Outriders

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination delivers a highly playable Outriders experience, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling tied to resolution and settings. At 1080p, the setup produces excellent frame rates, while 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits, resulting in a noticeable drop in fluidity. The benchmark figures indicate a system that excels at high-refresh 1440p gaming but requires careful settings management for 4K displays.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and steep performance decline as resolution increases, which strongly indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the primary limiting factor in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 142 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High, the average drops to 89 FPS, a 37% reduction. Scaling further to 3840x2160 High yields only 47 FPS, which is a 67% drop from the 1080p result. This pattern demonstrates that the GPU's rendering workload, particularly pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth, becomes the bottleneck as resolution climbs.

The scaling behavior across different settings presets reinforces this conclusion. At Low settings, the system produces 246 FPS at 1080p, 164 FPS at 1440p, and 86 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low figure is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 102 FPS, which shows that the GPU has enough headroom at lower graphical loads to maintain high frame rates even at 4K. However, the transition from Low to Ultra at any given resolution reveals the cost of advanced visual features. At 4K, the average FPS plummets from 86 on Low to 34 on Ultra, a 60% performance hit. This massive gap indicates that Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily tax the RX 7700's compute units and memory subsystem.

For 1440p, the scaling is more forgiving. The Low preset delivers 164 FPS, Medium achieves 119 FPS, and High sits at 89 FPS. The jump to Ultra at 1440p results in 65 FPS, which is still a playable frame rate but shows a significant 45% drop from High. At 1080p, the system is clearly CPU-bound in some scenarios, as evidenced by the 246 FPS Low result, which is a figure that many high-refresh monitors cannot even display. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users should target Medium or High settings, while 1440p users can comfortably use High or even Ultra depending on their refresh rate preference.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with High settings produces an average of 89 FPS, and 3840x2160 with Medium settings achieves 62 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS floor, 1440p High is the safer choice, while 4K Medium is borderline acceptable with an average just above 60.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to the 1080p Low preset in terms of performance?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 34 FPS, while the 1080p Low preset averages 246 FPS. This represents a dramatic seven-fold difference in frame rate, highlighting how much performance is sacrificed for maximum visual fidelity at high resolution.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF holding back the AMD Radeon RX 7700 in this game?

A: The benchmark data does not directly measure CPU utilization, but the FPS scaling pattern suggests the GPU is the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 246 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it drops to 34 FPS. This massive swing indicates that the graphics card is the limiting component, as the CPU can push frame rates far beyond what the GPU can render at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like for this combo?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS values only for the Medium settings at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 161 to 217 FPS with an average of 189. At 1440p Medium, the range is 101 to 137 with an average of 119. At 4K Medium, the range is 53 to 72 with an average of 62. These ranges indicate stable frame pacing with no severe stutters.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1204 out of 2913 tested combinations in Outriders. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, which is a solid result given that the GPU's overall benchmark percentile is 58 and the CPU's percentile is 85.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM provide any advantage at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows that 4K Medium settings require the GPU to handle significant textures and geometry, and the RX 7700's 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth manages this workload. The 4K Medium result of 62 FPS indicates the memory capacity is sufficient for this game at that resolution, as there are no signs of texture streaming issues in the measured frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the dominant component in this pairing for Outriders, and the measured FPS data clearly shows its capabilities and limitations. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is substantial for a game like Outriders, which features dense environments and detailed textures. The 4K Medium result of 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 72 FPS, suggests that the memory subsystem is not a bottleneck at this settings level.

The clock speeds of the RX 7700 are also relevant to its performance. The base clock is 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The difference between the game clock and boost clock indicates that the GPU can dynamically increase its frequency under load, which helps maintain frame rates in less demanding scenes. The 4K High result of 47 FPS compared to the 4K Medium result of 62 FPS shows that the boost clock behavior is not enough to compensate for the increased shading and texture work at High settings.

The GPU's compute specifications include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. These figures translate to a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS is what drives the raw shader work in Outriders. At 1080p, these specs are more than sufficient, as shown by the 189 FPS Medium average. However, at 4K Ultra, the 34 FPS average reveals that the shading units and ROPs are overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum visual effects.

The GPU's overall percentile ranking is 58, which places it just above average among all GPUs. Its nearest rival in benchmark scores is the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a negligible 0.1% difference, though this is not a direct gaming comparison. More relevantly, the RX 7700 sits within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in average benchmark score, indicating similar raw compute potential. In Outriders specifically, the GPU's performance is strong at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS confirms that this card is not designed for maxed-out 4K gaming in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1204 out of 2913 tested combinations places it in the 41st percentile overall, meaning roughly 59% of tested systems perform better in Outriders. This ranking is influenced by both components, but the GPU's lower percentile (58) compared to the CPU's higher percentile (85) suggests the graphics card is the limiting factor. The CPU, Intel Core i7-12700KF, is a strong performer with an average benchmark score of 35365, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, is only 0.1% slower in synthetic tests. This indicates the CPU is not holding back the system.

However, the GPU's average benchmark score of 15852 puts it in a different performance class. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 1% faster and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 1.7% faster. These small deltas in synthetic benchmarks do not directly translate to Outriders performance, but they do provide context for the GPU's overall capability. The rank of 1204 out of 2913 means the combo is solidly mid-pack, which is expected for a system with an above-average CPU and a mid-range GPU.

The ranking also reflects the game's scaling behavior. Outriders appears to be heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops from 1080p to 4K. This means that the combo's rank would likely improve significantly at 1080p, where the CPU's strength can shine, but worsen at 4K, where the GPU's limitations are exposed. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 246 FPS, which is a top-tier result. At 4K Ultra, the 34 FPS average would place the combo in a much lower percentile relative to systems with more powerful GPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 246 FPS, Medium settings achieve 189 FPS with a minimum of 161 and maximum of 217, High settings yield 142 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 102 FPS. These results indicate that 1080p gaming is not a challenge for this combo, and even the most demanding preset maintains a triple-digit average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the GPU starting to work harder. Low settings average 164 FPS, Medium settings average 119 FPS with a range of 101 to 137, High settings average 89 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 65 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result of 65 FPS is exactly at the threshold for smooth 60 FPS gaming, but the 89 FPS High result is more comfortable for high-refresh monitors.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly, reflecting the GPU's limitations at this resolution. Low settings average 86 FPS, Medium settings average 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 and maximum of 72, High settings average 47 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 34 FPS. The 4K Medium result is the only preset at this resolution that maintains an average above 60 FPS, and even then, the minimum of 53 FPS indicates occasional dips below the ideal threshold.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra presets widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 144 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 99 FPS. At 4K, the difference is 52 FPS. This narrowing gap suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes so bottlenecked that even lowering settings has diminishing returns, as the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints dominate.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1920x1080 display, the Ultra preset at 102 FPS is the recommended choice. This provides a high level of visual fidelity while maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the 142 FPS High preset is available for those seeking even higher refresh rates. The 1080p Low preset at 246 FPS is unnecessary for most displays, as it exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all monitors.

For 2560x1440 displays, the High preset at 89 FPS is the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 65 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz monitors, but the 89 FPS High result provides smoother motion for 120 Hz or 144 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 119 FPS is also a viable option for competitive players prioritizing frame rate over visual detail. The Low preset at 164 FPS is excessive for most 1440p displays and sacrifices too much visual quality.

For 3840x2160 displays, the Medium preset at 62 FPS is the only recommended option, as it is the sole 4K preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS. The 4K High preset at 47 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay, but the 4K Ultra preset at 34 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience. Users with 4K displays should also consider that the 4K Low preset at 86 FPS provides a significant performance boost at the cost of visual fidelity, which may be preferable for competitive play.

Overall, the data supports a settings strategy that prioritizes High at 1080p and 1440p, and Medium at 4K. This approach maximizes the combo's strengths while avoiding the steep performance penalties of Ultra settings at higher resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth of the RX 7700 provide enough memory headroom for High settings at 1440p, but the 4K Ultra results indicate that the GPU's compute capabilities, not its memory capacity, are the limiting factor.