Outriders

# Outriders with Intel Core i9-14900K + Intel Arc B390

This combination pairs one of Intel's most capable desktop processors with an integrated-class graphics solution, and the measured results in Outriders reflect a stark performance imbalance. The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread Raptor Lake-R part with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, while the Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a 3 nm process node, 1536 shading units, and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the Arc B390 becomes the limiting factor, producing frame rates that range from playable at 1080p Low to largely unplayable at 4K Ultra. The data shows a GPU that sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482, while the CPU sits in the 95th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 79097. This is a pairing where the processor has enormous headroom, but the graphics solution cannot translate that into meaningful gaming performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Outriders reveals how quickly performance degrades as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination achieves 115 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average drops to 72 FPS, a reduction of 43 FPS or approximately 37%. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average falls further to 38 FPS, which is a 67% drop from the 1080p Low result. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as resolution scaling directly taxes the rendering pipeline of the Arc B390.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings shows a similar trend: 83 FPS at 1080p Medium, 53 FPS at 1440p Medium, and 28 FPS at 4K Medium. The 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium drop is 30 FPS (36%), and the 1440p Medium to 4K Medium drop is 25 FPS (47%). At High settings, the progression is 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p High is approximately 37%, and from 1440p to 4K High is approximately 48%. These consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting resources, with each resolution increase requiring proportionally more work from the same hardware.

Ultra settings tell an even more decisive story. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 45 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 29 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 15 FPS, which is a 67% reduction from 1080p Ultra and a 48% reduction from 1440p Ultra. The 4K Ultra result of 15 FPS is below playable thresholds for most action-oriented games, and the data indicates that this combination is not suitable for 4K Ultra gaming in Outriders. The scaling behavior—where each resolution step costs roughly a third to half of the remaining performance—points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component, since a CPU-bound scenario would show much smaller differences between 1080p and 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in these results. Its architecture is Xe3-LPG, built on a 3 nm process by Intel, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines. It also includes 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 7.680 TFLOPS and FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). Memory is system shared, with the bus width also system shared, and bandwidth is listed as system dependent. This means the GPU relies on the host system's memory, which in this case pairs with the Core i9-14900K's dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 support.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all legacy or entry-level parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with an average score of 1463 (1.3% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% higher). This places the Arc B390 marginally above some very old mobile and OEM parts, but far below any modern discrete gaming GPU. The measured FPS in Outriders reflects this positioning: even at 1080p Low, the 115 FPS result is achieved only because the game is relatively light on the GPU at that setting, and the CPU is not the constraint.

The 80 W TDP and integrated form factor (IGP, no power connectors, portable device dependent display outputs) confirm that this GPU is designed for low-power or portable scenarios, not high-end gaming. The Arc B390's memory configuration—system shared, with bandwidth dependent on the system—means that in this specific pairing with the Core i9-14900K, the GPU can access the CPU's memory controller, but the shared nature of that bandwidth limits performance in memory-intensive tasks like high-resolution rendering. The 4K results, which hover between 15 and 38 FPS depending on settings, illustrate that the GPU cannot sustain the fill rate and memory throughput required at that resolution, regardless of the CPU's capability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2582 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the bottom 11% of all tested configurations. This low rank is driven entirely by the GPU, as the CPU is one of the highest-performing desktop processors available. The combo rank reflects the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and the data shows that this pairing struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions or settings.

To contextualize the rank, consider that the CPU alone outperforms 95% of all processors in the benchmark database, while the GPU outperforms only 9% of all GPUs. This is an extreme mismatch, and the combo rank of 2582 out of 2913 reflects that imbalance. The nearest CPU rivals for the Core i9-14900K are the Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.3% faster), the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (0.6% faster), the AMD EPYC 7413 (1.2% faster), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (1.7% slower). These are all high-end parts, and the differences are within a couple of percent, meaning the CPU is not the differentiating factor in this combo's rank. Instead, the GPU's position relative to its own rivals—the GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—explains why this combo falls so far down the list. Those GPU rivals are all within 2.7% of the Arc B390's average score, indicating that the GPU is performing at a level comparable to hardware from over a decade ago.

The implication is straightforward: if you have a Core i9-14900K and are seeing results like these in Outriders, the GPU is the component to upgrade. The combo rank is a useful summary, but the measured FPS breakdown below provides the granular detail needed to understand exactly where this pairing falls short.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers the following average FPS by settings: Low averages 115 FPS, Medium averages 83 FPS (with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS), High averages 63 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. The 1080p results are the only ones where this combo approaches comfortable playability for a looter shooter. The 115 FPS Low result is smooth, and even the 63 FPS High result is acceptable for most players, though the 45 FPS Ultra result shows the GPU struggling with the highest settings even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are: Low at 72 FPS, Medium at 53 FPS (minimum 45 FPS, maximum 61 FPS), High at 40 FPS, and Ultra at 29 FPS. The 1440p results show a clear step down from 1080p. The 72 FPS Low result is playable, but the 53 FPS Medium and 40 FPS High results are borderline for a fast-paced looter shooter, where consistent frame times matter for aiming and responsiveness. The 29 FPS Ultra result is not suitable for serious play.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 38 FPS, Medium at 28 FPS (minimum 23 FPS, maximum 32 FPS), High at 21 FPS, and Ultra at 15 FPS. None of the 4K results are playable for a game like Outriders, which requires quick reactions and smooth targeting. The 38 FPS Low result is the best 4K outcome, but it is still below the 60 FPS target that most PC gamers expect, and the 15 FPS Ultra result is effectively a slideshow.

The measured FPS data also includes minimum and maximum values for the Medium setting at each resolution: at 1080p Medium, the range is 71 to 96 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 45 to 61 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 23 to 32 FPS. These ranges indicate that frame pacing is relatively consistent, with no extreme spikes or drops, but the overall level of performance is low. The fact that the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (23 FPS) is only slightly below the average (28 FPS) suggests that the GPU is consistently near its limit, rather than experiencing occasional stutters.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz, a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, and a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it has 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes (CPU only). The processor includes UHD Graphics 770 integrated graphics, but in this combo, the discrete Arc B390 is the primary display output.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, physics calculations, and game logic. The Core i9-14900K is more than capable of handling this workload, as evidenced by its benchmark scores: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5, single-core score of 2262.5, Geekbench multi-core of 21697, and single-core of 2655. The PassMark multithread score is 58674, and the single-thread score is 4697. The processor also achieves high scores in specialized tests like PassMark data compression (792694), data encryption (46813), and floating-point math (152975). These numbers place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals—the Core i9-14900KF, Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, EPYC 7413, and Ryzen AI Max+ 395—are all within 1.7% of its average score, confirming that it is among the fastest processors available.

However, in this specific combo, the CPU's power is largely unused. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (115 FPS) is the only result that begins to approach the CPU's potential, but even that is likely limited by the GPU's frame output capability. At 4K Ultra (15 FPS), the CPU is essentially idle waiting for the GPU to finish rendering each frame. The data does not show any CPU-bound scenarios in Outriders with this pairing; every resolution and settings combination shows a GPU limitation. If the Arc B390 were replaced with a more powerful discrete GPU, the Core i9-14900K would have ample headroom to push frame rates much higher, but with the current GPU, the CPU is never the bottleneck.

The CPU's 6.00 GHz boost clock and 24 cores are far beyond what Outriders needs at these frame rates. Even a much weaker processor would produce similar FPS in this combo, since the GPU is the constraint. The practical takeaway is that this CPU is a future-proof foundation for an eventual GPU upgrade, but as configured, it does not contribute to higher frame rates in this game.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so low (2582 out of 2913) if the CPU is so powerful?

A: The combo rank is dominated by the GPU's performance. The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710, all of which are within 2.7% of its score. The CPU is in the 95th percentile, but the GPU cannot deliver playable frame rates at higher resolutions, dragging the overall combo down.

Q: What is the best FPS this combo can achieve in Outriders?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 115 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best results are 83 FPS at 1080p Medium and 72 FPS at 1440p Low. For playable performance, 1080p Low or Medium is the practical ceiling, with 4K results ranging from 15 to 38 FPS depending on settings, which is below acceptable thresholds.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B390 comparable to any discrete GPUs?

A: Based on the benchmark data, the Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the GT 710. These rivals are all older or entry-level parts, indicating the Arc B390 performs at a similar level to those low-end GPUs.

Q: Does the Core i9-14900K bottleneck the Arc B390 in Outriders?

A: No, the data shows the opposite. The CPU is far faster than the GPU, with benchmark scores that place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. The measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows consistent drops that are characteristic of a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU bottleneck. The processor has 24 cores, 32 threads, and a 6.00 GHz boost clock, which is more than enough for this game.

Q: What resolution and settings should I use for the best playable experience?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 with Low settings (115 FPS) or Medium settings (83 FPS) are the best options for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Low settings (72 FPS) is acceptable, but Medium (53 FPS) and above may feel less responsive. 4K is not recommended, as even Low settings only average 38 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390's memory configuration affect performance?

A: The GPU uses system shared memory, with a system shared bus width and system dependent bandwidth. This means it relies on the host system's memory controller and RAM, rather than dedicated VRAM. In this combo with the Core i9-14900K, which supports dual-channel DDR4/DDR5, the shared memory bandwidth is a limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions where memory throughput demands increase.