Outriders

Outriders, released on 2021-03-31, presents a demanding looter-shooter workload. The tested configuration, Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, was measured across three presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160 with average FPS recorded. The combination ranks 19th out of 3710 tested combos, a strong result for a desktop pair.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS numbers show a clear pattern: as resolution increases from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, average FPS drops substantially at every quality setting, and the reductions are far larger than the pixel count ratio alone would suggest.

At Ultra, the 1080p average of 188 FPS falls to 119 FPS at 1440p and then to 62 FPS at 4K. High starts at 243 FPS on 1080p, drops to 165 FPS on 1440p, and reaches 86 FPS on 4K. Medium runs from 270 FPS (1080p) to 219 (1440p) and 115 (4K). Low preset goes from 304 FPS to 261 and 158 across the same ladder.

The relative drop between 1080p and 4K is roughly halved for every preset, but the absolute loss is still larger at higher settings: Ultra loses 126 FPS going from 1080p to 4K, while Low loses 146 FPS (though Low starts much higher at 304). This indicates that the CPU/GPU combination is generally able to keep the game above 60 FPS even at 4K, but the scaling behavior shows a GPU-dominated cost at the top resolution.

The 1080p results are extremely high—Low reaches 304 FPS, and Ultra is 188 FPS. These numbers far exceed typical high-refresh rates, meaning the CPU admits plenty of headroom. At 1440p the situation remains robust: even Ultra holds 119 FPS. Only at 4K does the frame rate fall to the 60 FPS range, and it's only at 4K Ultra that the average dips to 62 FPS. The trend suggests that the primary limiting factor shifts from the CPU to the GPU as resolution climbs, but the game does not become completely GPU-bound until beyond 1440p, given how quickly the frame rate drops at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread Arrow Lake processor with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost of 5.50 GHz. It has 30 MB of L3 cache and works from a launch MSRP of $394. Cinebench R23 scores are 35850 multicore and 2020 single-core. This CPU's average benchmark score is 70879, which places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

The measured FPS numbers from Outriders indicate that the CPU is not the bottleneck in any of the tested configurations. At 1080p Low, the system hits 304 FPS, and even at 1080p Ultra it delivers 188 FPS. Since resolution does not affect CPU demand, the fact that 1440p and 4K scores are lower shows that the GPU is taking over the limiter role.

Synthetic benchmarks further confirm the processor's capability. In Cinebench R23 multicore, the Core Ultra 7 265K scored 35850, and its single-core score is 2020. It holds an average benchmark score of 70879, which is within 0.2% of the Intel Xeon 6511P (71051) and 0.7% of the Xeon Platinum 8270 (71370). The Core i7-14700KF (70163) and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996) are also near, but none of these rivals are used for the game settings.

The 20 cores and 20 threads deliver multi-threaded capacity that Outriders can exploit to a degree; the game is more heavily optimized for multi-core than some of its genre, but the data suggests that even single-thread-heavy tasks do not hold back this CPU. The 3.90 GHz base and 5.50 GHz boost clocks help both gameplay and background tasks.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus and a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The GPU has 16384 cores, 512 TMU, 176 ROP, 128 RT cores, and 512 tensor cores. Its boost clock is 2235 MHz with a memory speed of 21 Gbps effective. The GPU package has a 450W TDP and requires a 16-pin power connection.

In Outriders, the RTX 4090's performance is naturally high, but the game�s scaling shows if the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, yet it still manages high numbers. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 158, and at 4K Medium it reaches 115 FPS (min 97, max 132). At that same resolution, High runs 86 FPS, and Ultra pulls just 62 FPS. That's a small margin above 60 FPS for the highest preset, suggesting that a 4K 60 FPS target is just within reach for the RTX 4090.

The two nearest rivals to the RTX 4090 in the database are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (avg score 60326) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60140), but those are more specialized cards. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60347, which is higher than those but close. The GPU's own percentile is 88th, meaning it is behind only a very small segment of the database—typically professional or extreme parts.

The GPU's 24 GB VRAM is more than enough for this game, and the memory bandwidth of over 1 TB/s likely explains why high and medium presets remain fast at 4K. The data suggests the RTX 4090 is not the part holding back the game at 1080p or 1440p—the CPU can feed it enough.

FAQ

Q: Does the RTX 4090 run Outriders at 4K Ultra above 60 FPS?

A: At 4K Ultra, the measured average is 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS mark. However, High preset reaches 86 FPS at 4K, and Medium reaches 115 FPS.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded for the RTX 4090?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 304 at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Which resolution shows the largest FPS dip between preset quality levels?

A: At 4K, the difference between Low (158 FPS) and Ultra (62 FPS) is 96 FPS. At 1080p, the difference is 116 FPS (304 vs 188), so actually the 1080p drop is larger.

Q: Does the RTX 211 fit?

A: The RTX 4090 has 24 24GB memory, a type that Outriders does not strain at any tested setting.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 7 265K sufficient for high FPS gaming?

A: The CPU's single-thread and multi-thread strength allow Outriders to run at 243 FPS 1080p High and 119 FPS 1440p Ultra, demonstrating that the CPU is not the limiting factor in these results.

Q: Which setting yields the highest FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x 1440, Low reaches 261 FPS, Medium hits 219 FPS, and High 165 FPS. The highest is Low.

Q: How does this combo rank?

A: It ranks 19th out of 3710 tested combinations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is ranked 19th out of 3710 measured combos in Outriders. This top-20 listing confirms the high level of performance. The CPU itself sits in the 94th percentile of all tested CPUs, while the GPU is in the 88th percentile. Still, the combo rank is higher than the GPU's percentile, implying that the CPU is a strong partner for this GPU, and the overall platform remains consistent across the test.

Notable, the measured FPS averages show that when the GPU falls short of a target, the CPU is not the cause. The rank also suggests that out of the thousands of configurations tested, this one delivers one of the highest Outriders results, so users can expect high frame rates at most settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured averages, the Medium preset delivers a healthy performance without sacrificing too much visual quality. At 4K, Medium runs 115 FPS (min 97, max 132) and the High card reaches only 86, which is still fluid. For those seeking a 60+ FPS cap at 4K, either Medium or High are safe. On a 1440p panel, Medium hits 219 FPS, and High achieves 165 FPS; both are well above refresh rates. For 1080p, the Medium preset at 270 FPS (min 230, max 311) or High at 243 FPS are both smooth options.

Given the benchmark data, the overall recommendation is to use Medium, because almost every resolution and quality level on this card, Medium remains 115 FPS at 4K and 219 FPS at 1440K, ensuring a stable experience. If visual quality is prioritized, High at 1440p (165 FPS) still keeps the frame rate high, but at 4K High slightly drops to 86 FPS. Ultra at 4K is possible (52 FPS) but close to the edge, so it's not recommended for a competitive smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 304 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 270 | 230 | 311 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 243 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 188 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 261 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 219 | 187 | 252 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 165 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 119 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 158 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 115 | 97 | 132 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 86 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 62 | - | - |

The data shows no min/max values for low/high/ultra rows, so those were omitted. The medium presets provide a window of min-max FPS, confirming that the frames are relatively stable. The lowest recorded FPS is 62 at 4K Ultra and highest is 304 at 1080p Low, which matches the overall scaling. All measured rows are from actual running results, and the combo ranks 19th out of 3710 configurations.