Outriders

# Outriders with Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The data for Outriders with this Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination reveals a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the GPU emerging as the primary constraint at higher settings. The measured FPS ranges from 44 at 4K Ultra to 267 at 1080p Low, indicating a wide performance envelope that shifts from GPU-bound at 4K to increasingly CPU-influenced at 1080p. This analysis examines how the resolution scaling, component roles, and settings choices interact, while situating the combo within its broader benchmark context.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the magnitude varies dramatically depending on the quality preset. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 184 at 1080p to 116 at 1440p, then to 61 at 4K — a 66.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This pattern suggests the rendering load at higher resolutions places increasing pressure on the GPU, which is typical for a modern title like Outriders with its detailed environments and effects.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced in absolute terms: 267 FPS at 1080p drops to 213 at 1440p and 112 at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K decline of 155 FPS (58.1%) at Low settings indicates that even when graphical features are minimized, the resolution itself remains a significant factor. However, the fact that 4K Low still achieves 112 FPS shows the RTX 4070 has substantial headroom when pixel count is the primary variable.

The Medium preset reveals a similar trajectory: 237 FPS at 1080p, 155 at 1440p, and 81 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Medium is 82 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 74 FPS — a relatively even distribution. This differs from High settings, where the 1440p-to-4K drop (55 FPS) is larger than the 1080p-to-1440p drop (68 FPS), suggesting that High settings amplify the cost of higher resolutions more than Medium.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling: 133 FPS at 1080p, 84 at 1440p, and just 44 at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K reduction is 89 FPS (66.9%), the largest relative drop across all presets. This indicates that Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU as resolution increases, making 4K Ultra a demanding target that this combo barely reaches at playable frame rates.

The data implies that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the high FPS values (267 Low, 237 Medium) suggest the CPU may start to become a factor, as the RTX 4070 can render frames faster than the Core i7-13700K can feed it in some scenarios. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with all settings showing FPS values that scale directly with GPU workload.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and it contains 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The memory operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, which is ample for Outriders' texture-heavy environments.

In Outriders, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K and at Ultra settings. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS indicates the card is fully saturated, with the 12 GB VRAM likely sufficient but the compute resources (29.15 TFLOPS FP32) spread thin across the high pixel count and advanced effects. The 4K Medium result of 81 FPS (with min/max of 69/93) shows a more comfortable operating range, while 4K High at 61 FPS sits in a playable but not smooth territory.

At 1440p, the RTX 4070 shows its strength: 116 FPS at High, 155 FPS at Medium, and 213 FPS at Low. These numbers indicate the card can handle the resolution with headroom to spare, especially at Medium and Low settings where the 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs (based on average benchmark score of 37648) becomes more apparent. The nearest rival, NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores nearly identically (37628, deltaPct 0.1%), while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 trails slightly (37507, deltaPct 0.4%) — though these are synthetic benchmarks, not game-specific results.

The 1080p results reinforce that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. Even at Ultra, 133 FPS is achieved, while Low reaches 267 FPS. The RTX 4070's 184 tensor cores and 46 RT cores (not heavily utilized in Outriders, which does not feature prominent ray tracing) contribute to its overall capability, but the raw rasterization performance via the 64 ROPs and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate is what drives these frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 80 KB L1 cache per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 30 MB shared L3 cache. Its architecture, Raptor Lake, is built on a 10 nm process, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is most pronounced at 1080p with lower settings, where the GPU can render frames quickly enough that the CPU must keep up. The jump from 1440p High (116 FPS) to 1080p High (184 FPS) suggests the CPU can handle the increased draw calls at lower resolutions, but the 1080p Low result of 267 FPS hints at potential CPU limitations — the GPU could likely push higher if the CPU were not a factor.

The CPU's benchmark scores support its capability: 30745 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 2116 in single-core, and 45887 in Passmark multithread. Its percentile ranking of 89 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881, places it near the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, deltaPct -0.2%) and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, deltaPct -0.3%), while slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, deltaPct 0.5%) and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, deltaPct 0.5%). These close margins indicate the i7-13700K is competitive but not dominant in synthetic multi-threaded workloads.

For Outriders, which is not heavily threaded, the single-core performance (2116 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is more relevant. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz, combined with the 30 MB L3 cache, helps maintain high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. However, the data shows that even at 1080p Low (267 FPS), the system still achieves excellent performance, suggesting the CPU is not severely limiting the experience.

The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform provide a stable foundation, but the CPU's role in this game is secondary to the GPU. At 4K, the CPU's influence is minimal, as the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. At 1440p and 1080p, the CPU contributes to the high frame rates but does not appear to cap them severely, given the strong single-threaded scores.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Outriders?

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p provides the best balance. At High settings, it achieves 116 FPS, while Medium reaches 155 FPS and Low hits 213 FPS. These are all well above 60 FPS, making 1440p a smooth experience across settings. 4K is playable only at Low (112 FPS) and Medium (81 FPS), while 1080p offers very high frame rates but may not fully utilize the GPU's potential.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score is 37648, which places it at the 81st percentile among all GPUs. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628 (deltaPct 0.1%), meaning the 4070 is essentially tied. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507 (deltaPct 0.4%), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135 (deltaPct -1.3%) and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157 (deltaPct 1.3%).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra in Outriders?

A: The data clearly shows the GPU is the limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves only 44 FPS, which is the lowest measured result. Given that the CPU is highly capable (89th percentile, with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz), the GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 and 12 GB VRAM are being fully taxed by the combination of high resolution and Ultra settings.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 237, with a minimum of 202 and maximum of 273. This indicates very smooth gameplay, with the 35 FPS spread between min and max suggesting some variability but no significant stuttering. This is one of the highest FPS values in the dataset, second only to 1080p Low at 267 FPS.

Q: How does the i7-13700K perform relative to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, deltaPct -0.2%) and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, deltaPct -0.3%). It slightly outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, deltaPct 0.5%) and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, deltaPct 0.5%). These differences are within 0.5%, indicating comparable multi-threaded performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At Low settings, the combo achieves 112 FPS at 4K, and at Medium it reaches 81 FPS (min 69, max 93). High settings drop to 61 FPS, which is just playable, while Ultra falls to 44 FPS, which is not smooth. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience, Medium settings at 4K are the highest recommended preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the measured results show a clear hierarchy: Low settings deliver 112 FPS average, Medium delivers 81 FPS (with a range of 69 to 93), High delivers 61 FPS, and Ultra delivers 44 FPS. The step-down from Low to Medium is 31 FPS, from Medium to High is 20 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 17 FPS. These decreasing gaps suggest that each successive quality tier adds less performance cost than the previous one, but the cumulative effect from Low to Ultra is a 68 FPS reduction (60.7%).

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance is significantly higher: Low achieves 213 FPS, Medium achieves 155 FPS (min 132, max 178), High achieves 116 FPS, and Ultra achieves 84 FPS. The gaps here are 58 FPS (Low to Medium), 39 FPS (Medium to High), and 32 FPS (High to Ultra). The larger absolute differences compared to 4K indicate that the GPU has more headroom at this resolution, allowing settings changes to have a more pronounced effect.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the results are the highest: Low reaches 267 FPS, Medium reaches 237 FPS (min 202, max 273), High reaches 184 FPS, and Ultra reaches 133 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap is only 30 FPS, but the Medium-to-High gap is 53 FPS, and the High-to-Ultra gap is 51 FPS. This suggests that Medium settings are relatively efficient at 1080p, while High and Ultra incur larger penalties.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently shows the largest min-to-max spread (e.g., 202 to 273 at 1080p), indicating more variability in frame times. Low and Ultra settings do not have min/max data recorded, but the average values are stable. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is the only measurement below 60 FPS, making it the sole configuration where the combo fails to deliver smooth gameplay by conventional standards.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS or higher, the data suggests that 4K Medium is the optimal choice, as it delivers 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS, ensuring no drops below the 60 FPS threshold. 4K High at 61 FPS is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes, while 4K Ultra at 44 FPS is not recommended. 4K Low at 112 FPS offers the best performance at this resolution but sacrifices visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the recommendation is High settings, which achieves 116 FPS and provides a good balance of visual quality and performance. For those wanting higher frame rates, Medium at 155 FPS is excellent, while Low at 213 FPS suits competitive play. Ultra at 84 FPS is also viable for players prioritizing image quality, as it remains well above 60 FPS.

At 1080p, the best experience per the measured rows is Medium settings, which delivers 237 FPS with a minimum of 202 FPS. This preset offers high visual fidelity without the performance cost of High (184 FPS) or Ultra (133 FPS), while Low (267 FPS) provides marginal gains that are unlikely to be perceptible on most displays. Given that many monitors cap at 144 Hz or 240 Hz, Medium's 237 FPS average exceeds even high-refresh-rate displays, making it the most efficient choice.

Overall, the settings recommendation depends on resolution: 4K players should choose Medium for a smooth experience, 1440p players should choose High for quality, and 1080p players should choose Medium for the best balance. The data shows diminishing returns from Medium to High at higher resolutions, making Medium the most consistent performer across all three resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In Outriders, this Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 588th out of 3710 tested combos, placing it in the top 15.8% of all configurations. This rank reflects the combo's ability to deliver high frame rates across most resolutions and settings, with only 4K Ultra falling below 60 FPS.

The rank of 588 is notable given the GPU's 81st percentile ranking and the CPU's 89th percentile ranking among their respective components. The combo performs better than the component percentiles might suggest, indicating that the pairing is well-matched for Outriders specifically. The CPU's strong single-threaded performance (2116 in Cinebench R23 single-core) and the GPU's high rasterization throughput (158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate) complement each other in this game.

Compared to other combos, the top 15.8% placement means there are 587 configurations that achieve higher overall performance in Outriders. These likely include higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4080 or RTX 4090, or CPUs with even faster single-core speeds. However, the data shows that this combo is within striking distance of the top tier, particularly at 1440p and 1080p where the FPS values are competitive with more expensive hardware.

The rank also suggests that for players using this combo, the primary upgrade path to improve Outriders performance would be a stronger GPU, as the CPU is already highly capable. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is the weakest point, and a more powerful GPU would be needed to make that configuration playable. At lower resolutions, the combo's rank would likely be higher relative to other systems, as the CPU and GPU work efficiently together to produce high frame rates.