Outriders

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Outriders, with the data showing a strong balance between CPU and GPU capabilities across all tested resolutions. This combination ranks in the top 4% of all tested configurations, demonstrating its capability as a premium setup for this looter shooter.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot, with High settings delivering 149 FPS average, providing a smooth experience above 144Hz without the extreme performance drop seen at 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209, showing a delta of just 0.1%. This indicates performance parity between the two cards.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-core performance advantage over its rivals?

A: The i7-14700K scores 33440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, placing it within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515 avg score) and 0.7% behind the Ryzen 9 7940HX, showing it is competitive with top-tier alternatives.

Q: What frame rate can users expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows 170 FPS average at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate threshold for most gaming monitors.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: The data indicates the 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is capable, but the 4K Ultra setting drops to 56 FPS, suggesting the GPU compute is the limiting factor rather than memory capacity at this resolution.

Q: How does the i7-14700K's single-core performance influence gaming?

A: With a Geekbench single-core score of 2569 and Cinebench R23 single-core of 2160, the CPU's strong single-thread performance supports high frame rates at lower resolutions, as shown by the 275 FPS result at 1080p Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring the AD103 chip with 45,900 million transistors. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and boosts to 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz for 22.4 Gbps effective speed. This configuration provides 16 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit bus, yielding 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In Outriders, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution scales upward. At 4K resolution, the GPU's compute capabilities are heavily taxed, with the data showing a dramatic drop from 143 FPS at Low settings to 56 FPS at Ultra settings. The FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s determine how efficiently the card can process the game's particle effects and environmental details at higher settings.

The RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM capacity proves adequate for the game's texture demands, as even at 4K Ultra the performance bottleneck appears to be shader and rasterization throughput rather than memory capacity. The card's 112 ROPs and 304 TMUs handle the pixel and texture workloads, with the pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s supporting the measured frame rates. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its benchmark scores—including a Passmark G3D score of 34457 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567—confirm it sits just below the top-tier cards, with a 0.1% delta from the RTX 4080 SUPER.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K features 20 cores and 28 threads, utilizing a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture on a 10 nm process includes 33 MB of shared L3 cache, with per-core L1 of 80 KB and L2 of 2 MB. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

For Outriders, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 275 FPS, indicating the i7-14700K's single-thread performance—evidenced by a Passmark single-thread score of 4472 and Geekbench single-core of 2569—allows the GPU to operate near its maximum potential. The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, shown by a Passmark multithread score of 52392 and Cinebench R23 multi-core of 33440.5, prevent bottlenecks when the game's AI and physics systems scale across multiple cores.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all processors places it in elite company, with its average benchmark score of 69355 being within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515) and just 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115 (69288). This performance headroom ensures that even in CPU-intensive scenarios, the i7-14700K does not constrain the RTX 4080's output, as demonstrated by the consistent frame rates across different resolution scaling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 133rd out of 3710 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the top 3.6% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the synergistic balance between the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's substantial compute resources, which together deliver high frame rates across all tested settings.

The rank becomes more significant when considering the GPU's position relative to its rivals. The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54247 is just 0.1% below the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209), yet the combo ranking places it above many configurations using nominally faster GPUs, suggesting the i7-14700K provides a superior foundation for Outriders' CPU demands. The CPU's benchmark scores, particularly the Cinebench R23 multi-core of 33440.5 and Geekbench multi-core of 20767, indicate it can maintain high instruction throughput that complements the GPU's rendering capabilities.

The measured FPS data reinforces this ranking, showing that even at 4K Ultra—the most demanding tested configuration—the combo maintains 56 FPS, which is playable if not ideal. At 1440p High, the 149 FPS result places this configuration well above the 100 FPS threshold that many gamers consider the minimum for competitive play. The ranking demonstrates that this hardware pairing is optimized for high-refresh-rate gaming without requiring aggressive settings compromises.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy of settings that balances visual fidelity with performance. At 1080p, High settings deliver 220 FPS, which is only 20% below the Low settings result of 275 FPS, making High the recommended choice for users with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors who want improved visuals without sacrificing frame rate. Medium settings at 1080p provide 245 FPS, offering a middle ground for those who prioritize smoothness over detail.

For 1440p gaming, High settings at 149 FPS represent the optimal configuration for most users. This setting achieves the highest FPS above the 144Hz refresh rate threshold while maintaining better visual quality than Medium, which delivers 198 FPS but may show more noticeable compromises in texture detail and shadow quality. Ultra settings at 1440p drop to 108 FPS, which remains playable but sacrifices the high-refresh-rate advantage.

At 4K, the data shows a steep performance cliff. High settings deliver 78 FPS, which is the minimum for smooth gameplay but the Medium setting at 104 FPS provides a better balance. Low settings at 4K achieve 143 FPS but significantly reduce visual quality, making Medium the recommended choice for 4K users who want a visually acceptable experience without falling below 100 FPS. Ultra at 4K drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and not recommended for competitive play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce 275 FPS average, Medium yields 245 FPS with a minimum of 208 and maximum of 281, High achieves 220 FPS, and Ultra delivers 170 FPS. These results show the CPU-GPU balance allows for maximum frame rates even at the highest settings in this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably with settings. Low settings produce 236 FPS, Medium delivers 198 FPS with a minimum of 169 and maximum of 228, High achieves 149 FPS, and Ultra drops to 108 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate that the GPU begins to become more of a limiting factor at this resolution, but the combo still maintains frame rates above 100 FPS at Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens significantly. Low settings yield 143 FPS, Medium produces 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 119, High achieves 78 FPS, and Ultra drops to 56 FPS. The 4K results highlight the GPU's workload intensification, with a 61% frame rate reduction from Low to Ultra settings, compared to only 38% reduction at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. From 1080p High (220 FPS) to 1440p High (149 FPS), the frame rate drops by 71 FPS, a 32% reduction. This drop aligns with the pixel count increase of 78%, indicating the GPU is the primary contributor to the performance change, though the CPU's overhead at 1080p allows for higher absolute FPS.

The scaling from 1440p High to 4K High shows a more dramatic impact, with the frame rate falling from 149 FPS to 78 FPS—a 48% reduction. This correlates with the 2.25x increase in pixel count, suggesting the GPU's rendering pipeline becomes increasingly saturated. The RTX 4080's 32 MB of L2 cache and 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for the workload, but the shader and texture throughput limits become apparent at 4K.

The CPU's role in this scaling is evident when comparing Low settings across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 275 FPS result indicates CPU-bound behavior, as the GPU has spare capacity. At 4K Low, the 143 FPS result shows the GPU is now the limiter, despite the same settings. This transition point occurs between 1440p and 4K, where the GPU's FP32 and texture rate capabilities become the primary constraint. The 1080p to 4K scaling at Low settings (275 to 143 FPS, a 48% drop) demonstrates how the limiting component shifts from CPU to GPU as resolution increases, confirming the balanced nature of this combo for Outriders.