Outriders

# Outriders Performance Analysis: Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a broadly capable Outriders experience, placing this pairing at rank 868 out of 1693 tested combinations in the database. The measured frame rates reveal a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits. The data indicates a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, with the CPU's substantial multi-threading capabilities providing ample headroom even at lower settings where frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, a pattern that strongly indicates GPU-bound operation. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 133.8 FPS at 1080p to 82.2 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 38.6%. Moving to 4K High, the average drops further to 43.2 FPS, representing a 67.7% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling curve is characteristic of a system where the RTX 4060's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The resolution scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining lower settings. At Low settings, the system achieves 245 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 155.7 FPS at 1440p and 80.1 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is 36.4%, nearly identical to the High-settings drop, suggesting that the GPU remains the bottleneck even when rendering load is reduced. However, the absolute frame rates at 1440p Low remain high enough for competitive play, indicating that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this configuration.

Ultra settings exhibit the most severe scaling, with 98.8 FPS at 1080p falling to 63.5 FPS at 1440p and 29.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling—a sub-30 FPS average indicates that the RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, are insufficient for the combined load of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity in Outriders. The data suggests that 4K gaming is only viable at Low or Medium settings, where 80.1 and 57.8 FPS respectively remain playable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the AD107 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture, demonstrates a clear performance ceiling in Outriders that correlates strongly with its memory subsystem. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, appears adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a constraint at 4K Ultra. The benchmark results for this GPU place it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with the nearest rivals showing minimal differences: the AMD Radeon RX 6600M trails by 0.6%, while the Intel Arc B580 leads by 0.7%.

Clock speeds play a notable role in the observed performance. The RTX 4060's boost clock of 2460 MHz, combined with its 1830 MHz base clock, allows for strong sustained performance in Outriders' action-heavy scenes. The GPU's 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 compute throughput and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate provide the raw processing power needed for the game's particle effects and environmental destruction. However, the measured FPS data shows that these capabilities are insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the 29.5 FPS average indicates the GPU is overwhelmed.

The GPU's power efficiency, with a 115 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU, is noteworthy in the context of Outriders' demanding scenes. The 3072 shading units and 24 RT cores, while not directly benchmarked in this game, contribute to the GPU's overall capability. The memory clock of 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective) helps maintain bandwidth utilization, but the 128-bit bus width remains a fundamental limitation at extreme resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Outriders at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured data shows 80.1 FPS at 4K Low and 57.8 FPS at 4K Medium, while High settings drop to 43.2 FPS and Ultra falls to 29.5 FPS. For smooth 4K play, Low or Medium settings are recommended.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot, with 82.2 FPS at High and 110.9 FPS at Medium settings. These frame rates provide a good balance between visual quality and smoothness, while 1080p offers higher performance at 133.8 FPS High and 245 FPS Low.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: Based on the GPU's average benchmark score of 23181, the RTX 4060 performs within 0.7% of its closest competitors. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M is 0.6% slower, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti is 0.7% slower, and the Intel Arc B580 is 0.7% faster.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Outriders?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, while the CPU's strong multi-threading performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241) suggests it can handle the game's processing demands without becoming a constraint.

Q: What settings should be used for competitive play?

A: For high refresh rate competitive play, the data shows 1080p Low at 245 FPS or 1440p Low at 155.7 FPS. These settings maximize frame rates while maintaining responsive gameplay, far exceeding the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: Does the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient at 1080p and 1440p across all settings. However, the 4K Ultra result of 29.5 FPS suggests VRAM capacity or bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at maximum resolution and graphical fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates for this combination reveals consistent performance scaling across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 245 FPS at Low, 174.4 FPS at Medium, 133.8 FPS at High, and 98.8 FPS at Ultra. These results demonstrate that the RTX 4060 has substantial headroom at 1080p, with even Ultra settings exceeding 90 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the measured averages are 155.7 FPS at Low, 110.9 FPS at Medium, 82.2 FPS at High, and 63.5 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p Ultra result remains above 60 FPS, providing a playable experience at maximum settings. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent reduction of approximately 36-38% across all settings, indicating uniform GPU-bound behavior.

At 3840x2160, the results show 80.1 FPS at Low, 57.8 FPS at Medium, 43.2 FPS at High, and 29.5 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results exhibit more severe scaling between settings, with Ultra performance dropping below 30 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is a 63.2% reduction, compared to a 59.7% reduction at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes increasingly strained at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads based on Alder Lake architecture, provides substantial processing power that prevents CPU bottlenecking in Outriders. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threading capabilities, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 34404. Single-thread performance is equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4128 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2561.

The CPU's 3.60 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock, combined with 25 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that Outriders' game logic and physics calculations are handled efficiently. The 3DMark scores demonstrate excellent scaling from 2 threads (2065) to max threads (9979), indicating that the CPU can leverage its full core count when needed. This is particularly relevant for Outriders' looter shooter gameplay, which involves numerous AI enemies and dynamic loot generation.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684, places it in the upper tier of processors. Its nearest rivals show minimal performance differences: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is 0.3% slower, the Intel Core i7-13700T is 0.6% faster, and the Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% slower. This performance headroom means that even at 1080p Low settings with 245 FPS, the CPU maintains frame delivery without becoming a limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent scaling patterns across resolutions.