Outriders

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Outriders with the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 reveals how the workload shifts across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces 289.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 228.4 FPS, a reduction of roughly 21%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 119.3 FPS, which is about 59% below the 1080p Low figure. This scaling pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the resolution increase places substantial demand on the GPU.

The High settings tier shows a similar trajectory. At 1080p High, the system delivers 199.6 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 126.2 FPS, a decline of approximately 37%. At 4K High, the average is 67.2 FPS, which is about 66% lower than the 1080p High result. The steep drop between 1440p and 4K suggests that the RTX 5070's 12 GB GDDR7 memory and 192-bit bus width become limiting factors at higher pixel counts.

Ultra settings amplify this effect. The 1080p Ultra average is 143.4 FPS, which falls to 89 FPS at 1440p Ultra (a 38% reduction) and then to 48.1 FPS at 4K Ultra (a 66% reduction from 1080p). The consistent pattern across all settings tiers is that the largest percentage loss occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, not from 1080p to 1440p. This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is the primary constraint at 4K, rather than the CPU's ability to feed frames.

At 1080p, the CPU's role becomes more apparent. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 289.2 FPS versus 143.4 FPS, which shows that even with the 24-core, 32-thread i9-14900K, the GPU is still the bottleneck at higher settings. However, the fact that Low settings at 1080p exceed 280 FPS suggests the CPU can keep up with very high frame rates, and the limiting factor is consistently the graphics card.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070's specifications directly explain the measured results. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2325 MHz with a boost clock of 2512 MHz. The memory runs at 1750 MHz, or 28 Gbps effective. These figures align with the observed frame rates: at 4K Ultra, the card averages 48.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players target.

The GPU's 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, give it a transistor density of 118.3 million per square millimeter. The shading units number 6144, with 192 texture mapping units and 80 render output units. The pixel rate is 201.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 482.3 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 30.87 TFLOPS. These raw compute figures are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as shown by the 199.6 FPS at 1080p High and 126.2 FPS at 1440p High.

However, the 4K results tell a different story. The 4K High average of 67.2 FPS and the 4K Ultra average of 48.1 FPS indicate that the GPU's memory subsystem is the limiting factor. The 192-bit bus width and 12 GB capacity are adequate for 1440p but struggle at 4K with higher settings. The data suggests that players seeking 4K performance would need to use Medium settings (84.5 FPS) or Low settings (119.3 FPS) to maintain smooth gameplay.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate this analysis. In Passmark G3D, it scores 29137, and in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 5077. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 185269, and the Vulkan score is 179413. The percentile rank of 83 among all GPUs places it in the upper tier, but not the top. The nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (0.2% higher), NVIDIA Tesla M40 (0.5% lower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (0.6% higher), and AMD Radeon Pro 580X (0.7% lower). This clustering shows that the RTX 5070's overall compute performance is competitive with older high-end cards, but its memory configuration limits 4K performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this CPU/GPU combination in Outriders?

A: The highest measured average is 289.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration exceeding 280 FPS in the data.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: Yes, but barely. The 4K High average is 67.2 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. However, 4K Ultra drops to 48.1 FPS, which falls below 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average is 255.1 FPS. At 4K Medium, it drops to 84.5 FPS. This represents a reduction of approximately 67%.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: For 144Hz or higher refresh rates, 1080p with High settings (199.6 FPS) or 1440p with High settings (126.2 FPS) are viable. Both exceed 120 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to the RTX 3090 in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score is 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, according to the nearestRivals data. The two cards perform nearly identically in aggregate.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at any measured configuration?

A: The data shows no CPU bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low with 289.2 FPS, the i9-14900K with 24 cores and 32 threads can feed the GPU. The 6.00 GHz boost clock and 36 MB shared L3 cache provide ample headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS table for Outriders with the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is as follows.

At 1920x1080: Low settings produce 289.2 FPS average. Medium settings produce 255.1 FPS average. High settings produce 199.6 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 143.4 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 50% reduction in frame rate, from 289.2 to 143.4 FPS.

At 2560x1440: Low settings produce 228.4 FPS average. Medium settings produce 166.4 FPS average. High settings produce 126.2 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 89 FPS average. The spread between Low and Ultra here is 139.4 FPS, which is a 61% drop.

At 3840x2160: Low settings produce 119.3 FPS average. Medium settings produce 84.5 FPS average. High settings produce 67.2 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 48.1 FPS average. The drop from Low to Ultra is 71.2 FPS, a 60% reduction.

The data shows that the gap between Low and Medium is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the difference is 34.1 FPS; at 1440p, it is 62 FPS; at 4K, it is 34.8 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is also notable: 56.2 FPS at 1080p, 37.2 FPS at 1440p, and 19.1 FPS at 4K. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's compute resources are saturated, and the incremental cost of Ultra settings becomes relatively smaller in absolute terms.

The combo rank for this CPU/GPU pair in Outriders is 129 out of 1693 tested combinations, placing it in the top 8% of all configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, High settings at 199.6 FPS provide an excellent balance. This frame rate exceeds the refresh rate of most 144Hz monitors, and the visual quality improvement over Medium (255.1 FPS) is substantial. Ultra at 143.4 FPS is also viable for 144Hz displays, though the 56.2 FPS cost over High may not justify the visual gains for competitive players.

For 1440p, High settings at 126.2 FPS are the sweet spot. This comfortably exceeds 120 FPS, making it suitable for high refresh rate displays. Medium at 166.4 FPS is the better choice for players with 165Hz or 240Hz monitors. Ultra at 89 FPS is playable but does not take full advantage of high refresh rate panels. Low at 228.4 FPS is unnecessary unless the player prioritizes maximum frame rate above all visual quality.

For 4K, the recommendation shifts to Medium settings at 84.5 FPS. This is the only 4K configuration that exceeds 80 FPS. High at 67.2 FPS is playable for slower-paced content, but the data shows that Medium provides a 17.3 FPS advantage. Ultra at 48.1 FPS should be avoided on this GPU, as it falls below 50 FPS. Low at 119.3 FPS is viable for competitive play, though the visual compromise is significant.

The data indicates that the RTX 5070 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Outriders. At 4K, players must accept Medium settings to maintain smooth frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K plays a supporting role in these results, but its capabilities ensure the GPU is never starved of data. The CPU has 24 cores (8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores) and 32 threads. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz, with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. The 36 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game data. The 10 nm process node and 257 mm² die size contribute to its 125 W TDP.

In benchmark terms, the i9-14900K scores 49872 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7040 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 20370 multi-core and 3064 single-core. The Passmark multithread score is 58674, and the single-thread score is 4697. The CPU's percentile rank of 97 among all CPUs places it near the top of the spectrum. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7413 (0.3% lower average score), Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.7% higher), Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (0.7% higher), and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (0.9% higher).

In Outriders, the CPU's impact is visible in the 1080p Low result of 289.2 FPS. This frame rate requires the CPU to process a large number of draw calls and game logic updates per second. The i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads handle this workload without becoming the bottleneck. At higher resolutions, the GPU takes over as the limiting factor, as evidenced by the decreasing frame rates across settings tiers.

The data shows no configuration where the CPU limits performance. Even at 4K Low with 119.3 FPS, the CPU has ample headroom. The 6.00 GHz boost clock is particularly effective for single-threaded game logic, and the 36 MB shared L3 cache reduces memory latency. For Outriders, a looter shooter that benefits from high frame rates, the i9-14900K provides a solid foundation that allows the RTX 5070 to perform to its potential.