Outriders

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 pairing in Outriders delivers a performance profile that is heavily dictated by the GPU, but with a CPU that is more than capable of keeping up at lower resolutions. The data shows a system that can produce very high frame rates across the board, though the scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes the component roles, and explains how this specific combo ranks among a vast pool of tested configurations.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Outriders?*

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1440p with High settings provides an excellent balance, achieving an average of 165 FPS. This is significantly higher than the 4K High result of 86 FPS, while still offering a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p. For maximum smoothness, 1080p Low yields the highest average at 283 FPS, but 1440p High is the sweet spot for quality and speed.

Q: How big is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The gap is substantial. At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 243 FPS on Low settings to 119 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a reduction of 124 FPS, or roughly 51% lower performance, showing that the Ultra preset is far more demanding on the GPU.

*Q: Does the RTX 4090's massive 24 GB VRAM buffer matter for Outriders?*

A: While the game is unlikely to fully utilize 24 GB of VRAM, the sheer capacity ensures that texture loading and asset streaming are never a bottleneck, even at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth is also critical for feeding the AD102 chip's 16,384 shading units, allowing for the high frame rates observed in the 1080p and 1440p benchmarks.

Q: How does this combo's performance rank compared to all other tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 39th out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the top 1.3% of all configurations, indicating that it is a top-tier performer for this title, with only a small number of systems able to surpass its frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the CPU's role becomes more prominent. The high average FPS figures, such as 283 FPS on Low, suggest the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is capable of feeding the RTX 4090 fast enough to avoid a severe CPU bottleneck. However, the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p (e.g., from 226 to 165 FPS on High) indicates the GPU is still the primary constraint on performance.

Q: What are the minimum FPS numbers for the Medium settings at different resolutions?

A: The data provides minimum FPS only for Medium settings. At 4K, the minimum is 97 FPS; at 1440p, it is 183 FPS; and at 1080p, it is 214 FPS. These minimums confirm that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains very playable frame rates, with the 1% lows staying well above 60 FPS in all cases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed powerhouse in this pairing. Its specifications are staggering: 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, all built on the Ada Lovelace architecture. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, which, combined with its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power, enables massive parallel processing. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, ensuring that the GPU is never starved for data.

In Outriders, the GPU's raw power is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions and settings. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: as resolution and graphical fidelity increase, the frame rate drops, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. For instance, at 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 243 on Low to 119 on Ultra. This 124 FPS swing is almost entirely due to the increased load on the GPU's shading units and memory subsystem. The Ultra preset likely enables more intensive lighting, shadow, and post-processing effects that scale directly with the GPU's compute capabilities.

The RTX 4090's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present and capable, but their specific impact on Outriders is not directly measured in the provided FPS data. The benchmark results, which include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and a Passmark G3D score of 38194, reflect the GPU's general prowess. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs underscores its high-end status. The fact that it is paired with an "end-of-life" production status suggests it is a flagship product from its generation, and the data confirms it delivers flagship-level performance in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how performance scales across the three primary resolutions. The pattern is consistent across all settings: frame rates decrease as resolution increases, confirming that the system becomes more GPU-limited at higher pixel counts. The most telling comparison is on High settings, where the average FPS goes from 226 at 1080p, to 165 at 1440p, and finally to 86 at 4K. This represents a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 48% further drop from 1440p to 4K.

This scaling behavior is a textbook example of GPU-bound performance. At 1080p, the CPU has a relatively easier job of preparing frames, but the GPU is still the main limiter, as the 226 FPS on High is already a very high number. Moving to 1440p increases the pixel count by 78%, which proportionally increases the GPU's workload, resulting in the expected frame rate drop. The jump to 4K increases the pixel count by another 225% compared to 1440p, which puts an immense strain on the GPU, causing the frame rate to plummet to 86 FPS on High.

The scaling on Low settings is even more dramatic, going from 283 FPS at 1080p to 158 FPS at 4K. This 125 FPS drop at the lowest settings suggests that even when the graphical load is minimal, the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth are still the limiting factors. The RTX 4090's 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are being pushed to their limits at 4K, even with Low settings. This analysis strongly indicates that for this specific combo, the RTX 4090 is the definitive bottleneck at 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU's single-threaded performance becomes more relevant, allowing the GPU to stretch its legs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a comprehensive look at performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. All figures are average FPS unless otherwise noted.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: The highest average FPS in the entire dataset is achieved here at 283 FPS. This indicates a scenario where the GPU is not heavily stressed, and the CPU is able to feed it frames efficiently.
• Medium: The average drops to 251 FPS, with a minimum of 214 FPS and a maximum of 289 FPS. This shows excellent performance and smooth gameplay, with the minimum still far above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.
• High: Performance is still exceptional at 226 FPS. This is a very playable and competitive setting for fast-paced action.
• Ultra: The average is 188 FPS. This is a significant drop from Low but still an incredibly high frame rate, showing the GPU's ability to handle maximum settings at this resolution.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: The average is 243 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low is 40 FPS, showing the increased pixel workload.
• Medium: The average is 216 FPS, with a minimum of 183 FPS and a maximum of 248 FPS. This is a prime example of a "high refresh rate" experience at 1440p.
• High: The average is 165 FPS. This is a 61 FPS drop from 1080p High, highlighting the scaling penalty of moving to a higher resolution.
• Ultra: The average is 119 FPS. This is still a very high frame rate, but the gap between High and Ultra here (46 FPS) is larger than at 1080p (38 FPS), indicating the Ultra preset is more demanding at higher resolutions.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: The average is 158 FPS. This is a remarkable result for 4K, showing the GPU's raw power can still push high frames at the lowest settings.
• Medium: The average is 115 FPS, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. The minimum FPS is crucial here, as it confirms the experience stays above 60 FPS even in demanding scenes.
• High: The average is 86 FPS. This is a solid result for 4K High, providing a smooth experience on a 60Hz or 90Hz display.
• Ultra: The average is 62 FPS. This is the most demanding configuration tested, and while it is the lowest score, it is still perfectly playable on a standard 60Hz monitor.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 4090 combination ranks 39th out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the top 1.34% of all configurations tested by the database. This is a stellar result, indicating that this pairing is among the most powerful systems for this specific title.

The rank is a cumulative score based on the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings. The sheer performance of the RTX 4090, particularly at 4K where it achieves an average of 86 FPS on High, is a significant contributor to this high ranking. A rank of 39 out of 2913 means that only 38 other combinations of CPUs and GPUs were able to produce higher average frame rates in the game's benchmark suite. This puts the combo in the company of other top-tier flagship builds, likely featuring even more exotic or higher-clocked CPUs. The data shows that while the CPU is strong, it is the GPU's dominance that pushes this combo to the upper echelon of the rankings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In the context of Outriders, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls, feeding the GPU with prepared frames. The data shows that this CPU is more than adequate for this task.

The CPU's performance in standard benchmarks is solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. This single-core performance is critical for gaming, and the 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs reflects its strength. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and Intel Core i5-14600K, have average scores that are within 0.8% of the Ultra 5 245, indicating it is in the same performance tier as these popular gaming processors.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p. At this resolution, the GPU has an easier time, and the frame rates are extremely high (up to 283 FPS on Low). The fact that the system can achieve these frame rates suggests that the CPU's single-threaded performance is sufficient to avoid a major bottleneck. If the CPU were weak, the frame rates at 1080p would plateau regardless of the GPU's power. The data shows a clear increase in FPS from 4K to 1080p, which confirms the CPU is not the main limiting factor. However, the 14 threads (which are fewer than the 14 cores might suggest, as this CPU does not have hyperthreading) could become a limiting factor in other, more CPU-intensive titles, but for Outriders, it performs admirably.