Outriders

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a highly constrained gaming experience in Outriders, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and preset selection. The measured data reveals a system that is firmly entry-level, ranking in the 8th percentile of all tested combinations (2679 out of 2913), indicating that while the game is playable at lower settings, it struggles significantly at higher visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound system where the Arc B370 is the primary limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination achieves 104 FPS, but this drops to 65 FPS at 1440p and further to 34 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37.5% performance loss when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 67.3% loss from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests that the GPU's rendering capabilities are being saturated as pixel count increases.

The High preset tells a similar story, with frame rates falling from 57 FPS at 1080p to 36 FPS at 1440p (a 36.8% drop) and finally to 19 FPS at 4K (a 66.7% drop from 1080p). This consistent scaling penalty across presets indicates that the Arc B370's fill rate and shading capacity are the bottlenecks, rather than the CPU. The GPU's pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are modest figures that align with the observed performance ceiling.

Interestingly, the scaling between Medium and High presets is relatively linear, but the jump to Ultra settings causes a disproportionate performance collapse. At 1080p, Ultra yields 41 FPS versus 57 FPS on High, a 28.1% reduction. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily tax the GPU's 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs, pushing the render pipeline beyond its efficient operating range.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Outriders at 4K resolution?*

A: Technically yes, but not at playable frame rates. The best 4K result is 34 FPS on Low settings, while High delivers 19 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, and Ultra drops to 13 FPS. The data indicates that 4K is only viable for static scenes or screenshot purposes, not for active gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware configuration?

A: 1080p is the only resolution that provides consistently playable performance. Low settings achieve 104 FPS, Medium reaches 75 FPS, and High maintains 57 FPS. Even Ultra settings at 1080p produce 41 FPS, which is above the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for playability.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186 (0.2% higher), while the ATI Radeon HD 5770 achieves 1190 (0.5% higher). The AMD FirePro M2000 trails at 1168, which is 1.4% lower.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 holding back performance in this game?

A: The CPU appears sufficient for this workload. The i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide adequate processing power, as evidenced by the resolution scaling pattern. The consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K indicate the GPU is the bottleneck, not the processor.

Q: What frame rates can I expect with Medium settings?

A: Medium settings provide a balanced experience: 75 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS data available for Medium shows 64 FPS at 1080p and 40 FPS at 1440p, suggesting reasonable frame time consistency at lower resolutions.

Q: Does the system share system memory for graphics?

A: Yes, the Arc B370 uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth. This architecture means the GPU's memory performance is tied to the CPU's DDR4 memory subsystem, which operates at 42.7 GB/s in dual-channel configuration.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is a mobile-class integrated graphics solution built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a 3 nm process node. Its modest specifications—1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs—produce 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU's boost clock of 2400 MHz is respectable, but the architecture's limited execution resources constrain its real-world gaming performance.

The memory configuration is particularly noteworthy: the Arc B370 has no dedicated VRAM, instead relying on System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth. This means the CPU's dual-channel DDR4 at 42.7 GB/s serves as the graphics memory pool, a significant bottleneck for texture-heavy scenarios. This explains why Ultra settings cause such dramatic frame rate drops—the increased texture detail and memory pressure overwhelm the shared memory subsystem.

In Outriders, the GPU's performance profile is consistent with its synthetic benchmark standing. The 1184 Steel Nomad score translates to playable frame rates only at 1080p with reduced settings. The GPU's 10 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are present in the specification sheet, but the measured data suggests that enabling such features would be impractical given the base rendering performance. The low pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the steep 4K performance cliff.

The temperature and power characteristics of the GPU—a 25 W TDP with no power connectors—indicate this is an integrated solution designed for efficiency rather than performance. The fact that it competes with decade-old discrete GPUs like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 in synthetic benchmarks contextualizes its capabilities: it is a modern architecture with legacy-tier execution resources.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets.

1080p (1920x1080): The only resolution where this system delivers consistently playable results. Low settings produce 104 FPS average, which is excellent for fast-paced looter shooter gameplay. Medium settings reduce this to 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 87 FPS, indicating smooth frame pacing. High settings achieve 57 FPS, still comfortable for the genre. Ultra settings drop to 41 FPS, which is playable but approaches the lower boundary of smoothness for action games.

1440p (2560x1440): Performance degrades noticeably at this resolution. Low settings maintain 65 FPS, which is adequate, but Medium falls to 48 FPS (minimum 40, maximum 55). High settings drop to 36 FPS, which is borderline for a fast-paced shooter, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS, which is below the playability threshold. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 37% of performance across all settings.

4K (3840x2160): This resolution is essentially unplayable for active gameplay. Low settings achieve 34 FPS, which is marginal, but Medium drops to 25 FPS (minimum 21, maximum 29). High settings produce only 19 FPS, and Ultra falls to 13 FPS. The data suggests that 4K should be reserved for static environments or cinematics, not combat scenarios.

The frame time data available for Medium settings shows a consistent range: 64-87 FPS at 1080p, 40-55 FPS at 1440p, and 21-29 FPS at 4K. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS narrows at higher resolutions, suggesting that the GPU becomes consistently saturated rather than experiencing intermittent spikes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz boosts to 4.10 GHz, providing adequate single-threaded performance for gaming workloads. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s dual-channel memory bandwidth are sufficient for feeding the Arc B370's shared memory architecture.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core tests. Its Geekbench results of 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, indicating a mid-pack processor that is neither a bottleneck nor a performance leader. The CPU's nearest rivals are closely matched: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% lower).

The CPU's role in Outriders appears secondary to the GPU bottleneck. The resolution scaling data shows consistent performance drops as pixel count increases, which would not occur if the CPU were the limiting factor. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 104 FPS, suggesting the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI workloads without constraining the GPU. The 6 threads may limit performance in CPU-intensive scenarios, but the measured data indicates that the Arc B370's rendering capabilities are exhausted before the CPU's processing capacity.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and Socket 1151 compatibility make it a modest component in modern terms, but its Coffee Lake architecture provides sufficient instruction-level parallelism for this game. The lack of SMT means only 6 threads are available, which could cause stuttering in heavily threaded scenes, but the frame rate data does not show evidence of such issues at the tested settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this system is 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers 75 FPS average with a minimum of 64 FPS. This combination provides smooth gameplay suitable for the fast-paced combat of Outriders while maintaining visual quality above the lowest tier. The Medium preset's frame time consistency (64-87 FPS range) indicates stable performance without significant drops.

For players prioritizing maximum smoothness, 1080p Low settings at 104 FPS is the clear choice. This configuration eliminates any risk of frame rate dips and provides a significant margin above display refresh rates. The visual compromise is acceptable given the 38.6% performance gain over Medium settings.

At 1440p, Low settings at 65 FPS is the only viable option for consistent gameplay. Medium settings at 48 FPS may be acceptable for less action-heavy moments, but the 40 FPS minimum suggests potential stuttering during intense combat sequences. Players with 1440p displays should expect to sacrifice visual fidelity for playability.

Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. The best Ultra result is 41 FPS at 1080p, which is playable but offers marginal visual improvements over High settings at 57 FPS. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra settings produce 26 FPS and 13 FPS respectively, which are below acceptable thresholds for this genre. High settings provide a better balance: 57 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests that this system's sweet spot is 1080p Medium, where performance and visual quality intersect most favorably. Players should avoid 4K entirely, as even Low settings at 34 FPS will hinder gameplay responsiveness in combat scenarios where quick reactions are essential.