Outriders

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D lands at rank 1849 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. That places this configuration in the lower-middle tier of the database, a position that reflects a profound imbalance between the two components. The RTX 5090 D is a top-tier GPU by any measure, while the i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread CPU from 2018 that now sits at the 47th percentile against all CPUs. The data indicates that this pairing underperforms what the GPU alone would suggest, and the bottleneck is clearly the processor.

Benchmark results show the i5-9400 produces an average score of 2254 across all tests, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (0.2% faster) and the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2264 (0.4% faster). Meanwhile, the RTX 5090 D achieves an average benchmark score of 77712, placing it at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The delta between these two components' relative standings is enormous, and in a game like Outriders—which demands both CPU and GPU work in tandem—the combo rank of 1849 reflects how the weaker link drags down the entire system. The rank is not catastrophic, but it is far from what an RTX 5090 D owner would expect, and the measured FPS numbers confirm this.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. Memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. In Outriders, these specifications translate to raw rasterization power that is largely wasted at lower resolutions due to CPU limitations, but the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases.

Benchmark scores for the RTX 5090 D are stellar: 14,326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 310,674 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan. The PassMark G3D score of 44,065 and GPU compute score of 28,396 further emphasize its compute capability. The GPU's nearest rivals in the database—AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904, 1.1% slower), AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, 1.6% faster), and NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants—are all far less powerful in real-world gaming, yet this combo's rank in Outriders is dragged down by the CPU. The GPU's 92nd percentile standing means it is among the best available, but the measured FPS in Outriders shows it operating well below its potential, particularly at 1080p and 1440p.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of CPU limitation at lower resolutions and GPU utilization at 4K. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 102 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops that to 88 FPS, and at 3840x2160 High it falls further to 71 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 13.7% reduction, while 1440p to 4K is a 19.3% reduction. This is a relatively modest drop-off compared to what a GPU-bound system would show, indicating that the CPU is capping performance early.

At Low settings, the story is more pronounced. The i5-9400 and RTX 5090 D produce 128 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 14.1%, and 1440p to 4K is 20%. The fact that Low settings at 1080p only reach 128 FPS—rather than the 200+ FPS a fully GPU-bound RTX 5090 D would achieve—demonstrates that the CPU is the limiting factor. The gap between Low and High settings at each resolution is also telling: at 1080p, the spread is 26 FPS (128 vs 102), at 1440p it is 22 FPS (110 vs 88), and at 4K it is 17 FPS (88 vs 71). As resolution climbs, the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck, and the CPU's influence wanes, but even at 4K the system is not fully GPU-limited.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings, but the numbers tell a story of CPU constraint. Low settings produce 128 FPS average, Medium yields 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 and maximum of 131, High drops to 102 FPS, and Ultra manages 91 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 37 FPS, which is substantial but not indicative of a GPU that is scaling freely—a fully unconstrained RTX 5090 D would show a much larger gap between Low and Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 97 FPS suggests occasional dips that could be CPU-driven, as the i5-9400's six threads struggle to feed the GPU consistently.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down predictably. Low settings hit 110 FPS, Medium averages 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 and maximum of 112, High produces 88 FPS, and Ultra drops to 78 FPS. The 1440p results show a 20 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, which is a narrower band than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to take on more of the workload. The Medium preset's minimum of 83 FPS is still well above playable thresholds, but the system is clearly not delivering the kind of headroom that a 92nd-percentile GPU should provide at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's power finally becomes more evident. Low settings produce 88 FPS, Medium averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 90, High yields 71 FPS, and Ultra falls to 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra shrinks to 25 FPS, which is the smallest absolute spread across all resolutions—though the percentage difference is similar. At 4K, the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are being utilized more fully, but the i5-9400 still prevents the system from reaching the high refresh rates that the GPU could otherwise deliver. The Medium preset's minimum of 67 FPS at 4K is notable, as it suggests the system can maintain decent frame pacing even under load.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance: 114 FPS average with a minimum of 97 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at 1080p deliver 102 FPS, which is also playable, but the 12 FPS gain from Medium to High comes at a significant visual cost in terms of GPU workload. Ultra at 1080p drops to 91 FPS, which is still playable but begins to show the CPU's limitations more acutely.

For 2560x1440, Medium is again the sweet spot, delivering 98 FPS average with a minimum of 83 FPS. This provides a smooth experience without pushing the CPU too hard. High settings at 1440p produce 88 FPS, which is acceptable, but the minimum frame rate is not recorded, so there is some risk of dips. Low settings at 1440p hit 110 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, but the visual quality trade-off is steep. Ultra at 1440p drops to 78 FPS, which is below the 80 FPS threshold that many players prefer for fast-paced action.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice: 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the safest option for consistent performance. High settings at 4K yield 71 FPS, which is playable but with no recorded minimum, the risk of stutter is higher. Low settings at 4K reach 88 FPS, which is impressive, but the visual fidelity is severely compromised. Ultra at 4K falls to 63 FPS, which is borderline and not recommended given the Medium preset's superior minimum frame rate. Overall, the data suggests that Medium settings across all resolutions provide the most stable experience, with the i5-9400's limitations becoming less pronounced as resolution increases.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 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 and 256 KB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth, and it connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes. Its benchmark scores are modest: 668 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 2,784 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, 6,629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, and 5,141 in Geekbench multi-core. Single-core scores are 94, 392, 935, and 1,389 respectively, which are competitive for its era but far behind modern CPUs.

In Outriders, the i5-9400's role is primarily to feed the RTX 5090 D with enough draw calls and game logic updates. The game's looter shooter genre often involves many on-screen entities, particle effects, and physics calculations, all of which tax the CPU. With only six threads, the i5-9400 can struggle to maintain high frame rates in crowded scenes, which explains why the measured FPS at 1080p Low settings peaks at 128 FPS—a figure that is likely CPU-limited rather than GPU-limited. The CPU's 47th percentile standing against all CPUs means it is average at best, and its nearest rivals—like the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% faster) and Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% slower)—are all in the same performance tier.

Benchmark results show that the i5-9400's multi-threaded performance is adequate for 60 FPS gaming in most titles, but it lacks the headroom for high-refresh-rate play. The RTX 5090 D is capable of far more than 128 FPS in Outriders, as evidenced by its PassMark G3D score of 44,065 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 14,326, but the CPU's six threads become a ceiling. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes because the GPU is more heavily loaded, but even then, the i5-9400's aging architecture prevents the system from achieving the frame rates that a modern CPU pairing would unlock. The combo rank of 1849 out of 2913 is a direct consequence of this imbalance, and the measured FPS data confirms that the CPU is the primary bottleneck across all resolutions and settings.