Outriders

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B370 in Outriders presents a stark example of GPU-bound performance. The data shows a system where the processor’s immense capability is largely irrelevant, as the graphics solution becomes the definitive bottleneck across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured frame rates, ranging from a playable 104 FPS at 1080p Low to an unplayable 13 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicate that this combination is only suitable for lower-resolution, lower-detail gaming. The following analysis breaks down the specific roles of each component and provides guidance on how to get the best experience from this hardware pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this configuration is found at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 104 FPS. This is the only preset that achieves a frame rate comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. While the Medium preset at 1080p produces a respectable 75 FPS average with a minimum of 64 FPS, the Low preset provides a significant performance headroom that is more forgiving in intense combat scenarios. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw speed, the High preset at 1080p yields an average of 57 FPS, but this sits below the ideal 60 FPS mark and may result in noticeable stutter on displays with high refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more challenging. The Low preset here averages 65 FPS, making it the only viable option for a fluid experience at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to a 48 FPS average, and the High preset falls further to 36 FPS. Pushing to 3840x2160 is not recommended with this hardware, as even the Low preset only manages a 34 FPS average, which is below the playability threshold for most action-oriented games like Outriders. The Ultra preset is essentially non-functional for gaming, producing an average of 13 FPS at 4K and 41 FPS at 1080p, indicating that it should be avoided entirely. The data suggests that the best balance of visual quality and performance is the Medium preset at 1080p, but for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, the Low preset at 1080p is the only setting that provides a definitive performance advantage.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear limiting factor in this system. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, indicating performance that is far below the mainstream market. The benchmark results show that the GPU’s role is to provide a baseline of graphical output, but its capabilities are quickly overwhelmed by higher resolutions and detail settings. The GPU relies on System Shared memory, meaning its VRAM size and bandwidth are dependent on the system’s main memory configuration. This architecture typically results in lower performance compared to dedicated graphics memory, and the data reflects this in the significant FPS drops as resolution increases.

The GPU’s clock speeds are listed with a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz, which are relatively modest figures, but the most critical factor is its raw compute power. With 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, the Arc B370 produces a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. These specifications, combined with a 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance, are insufficient for demanding titles like Outriders at high settings. The data confirms this, as the difference between 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra is a massive 63 FPS drop (104 to 41 FPS), demonstrating that the GPU’s rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. Even at the lowest settings, the GPU’s performance ceiling is reached at 4K, where the average FPS drops to 34, highlighting that the component is not designed for high-resolution gaming.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K provides an overwhelming amount of processing power that is underutilized in this configuration. With 24 cores and 32 threads, a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, and a large 36 MB shared L3 cache, the CPU is more than capable of handling the game’s logic and physics. Its benchmark performance is exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and a single-core score of 2262.5, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. In the context of Outriders, this means the CPU is never the bottleneck. The measured FPS is dictated entirely by the GPU’s ability to render frames, not the CPU’s ability to feed it data.

Evidence of the CPU’s headroom is seen in the frame rate scaling. As resolution decreases from 4K to 1080p, the FPS increases substantially at the same settings. For example, at High settings, the FPS goes from 19 at 4K to 57 at 1080p. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the CPU can process frames far faster than the GPU can output them. The i9-14900K’s 125W TDP and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 provide a stable platform, but this performance is largely wasted. Even the most demanding game scenarios would not come close to saturating the CPU’s 24 cores. The data indicates that the CPU’s role is to provide a stable foundation, but its performance is practically irrelevant to the final FPS numbers in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Outriders at 4K resolution?

A: Technically yes, but not at a playable frame rate. The measured data shows an average of 34 FPS on Low settings and 19 FPS on High settings at 3840x2160. These figures are well below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, making 4K impractical for this title with this GPU.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a consistent 60+ FPS experience?

A: The only preset that achieves this is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces an average of 104 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p also exceeds 60 FPS with an average of 75 FPS, but it has a lower minimum FPS of 64, making Low the safer choice for maintaining high frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097. It is 0.3% slower than the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which scores 79371, and 0.6% slower than the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, which scores 79574. It is 1.2% slower than the AMD EPYC 7413, which scores 80041, but 1.7% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, which scores 77740.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B370 a dedicated graphics card?

A: No. The data lists it as an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with a bus interface of "IGP" and a slot width of "IGP". It uses System Shared memory and has a TDP of only 25 W, indicating it is designed for mobile or integrated use rather than a discrete desktop GPU.

Q: Why is there such a large FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings?

A: The difference is due to the GPU’s limited rendering capability. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 104 on Low to 41 on Ultra, a 63 FPS decrease. This shows that the Ultra preset demands significantly more shading and texture work, which the Arc B370’s 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 20 ROPs cannot handle efficiently.

Q: What is the system's ranking for Outriders performance?

A: The data indicates this combination ranks 3424 out of 3710 total configs tested for the game. This puts it in the lower percentile of systems, confirming that the GPU is the primary factor holding back the overall gaming experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern based on resolution. When comparing Low settings across all three resolutions, the average FPS drops from 104 at 1080p, to 65 at 1440p, and finally to 34 at 4K. This is a 67% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, which is a typical indicator of a GPU that is being saturated by increasing pixel count. The scaling is consistent across other settings as well; for instance, High settings produce 57 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and only 19 FPS at 4K.

This pattern strongly suggests that the GPU is the sole limiting component. As resolution increases, the demand on the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth grows, and the Arc B370’s specifications are not sufficient to keep pace. The CPU, with its 24 cores and 6.00 GHz boost clock, would have no issue handling the additional draw calls or physics calculations at higher resolutions. The fact that the frame rate is cut roughly in half with each major resolution step up indicates that the GPU’s rendering pipeline is the bottleneck. For example, the jump from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings results in a drop from 75 FPS to 48 FPS, which is a 36% decrease. This is less than the 50% reduction that would be expected if the GPU were perfectly scaling with pixel count, but it still confirms that the GPU is working at its limits and cannot maintain performance as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table and analysis detail the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset.

At 1920x1080, the system performs best. The Low preset delivers an average of 104 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 and a maximum of 87 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 57 FPS. The Ultra preset is the least performant, yielding only 41 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases significantly. The Low preset averages 65 FPS, which is still playable. The Medium preset averages 48 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 55 FPS. The High preset averages 36 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 26 FPS, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 34 FPS. The Medium preset averages 25 FPS, with a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 29 FPS. The High preset averages 19 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 13 FPS, which is effectively a slideshow. The data shows a consistent pattern where each increase in resolution or settings tier results in a substantial FPS loss, confirming that the Intel Arc B370 is the definitive performance bottleneck in this configuration.