Outriders

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers a highly capable Outriders experience, but the data reveals a clear bottleneck shift as resolution increases. At 1080p, the system is overwhelmingly CPU-limited, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, creating a predictable and steep performance curve.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and consistent across all settings, confirming that the RTX 3070 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 150.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 97.8 FPS at 2560x1440, a 35% reduction, and then to 52.5 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 46% drop. This scaling pattern is typical for a mid-to-high-end GPU where pixel throughput becomes the dominant workload.

The Low preset shows the most extreme scaling, starting at 267.1 FPS at 1080p and plummeting to 173.3 FPS at 1440p and 89.7 FPS at 4K. This wide spread indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates at 1080p, but the GPU's raw pixel-pushing limits quickly take over. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low is 93.8 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 83.6 FPS, showing a slightly more linear degradation than at higher presets.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest relative decline, with 109.6 FPS at 1080p, 66.8 FPS at 1440p, and 37.8 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured point below 40 FPS, indicating that this preset is not viable for smooth gameplay at that resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra (a 39% drop) is comparable to the High preset's drop, but the 1440p-to-4K decline (43%) is slightly steeper, suggesting that the combination of Ultra effects and 4K pixel count overwhelms the 8 GB frame buffer and memory bandwidth.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database places this specific CPU-GPU pairing at rank 600 out of 1693 tested combinations for Outriders. This places it in the 65th percentile of all combos, which is a solid mid-to-upper tier result. The ranking reflects that while the RTX 3070 is not a top-tier card, the i7-13700K's strong single-thread performance ensures the system is not held back in most scenarios.

The CPU itself sits in the 93rd percentile against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 47282. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-13700KF, which scores 47334, a negligible 0.1% difference. The AMD EPYC 4364P is 0.3% ahead, while the Intel Core i9-12900F trails by 0.4%. This tight grouping confirms that the i7-13700K is at the very top of its performance class for CPU-bound tasks.

The GPU, however, is in the 72nd percentile of all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 28238. Its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro S7150, is 0.6% ahead, while the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is 0.9% behind. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is 1% slower. This data suggests that the RTX 3070 is a well-positioned mid-range GPU, and the combo's overall rank of 600 is likely dragged down by the GPU's relative standing compared to the CPU's elite status.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the High preset is the clear recommendation at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p, High produces 150.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors, while offering a substantial visual upgrade over Medium's 200.2 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 41.3 FPS (a 27% drop) for what is typically a marginal visual gain.

At 1440p, High's 97.8 FPS is the sweet spot for 60+ FPS gaming, while Medium's 129.6 FPS provides headroom for 144Hz displays if visual fidelity is less critical. Ultra at 1440p drops to 66.8 FPS, which is playable but may feel inconsistent on high-refresh displays. For 4K, only Low (89.7 FPS) and Medium (63.7 FPS) are viable for smooth gameplay. High at 52.5 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 37.8 FPS should be avoided unless frame rate is not a priority.

The data suggests that High is the default recommendation across all resolutions, with Medium serving as the fallback for 4K. The Low preset, while delivering high frame rates, sacrifices too much visual quality for a game that relies on detailed environments and effects.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low averages 267.1 FPS, Medium 200.2 FPS, High 150.9 FPS, and Ultra 109.6 FPS. The 1080p results show that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as even the most demanding preset exceeds 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to assert its limits. Low averages 173.3 FPS, Medium 129.6 FPS, High 97.8 FPS, and Ultra 66.8 FPS. The 1440p results indicate a roughly 35-40% reduction from 1080p across all settings, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3070 is clearly the limiting factor. Low averages 89.7 FPS, Medium 63.7 FPS, High 52.5 FPS, and Ultra 37.8 FPS. The 4K results show that only Low and Medium can maintain frame rates above 60 FPS, and even Low requires a significant visual compromise.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Outriders at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured 4K Ultra average is 37.8 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target. For smooth 4K gameplay, use Low (89.7 FPS) or Medium (63.7 FPS) settings.

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combination for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, Low (267.1 FPS), Medium (200.2 FPS), and High (150.9 FPS) all exceed 144 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (173.3 FPS) and Medium (129.6 FPS) come close to or exceed the 144Hz threshold.

Q: How does the i7-13700K compare to its closest rivals in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i7-13700K scores 47282 on average. It is virtually tied with the i7-13700KF (47334, 0.1% faster) and the AMD EPYC 4364P (47131, 0.3% slower). The Intel Core i9-12900F is 0.4% slower.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to the RX 6600 XT?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 28238, which is 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT's 27985. This makes the RTX 3070 the faster card in this comparison.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Outriders?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 600th out of 1693 tested combinations. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems for this game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the 4K performance drop?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K FPS drop at High settings is from 150.9 to 52.5 FPS, a 65% reduction that is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, not a CPU limitation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 30 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core. Its benchmark results show exceptional multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39000 and a single-core score of 5505.

For Outriders, the CPU's high boost clock and strong single-thread performance are critical. At 1080p, the system achieves 267.1 FPS on Low settings, which is a clear indicator that the CPU can feed the GPU far beyond what the RTX 3070 can render at higher resolutions. The 16-core configuration provides substantial headroom for background tasks and future game updates, but Outriders does not appear to be heavily multi-threaded based on the scaling behavior.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average score of 47282, places it just 0.1% behind the i7-13700KF and 0.4% ahead of the i9-12900F. This confirms that the i7-13700K is not the limiting component in this system for Outriders, as its performance ceiling is far above what the GPU can utilize at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is based on the GA104 chip and Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1725 MHz.

In Outriders, the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM and 448 GB/s bandwidth are the key constraints at 4K. The 4K Ultra preset's 37.8 FPS result, compared to 109.6 FPS at 1080p Ultra, indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the highest settings at this resolution. The 72nd percentile GPU ranking, with an average score of 28238, places it just 0.9% ahead of the RX 6600 XT and 1% ahead of the GTX 980 Ti.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s are respectable for its class, but the data shows that the RTX 3070 is the definitive bottleneck at 1440p and 4K. The scaling from High to Ultra at 1440p (97.8 to 66.8 FPS) and 4K (52.5 to 37.8 FPS) highlights how the GPU's limited memory capacity and bandwidth impact the most demanding presets.