Outriders

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a performance curve in Outriders that is heavily dictated by resolution and settings. The data shows a clear transition from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state as pixel count increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 227.6 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is doing the heavy lifting to feed the GPU. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 141.4 FPS, a significant reduction of 86.2 FPS, indicating the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 75.2 FPS, confirming that the graphical load is now the primary limiter.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is steepest at lower settings because the GPU’s rendering work increases disproportionately with pixel count. At Ultra settings, the frame rate at 1080p is 86.6 FPS, which drops to 58.3 FPS at 1440p and then to 27.8 FPS at 4K. This pattern suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s compute and memory bandwidth are saturated at 4K Ultra, resulting in a playability cliff. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 141 FPS, while at 4K that delta shrinks to 47.4 FPS, reinforcing that the GPU becomes the bottleneck earlier at higher resolutions. For a smooth experience, the data points to 1440p High as a balanced target, with an average of 77.3 FPS, while 4K gaming is only feasible at Low or Medium settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In Outriders, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 984th out of 1693 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This percentile position is notable because it reflects the age and tier of the components relative to the broader landscape of hardware tested. The RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile against all GPUs, while the i7-12700KF is at the 89th percentile against all CPUs. The disparity between these two percentiles indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor for this combo’s overall standing in Outriders.

When compared to other combos in the database, the 984th rank suggests that many systems with newer or higher-tier GPUs will outperform this pairing in this specific title. The CPU’s high percentile (89) means it is not holding the system back, but the GPU’s lower percentile (65) drags the combo down in a game that scales heavily with graphical horsepower. The data implies that if you were to upgrade the GPU while keeping the i7-12700KF, the combo’s rank would improve substantially. Conversely, replacing the CPU would yield minimal gains in Outriders, as the current bottleneck is clearly on the graphics side. This ranking is a direct consequence of the measured FPS across all settings, where the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 256-bit bus limit performance at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process. Its memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications are directly reflected in the measured results: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 27.8, indicating that the 8 GB frame buffer and bandwidth are insufficient for the texture and shading demands at that resolution.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, rated at 9.062 TFLOPS for FP32, are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but show strain at 4K. The data shows that at 1440p Medium, the combo produces 104.8 FPS, which drops to 77.3 FPS at High, and further to 58.3 FPS at Ultra. This progression is typical of a GPU where increasing quality settings directly tax the shading units and memory bandwidth. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are the physical limits behind these numbers. At 1080p Low, the 227.6 FPS average is likely near the CPU’s ceiling, but at 4K Low, the 75.2 FPS average shows the GPU still has headroom, suggesting that the game’s engine is not fully utilizing the GPU’s parallel cores at lower settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide spread of results. Low settings produce an average of 227.6 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 162.5 FPS, while High settings yield 123.7 FPS. Ultra settings bring the average down to 86.6 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is capable of high refresh-rate gaming even on High, and only at Ultra does it fall below the 100 FPS threshold. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 141 FPS reduction, showing that the GPU’s shading units are being progressively loaded.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 141.4 FPS at Low, 104.8 FPS at Medium, 77.3 FPS at High, and 58.3 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 83.1 FPS, which is less severe than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint. At 1440p, High is still comfortably playable, but Ultra starts to approach the lower limits of smooth gameplay. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at High settings results in a 46.4 FPS loss, highlighting the cost of additional pixels.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a stark performance collapse. Low settings average 75.2 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 54 FPS, High falls to 42.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 47.4 FPS, which is the smallest absolute delta across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution. For 4K gaming, the only viable settings are Low or Medium, with High and Ultra being unsuitable for a consistent frame rate. The 4K Ultra result of 27.8 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold, making it a poor experience for a looter shooter that requires quick reactions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Outriders at 4K 60 FPS?

A: No. The data shows that at 4K High, the average FPS is 42.3, and at 4K Medium it is 54. Even at 4K Low, the average is 75.2, but only Low settings approach 60 FPS, and Medium falls short of that target.

Q: What is the best resolution for this setup?

A: 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the average is 77.3 FPS, which is above 60 FPS, and at 1440p Low, it reaches 141.4 FPS. 1080p is also excellent, with High at 123.7 FPS, but 1440p offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Q: How does the GPU’s VRAM affect performance in Outriders?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 4K Ultra result of 27.8 FPS suggests this VRAM capacity and bandwidth are insufficient for the highest settings at that resolution, as the GPU struggles to manage the data load.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck. The i7-12700KF has a high percentile (89) among CPUs, while the RTX 2070 SUPER is at the 65th percentile. At 1080p Low, the FPS is 227.6, likely near the CPU’s limit, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s limitations become more apparent.

Q: What settings should I use for 1440p gaming?

A: For a smooth experience, High settings at 1440p produce 77.3 FPS. If you prefer higher frame rates, Medium at 104.8 FPS is a good choice, while Low at 141.4 FPS is best for competitive play. Ultra at 58.3 FPS is borderline and may feel less responsive.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar hardware in the database?

A: This combo ranks 984th out of 1693 tested combos in Outriders. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX 4060 Mobile, has an average score 2.3% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 is 2.5% lower. The CPU’s rivals, like the Intel Core i5-14400, are within 0.1% of its average score, showing the CPU is not the limiting factor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It has 25 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5 memory. In Outriders, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The benchmark results show that this processor is more than capable of handling the game’s demands, as evidenced by the high 1080p Low average of 227.6 FPS. This figure suggests that the CPU can drive frame rates well above what the RTX 2070 SUPER can deliver at higher resolutions.

The CPU’s single-thread performance is strong, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4091. This is critical for Outriders, a game that relies heavily on single-threaded performance for game logic. The multi-thread scores, such as Cinebench R23 multicore at 28979, show that the CPU has ample headroom for background tasks or streaming. However, the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 27.8, which is a GPU limitation, not a CPU one. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking against all CPUs confirms that it is a high-end part that will not be the source of performance issues in this title. When paired with a stronger GPU, the i7-12700KF would likely allow for higher frame rates at 1440p and 4K, but with the RTX 2070 SUPER, the CPU remains underutilized at higher resolutions.