Outriders

The benchmark data for Outriders with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 shows a system that is clearly bound by its graphics processor at higher resolutions, while the processor provides ample headroom for high frame rates at 1080p. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data to explain the performance characteristics of this combination.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second reveal a steep performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS moves from 103 at 1080p, to 65 at 1440p, and finally to 34 at 4K. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which strongly indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor in this configuration.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 189 at 1080p to 119 at 1440p and then to 62 at 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 137 FPS at 1080p, 87 at 1440p, and 45 at 4K. Ultra settings produce 74 FPS at 1080p, 47 at 1440p, and just 24 at 4K.

What the data shows is that the RTX 2060's rendering load roughly quadruples when moving from 1080p to 4K due to the pixel count increase. The frame rate does not halve perfectly, but the trend is clear: each resolution step up costs roughly 35-40% of the previous frame rate. This is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the processor is not the constraint.

The 1080p to 1440p transition is particularly telling. At High settings, the drop from 103 to 65 FPS is a 37% reduction. At Medium, the drop from 137 to 87 is 36%. These consistent percentages across settings confirm that the resolution scaling is purely a GPU workload issue. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, has enough processing headroom to feed the GPU at these resolutions without becoming a bottleneck.

At 4K, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates on higher presets. The High preset's 34 FPS average and the Ultra preset's 24 FPS average are below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Even the Medium preset's 45 FPS average with a minimum of 38 FPS would feel stuttery in action-heavy scenes. Only the Low preset at 4K, with its 62 FPS average, approaches a comfortable experience.

The min and max FPS data for Medium settings further illustrate the GPU constraint. At 1080p, the range is 117 to 158 FPS, which is a fairly tight band. At 1440p, the range narrows to 74 to 99 FPS. At 4K, the range is 38 to 52 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is consistently saturated, leaving less variance in frame delivery.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, this processor scores 32924 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4648 in single-core. These scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs tested, indicating strong all-around performance.

In Outriders, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 189 FPS average. This high frame rate suggests the CPU can handle even the most demanding scenarios at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work. The processor's single-core performance, reflected in the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, is sufficient for the game's main thread logic.

The CPU's multi-core capabilities, while not heavily taxed by this looter shooter, provide headroom for background tasks and streaming. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain consistent frame delivery. The processor's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s with dual-channel DDR5 support ensures the GPU receives data without stalling.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 245's average benchmark score of 48995 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49196 (0.4% difference) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49228 (0.5% difference). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8%. These small deltas indicate that the CPU is not an outlier in either direction; it performs as expected for its class.

The fact that frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and settings, rather than showing CPU-related dips, confirms that the processor is not the bottleneck in this configuration. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 74 FPS average is more likely GPU-limited than CPU-limited, given the RTX 2060's position in the GPU hierarchy.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The system delivers an average of 103 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings. This is a smooth experience for most players.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score is 15290. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, scores 15283, which is a 0% difference. The AMD Radeon 680M is 0.1% ahead, and the RTX 3050 OEM is 0.6% ahead.

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

A: At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 62. Medium settings produce 45 FPS average with a minimum of 38 FPS. High and Ultra settings drop to 34 and 24 FPS respectively, which are below playable thresholds.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-core performance score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 32924 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 13828 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. These scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of visuals and performance?

A: The data shows that 1440p with Medium settings (87 FPS average) or High settings (65 FPS average) offers a good balance. 1080p with Ultra settings (74 FPS) also works well if visual fidelity is preferred over resolution.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves 189 FPS average, while 4K Ultra achieves 24 FPS average. The 1080p Low setting is approximately 7.9 times faster in terms of average frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of an Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2257 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This places the system in the lower-middle portion of the ranking distribution, at roughly the 22nd percentile of all tested configurations.

The ranking reflects the GPU's age and position in the market. The RTX 2060 is an end-of-life product from the GeForce 20-series, using the TU106 chip on a 12 nm process. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In the PassMark G3D benchmark, it scores 14111, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

The CPU, by contrast, is a current-generation part ranking in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. This mismatch between CPU and GPU performance explains why the combo rank is lower than the CPU's individual rank might suggest. The GPU holds the system back in a game like Outriders that scales heavily with resolution.

The RTX 2060's nearest rivals in GPU benchmark scores are telling. The GTX 580 scores 15283 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 (0.1% delta), and the RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 (0.6% delta). The AMD Radeon RX 7600 scores 15171, which is 0.8% behind. These very small deltas indicate that the RTX 2060 performs exactly in line with its expected tier, neither overperforming nor underperforming relative to its direct competitors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 189 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. Medium settings average 137 FPS with a minimum of 117 and maximum of 158. High settings average 103 FPS. Ultra settings average 74 FPS. All of these values are playable, though Ultra's 74 FPS might dip in busy scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but manageable. Low settings average 119 FPS, which remains smooth. Medium settings average 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 99. High settings average 65 FPS, which is near the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings average 47 FPS, which falls below the smoothness threshold for many players.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. Low settings average 62 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium settings average 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52. High settings average 34 FPS. Ultra settings average 24 FPS. These lower resolutions clearly show the GPU's limitations at 4K.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide approximately double the frame rate of Ultra settings. At 1080p, the range is 189 to 74 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 119 to 47 FPS. At 4K, the range is 62 to 24 FPS. This consistent 2.5x scaling factor from Low to Ultra indicates that the settings presets scale uniformly.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, the High preset at 103 FPS average offers a good balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 74 FPS average is also acceptable, providing maximum visual fidelity while maintaining playable frame rates.

For 1440p, the Medium preset at 87 FPS average is the recommended choice. It delivers smooth gameplay with a minimum of 74 FPS, ensuring that frame drops remain above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 65 FPS average is viable for players who prefer better visuals, but the lower minimum frames could cause occasional stutter in intense combat.

For 4K, the Low preset at 62 FPS average is the only recommended option. The Medium preset's 45 FPS average and 38 FPS minimum would result in noticeable frame pacing issues. The High and Ultra presets at 34 and 24 FPS respectively are not recommended for active gameplay.

The data suggests that this system is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can handle all presets with ease. At 1440p, Medium settings provide the most consistent experience. At 4K, players should stick to Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to achieve better performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the limiting component in this configuration. Its TU106 chip on a 12 nm process contains 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The GPU's boost clock is 1680 MHz, and it has 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores for ray tracing and DLSS workloads. The FP32 compute performance is 6.451 TFLOPS.

The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory capacity becomes a concern at higher resolutions and settings, where texture data can exceed 6 GB. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 14111 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its mid-range positioning.

In Outriders, the GPU's role is clear from the resolution scaling data. The frame rate drops proportionally with pixel count, which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload. The RTX 2060's 160 W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are adequate for its performance class.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores show how close this tier of performance is. The GTX 580 scores 15283, a negligible 0% difference. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270, 0.1% behind. The RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199, 0.6% behind. The RX 7600 scores 15171, 0.8% behind. This tight grouping indicates that the RTX 2060 sits right at the boundary of its performance class.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 provides an additional data point for its DirectX 12 performance. In a game like Outriders, which uses DirectX 12, this score is relevant. The GPU's Vulkan score of 65846 and OpenCL score of 65014 from Geekbench further characterize its compute capabilities.

The RTX 2060's pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s explain its 4K limitations. At 3840x2160, the pixel throughput requirement is substantial, and the GPU's fill rate becomes a bottleneck. This is why the 4K results show such a dramatic drop compared to 1080p.

The GPU's 6 GB VRAM is another factor at 4K. Modern games at 4K with High or Ultra textures can exceed 6 GB of VRAM usage, leading to potential stuttering as data is swapped. The measured FPS data, with the 4K Medium preset showing a minimum of 38 FPS, likely reflects some of this memory pressure.