Outriders

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination delivers a strong performance profile in Outriders, a looter shooter that scales predictably with resolution and settings. The measured data shows a system capable of high refresh rate play at 1440p and solid 4K performance when settings are adjusted. This analysis breaks down the frame rate behavior across resolutions, compares the combo against other tested hardware, and examines the individual contributions of the CPU and GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, indicating that the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 210 at 1920x1080 to 136 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 74 FPS (approximately 35%). Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 71 FPS, which is about 48% lower than the 1440p result and 66% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load increases with pixel count.

The trend is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. The average frame rate at 1080p is 156 FPS, which drops to 99 FPS at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and then to 52 FPS at 4K (a 47% reduction from 1440p). The performance penalty from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is approximately 67%, which is slightly worse than the High preset's drop. This indicates that the most demanding settings amplify the GPU workload, making the RTX 4070 Ti the clear bottleneck at 4K Ultra.

At Low settings, the scaling is less severe but still substantial. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 263, dropping to 225 at 1440p (a 14% reduction) and then to 131 at 4K (a 42% reduction from 1440p). The smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low suggests that the CPU can keep up with the lower workload, but the 4K result shows the GPU is still stressed. Notably, the difference between 1080p Low (263 FPS) and 4K Low (131 FPS) is exactly a 50% reduction, highlighting the pixel-count impact.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern. At 1080p, the average is 234 FPS with a minimum of 199 FPS and maximum of 269 FPS. At 1440p, the average drops to 182 FPS with a minimum of 155 FPS and maximum of 209 FPS. At 4K, the average is 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and maximum of 109 FPS. The min-to-max range narrows at higher resolutions, suggesting more consistent frame pacing when the GPU is more heavily loaded.

The data clearly shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is the limiting component at 4K, regardless of settings. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, appears sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p and 1440p, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS on lower presets. The bottleneck shifts entirely to the GPU at 4K, where even the fastest preset (Low) only achieves 131 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Core i7-14700F + RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 286th out of 3,710 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the top 7.7% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a mid-high range desktop setup. The percentile ranking underscores that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested hardware, though it is not among the absolute top-tier systems.

The GPU's individual percentile is 84th among all GPUs, while the CPU's percentile is 91st among all CPUs. The combo rank being lower than both individual percentiles suggests that the pairing is slightly less optimal than the components' standalone scores might imply. This is likely due to the game's engine and the specific demands of Outriders, which may not fully utilize the CPU's multi-threading capabilities or the GPU's raw compute power in a perfectly balanced way.

In terms of nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 53,620 is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701, a -0.2% delta) and the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53,469, a 0.3% delta). The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53,288 (0.6% delta) and the AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53,206 (0.8% delta). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the i7-14700F's CPU performance is essentially on par with these enterprise and enthusiast chips in synthetic benchmarks.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 Ti's average benchmark score of 44,795 is close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45,152, -0.8% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384, -1.3% delta). The NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 44,075 (1.6% delta) and the Intel Arc A730M scores 45,592 (-1.7% delta). The tight clustering of these scores suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti's raw compute performance is comparable to a range of professional and mobile GPUs, though its gaming-specific features (like ray tracing and DLSS) are not reflected in these aggregate benchmarks.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU has 7,680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. It also includes 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores. The base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and the memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

In Outriders, the GPU's VRAM capacity of 12 GB appears sufficient across all tested settings, as there are no indications of texture streaming issues or stuttering at 4K Ultra. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is likely a key factor in maintaining playable frame rates at 4K, where texture and geometry data demands are highest. The pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for the game's particle effects and environmental details.

The GPU's performance in Outriders is consistent with its benchmark scores. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,024 and Passmark G3D score of 31,624 indicate strong DirectX 12 performance, which is the API used by the game. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 213,808 and OpenCL score of 176,953 show solid compute capabilities, though the game's engine appears to favor the DX12 path. The FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS gives the GPU ample headroom for the game's shader workloads.

The RTX 4070 Ti's end-of-life production status and launch MSRP of 799 USD position it as a high-end option from the previous generation. Despite this, its performance in Outriders remains competitive, as evidenced by the measured frame rates. The GPU's 285 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU requirement indicate it is a power-hungry component, but the data does not show any thermal throttling impacts on frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4070 Ti delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 263 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 234 FPS with a minimum of 199 FPS and maximum of 269 FPS. The High preset averages 210 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 156 FPS. All of these results are well above the refresh rate of most monitors, making 1080p play essentially limited by the display rather than the hardware.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show more differentiation between settings. The Low preset averages 225 FPS, the Medium preset averages 182 FPS (with a minimum of 155 FPS and maximum of 209 FPS), the High preset averages 136 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 99 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p is significant, with a 37 FPS drop (27%), suggesting that Ultra settings include effects that are disproportionately expensive at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more moderate. The Low preset averages 131 FPS, the Medium preset averages 95 FPS (with a minimum of 81 FPS and maximum of 109 FPS), the High preset averages 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 52 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU is being pushed hard, especially at Ultra where the average dips below 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 81 FPS ensures a smooth experience, but the Ultra preset may exhibit occasional frame drops in heavy combat scenarios.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: at every resolution, Low > Medium > High > Ultra in terms of average FPS. The gaps between presets widen at higher resolutions, indicating that the GPU's workload scales super-linearly with both resolution and settings. The Medium preset consistently provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with minimums that stay above 80 FPS even at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for players using this combo, particularly at 4K. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average FPS is 95 with a minimum of 81 FPS, which ensures a smooth experience on standard 60 Hz displays and most 100 Hz panels. The 81 FPS minimum is well above the 60 FPS threshold, providing headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 4K averages 71 FPS, which is playable but may dip below 60 FPS in intense action, though the data does not provide a minimum for this setting.

For 1440p, the High preset is the best choice. It averages 136 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate monitors (144 Hz or higher). The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 99 FPS, which is also excellent, but the 37 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual improvement for competitive players. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 182 FPS, which is overkill for most displays but offers the smoothest experience.

At 1080p, players have the freedom to max out settings. The Ultra preset averages 156 FPS, which is still very high, and the High preset averages 210 FPS. There is no practical reason to use Low or Medium at this resolution unless aiming for the absolute highest frame rates for esports-style play. The Low preset's 263 FPS average is only relevant for 240 Hz or higher monitors.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at 4K, as the 52 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data lacks a minimum FPS for this setting, but the average suggests that frame drops could be noticeable. For the best visual fidelity at 4K, the High preset is the highest acceptable option, though players should be prepared for potential dips below 60 FPS in the most demanding scenes.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance of image quality and performance. At 1440p High, the average FPS is 136, which is suitable for high refresh rate monitors. At 4K, the highest playable setting is Medium with an average of 95 FPS and a minimum of 81 FPS.

Q: Does the combo hit 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 52, which is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 4K averages 95 FPS, making it the highest settings tier that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 210 at 1080p to 71 at 4K, a reduction of approximately 66%. At Low settings, the drop is from 263 to 131 FPS, also a 50% reduction.

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

A: The bottleneck shifts with resolution. At 1080p and 1440p, frame rates exceed 200 FPS on lower presets, indicating the CPU (20 cores, 28 threads) is keeping pace. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as frame rates scale down significantly across all settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 4K?

A: The measured minimum FPS at 3840x2160 Medium is 81. This is the lowest recorded FPS in that configuration, ensuring a smooth experience in most scenarios.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 286th out of 3,710 tested combinations. This places it in the top 7.7% of all systems tested for Outriders, indicating strong overall performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 33 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the memory bus is dual-channel.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU has headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 263 FPS, which is likely near the engine's or CPU's limit. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample parallel processing power, though the game may not fully utilize all threads. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and physics.

The CPU's benchmark scores support its gaming performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 35,122 and single-core score of 4,958 show excellent multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. The Geekbench multicore score of 19,620 and single-core score of 2,429 reinforce this. The Passmark multithread score of 41,317 and single-thread score of 4,257 indicate balanced performance across both metrics.

The CPU's nearest rivals are all within 1% of its average benchmark score. The Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701) and Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53,469) are essentially equal in performance, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (53,288) and AMD EPYC 7313P (53,206) are slightly lower. This suggests that the i7-14700F's CPU performance is comparable to both enterprise Xeon chips and AMD's flagship consumer Ryzen.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking versus all CPUs indicates that it is in the top 9% of all processors. This high percentile, combined with the GPU's 84th percentile, creates a well-matched pairing. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are more than sufficient for Outriders, as the game's frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are limited by the GPU or engine, not the processor. The CPU's 65 W TDP is low for a 20-core chip, suggesting efficient power delivery, though the data does not show any impact on gaming performance.