Outriders

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti pairing in Outriders presents a clear case of GPU-bound scaling, with the CPU providing a stable foundation that allows the graphics card to dictate performance across resolutions. The measured frame rates show a predictable drop as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly by preset, revealing how settings interact with the rendering load.

Resolution Scaling

At 1080p, the combo delivers its highest raw throughput. With Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 128.4 FPS, which drops to 111.7 FPS at Medium, 102.7 FPS at High, and 92.7 FPS at Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 35.7 FPS, indicating that even at the lowest preset, the system is not bottlenecked by the processor; the RTX 3070 Ti has ample headroom to render frames quickly.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates compress slightly. Low settings produce 108.3 FPS, Medium 101 FPS, High 91 FPS, and Ultra 73.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 34.6 FPS, but the absolute numbers drop, particularly at Ultra, which loses 19 FPS compared to its 1080p counterpart. This suggests the GPU is beginning to feel the additional pixel count, though the i5-9400 still keeps pace.

At 4K (3840x2160), the scaling becomes steep. Low settings yield 90 FPS, Medium 72.6 FPS, High 54.7 FPS, and Ultra 36.7 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 38.4 FPS, while the drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 56 FPS. The most telling figure is the Ultra preset at 4K: 36.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the gap between High (54.7) and Ultra (36.7) at 4K is 18 FPS, a larger jump than the 11 FPS difference between Medium and High at the same resolution. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces a disproportionately heavy load, likely from effects like shadows and post-processing, which the GPU cannot sustain at 4K.

The data shows that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p and 1440p, the RTX 3070 Ti is the primary constraint, as the frame rates scale predictably with settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes heavily saturated, and the CPU’s role diminishes further. The i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, does not appear to create a bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rates never plateau across settings; instead, they consistently track the GPU’s workload.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader database of tested combinations for Outriders, this specific pairing ranks 1249 out of 1693 combos. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems, which is noteworthy given the individual components’ specifications. The RTX 3070 Ti holds a percentile rank of 74 among all GPUs, meaning it outperforms 74% of tested graphics cards. The i5-9400, however, sits at the 50th percentile among CPUs, indicating an average standing.

The combo’s rank reflects this imbalance: the GPU is above average, but the CPU is mid-pack. In the data, the i5-9400’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 with an average score of 2300 (a delta of 0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-8809G with a score of 2319 (a delta of -0.6%). These are close calls, suggesting the CPU is not a standout performer. Meanwhile, the RTX 3070 Ti’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 with an average score of 31112 (a delta of -0.8%) and the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 with 31142 (a delta of -0.9%), showing the GPU is competitive within its class.

The rank of 1249 out of 1693 means that 444 combinations deliver better average performance in this game. This is not a top-tier pairing, but the measured FPS across all presets and resolutions indicates it is capable of playable frame rates in most scenarios, with the exception of 4K Ultra. The data suggests that the CPU’s average benchmark performance, with a multicore Cinebench R23 score of 7969, does not boost the combo’s standing, but it also does not drag it down to the bottom quartile.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K, the measured rows show that High settings produce an average of 54.7 FPS, which is marginally below the 60 FPS target but still playable for many users. Medium settings at 4K yield 72.6 FPS, offering a smoother experience with a 17.9 FPS improvement over High. Low settings at 4K reach 90 FPS, which is the most responsive option, but the visual quality trade-off is significant. Ultra at 4K is not viable, as the 36.7 FPS average is too low for consistent action.

At 1440p, High settings deliver 91 FPS, which is a strong balance of visual fidelity and performance. Medium at 1440p produces 101 FPS, and Low reaches 108.3 FPS. Ultra at 1440p drops to 73.7 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but represents a 19 FPS penalty over High. Given the data, 1440p High is the recommended preset for a smooth experience without sacrificing too much detail.

At 1080p, High settings achieve 102.7 FPS, which is comfortable for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium at 1080p is 111.7 FPS, and Low is 128.4 FPS. Ultra at 1080p is 92.7 FPS, which is still above 90 FPS but below the other presets. For 1080p, the data supports High as the optimal choice, as it provides a 10 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining better visual quality than Medium.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize 1440p High for the best experience, as it keeps the frame rate above 90 FPS while leveraging the GPU’s capabilities. At 4K, Medium is the safest bet for playability, as it stays above 70 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The average frame rate at 3840x2160 with High settings is 54.7 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295).

Q: Is the RTX 3070 Ti a top-tier GPU in the database?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti holds a percentile rank of 74 among all GPUs, meaning it outperforms 74% of tested graphics cards.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming?

A: At 1080p, High settings produce 102.7 FPS, which is a strong balance; Medium yields 111.7 FPS and Low 128.4 FPS, but High offers better visuals with only a 9 FPS penalty over Medium.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 4K?

A: No, the data shows that frame rates at 4K scale consistently with GPU settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting component; the CPU does not cause a plateau.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1440p with Ultra settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 73.7 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process by Samsung. It features 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 1575 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and its memory runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed. The card has 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units, along with 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores.

In Outriders, the GPU’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1440p, the difference between Low (108.3 FPS) and Ultra (73.7 FPS) is 34.6 FPS, showing that the GPU’s compute resources are heavily taxed by higher settings. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 36.7 FPS, a 53.3 FPS decrease from 1080p Ultra, which underscores the memory bandwidth and pixel throughput limits. The 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1440p gameplay, but at 4K, the 8 GB VRAM and 256-bit bus become strained, particularly with Ultra effects that increase memory pressure.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 30849 places it at the 74th percentile, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700, scores 31112 with a delta of -0.8%, indicating the RTX 3070 Ti is slightly behind in raw compute but still competitive. The measured FPS in Outriders aligns with this positioning, as the card delivers solid performance at 1080p and 1440p but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance is evident in the frame rates, but the game’s engine appears to favor higher settings for visual effects that require more shading and rasterization work.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a Coffee Lake Refresh processor with 6 cores and 6 threads, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache, with 64 KB of L1 and 256 KB of L2 per core. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, and it connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes. It lacks hyper-threading, which limits its multi-threaded capacity compared to processors with more threads.

In Outriders, the CPU’s role is secondary but not negligible. The measured frame rates show that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 128.4 FPS, which is the highest in the dataset. This indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates, but the 6 cores and 6 threads may limit performance in scenes with heavy physics or AI. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 reflect its average standing; the single-core performance is sufficient for gaming, but the multicore score is modest.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 50 means it is exactly average among all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8809G, scores 2319 with a delta of -0.6%, showing the i5-9400 is slightly behind. In Outriders, the CPU does not appear to bottleneck the GPU at any resolution, as the frame rates consistently scale with GPU settings. At 4K Low, the system hits 90 FPS, which is a 38.4 FPS drop from 1080p Low, but this is due to GPU load, not CPU limitations. The 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is adequate for the game, and the CPU’s 9 MB L3 cache helps with data locality, but the lack of additional threads means the processor may not excel in scenarios with many concurrent entities. Overall, the CPU provides a stable platform, but its average performance keeps the combo’s rank in the lower half of the database.