Outriders

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination delivers playable performance in Outriders primarily at 1080p, where the Low preset achieves a 99 FPS average. This pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming, as moving to 1440p or 4K rapidly degrades frame rates; the 1440p Medium setting yields 45 FPS, while 4K High drops to just 18 FPS. For the most balanced experience, the 1080p Medium preset, with an average of 72 FPS and a minimum of 61 FPS, provides the best compromise between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay, avoiding the harsh performance penalty of Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that 1080p is the target resolution for this hardware combo. At this resolution, the Low preset produces an average of 99 FPS, which is excellent for fast-paced action. However, the Medium preset at 72 FPS average (with a 61 FPS minimum) is the recommended starting point, as it offers a substantial visual upgrade over Low while still maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. The High preset at 54 FPS is playable but begins to show strain, and the Ultra preset, at 39 FPS average, is not recommended for consistent performance.

At 1440p, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset is the only setting that maintains a consistently smooth experience, averaging 62 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 45 FPS, which is acceptable for slower moments but will feel less responsive during intense combat. High and Ultra presets at 34 and 25 FPS respectively are not viable for a responsive looter shooter experience. At 4K, all presets are effectively unplayable, with the best result being the Low preset at 33 FPS, followed by Medium at 24 FPS, High at 18 FPS, and Ultra at 13 FPS; these numbers confirm that 4K is outside the capability of this configuration.

Given the data, the best overall experience is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This setting provides the highest visual quality that still guarantees a minimum frame rate above 60 FPS, ensuring a stable and responsive gameplay experience. For players prioritizing maximum frame rate, the Low preset at 99 FPS is the clear choice, but the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual detail and performance for a game like Outriders.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz and it boosts to 4.10 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 668 points in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 94 points in single-core, and 6629 and 935 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and single-core respectively. These scores place the CPU at the 47th percentile among all tested CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer.

In the context of Outriders, the CPU's 6 physical cores without hyper-threading are sufficient to handle the game's logic, but the data suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. This is evident when comparing performance across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 99 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires strong single-thread performance. The CPU's single-core score of 935 in Cinebench R23 is adequate for this task. However, the GPU's limitations become clear at higher resolutions, where the frame rate drops significantly regardless of the CPU's capability.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is noteworthy. It is virtually tied with the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average score of 2259, a delta of -0.2%. It is also very close to the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, delta 0.3%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, delta 0.4%). This indicates that the i5-9400 is a solid, if unspectacular, processor that provides no significant advantage or disadvantage in this pairing. The bottleneck in this system is clearly the GPU, as evidenced by the fact that the CPU is capable of feeding the GTX 1650 at 1080p Low, but the GPU cannot sustain high frame rates at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1485 MHz, with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. Its compute power is rated at 2.984 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. The GPU's benchmark scores include a Passmark G3D score of 7880 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 33042, placing it at the 40th percentile among all GPUs.

The GTX 1650's 4 GB VRAM is a critical limiting factor in Outriders. The data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, which is consistent with VRAM capacity and bandwidth constraints. At 1080p, the GPU can manage, but at 1440p and 4K, the frame rates fall below playable thresholds. For instance, the 1440p High preset averages 34 FPS, and the 4K Medium preset averages only 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is overwhelmed by the increased pixel count and texture data at higher resolutions.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals is tight. It scores an average of 7472, which is very close to the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (7447, delta 0.3%), the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441, delta 0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425, delta 0.6%). It is slightly behind the Intel Arc A310, which scores 7550, a delta of -1.0%. This shows that the GTX 1650 is a baseline entry-level GPU in this comparison group, and its performance in Outriders reflects that positioning. The GPU's boost clock of 1665 MHz is the maximum it can reach, but thermal and power limits may prevent it from sustaining this in all scenarios, though the measured data does not specify such variations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 3569 out of 3710 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the bottom 4% of all configurations tested. This low ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is a mid-range part that is not the primary constraint.

This ranking is consistent with the measured frame rates. The combo is clearly at the lower end of the performance spectrum, and its rank reflects that it is only suitable for 1080p gaming at lower to medium settings. The data shows that this combination cannot deliver a high-refresh-rate experience at 1440p or any playable experience at 4K, which is why it ranks so low among the 3710 combos. For context, the average FPS at 1080p Low is 99, which is good, but the average at 1080p Ultra is 39, which is poor. This wide variance demonstrates that the combo is heavily dependent on settings and resolution to achieve playable frame rates.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Outriders?*

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 is the best resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 99 FPS and Medium achieves 72 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset drops to 62 FPS, and at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 33 FPS.

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

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 33 on the Low preset. The Medium preset averages 24 FPS, High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. These frame rates are not playable for a responsive action game.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum frame rate?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 61. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset has a minimum of 39 FPS. The 3840x2160 Medium preset has a minimum of 20 FPS. The 1080p Medium setting is the only one that guarantees a minimum above 60 FPS.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 3569 out of 3710 total tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the bottom tier of all configurations. This ranking is consistent with its measured performance, which is only suitable for 1080p gaming.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this system?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU is a 6-core processor with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, and it sits at the 47th percentile. The GPU is at the 40th percentile and has 4 GB of VRAM. The frame rates drop significantly with resolution increases, which is a hallmark of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 99 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS. This represents a significant performance cost for the Ultra preset, which is not justified for the visual gains in a fast-paced game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average FPS for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 in Outriders. Minimum and maximum FPS are provided where available.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average 33 FPS.
• Medium: Average 24 FPS, minimum 20 FPS, maximum 27 FPS.
• High: Average 18 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 13 FPS.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average 62 FPS.
• Medium: Average 45 FPS, minimum 39 FPS, maximum 52 FPS.
• High: Average 34 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 25 FPS.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average 99 FPS.
• Medium: Average 72 FPS, minimum 61 FPS, maximum 83 FPS.
• High: Average 54 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 39 FPS.

These figures illustrate a clear progression: the system is most capable at 1080p, where it can maintain high frame rates on the Low and Medium presets. The 1440p Low preset is also viable at 62 FPS average, but the higher presets at this resolution begin to struggle. The 4K resolution is entirely unsupported for smooth gameplay, with all presets falling below the 30 FPS threshold that is generally considered the minimum for playable performance. The data supports the conclusion that this combo is optimized for 1080p gaming with medium settings.