Outriders

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 pairing in Outriders shows a GPU-heavy workload where the RTX 4070 carries most of the load, but the older six-core CPU still imposes some limits at lower resolutions. The measured frame rates across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal a clear pattern of scaling that favors the GPU’s capabilities, while the CPU’s six threads become more relevant only when the resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable decline in average FPS as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline tells the real story. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 100.9 FPS, which drops to 88.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 58.5 FPS at 4K. That is a 42% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which indicates the RTX 4070 is still the dominant factor even at the highest resolution, though the gap narrows considerably.

Looking at the Low settings preset, the scaling pattern shifts. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 127 FPS, while 1440p Low yields 112 FPS and 4K Low produces 90.1 FPS. The delta from 1080p to 4K here is 29%, which is smaller than the High preset’s drop. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU begins to exert more influence at 1080p, capping performance before the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The fact that 1080p Low (127 FPS) is only 13% faster than 1440p Low (112 FPS) reinforces that the i5-9400’s six cores and six threads are nearing their ceiling at lower resolutions.

The Medium and Ultra presets complete the picture. Medium settings show 116 FPS at 1080p, 97.7 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K — a 33% drop from 1080p to 4K. Ultra settings, the most demanding, deliver 90.4 FPS at 1080p, 76.1 FPS at 1440p, and 42.5 FPS at 4K. The Ultra 4K figure is the lowest in the entire dataset, and the 53% reduction from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra indicates that the RTX 4070’s 12 GB of VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are being pushed hard, but the GPU still manages to keep the experience playable.

What stands out is the consistency of the GPU’s role. Across all presets, the 4K numbers stay within a range of 42.5 to 90.1 FPS, while the 1080p numbers range from 90.4 to 127 FPS. The spread at 1440p is narrower, from 76.1 to 112 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 4070 is the primary limiter at 4K, while the CPU becomes more of a factor at 1080p, particularly at Low settings where the frame rate ceiling appears to be around 127 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. Its 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs are paired with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz provide the raw throughput, and the GPU’s FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS is substantial for a 200 W part.

The memory subsystem is a critical component for Outriders. The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective. In this game, the 4K High result of 58.5 FPS suggests that the 12 GB capacity is sufficient, but the bandwidth is being taxed. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 42.5 FPS, indicating that the combination of higher texture quality and effects pushes the memory interface closer to its limits.

The RTX 4070’s benchmark scores provide context for its overall capability. In Passmark G3D, it scores 26927, and in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 it scores 3854. Its average benchmark score of 37283 places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which scores 37507 (0.6% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A, which scores 38008 (1.9% higher). These deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 4070 sits in a competitive performance band, though the actual in-game results will vary depending on the title.

In Outriders, the GPU’s role is clearly dominant at 4K. The fact that 4K High (58.5 FPS) is 31% faster than 4K Ultra (42.5 FPS) shows that the GPU’s processing power and memory bandwidth are the deciding factors at that resolution. The RTX 4070’s 81st percentile ranking reinforces that this is a high-end part, but the game’s demands at Ultra 4K still push it below the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a Coffee Lake part with six cores and six threads, base clock of 2.90 GHz, and boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache, with 64 KB L1 and 256 KB L2 per core. The CPU’s memory support is DDR4 dual-channel with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth, and it uses a PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes.

The CPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, 0.2% higher), Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, 0.2% higher), Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, 0.4% higher), and Intel Core i7-8809G (2319, 0.6% lower). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the i5-9400 performs essentially on par with those parts in synthetic benchmarks.

In Outriders, the CPU’s influence is most visible at 1080p Low settings. The 127 FPS result at that preset is the highest in the entire dataset, but it is only 13% higher than the 112 FPS at 1440p Low. This suggests that the CPU is reaching a practical limit around 127 FPS, likely due to its six threads. At 1080p High, the frame rate drops to 100.9 FPS, which is a 21% reduction from Low, indicating that the GPU is now handling more work and the CPU has more headroom.

The Ultra preset at 1080p shows 90.4 FPS, which is higher than the 4K Ultra result of 42.5 FPS but lower than the 1440p High result of 88.6 FPS. This pattern indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at Ultra settings; the GPU’s workload dominates. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra (90.4 FPS) is only 19% higher than 1440p Ultra (76.1 FPS) suggests that the CPU is still contributing to the performance ceiling, as a purely GPU-bound scenario would show a larger gap.

The i5-9400’s six cores and six threads are adequate for this game, but they lack the hyper-threading that would help in more CPU-intensive scenarios. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz helps single-thread performance, but the lack of additional threads means that at lower resolutions, the CPU can cap frame rates. The data shows that this cap is around 127 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target but below what a newer, higher-core-count CPU might achieve.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Outriders?

A: The highest average FPS is 127 FPS, achieved at 1080p with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 42.5 FPS, which is the lowest result across all tested settings and resolutions.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 or the i5-9400 the primary bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the 127 FPS result is only 13% higher than the 112 FPS at 1440p Low, indicating a CPU-imposed ceiling.

Q: What is the RTX 4070’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 ranks in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283.

Q: How close is the i5-9400 to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 scores 2305, while its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, scores 2300, a delta of 0.2%. The Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2319, which is 0.6% higher.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p High and 4K High?

A: The combo achieves 100.9 FPS at 1080p High and 58.5 FPS at 4K High, a reduction of 42%.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combo ranks 1178 out of 1693 tested combinations in Outriders. This places it in the 30th percentile of all combos, meaning nearly 70% of tested systems perform better in this game. The ranking reflects the imbalance between the GPU’s high-end capabilities and the CPU’s mid-range standing.

The RTX 4070 is a top-tier GPU, sitting in the 81st percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 37283. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.6% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38008, 1.9% higher). Despite this strong GPU performance, the combo’s overall rank is dragged down by the CPU. The i5-9400 sits in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 2305 that is nearly identical to its nearest rivals.

The measured FPS results show that the combo can deliver playable frame rates at most settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 42.5 FPS is below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 88.6 FPS, which is solid, and at 1080p High, it reaches 100.9 FPS. The low preset at 1080p produces 127 FPS, which is the best result, but the CPU’s limitations prevent higher frame rates.

The rank of 1178 out of 1693 indicates that while this combo is capable, it is not optimized for Outriders. The GPU is powerful enough to handle the game at high settings, but the CPU’s six threads and 50th percentile standing create a bottleneck that limits the overall performance. For users with this combo, the data suggests that playing at 1440p High or 1080p High provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, while 4K Ultra should be avoided unless a lower frame rate is acceptable.