Outriders

# Outriders Performance Analysis: Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

The combination of a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the high-end RTX 4080 SUPER presents a notable imbalance in Outriders, a looter shooter that scales heavily with both resolution and graphical presets. Measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions reveal that the GPU is the dominant performance driver at 4K, while the CPU begins to assert its influence at lower resolutions and with reduced graphical settings. The dataset shows a total of 12 measured configurations, with average FPS ranging from a low of 53.6 at 4K Ultra to a high of 130.6 at 1080p Low. This pairing ranks 1090 out of 1693 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution despite the powerful GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the magnitude varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reduces average FPS from 100.6 to 72.5, a decline of 28.1 frames per second. This translates to a 28% performance loss, which is relatively moderate and indicates that the GPU has enough headroom at 1080p to maintain high output while still handling the increased pixel count at 4K.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 130.6 FPS, but at 4K Low, this drops to 86.9 FPS, a reduction of 43.7 frames per second. The percentage drop here is 33.4%, which is larger than the High preset's decline. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU becomes a more significant factor at 1080p, allowing the GPU to run at near-maximum output; when resolution increases, the GPU workload grows, but the CPU overhead remains constant, creating a different bottleneck profile.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest absolute decline, falling from 91.2 FPS at 1080p to 53.6 FPS at 4K, a difference of 37.6 frames per second. This represents a 41.2% reduction, the largest percentage loss across all settings. This pattern indicates that at Ultra, the GPU is heavily taxed even at 1080p, and the additional pixel load at 4K pushes the rendering pipeline to its limits. The Medium preset sits between these extremes, dropping from 112.6 FPS at 1080p to 80.1 FPS at 4K, a 32.5-frame reduction.

The data reveals that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's six cores and six threads without Hyper-Threading likely constrain the frame rate, particularly at Low and Medium settings where the GPU can render frames quickly. At 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER's workload becomes the primary limiter, as evidenced by the smaller absolute FPS differences between presets at that resolution. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 33.3 FPS (from 86.9 to 53.6), while at 1080p, the same spread is 39.4 FPS (from 130.6 to 91.2), confirming that resolution scaling compresses the performance envelope.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end Ada Lovelace part with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Its base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2550 MHz, combined with 10240 shading units, position it as a top-tier GPU for 4K gaming. The card's 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, which Outriders can leverage for enhanced visual effects.

In the context of Outriders, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K resolution. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 33.3 FPS, with the card producing 86.9 FPS at Low and 53.6 FPS at Ultra. This 62% performance uplift from Ultra to Low demonstrates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as reducing graphical quality directly translates to higher frame rates. The card operates within its designed envelope here, as the 16 GB memory capacity is sufficient for the game's texture requirements at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark standing reinforces its capability. It scores 34245 in Passmark G3D and 53610 in average benchmark score, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 53489, a 0.2% delta, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 53414, also a 0.4% delta. The RTX 4080 SUPER outperforms these alternatives by a narrow margin, indicating that it sits at the top of the performance hierarchy.

However, the GPU's potential is not fully realized in this CPU pairing at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the card produces 130.6 FPS, but this is likely below its maximum capability given the CPU's constraints. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s suggest it could render more frames if the CPU could feed it data faster. The card's pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s is particularly relevant for a game like Outriders, which features detailed environments and effects.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a Coffee Lake processor with 6 cores and 6 threads, base clock of 2.90 GHz, and boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth. Its benchmark scores include 7969 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1125 in single-core, placing it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's influence on Outriders performance is most apparent at 1080p with lower settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 130.6 FPS, while at 4K Low, it reaches 86.9 FPS. The 33.4% drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is smaller than the 41.2% drop at Ultra, suggesting that at Low, the CPU is more involved in frame production. The six-core, six-thread configuration without SMT means the processor must handle all game threads with physical cores only, which can be a limiting factor in scenarios where the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can submit them.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark performance include the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 2300 (a 0.2% delta), and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 at 2299 (also 0.2% delta). The Intel Xeon E-2134 scores 2295, a 0.4% delta, while the Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2319, a -0.6% delta. These comparisons show that the i5-9400 sits in a tight performance cluster, with no significant advantage over its nearest competitors. This indicates that the CPU's processing power is adequate but not exceptional for modern gaming workloads.

At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 91.2 FPS, which is only 5.3 FPS higher than the 4K High result of 72.5 FPS when considering the resolution difference. This modest gap suggests that the CPU is not the primary limiter at Ultra settings, as the GPU workload dominates. However, at 1080p Low versus 1080p Ultra, the difference is 39.4 FPS (130.6 vs 91.2), a 43.2% improvement from Ultra to Low. This large delta at the same resolution points to the CPU becoming more relevant when the GPU has less work to do, as the processor must maintain frame pacing and game logic at higher rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this hardware combination?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 130.6, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the peak frame rate in the dataset, with all other configurations producing lower results.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, while the RX 6900 XT scores 53489, a delta of 0.2%. This places the RTX 4080 SUPER slightly ahead, but the performance difference is marginal.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the system produces 53.6 FPS, which is the lowest result in the dataset. The GPU is the primary limiter at this configuration, as the high pixel count and demanding settings tax the RTX 4080 SUPER's rendering capabilities.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 109.8 FPS, while Ultra produces 76.2 FPS. This represents a 33.6 FPS difference, or a 44.1% improvement from Ultra to Low.

Q: How does the i5-9400's multi-core performance compare to the Intel Core i3-10305?

A: The i5-9400 scores 3346 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, while its average benchmark score is 2305. The nearest rival, the Core i3-10305, has an average score of 2300, a 0.2% delta, indicating essentially equivalent performance.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K High settings?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 72.5, which is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered playable. This configuration offers a balance between visual quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details all measured average FPS values across the three resolutions and four quality presets:

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 86.9 FPS
• Medium: 80.1 FPS
• High: 72.5 FPS
• Ultra: 53.6 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 109.8 FPS
• Medium: 101.1 FPS
• High: 91.0 FPS
• Ultra: 76.2 FPS

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 130.6 FPS
• Medium: 112.6 FPS
• High: 100.6 FPS
• Ultra: 91.2 FPS

At 4K, the progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline: 86.9, 80.1, 72.5, and 53.6 FPS. The largest single-step drop occurs between High and Ultra, a 18.9 FPS reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces significantly heavier rendering demands. At 1440p, the same progression yields 109.8, 101.1, 91.0, and 76.2 FPS, with the High-to-Ultra step again being the largest at 14.8 FPS. At 1080p, the values are 130.6, 112.6, 100.6, and 91.2 FPS, with the Low-to-Medium step showing the largest drop at 18.0 FPS, suggesting that Medium settings add substantial graphical features that impact performance.

The data indicates that this hardware combination is best suited for 1440p gaming, where all four presets deliver frame rates above 76 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium settings maintain frame rates above 80 FPS, while High is playable at 72.5 FPS and Ultra dips below 60 FPS. At 1080p, all presets exceed 90 FPS, but the CPU likely prevents the system from achieving even higher frame rates at Low settings, as the 130.6 FPS result represents a practical ceiling for this processor.