Outriders

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 262nd out of 3,710 tested combinations in Outriders, placing it in the top 7% of all tested systems. This is a strong result that reflects the high-end nature of both components, though it does not claim the top spot—a handful of combos with newer or more specialized hardware sit higher in the standings. The rank of 262 out of 3,710 means this pairing outperforms roughly 94% of all tested configurations, putting it firmly in enthusiast territory. For context, the CPU itself sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU achieves the 86th percentile among all GPUs, so the combo's relative standing is consistent with the individual component rankings. The data indicates a well-balanced pairing where neither component drags the other down significantly, and the overall result is a system that delivers high frame rates across the board in Outriders. That said, the gap to the very top combos suggests that there is still headroom for even faster hardware, but for the vast majority of users, this rank represents a premium experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with a die size of 379 mm² and 45,900 million transistors. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU's base clock runs at 2205 MHz with a boost clock of 2505 MHz, and memory operates at an effective 22.4 Gbps. These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 48.74 TFLOPS. In Outriders, the GPU's role is paramount, especially at higher resolutions where the rendering load scales with pixel count. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for the game's textures and effects at any tested setting, so the memory size is unlikely to be a bottleneck. The GDDR6X memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets are fed quickly to the rendering pipeline, which is critical for maintaining smooth frame rates in a looter shooter with dense combat scenarios. The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position: it achieves a Passmark G3D score of 34,457, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 214,739, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263,779. In terms of rival performance, the RTX 4080 sits 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 1.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB lags by 2.6%, and the AMD Radeon 8060S is 2.7% behind. These deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 4080 is in a tightly contested performance band, but its overall percentile of 86 shows it is still a top-tier GPU. In Outriders, the GPU handles the heavy lifting at 4K, where the measured frame rates drop as settings increase, a clear sign that the graphics card is the primary driver of performance in those scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it provides PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes. In Outriders, the CPU's role is less dominant than the GPU, but it still matters for maintaining high frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened. The 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's physics, AI, and game logic, ensuring that the CPU does not become a bottleneck even when the GPU is pushing 200+ FPS. The i7-12700K's benchmark scores are robust: it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19,784 and a single-core score of 1,850.5, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 15,790 and a single-core score of 2,308. The Passmark multithread score of 34,404 and single-thread score of 4,013 further attest to its capability. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700K trails the Intel Core i5-13600T by 0.1%, the Intel Core i7-12700KF by 0.2%, the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.3%, and the Intel Core 5 213PE by 0.4%. These margins are negligible, meaning the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. In Outriders, the CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock is particularly beneficial for single-threaded tasks, and the 20 threads ensure that background processes do not interfere with game performance. The data shows that at 1080p, where the CPU's influence is most pronounced, the combo achieves high average frame rates, indicating that the i7-12700K is keeping pace with the RTX 4080 without holding it back.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Outriders covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra). At 1080p, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 247 FPS, Medium settings produce 220 FPS (with a min of 187 and max of 253), High settings deliver 198 FPS, and Ultra settings provide 170 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 77 FPS, indicating that the GPU scales well with settings changes at this resolution. Moving to 1440p, the averages are 212 FPS at Low, 188 FPS at Medium (min 160, max 217), 149 FPS at High, and 108 FPS at Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable but not drastic, with the High preset seeing a 49 FPS reduction and Ultra seeing a 62 FPS reduction. At 4K, the frame rates become more demanding: Low settings average 143 FPS, Medium settings average 104 FPS (min 88, max 119), High settings average 78 FPS, and Ultra settings average 56 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 56 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, showing that this preset is quite demanding for the GPU. The Medium preset at 4K, with a min of 88 FPS and average of 104 FPS, offers a good balance for users who want higher resolution without sacrificing smoothness. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset exceeds 170 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors, making this combo overkill for standard 1080p displays. The data shows a consistent trend: as resolution increases, the gap between settings narrows in absolute terms, but the percentage drop becomes more pronounced, highlighting the GPU's increasing workload at higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this combo in Outriders?

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p High delivers 149 FPS average, which is a strong balance of visual quality and performance. For 4K, Medium at 104 FPS (min 88, max 119) offers the smoothest experience, as High drops to 78 FPS and Ultra falls to 56 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 is 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER in average benchmark score. This delta is minimal, meaning the two GPUs perform nearly identically in synthetic tests, and the in-game results are likely to be very similar.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 1080p, which is the most CPU-sensitive resolution, the combo achieves 198 FPS at High and 170 FPS at Ultra, indicating that the i7-12700K can feed the GPU sufficiently to maintain high frame rates.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 262nd out of 3,710 tested combinations, which places it in the top 7% of all systems tested for Outriders.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth affect performance in this game?

A: The RTX 4080 has 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which ensures that high-resolution textures and effects are loaded efficiently. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than adequate for Outriders, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor in any of the measured settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings average 247 FPS, while Ultra averages 170 FPS, a difference of 77 FPS. This shows that the Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering cost, but the combo still maintains a high frame rate even at the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p monitor, the Ultra preset at 170 FPS is the best choice, as it delivers the highest visual fidelity while still exceeding the refresh rate of most displays. The High preset at 198 FPS offers a slight performance boost with minimal visual compromise, but Ultra is preferable for those who prioritize image quality. At 1440p, the High preset at 149 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it provides a smooth experience on 144 Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 188 FPS is also viable for competitive play where higher frame rates are desired, but High offers a better balance of quality and speed. The Ultra preset at 108 FPS is playable but falls below 144 Hz, so it is only recommended for users with 60 Hz displays or those who favor visuals over responsiveness. At 4K, the Medium preset at 104 FPS is the clear recommendation, as it maintains a frame rate above 100 with a minimum of 88 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay. The High preset at 78 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but will show stutter on higher refresh screens. The Ultra preset at 56 FPS is not recommended for serious play, as it dips into territory where frame pacing may become noticeable. The Low preset at 143 FPS is an option for users who prioritize maximum smoothness at 4K, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for most players. Overall, the data suggests that Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p are the sweet spots for this combo in Outriders.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals important insights into the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 247 at 1080p to 212 at 1440p (a 14.2% decrease) and then to 143 at 4K (a 42.1% decrease from 1080p). This shows that even at Low settings, the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, though the CPU still has headroom. At High settings, the averages are 198 at 1080p, 149 at 1440p, and 78 at 4K, representing a 24.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 60.6% drop from 1080p to 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling: 170 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K, a 36.5% reduction to 1440p and a 67.1% reduction to 4K. The larger percentage drops at higher settings and resolutions indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor in these scenarios, as the CPU's workload does not scale with resolution to the same degree. The 1080p results, particularly at Low and Medium settings, are likely closer to the CPU's limit, with frame rates exceeding 220 FPS. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra still reaches 170 FPS suggests that the i7-12700K is capable of pushing the RTX 4080 to high levels even at lower resolutions. The data shows that the RTX 4080's performance scales roughly with the number of pixels, with 4K requiring approximately four times the work of 1080p, but the measured FPS does not drop to a quarter of the 1080p value, thanks to the GPU's substantial bandwidth and compute resources. For users targeting 4K, the Medium preset is the highest playable option, while 1440p offers a wider range of playable presets, and 1080p allows for maximum settings without any compromise.