Outriders

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptional performance in Outriders, placing 8th out of 2913 tested combos. The data indicates that this combination is overkill for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck at lower settings. The optimal experience is found at 4K with Medium settings, which provides a smooth 125 FPS average while maintaining visual fidelity, whereas Ultra settings at 4K drop to 68 FPS, making Medium the best balance of quality and frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data shows that the Ultra preset is not the ideal choice for this combination in Outriders. At 3840x2160, Ultra yields an average of 68 FPS, which is below the 90+ FPS threshold that most high-refresh-rate displays require for a fluid experience. The 125 FPS average at Medium settings at the same resolution is significantly more playable, offering a 57 FPS improvement over Ultra while still providing a substantial visual upgrade over Low settings.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 221 FPS, which is 91 FPS higher than Ultra's 130 FPS. This difference is massive and makes Medium the clear choice for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 1440p produces 180 FPS, which is still excellent, but the gap between High and Medium is only 41 FPS, suggesting that Medium offers the best performance-to-quality ratio for this resolution.

The 1920x1080 results show that the RTX 5090 D is heavily underutilized at this resolution. The Ultra preset achieves 205 FPS, while Low reaches 290 FPS. However, the Medium preset at 257 FPS is the sweet spot, providing a 52 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining enough graphical detail to be visually pleasing. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads are sufficient to keep the GPU fed, but the performance ceiling is determined more by the CPU's single-thread performance than the GPU's raw power.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 125 FPS is the recommended setting. This provides a 31 FPS improvement over High's 94 FPS and a 57 FPS improvement over Ultra's 68 FPS, while the visual difference between Medium and High is typically less noticeable in fast-paced action scenes. The 106 FPS minimum and 144 FPS maximum recorded for Medium at 4K show that frame times are consistent, avoiding the stutter that can occur with less stable configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This massive memory pool is far more than Outriders requires, even at 4K Ultra settings. The data shows that the GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is capable of pushing frame rates well above 200 FPS at 1080p, but the actual results are limited by other factors in the system.

The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz are complemented by its 21760 shading units. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, which are more than sufficient to handle Outriders' particle effects and environmental details. The benchmark results indicate that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is working hard, producing 68 FPS, but the jump to Medium at 125 FPS suggests that the Ultra preset includes settings that are disproportionately demanding for the visual payoff they provide.

The 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places the RTX 5090 D in the top tier of graphics cards. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with a score 1.6% higher and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB with a score 2.1% higher, but these are workstation and mobile parts that do not directly compete in the desktop gaming segment. The RTX 5090 D's 1.1% advantage over the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT shows that it leads in raw compute, but the gaming performance in Outriders is more dependent on driver optimization and memory bandwidth.

The 5 nm process node from TSMC allows the GPU to pack 92,200 million transistors into a 750 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². This architectural efficiency is reflected in the benchmark scores, where the GPU achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376915. These results indicate that the GPU has substantial headroom for future titles, but for Outriders, the data suggests that the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p and 1440p, where CPU performance takes precedence.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 8th out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This top-0.3% placement confirms that this is one of the most powerful configurations available for this game. The ranking is particularly impressive given that the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 92 and the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 95, indicating that both components are near the top of their respective performance hierarchies.

The combo's high rank is supported by the measured FPS data, which shows that at 1080p Medium, the system achieves 257 FPS, and at 1440p Medium, it reaches 221 FPS. These results place the combo in the upper echelon of systems, where only 7 other configurations out of 2913 can outperform it. The fact that the combo achieves 94 FPS at 4K High further solidifies its position, as many systems struggle to maintain 60 FPS at this resolution.

The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads and the GPU's 32 GB of memory. In Outriders, which is a looter shooter with numerous on-screen enemies and effects, the combination of the CPU's high multi-core performance and the GPU's massive memory bandwidth ensures that neither component becomes a bottleneck. The data shows that the combo excels across all resolutions, but its 4K performance is particularly noteworthy, as the 68 FPS at Ultra and 125 FPS at Medium demonstrate that it can handle the most demanding settings without significant frame rate drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the benchmark results show a clear hierarchy across settings. The Low preset yields 172 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates that the GPU has substantial headroom when graphical effects are reduced. The Medium preset produces 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS, showing consistent frame delivery. The High preset drops to 94 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 68 FPS. The 104 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K highlights the significant performance cost of the highest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the data shows that the system can easily handle high refresh rates. The Low preset achieves 248 FPS, while the Medium preset produces 221 FPS with a minimum of 188 FPS and a maximum of 254 FPS. The High preset reaches 180 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 130 FPS. The 91 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra at 1440p is substantial, but the 248 FPS at Low demonstrates that the system is capable of exceeding 240 Hz at this resolution when settings are reduced.

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional across all settings. The Low preset achieves 290 FPS, which is near the theoretical limit for many displays. The Medium preset produces 257 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 296 FPS, showing excellent frame time consistency. The High preset reaches 232 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 205 FPS. The 85 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is notable, but even the lowest result of 205 FPS is well above the standard 144 Hz refresh rate.

The data reveals that the scaling from 1080p to 4K is not linear. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 257 FPS at 1080p to 221 FPS at 1440p, a 36 FPS decrease, and then to 125 FPS at 4K, a further 96 FPS decrease. This pattern suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly important at higher resolutions, while the CPU's role diminishes. At 1080p, the 290 FPS at Low settings indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at extremely high frame rates, but the 205 FPS at Ultra shows that the GPU's work is still substantial.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides the best balance, achieving 221 FPS with a minimum of 188 FPS. This resolution offers a significant visual improvement over 1080p while maintaining frame rates well above 144 Hz, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 68 FPS, while Medium produces 125 FPS. The 57 FPS difference means Medium is 84% faster than Ultra, making it the recommended setting for a smooth 4K experience without the performance penalty of the highest preset.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM necessary for Outriders?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory provides a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for Outriders. The benchmark results show that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU achieves 68 FPS, indicating that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game.

Q: Can this combo maintain 144 FPS at all resolutions?

A: Yes, at 1080p and 1440p, the system exceeds 144 FPS on Medium and High settings. At 4K, only Medium (125 FPS) and Low (172 FPS) are below or above the 144 FPS threshold, respectively, while High (94 FPS) and Ultra (68 FPS) fall short.

Q: How does this combo's performance compare to other systems?

A: This combo ranks 8th out of 2913 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.3% of all systems. The CPU's 95th percentile and GPU's 92nd percentile rankings confirm that both components are among the best available for gaming.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: The data records a minimum of 188 FPS and a maximum of 254 FPS for 1440p Medium, with an average of 221 FPS. The 66 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates stable performance without significant frame drops.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K features 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. This Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides the multi-threaded muscle needed for Outriders' intense combat scenarios. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per core L2 cache ensure that frequently accessed data is readily available, reducing latency during gameplay.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong performance across various tests. In Cinebench R23, it scores 39399.5 in multi-core and 2262.5 in single-core, while in Geekbench, it achieves 21697 multi-core and 2655 single-core. The PassMark multithread score of 58674 further confirms its capability to handle multiple threads efficiently. These results place the CPU in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i9-14900KF with a negligible 0.3% difference in average score.

In Outriders, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 290 FPS, which is only 42 FPS higher than the 248 FPS at 1440p Low. This smaller gap compared to the 47 FPS difference between 1440p and 4K Low suggests that the CPU is approaching its limit at 1080p, where the GPU has excess capacity. The 24 cores and 32 threads provide ample parallel processing power, but the single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5, is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in games that rely on a few primary threads.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility for system builders, though the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used. The 6.00 GHz boost clock is particularly beneficial for Outriders, as the game's action sequences benefit from high clock speeds to reduce latency. The CPU's performance in the PassMark physics test, scoring 3140, indicates that it can handle the game's physics calculations without becoming a bottleneck, allowing the GPU to focus on rendering.