Outriders

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Outriders. This combination lands at rank 94 out of 2913 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.2% of all configurations. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet shows signs of CPU constraint at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured frames per second across three resolutions and four quality presets, explaining what the numbers mean for the limiting component, the roles of the processor and graphics card, and which settings deliver the optimal experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a classic scaling pattern, but with some notable deviations that reveal where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the system pushes 246 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 211 FPS, a 14% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 170 FPS, which is a 31% drop from 1440p and a 31% drop from 1080p. This scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings (a 31% total loss) is relatively mild, suggesting that even at Low settings, the RTX 5090 D is not being fully saturated at 1080p, but the frame rates remain exceptionally high.

The pattern shifts significantly when looking at higher quality presets. At High settings, the 1080p average is 196 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 169 FPS (a 14% decrease), and at 4K High, it falls to 94 FPS (a 44% decrease from 1440p and a 52% decrease from 1080p). This aggressive drop at 4K High indicates that the GPU is now the primary limiting factor, as the increased resolution and shading demands overwhelm the graphics card's capabilities relative to the CPU's headroom.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 218 FPS at 1080p, 187 FPS at 1440p (a 14% drop), and 125 FPS at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset, however, tells the most revealing story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 174 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 130 FPS (a 25% decrease), and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 68 FPS (a 48% decrease from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS is the lowest measured average in the entire dataset, and the scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra (a 48% loss) is notably steeper than the scaling at High (44%) or Medium (33%).

This data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the system is often CPU-limited or at least balanced, as the frame rates are extremely high (exceeding 170 FPS even at High settings). However, at 4K, particularly with High and Ultra presets, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The 52% performance drop from 1080p High to 4K High, and the 61% drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra, demonstrate that the RTX 5090 D is being pushed to its limits at 4K. The resolution scaling suggests that for maximum frame rates at 1080p or 1440p, the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are sufficient, but at 4K, the GPU's raw throughput dictates performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35365. This places it in close competition with the Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct of -0.1) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (deltaPct of 0.2), as well as the Intel Core i7-12700K (deltaPct of 0.2). These rivals are effectively tied in average score, indicating that the i7-12700KF's performance is well-established.

In the context of Outriders, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rates at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 246 FPS, which is the highest measured average in the entire dataset. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain such high frame rates. However, the fact that the 1080p Low score (246 FPS) is only 16% higher than the 1080p Medium score (218 FPS) and 26% higher than the 1080p High score (196 FPS) indicates that the GPU is still doing significant work even at Low settings.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 1043, is strong enough to handle the game's logic and draw calls. The multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838) ensures that background tasks and game threading are not causing stutters. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the system still manages 174 FPS, which is only 20% lower than the 1080p Low score. This relatively small gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at this resolution; the GPU is still capable of rendering the additional visual effects.

However, the bottleneck shifts at 4K. The drop from 1080p High (196 FPS) to 4K High (94 FPS) is a 52% reduction, while the drop from 1080p Ultra (174 FPS) to 4K Ultra (68 FPS) is a 61% reduction. These steep declines are characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are not the limiting factor. The 3DMark max-thread score of 9983 and the Passmark multithread score of 34092 further confirm that the CPU has ample headroom for this game's multi-threaded workload. The data suggests that the i7-12700KF is more than capable of handling Outriders at any resolution, with the GPU being the decisive factor in determining frame rates at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 94 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the top 3.2% of all combinations, a strong showing that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The rank is likely driven by the GPU's massive performance, as the CPU is solid but not at the very top of the charts (it sits in the 85th percentile among CPUs).

The RTX 5090 D is in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (deltaPct of 1.1), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (deltaPct of -1.6), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (deltaPct of -2.1). These deltas are small, indicating that the 5090 D is closely matched to these other high-end cards in synthetic benchmarks. However, in Outriders, the measured FPS data shows that this combo is capable of delivering 246 FPS at 1080p Low and 174 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which are exceptional numbers.

The rank of 94 out of 2913 means that there are 93 combos that perform better in this game. Given that the GPU is in the 92nd percentile, it is likely that the combos ranked above this one feature even more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher single-thread performance. The deltaPct values for the GPU's nearest rivals are all within 2.4% of its average score, so the performance gap between the 5090 D and other top-tier cards is narrow. This suggests that the combo's rank is not solely due to the GPU, but also depends on the CPU's ability to keep up. The i7-12700KF's 85th percentile ranking among CPUs indicates that there are faster processors available, which could explain why some combos outperform this one.

The data also shows that the combo's performance scales well with settings. At 4K Ultra, it still manages 68 FPS, which is playable, but the rank of 94 suggests that other combos might maintain higher minimum frame rates or more consistent performance. The measured FPS at 4K Medium (125 FPS) and 4K High (94 FPS) are solid, but the 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS is the only sub-100 FPS average in the dataset. This indicates that while the combo is powerful, the RTX 5090 D's limits are reached at 4K Ultra, which may be a factor in its overall rank.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Outriders?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 246 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the peak performance point in the dataset.

Q: At what resolution and settings does this combo drop below 100 FPS?

A: The only sub-100 FPS average is at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, where the combo achieves 68 FPS. At 4K High, it reaches 94 FPS, which is just below 100 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, scores 35403, a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the i7-12700KF is essentially tied with it. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305 (deltaPct of 0.2), and the Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287 (deltaPct of 0.2), all within a fraction of a percent.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p High and 4K High?

A: At 1080p High, the combo achieves 196 FPS. At 4K High, it drops to 94 FPS, a 52% reduction. This indicates a significant GPU bottleneck at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p Medium?

A: At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 187 FPS, with a minimum of 159 FPS and a maximum of 215 FPS. The high average suggests that neither component is severely bottlenecked at this resolution, but the GPU is likely doing more work than at 1080p, as the frame rate is lower than the 218 FPS at 1080p Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship graphics card built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The card has 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. Its FP32 performance is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

The GPU's role in Outriders is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the GPU is able to render the game at very high frame rates, but the CPU is not the limiting factor. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and the Passmark G3D score of 44065 indicate strong raw performance. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its high-end status, though its nearest rivals (AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, RX 6850M XT, and Tesla P100) are within a 2.4% deltaPct, showing that the performance gap is not enormous.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for Outriders at 4K. The 32 GB of VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensure that texture loading and memory bandwidth are not bottlenecks, even at Ultra settings. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (68 FPS) is the lowest in the dataset, but this is a result of the GPU's compute limits, not memory capacity. The 4K Medium result of 125 FPS, with a minimum of 106 FPS, shows that the GPU can handle the game comfortably at medium settings. The GPU's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are high, but the demands of 4K Ultra in Outriders push the card to its limits.

The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz are high for a card of this class, and the 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance is substantial. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates at 4K, as the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are not able to compensate for the increased rendering load. The RTX 5090 D is a capable card for Outriders, but the 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS suggests that users seeking 4K Ultra experiences may need to adjust settings or accept lower frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the system is capable of extremely high frame rates across all presets. The Low preset yields 246 FPS, Medium yields 218 FPS, High yields 196 FPS, and Ultra yields 174 FPS. All of these are well above 144 Hz, so users with 1080p 144Hz monitors can max out the settings at Ultra (174 FPS) without issue. For users with 240Hz monitors, the High preset (196 FPS) or Medium preset (218 FPS) would be more suitable, as they offer higher frame rates while still maintaining good visual quality.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 169 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Medium preset achieves 187 FPS, which is even higher, but the visual quality difference may be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 130 FPS, which is still very playable and offers the best visual fidelity. For a balanced experience at 1440p, the High preset is recommended, as it provides a smooth 169 FPS average with a minimum of 159 FPS (at Medium) and a maximum of 215 FPS (at Medium), indicating good frame time consistency.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset achieves 170 FPS, which is playable, but the visual quality is severely compromised. The Medium preset delivers 125 FPS, which is a good balance between quality and performance, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS. The High preset yields 94 FPS, which is acceptable for 60Hz displays but not ideal for high refresh rates. The Ultra preset drops to 68 FPS, which is the only sub-60 FPS average in the dataset and may feel less smooth in action-packed scenes.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 4K is recommended, as it provides a 125 FPS average with a minimum of 106 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay. At 1080p and 1440p, the High or Ultra presets are recommended, as they offer high frame rates and better visual quality. The data shows that the Medium preset at 4K (125 FPS) is the sweet spot for this combo, as it avoids the steep performance drop seen at High (94 FPS) and Ultra (68 FPS) while still providing a good visual experience. For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, the Low preset at 4K (170 FPS) or the High preset at 1440p (169 FPS) are viable options.