Outriders

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a formidable Outriders experience, securing the 60th position out of 1,693 tested combos. This placement puts the pairing in the top 3.5% of all configurations, reflecting a system that is heavily weighted toward the high end of the performance spectrum. The data indicates a pairing where the GPU's raw power is the primary driver of frame rates, though the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures it never becomes a bottleneck at the tested settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 60 out of 1,693 tested combinations is a strong indicator of its standing for Outriders. This percentile placement suggests that the i5-14600K and RTX 4080 SUPER combination outperforms the vast majority of systems that have been benchmarked for this title. The CPU itself holds a 93rd percentile ranking against all processors in synthetic benchmarks, and its average benchmark score of 49,166 puts it in a tight cluster with other high-end chips. Specifically, it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-14600KF, and 1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H. This indicates the processor is providing a solid foundation for the GPU. On the graphics side, the RTX 4080 SUPER sits in the 88th percentile for all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,610. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is only 0.2% behind, showing the performance class this card operates in. The effective result in Outriders is a system that is not just capable of high frame rates, but one that consistently delivers them with minimal compromise, as evidenced by the measured FPS across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo in Outriders show a clear and consistent hierarchy based on resolution and settings. At 1080p, the system is overwhelmingly GPU-bound, with even the most demanding "Ultra" preset achieving an average of 169.5 FPS. Lowering the settings to "High" yields a 208 FPS average, "Medium" produces 232 FPS, and "Low" pushes the engine to an average of 261.1 FPS. This demonstrates that at 1080p, the RTX 4080 SUPER has ample headroom, and the limiting factor shifts toward the CPU's ability to feed frames, which the i5-14600K handles admirably.

Moving to 1440p, the performance remains exceptionally high, but the GPU begins to take on a more significant load. The "Ultra" preset drops to a 106.7 FPS average, while "High" settings maintain a smooth 149.9 FPS. The "Medium" preset delivers 194.2 FPS, and "Low" settings reach a 229.1 FPS average. These numbers show that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, easily clearing the 100 FPS threshold even at maximum graphical fidelity.

At 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER's capabilities are truly tested. The "Ultra" preset yields a 57.7 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The "High" preset, however, provides a much more comfortable 79.1 FPS average. The "Medium" preset achieves a 104.4 FPS average, and "Low" settings allow the system to reach a 138.6 FPS average. This scaling shows that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at 4K, but it remains powerful enough to offer excellent performance even with reduced settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to use for a 60 FPS target at 4K?

A: The data shows that the "High" preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 79.1 FPS. This is the closest match for a 60 FPS target while maintaining high visual quality, as the "Ultra" preset falls below the threshold with a 57.7 FPS average.

Q: Can this combo handle high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the "High" preset achieves 149.9 FPS and the "Medium" preset reaches 194.2 FPS. Even the most demanding "Ultra" preset maintains a 106.7 FPS average, which is well above the 100 FPS mark.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K?

A: The drop is significant, especially at higher settings. At "Ultra" settings, the average FPS falls from 169.5 at 1080p to 57.7 at 4K, a reduction of 111.8 FPS. At "High" settings, the drop is from 208 to 79.1 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions. The FPS scales down consistently as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's high percentile ranking and score suggest it is not holding the system back.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in this system?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53,610, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT's score of 53,489. This shows the two cards are very closely matched in raw compute potential.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 261.1, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the "Low" preset. This represents the ceiling for the tested configurations, where the GPU load is at its minimum.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily dependent on the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, provides a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This is a massive amount of data throughput, but the demands of 4K resolution are immense. The frame rate drops are most pronounced at the "Ultra" setting, where the average FPS falls from 169.5 at 1080p to 106.7 at 1440p, and then sharply to 57.7 at 4K. This represents a 66% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K at "Ultra" settings.

The scaling pattern is different at lower settings. At "Low" settings, the FPS drops from 261.1 at 1080p to 229.1 at 1440p and then to 138.6 at 4K. This is a 47% decrease from 1080p to 4K. The smaller relative drop at "Low" settings suggests that the CPU's capabilities, particularly its single-thread performance, become more relevant when the GPU is less burdened. At 1080p "Low", the system is likely hitting a CPU limit, which explains why the 4K "Low" score, while lower, doesn't drop as drastically as the "Ultra" preset. This indicates that the i5-14600K with its 5.30 GHz boost clock is powerful enough to keep up with the GPU at lower resolutions, but the RTX 4080 SUPER's architecture is the defining factor for 4K performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Outriders. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X VRAM is more than sufficient for the game's assets at any resolution, preventing any texture swapping or stutter that could occur with less memory. The card's high memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s is crucial for the 4K results, as it allows the GPU to quickly access the large textures required at that resolution. The core clock speeds, with a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2550 MHz, are high, but the card's real strength lies in its 10,240 shading units and 80 RT cores. While Outriders does not heavily utilize ray tracing, the sheer number of compute units ensures that traditional rasterization is exceptionally fast.

The GPU's benchmark scores support its in-game performance. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 and a Passmark G3D score of 34,245 place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. The data shows that the GPU is the clear performance ceiling for this combo. At 1080p, the FPS is high, but the scaling to 1440p and 4K is directly tied to the GPU's workload. The fact that the "Ultra" preset at 4K results in 57.7 FPS, while "High" yields 79.1 FPS, indicates that the card is being saturated by the highest settings. This is a classic sign of a powerful GPU being fully utilized, rather than a system bottleneck elsewhere. The RTX 4080 SUPER is not just capable; it is the engine that defines the performance envelope for this entire configuration in Outriders.