, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 16,673 and single-core score of 2,491.

In Outriders, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the performance gap between 1080p and 1440p at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 263 FPS average, which drops to 204 FPS at 1440p Low. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, we would expect a more substantial drop proportional to pixel count. The relatively modest 22% reduction suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is limiting the frame rate, as the GPU has ample headroom to render more frames than the CPU can feed.

The CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for Outriders, a game that likely relies on single-thread performance for game logic and physics. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 2,064 places this CPU in the top tier for single-threaded workloads, which helps maintain high minimum frame rates. The 14-core configuration ensures that background threads, asset streaming, and other parallel workloads do not interfere with the main game thread.

The CPU's PassMark data shows strong multi-threaded performance: multi-thread score of 38,682, integer math at 125,737, floating point math at 92,794, and extended instructions at 28,546. These results indicate that the CPU can handle complex AI calculations and physics simulations without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. However, the measured FPS data reveals that at 1080p with High settings (177 FPS average), the system approaches the CPU's practical limit for this game, as further resolution reductions (not tested) would likely show diminishing returns.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 interface are relevant for system builders, but the performance data shows that the 14th Gen architecture's efficiency allows sustained boost clocks during gaming workloads. The 24 MB shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed game data, contributing to the smooth frame pacing observed at Medium settings across all resolutions.

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How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 725th out of 3,710 tested combinations in Outriders, placing it in the top 19.5% of all tested systems. This rank is based on measured FPS data across all resolution and settings combinations, providing a comprehensive view of the system's gaming performance. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 90th percentile standing and the GPU's 68th percentile standing, with the combo's overall position suggesting that the GPU is the limiting factor for Outriders' most demanding scenarios.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (average score 48,698, delta -0.2%), AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470, delta +0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287, delta +0.7%), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48,995, delta -0.8%). These deltas are all within 1% of the i5-14600K's 48,618 average, indicating that the CPU's performance is closely matched by several other processors in synthetic benchmarks. However, the i5-14600K's high boost clock and gaming-oriented architecture may provide advantages in Outriders specifically.

The GPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are the NVIDIA P106-100 (23,249, delta -0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23,250, delta -0.3%), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23,273, delta -0.4%), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23,276, delta -0.4%). All four rivals score within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's 23,172 average, yet none of these cards would realistically match the RTX 3080's gaming performance in Outriders. This discrepancy highlights the limitations of aggregate benchmarks for predicting gaming performance, where the RTX 3080's 760.3 GB/s bandwidth and 29.77 TFLOPS compute deliver far superior results than the low-end cards that appear as synthetic rivals.

The combo's 725th rank out of 3,710 suggests that a substantial number of tested systems outperform it in Outriders. This is expected given that the RTX 3080, while capable, sits below the current generation of flagship GPUs. The rank also reflects that Outriders is a demanding title at high resolutions and settings, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS average. Systems with more powerful GPUs would rank higher in the 4K Ultra scenario, while the combo's strong 1080p and 1440p performance likely contributes positively to its overall rank. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming with High or Medium settings, where it delivers excellent frame rates and maintains a top-quintile position in the benchmark database.