Outriders

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a top-tier experience in Outriders, ranking in the 25th position out of 2913 tested combinations. This places the combo in the 99th percentile of all tested hardware pairings, indicating that the system is exceptionally well-suited for this looter shooter. The data shows a consistent theme: this hardware is overwhelmingly powerful, often pushing frame rates far beyond what standard monitors can display, with the bottleneck shifting from the GPU at 4K to the CPU at lower resolutions. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance data to provide practical advice for configuring the game.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Outriders with this hardware?*

A: Based on the measured frames per second (FPS), 1440p is the sweet spot. At High settings, it delivers an average of 180 FPS, which is nearly double the 94 FPS seen at 4K High, while still providing a significant visual upgrade over 1080p.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low?

A: The performance gain is substantial and resolution-dependent. At 4K, the average FPS jumps from 68 on Ultra to 172 on Low, a massive increase. At 1440p, it rises from 130 to 236, and at 1080p, from 195 to 275. The gap between presets narrows as resolution decreases, indicating a shift in the performance bottleneck.

Q: Is the 32 GB of VRAM on the RTX 5090 D necessary for this game?

A: The data does not indicate any VRAM limitations. The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, which is far beyond the demands of Outriders at any of the tested settings. The performance differences between presets are due to GPU compute load, not memory capacity.

Q: Can this system handle high-refresh-rate gaming at 4K?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 68, which is below the 100+ FPS threshold for high-refresh 4K monitors. However, at 4K Medium, the average FPS climbs to 125, with a minimum of 106 FPS, making it viable for a 120Hz display if visual fidelity is slightly reduced.

Q: How does the Core i7-14700K compare to its closest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. It is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which scores 69515 (a -0.2% delta), and is only 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX.

Q: What is the limiting component at 1080p resolution?

A: At 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high, suggesting the CPU is the primary limiter. The difference between Low (275 FPS) and Ultra (195 FPS) at 1080p is only 80 FPS, whereas at 4K, the difference is 104 FPS (172 vs 68). This smaller delta at 1080p indicates the CPU is maxing out before the GPU can show its full potential.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a monster of a graphics card, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process. Its specifications are extreme, featuring 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units. The card is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a staggering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and memory runs at an effective 28 Gbps. These raw specs translate into a 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 77712.

In Outriders, the GPU's role is most apparent at 4K resolution, where its computational power directly dictates performance. For instance, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 68, but dropping to Medium settings yields 125 FPS. This 57 FPS jump shows the card has plenty of headroom, but the Ultra preset is demanding enough to stress the GPU heavily. The card's 176 ROPs and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are crucial for handling the game's particle effects and environmental details at high resolutions. The data clearly shows the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as performance scales significantly with settings changes. At lower resolutions, the GPU's immense power means it is often waiting for the CPU to feed it data, as evidenced by the smaller performance gaps between presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the performance bottleneck shifts as resolution changes. At 4K, the GPU is the clear limiting factor. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is dramatic; for example, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 220 at 1080p to 94 at 4K, a reduction of 126 FPS. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the render resolution heavily taxes the graphics card.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates become exceptionally high. At High settings, the average is 180 FPS, which is a massive 86 FPS higher than 4K High. This suggests that 1440p is the optimal balance for this hardware, allowing the GPU to stretch its legs without being fully maxed out. The scaling from 1440p to 1080p shows diminishing returns. At High settings, the jump from 180 FPS at 1440p to 220 FPS at 1080p is only 40 FPS. This indicates that the CPU is starting to become a limiting factor at these high frame rates. The game engine and CPU cannot feed frames fast enough to keep the GPU fully utilized, even though the GPU is capable of more. This is confirmed by the fact that the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings shrinks from 104 FPS at 4K (172 vs 68) to just 80 FPS at 1080p (275 vs 195), proving that the CPU is the primary constraint at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

This section details the exact average FPS figures from the benchmark data for the Core i7-14700K and RTX 5090 D combination.

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 172 FPS average.
• Medium: 125 FPS average, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS.
• High: 94 FPS average.
• Ultra: 68 FPS average.

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 236 FPS average.
• Medium: 210 FPS average, with a minimum of 178 FPS and a maximum of 241 FPS.
• High: 180 FPS average.
• Ultra: 130 FPS average.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 275 FPS average.
• Medium: 245 FPS average, with a minimum of 208 FPS and a maximum of 281 FPS.
• High: 220 FPS average.
• Ultra: 195 FPS average.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 178 FPS ensures a consistently smooth experience, even in intense combat scenarios. The 1080p Medium preset shows a minimum of 208 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. These minimums are critical for avoiding stutters and maintaining a fluid feel, and the data shows that even the worst-case scenarios are well above playable thresholds. The overall trend shows that this hardware is overkill for 1080p, highly capable at 1440p, and only challenged by the Ultra preset at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend entirely on your display's refresh rate and resolution. For 4K gaming, the High preset, which averages 94 FPS, is a solid choice for a 60-90Hz display. However, for those with a 120Hz+ 4K monitor, the Medium preset is the best option, as its 125 FPS average and 106 FPS minimum will keep gameplay within the refresh window, providing a much smoother experience than the 68 FPS seen on Ultra.

At 1440p, the High preset is highly recommended. It delivers an average of 180 FPS, which is more than enough for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, and it provides a significant visual upgrade over the Medium preset. The Ultra preset at 1440p is also viable at 130 FPS, but it requires sacrificing 50 FPS for the incremental visual gain over High. The data suggests that High offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution.

For 1080p, the High preset is the clear winner, providing a 220 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 195 FPS is also well above the refresh rate of most 1080p monitors, so the choice is purely about visual preference. However, the data implies that the CPU becomes the limiting factor here, so even the Ultra preset is not fully utilizing the RTX 5090 D. The Medium preset, with a minimum of 208 FPS, is a safe choice for those who prioritize frame time consistency over maximum visual fidelity. In all cases, the measured performance is so high that users can prioritize visual quality without worrying about playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its 20 cores are split between performance and efficiency cores, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It has a substantial 33 MB of shared L3 cache, which is crucial for gaming performance. The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and a single-core score of 2160. It holds a 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355, placing it in a statistical tie with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is less about raw graphical power and more about maintaining high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is 80 FPS, which is smaller than the 104 FPS gap at 4K. This indicates that the CPU is reaching its limit at around 275 FPS on Low settings, preventing the GPU from pushing higher frame rates. The i7-14700K's high boost clock of 5.60 GHz and strong single-core performance (Cinebench R15 single-core score of 313.5) are key to handling the game's game logic and physics calculations. At 1440p, the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU efficiently, as evidenced by the 236 FPS average on Low settings. The data suggests that while the CPU is not a weak point, it is the component that caps performance at lower resolutions. This is a common scenario for high-end GPUs, where the CPU becomes the limiting factor in less demanding graphical scenarios. The 125W TDP and unlocked multiplier indicate it is a high-performance part designed for sustained workloads, which is reflected in its consistent ability to maintain high FPS across all tested resolutions.