Outriders

Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti form a high-end desktop pairing for Outriders, a looter shooter released on 2021-03-31. The measured data covers three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a clear view of how this combination behaves. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all processors, while the GPU lands in the 84th percentile of all graphics cards. Across all tested combos in this game, this pairing ranks 236th out of 3710. The data suggests a system that can run the game smoothly at high frame rates, but the exact choice of settings depends on the target resolution and display refresh rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show a consistent pattern: Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, with High and Ultra providing diminishing returns at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 156 FPS, but the Medium preset jumps to 245 FPS, a significant leap of 89 frames. At 2560x1440, Ultra runs at 99 FPS, while Medium reaches 182 FPS, nearly doubling the frame rate. At 3840x2160, the gap widens further: Ultra produces 52 FPS, but Medium yields 95 FPS, an increase of 43 FPS. The Low preset, in contrast, pushes frame rates far higher—276 FPS at 1080p, 237 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 4K—but the visual tradeoff is substantial, with the Low preset typically being unappealing for a modern title.

For high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, the High preset is the sweet spot, delivering 216 FPS. This is well above the typical 144 Hz display and leaves headroom for future driver updates. At 1440p, the High preset is still strong at 136 FPS, but the Medium preset at 182 FPS is preferable if the display supports 165 Hz or higher. For 4K, the Medium preset at 95 FPS is the only one that stays above the 60 FPS threshold; High drops to 71 FPS and Ultra falls to 52 FPS, the latter being below the standard 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that Medium is the recommended preset for 4K, as it maintains a good balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. For 1080p and 1440p, High is the recommendation, as it provides high frame rates without the visual penalty of Low or the increased GPU load of Ultra.

The min FPS data, available only for the Medium preset at each resolution, reinforces this recommendation. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 208 FPS; at 1440p Medium, the minimum is 155 FPS; and at 4K Medium, the minimum is 81 FPS. These minimums are all above 60 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset avoids significant frame drops. This consistency makes Medium the safest choice for a stable experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, a shared L3 cache of 33 MB, and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: it reaches 628 points in Cinebench R15 single-core, 2618 in R20 single-core, and 6235 in R23 single-core, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. In multi-core workloads, the chip scores 4452 in Cinebench R15, 18550 in R20, and 44167 in R23, with a Geekbench multi-core of 21462 and a Passmark multithread of 52425. These figures indicate a top-tier processor for gaming.

In Outriders, the CPU is not the primary limiting factor. The FPS data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high—276 FPS at Low, 245 FPS at Medium, and 216 FPS at High—which suggests that the game is heavily GPU-bound at this resolution. The CPU can easily feed the GPU with frames, as even the most demanding settings at 1080p, Ultra, still produces 156 FPS. The CPU's high single-core performance, evidenced by the single-thread Passmark score of 4480, helps in a game that relies on maintaining a steady frame rate. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz is also a plus for maximum performance.

As the resolution scales down, the CPU becomes more relevant. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, indicating that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's role is to ensure consistent frame pacing, which the data supports with no min FPS below 81 FPS on Medium at 4K. The 20 cores and 28 threads are more headroom than outriders need; the game is not a heavy multi-threaded title. The CPU’s performance in benchmarks relative to rivals—it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, while being 1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K—confirms it is a modern top-tier part, but the game does not use all its capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use on a 1080p 144 Hz monitor?

A: The High preset provides 216 FPS at 1920x1080, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate. This preset offers better visual quality than Medium, which runs at 245 FPS, with no need for the extra performance of the Low preset at 276 FPS. Ultra at 1080p yields 156 FPS, still above 144 Hz, but the difference in visual quality may not justify the 60 FPS drop.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the only one that maintains a playable frame rate, with an average of 95 FPS. The High preset drops to 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset reaches 131 FPS at 4K, but this is a steep visual compromise.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700KF a bottleneck in Outriders?

A: No, the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 1080p, frame rates exceed 216 FPS on High, showing that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data. The CPU's high single-core performance, such as a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235, helps maintain high frame rates. The limiting factor is the GPU, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p on High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 on High, the average FPS is 136 FPS. This is a good match for a 144 Hz monitor, but the Medium preset at 182 FPS offers a higher margin. The Ultra preset at 1440p runs at 99 FPS.

Q: How does the combination rank compared to other tested combos in Outriders?

A: The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 236th out of 3710 tested combos in Outriders. This puts it in the top 6.4% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing but not the absolute top.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min FPS data. At 1920x1080, the min FPS is 208 FPS; at 2560x1440, it is 155 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it is 81 FPS. These minimums indicate consistent frame times without major drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 236th out of 3710 tested combos in Outriders, which places it in the 94th percentile of all configurations. This is an excellent rank, indicating that the pairing is very capable for the game. The rank is likely driven by the GPU, which is the stronger component for this game, as the GPU is in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. The high rank is also reflected in the average frame rates, which are excellent across all resolutions.

The rank of 236 out of 3710 means that there are 94% of tested combos that are below this one, but a small number of combos are above it. Those combos likely feature the RTX 4090 or similar top-tier GPUs, which are in the top percentiles of their own GPU benchmarks. The RTX 4070 Ti itself is a high-end GPU, with a Passmark G3D score of 31624, and it falls in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The CPU’s high score also contributes to the rank, but for this game, the GPU is the key factor.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals show that the i7-14700KF performs within a narrow band of other top CPUs. It is 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, while being 1% slower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. These are all high-end parts, so the CPU is effectively at the top of its class. The GPU's nearest rivals are also close: it is 0.8% slower than the NVIDIA RTX 5090 Mobile, 1.3% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1.6% faster than the NVIDIA RTX A6000, and 1.7% slower than the Intel Arc A730M. These are all different classes of cards, but the 4070 Ti is a strong performer.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear pattern of frame rates dropping as resolution increases. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 276 at 1080p to 237 at 1440p and 131 at 4K. This is a drop of 39 FPS from 1080p to 1440p, and a further drop of 106 FPS from 1440p to 4K. At the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 245 at 1080p to 182 at 1440p and 95 at 4K, representing drops of 63 FPS and 87 FPS respectively. The High preset follows the same pattern: 216 FPS at 1080p, 136 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K, with drops of 80 FPS and 65 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding: 156 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K, with drops of 57 FPS and 47 FPS.

The percentage drops are consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. From 1080p to 4K, the Low preset drops by 53% (276 to 131), Medium drops by 61% (245 to 95), High drops by 67% (216 to 71), and Ultra drops by 67% (156 to 52). These large percentages indicate that the GPU is the limiting component, as resolution scaling affects the GPU more than the CPU. The CPU's performance remains constant regardless of resolution, so the frame rate drops are entirely due to the GPU's workload. The 4070 Ti is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, which is expected for a 192-bit memory bus and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, but the card still manages to deliver playable frame rates at 4K on Medium.

The data also shows that the frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, which suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The CPU can easily feed the GPU with data, as the frame rates are far above the display refresh rates. This is a sign of a good balance between CPU and GPU for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is based on actual tests, as indicated by the dataIsMeasured field. The results are as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: avg 276 FPS
• Medium: avg 245 FPS, min 181 FPS, max 282 FPS
• High: avg 216 FPS
• Ultra: avg 156 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: avg 237 FPS
• Medium: avg 182 FPS, min 155 FPS, max 209 FPS
• High: avg 136 FPS
• Ultra: avg 99 FPS

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: avg 131 FPS
• Medium: avg 95 FPS, min 81 FPS, max 109 FPS
• High: avg 71 FPS
• Ultra: avg 52 FPS

The min FPS values are only available for the Medium preset, which shows a minimum of 181 FPS at 1080p, 155 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. These minimums are all above 60 FPS, confirming that the Medium preset provides a smooth experience. The max FPS for the Medium preset is 282 FPS at 1080p, 209 FPS at 1440p, and 109 FPS at 4K, indicating good headroom.

The 1080p frame rates are all well above 144 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 1440p frame rates are also high, with the Low and Medium presets being above 144 FPS, and the High preset just below at 136 FPS. The 4K frame rates are more modest, with the Medium preset being the only one above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is only 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, but the Low preset at 4K offers 131 FPS, showing the range of performance.

The data indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is a capable GPU for Outriders, delivering excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p, and acceptable performance at 4K on Medium settings.