Outriders

Outriders is a looter shooter that responds predictably to the GPU-heavy load of higher resolutions, but the data for this Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti pairing reveals a few surprising bottlenecks. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the four tested presets show that the RTX 4070 Ti is doing the heavy lifting at 4K, while the six-core i5-9400 becomes a more significant factor at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, the combo's standing in the database, and what settings you should actually use.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but the pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 104.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 90.8 FPS at 2560x1440, then down to 71.2 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 13.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 21.6% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is similar on Low: 130 FPS at 1080p drops to 107.4 FPS at 1440p and then to 90.9 FPS at 4K. The fact that the 4K results are still well above 60 FPS on every preset except Ultra indicates the RTX 4070 Ti has enough raw throughput to handle the higher pixel counts.

What is more telling is the gap between presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 40.2 FPS (130 vs. 89.8). At 4K, that same Low-to-Ultra gap shrinks to 39.8 FPS (90.9 vs. 51.1). The absolute numbers are lower, but the percentage penalty for Ultra is roughly consistent. This suggests that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU itself, as the i5-9400 has enough headroom to feed the RTX 4070 Ti at those settings. Conversely, the smaller-than-expected drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings (107.4 to 90.9 FPS, a 15.4% decrease) hints that the CPU is starting to constrain the frame rate at lower internal resolutions, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Outriders, this specific pairing sits at rank 1088 out of 1693 combinations. That places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is a direct reflection of the CPU's age. The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, placing it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (score 2300, delta 0.2%) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (score 2295, delta 0.4%). The i5-9400 is effectively tied with these parts, all of which are older or lower-tier desktop chips.

The GPU, by contrast, is a powerhouse. The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44900 and sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (score 45152, delta -0.6%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (score 45642, delta -1.6%). This extreme mismatch—a top-tier GPU paired with a mid-range, six-thread CPU from 2018—explains the combo's low ranking. The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is capable of far higher frame rates, but the i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads (with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost of 4.10 GHz) cannot consistently deliver the draw calls needed to keep the GPU busy, especially at 1080p where the CPU overhead is more exposed.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 Ti in Outriders?

A: The benchmark data suggests yes, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 130 FPS, but the GPU is powerful enough that a stronger CPU would likely push that higher. The combo rank of 1088 out of 1693 indicates the pairing is not well-balanced for this game.

Q: Which resolution provides the best experience with this combo?

A: 1440p High appears to be the sweet spot. It delivers 90.8 FPS, which is only 14 FPS behind the 1080p High result, while offering significantly more detail. The 4K High result of 71.2 FPS is playable, but the dip below 90 FPS at 1440p is a clear trade-off.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its direct rivals in CPU performance?

A: The i5-9400's average benchmark score is 2305. It is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i3-10305 (score 2300) and 0.4% faster than the Intel Xeon E-2134 (score 2295). It is 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i7-8809G (score 2319). These are negligible differences, meaning the i5-9400 performs at the same level as these comparable chips.

Q: What is the best preset to use for 4K gaming on this system?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 yields 78.3 FPS, which is a solid playable frame rate. The High preset drops to 71.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 51.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold most players prefer. Low gives 90.9 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 Ti have enough memory bandwidth for Outriders?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The measured FPS at 4K High (71.2) suggests this is sufficient for the game's texture loads, as the performance does not collapse when moving from 1440p to 4K.

Q: How much slower is the Ultra preset compared to Low at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 130 FPS, while Ultra averages 89.8 FPS. That is a 40.2 FPS penalty, or roughly a 31% reduction in frame rate, for enabling the highest visual quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear recommendation: stick to the High preset for most scenarios. At 1080p, High delivers 104.8 FPS, which is smooth and leaves headroom for future updates. At 1440p, High produces 90.8 FPS, which is an excellent balance of visual quality and responsiveness for a looter shooter where fast aiming matters. The Ultra preset is not worth the cost; at 1440p it drops to 76.9 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 51.1 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users.

If you have a 4K display, the Medium preset is the practical choice. It delivers 78.3 FPS at 3840x2160, which is 7.1 FPS faster than High and 27.2 FPS faster than Ultra. The step from Low (90.9 FPS) to Medium (78.3 FPS) is a 12.6 FPS loss, but the visual improvement in lighting and texture detail is substantial. For competitive play where frame rate is king, the Low preset at 1080p (130 FPS) is the only option that exceeds 120 FPS, but the visual downgrade is severe. The data shows that High is the most efficient preset across all resolutions, offering the best balance of image quality and performance without the steep penalty of Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces 130 FPS on Low, 116.6 FPS on Medium, 104.8 FPS on High, and 89.8 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Medium to High is a 11.8 FPS loss, while the jump from High to Ultra is a 15 FPS loss. At 2560x1440, the results are 107.4 FPS on Low, 100.3 FPS on Medium, 90.8 FPS on High, and 76.9 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs between 22.6 FPS (Low) and 12.9 FPS (Ultra), showing that the GPU has less headroom at higher settings. At 3840x2160, the numbers drop further: 90.9 FPS on Low, 78.3 FPS on Medium, 71.2 FPS on High, and 51.1 FPS on Ultra.

The most notable outlier is the 4K Ultra result. At 51.1 FPS, it is the only tested configuration that falls below 60 FPS. The gap between 4K High (71.2) and 4K Ultra (51.1) is 20.1 FPS, which is a larger penalty than the 13.9 FPS difference seen between 1440p High and Ultra (90.8 to 76.9). This suggests that Ultra enables settings that are particularly taxing on the memory subsystem or shading units at 4K. In contrast, the 1080p Low result of 130 FPS is the highest recorded, and the 1440p Low result of 107.4 FPS shows that the CPU is still able to push decent frame rates even at higher resolutions, provided the GPU workload is light.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 9 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications point to a CPU that was mid-range at its 2018 release, and its benchmark scores confirm that it remains competitive with other older desktop parts. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 7969, and its single-core score is 1125. The average benchmark score of 2305 places it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, which is exactly average.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that the i5-9400 is sufficient for 60 FPS gaming at 4K on Medium and High settings, as the GPU is the bottleneck there. However, at 1080p Low, the FPS of 130 is likely CPU-limited, as the RTX 4070 Ti has been shown to push well over 200 FPS in other titles with stronger processors. The 6 threads are a limitation; modern games often benefit from 8 or more threads for background tasks and streaming. The lack of hyper-threading means the CPU has fewer resources to handle the game's simulation while also managing the GPU driver overhead. The result is a system that performs admirably at high resolutions but leaves performance on the table at 1080p, which is a common scenario for players with high-refresh-rate monitors.