Outriders

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Outriders, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 246.3 FPS, which drops to 177.9 FPS at Medium, 130.6 FPS at High, and 97.8 FPS at Ultra. This scaling pattern—a 60% reduction from Low to Ultra—suggests the GPU is the primary limiter even at the lowest settings, as the CPU has ample headroom with its 12 cores and 20 threads. Moving to 1440p, the same preset ladder yields 151.8 FPS, 112.8 FPS, 86.6 FPS, and 63.9 FPS respectively. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is 94.5 FPS, indicating that pixel throughput is heavily taxing the RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus. At 4K, the story becomes more pronounced: Low settings hit 77.6 FPS, Medium falls to 56.3 FPS, High manages 44.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34.4 FPS. The transition from 1440p Ultra (63.9 FPS) to 4K Ultra (34.4 FPS) is a 46% performance loss, which is nearly linear with the 2.25x pixel count increase. This indicates that at 4K, the RTX 4060 is completely saturated, and the CPU’s role is negligible; even a stronger processor would not recover the lost frames. The data clearly shows that 1080p and 1440p are where this combo shines, while 4K should be reserved for less demanding titles or with aggressive upscaling.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions paints a clear picture of where the RTX 4060’s limits lie. Starting at 1080p, the gap between Low (246.3 FPS) and Ultra (97.8 FPS) is 148.5 FPS, which is a massive 60% reduction. This steep curve suggests that while the CPU can feed frames quickly, the GPU’s shading units and texture rate (236.2 GTexel/s) become the bottleneck as settings increase. At 1440p, the same settings spread shows a 87.9 FPS difference between Low (151.8 FPS) and Ultra (63.9 FPS). The relative drop from Low to Ultra is 58%, similar to 1080p, indicating that the GPU is scaling consistently with the increased pixel load. However, the absolute numbers are lower, confirming that the 4060’s 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is being taxed more heavily.

The 4K results reveal a different character. Low settings at 4K (77.6 FPS) are only 51% of the 1080p Low score (246.3 FPS), and Ultra at 4K (34.4 FPS) is 35% of the 1080p Ultra score (97.8 FPS). This super-linear drop—especially at Ultra—points to the 8 GB VRAM capacity being exceeded, forcing the card to rely on system memory. The 128-bit memory bus becomes a severe constraint at 3840x2160, where the pixel fill rate demands more than the 272.0 GB/s can sustain. The data suggests that the limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s 3DMark max-thread score of 9983 indicates it can handle far more than 44.6 FPS. For players targeting 4K, even Low settings (77.6 FPS) will feel playable, but the Ultra preset will be a slideshow.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset offers the best balance, delivering 130.6 FPS, which is comfortably above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh monitors. The Ultra preset at 97.8 FPS is still playable but sacrifices 25% of the High preset’s performance for marginal visual gains. For competitive play, Low at 246.3 FPS provides an extreme advantage, but the visual fidelity loss is significant. At 1440p, High (86.6 FPS) is the sweet spot, as it remains above 60 FPS and provides a good visual-to-performance ratio. Medium (112.8 FPS) is a viable alternative for those prioritizing smoother motion over detail, while Ultra (63.9 FPS) is borderline for 60 Hz displays. The 4K resolution is less forgiving: only Low (77.6 FPS) and Medium (56.3 FPS) are playable, with High (44.6 FPS) and Ultra (34.4 FPS) falling below the 60 FPS threshold. The data indicates that the High preset at 1080p and 1440p yields the most consistent experience, avoiding the excessive load that Ultra places on the 4060’s 3072 shading units while still showcasing the game’s visuals.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060’s specifications directly explain its performance in Outriders. The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is modest for a modern GPU, and the 4K Ultra result of 34.4 FPS is a direct consequence. The boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz are high, but the FP32 throughput of 15.11 TFLOPS is what drives the 1080p Low score of 246.3 FPS. The card’s 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are underutilized in this looter shooter, as the game does not heavily rely on ray tracing or DLSS. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but they are overwhelmed at 4K. The 48 ROPs are a limiting factor for fill-rate-intensive scenes, which explains the steep drop between Medium and Ultra at each resolution. The card’s 115 W TDP is low, but the data shows it is not a power-limited issue—the memory subsystem is the primary constraint. Compared to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (avg score 23321), the RTX 4060 (avg score 23181) is 0.6% slower in synthetic benchmarks, yet the measured FPS in Outriders shows the 4060 holds its own in real-world scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos, this pairing of the Core i7-12700KF and RTX 4060 ranks 858 out of 1693 combinations for Outriders. This places it in the 49th percentile, meaning roughly half of all tested combos perform better. The CPU alone sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is only in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. This discrepancy highlights that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing for this specific title. The combo rank of 858 suggests that while the CPU is strong, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus hold back the overall experience, especially at higher resolutions. The rank also implies that many other combos with less powerful CPUs but more powerful GPUs (e.g., those with 16 GB VRAM) would outperform this setup in Outriders. The data indicates that for a game like Outriders, which is visually demanding at 4K, the GPU is the deciding factor for the combo’s overall ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a formidable processor, but its role in Outriders is secondary to the GPU. With 12 cores and 20 threads, it provides ample parallel processing for the game’s physics and AI. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures high single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1043. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help keep data flowing to the GPU without stuttering. In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the 246.3 FPS result is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU is not fully saturated at that low load. However, as resolution increases, the CPU’s contribution diminishes. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979 and single-core score of 4091 indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this game. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14400, has an avg score of 35336, which is 0.1% higher than the 12700KF’s 35355, showing that even a mid-range 14th-gen part is comparable. The 12700KF’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is more than capable of handling Outriders’ CPU demands, and the FPS drops at 4K are purely a GPU limitation.

FAQ

Q: Is the Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4060 in Outriders?

A: No. The CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads, combined with a 5.00 GHz boost clock, provide more than enough performance. The 1080p Low result of 246.3 FPS shows the CPU can push frames far beyond what the GPU can render at higher settings, and the CPU’s 89th percentile ranking supports this.

Q: What is the best resolution to play Outriders with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High (86.6 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. At 1080p, High (130.6 FPS) is ideal for high refresh rates, while 4K should be avoided unless you use Low settings (77.6 FPS).

Q: How does the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: At 4K Ultra, the 8 GB VRAM is insufficient, causing the FPS to drop to 34.4. The 128-bit bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are also limiting factors, as evidenced by the steep performance decline from 1440p to 4K.

Q: How does this combo compare to other GPUs in the database?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M’s 23321 and 0.7% higher than the Intel Arc B580’s 23021. This places it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What preset should I avoid for a consistent 60 FPS experience?

A: At 1440p, the Ultra preset (63.9 FPS) is close to the 60 FPS line but may dip below in intense scenes. At 4K, both High (44.6 FPS) and Ultra (34.4 FPS) are well below 60 FPS and should be avoided.

Q: Does the CPU’s 125 W TDP indicate power throttling in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s thermal and power headroom is sufficient, as its benchmark scores (e.g., Cinebench R23 multicore of 28979) are strong, and the FPS data shows no CPU-related stuttering or dips that would indicate throttling.