Outriders

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H combined with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a performance profile in Outriders that is heavily dictated by resolution, with the GPU taking over as the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. The measured data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales from high-refresh 1080p play to demanding 4K output.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, while the lower resolutions expose the limits of the CPU and the game engine. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 97 FPS. Moving to 1440p at Ultra drops the average to 61 FPS, a reduction of 36 FPS. The jump to 4K at Ultra yields just 32 FPS, which is a further drop of 29 FPS. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load at 4K is overwhelming the RTX 4070’s capability, even with the Core Ultra 9 185H’s strong single-threaded performance.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 227 FPS, which is a high value that suggests the CPU and memory subsystem are working near their limits to feed the GPU. When the resolution is increased to 1440p Low, the average drops to 155 FPS, a reduction of 31.7%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 81 FPS. The fact that 4K Low (81 FPS) is still higher than 1080p Ultra (97 FPS) is telling; it shows that the preset level has a more significant impact on frame rate than the resolution change from 1080p to 1440p. However, the gap between 1440p Low (155 FPS) and 4K Low (81 FPS) is massive, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor in that range.

The Medium preset offers a more balanced view of scaling. At 1080p Medium, the average is 178 FPS, with a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 205 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Medium brings the average to 112 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the min/max values, holds up well at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K numbers show a wider relative spread, suggesting the GPU is struggling to maintain consistent delivery under heavy load.

The data indicates that the RTX 4070 is the limiting component at 4K, regardless of the preset. The difference between 4K Low (81 FPS) and 4K Ultra (32 FPS) is 49 FPS, which is a 60% performance penalty for maxing out the settings. This shows that the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus width are sufficient in capacity, but the raw compute throughput (29.15 TFLOPS FP32) is not enough to sustain high frame rates at 4K with high visual fidelity. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 22 threads, does not appear to be a bottleneck at any resolution in this test, as the scaling consistently follows the GPU load.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience for this combination depends heavily on the target display resolution. For 4K displays, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the highest playable setting. The 4K Medium average of 59 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold, but the minimum of 50 FPS indicates it can dip into less smooth territory during intense scenes. High settings at 4K drop the average to 44 FPS, which is a significant step down in fluidity. Low settings at 4K provide 81 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial. The data indicates that 4K Medium is the sweet spot for a balance between visual quality and playability, as it offers a 27 FPS improvement over High while maintaining a more stable frame rate than the Ultra preset.

At 1440p, the High preset provides an excellent experience with an average of 84 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS standard and allows for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 1440p, which produces 61 FPS, is also viable, but the 23 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests that the visual gains may not justify the performance cost for all users. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 112 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, but High offers a better visual quality per frame.

For 1080p, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, as the 97 FPS average is still high enough for most displays and provides the full visual experience. The High preset at 134 FPS is also excellent, offering a 37 FPS advantage over Ultra for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The Low preset at 227 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rate is the sole priority. The Medium preset at 178 FPS is a solid middle ground, but the gap to High is small enough that most users should opt for High. The data suggests that the combo is powerful enough to handle Ultra at 1080p without sacrificing playability.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS for the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination at 2560x1440 with High settings is 84 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Low preset compare to the 1080p Ultra preset in terms of average FPS?

A: The 4K Low preset delivers an average of 81 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra preset delivers an average of 97 FPS. The 1080p Ultra preset is 16 FPS faster, indicating that the higher resolution still presents a significant load.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS values recorded at 1080p Medium?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 151 and the maximum FPS is 205, with an average of 178 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K. The frame rate drops significantly from 1440p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU's performance metrics (16 cores, 22 threads) remain constant, indicating it is not the constraint.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for Outriders?*

A: The combo ranks 1438 out of 2913 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the database.

Q: Does the 1440p Ultra preset maintain a playable frame rate?

A: Yes, the 1440p Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. This is slightly above the 60 FPS threshold, though it may dip below in demanding scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the performance envelope of this CPU-GPU combination. At the lowest tested resolution of 1920x1080, the system exhibits a wide range of performance depending on the graphics preset. With Low settings, the average FPS is 227. The Medium preset reduces the average to 178 FPS, with a documented range of 151 to 205 FPS. High settings lower the average further to 134 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces an average of 97 FPS. This shows a total spread of 130 FPS between the lowest and highest quality presets at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset achieves an average of 155 FPS. Medium settings deliver an average of 112 FPS, with a range of 96 to 129 FPS. High settings drop the average to 84 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 61 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent reduction in frame rate across all settings, with the Low preset losing 72 FPS, Medium losing 66 FPS, High losing 50 FPS, and Ultra losing 36 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU load becomes the dominant factor. The Low preset yields an average of 81 FPS. Medium settings average 59 FPS, with a range of 50 to 68 FPS. High settings drop to an average of 44 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 32 FPS. The performance cliff between 1440p and 4K is steep: the Low preset loses 74 FPS, Medium loses 53 FPS, High loses 40 FPS, and Ultra loses 29 FPS. The data indicates that the RTX 4070's compute resources are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with high-quality settings, making it a 1440p-class card for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays a critical role in determining the frame rates at higher resolutions. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This capacity is sufficient for the textures and assets in Outriders at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset's 32 FPS average suggests that the memory bandwidth or the compute throughput is being saturated. The base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, helping to drive the 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. The GPU's 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units work to process the game's visuals.

The GPU's performance in the benchmark database shows an average benchmark score of 37648, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which has an average score of 37628 and a deltaPct of 0.1%, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, with a score of 37507 and a deltaPct of 0.4%. The RTX 4070 is notably behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, which scores 38135 and has a deltaPct of -1.3%. This positioning confirms that the RTX 4070 is a solid mid-to-high-range performer but not a top-tier 4K card. The data shows that while the GPU can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease, the demands of 4K in Outriders push it to its limits, as evidenced by the sub-60 FPS averages at High and Ultra presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H provides the processing foundation for this combo. This mobile processor features 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The CPU's architecture, Meteor Lake, includes a 24 MB shared L3 cache. This configuration allows for strong multi-threaded performance, which is reflected in its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17984.5 and Geekbench multicore score of 11657. The single-core performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1810.5, is also robust, which is important for games that rely on a few threads.

In the context of Outriders, the CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound workload. For instance, the 1080p Low preset delivers 227 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires the CPU to feed the GPU efficiently. The fact that the frame rate drops to 155 FPS at 1440p Low and 81 FPS at 4K Low shows that the CPU is capable of maintaining high throughput, but the GPU cannot keep up as the resolution increases. The CPU's percentile ranking of 85th among all CPUs supports its capability. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 with a deltaPct of -0.1% and the Intel Core 7 250H with a deltaPct of -0.2%. The data indicates that the Core Ultra 9 185H provides ample processing power for this game, allowing the RTX 4070 to operate as the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Outriders, the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 holds a rank of 1438 out of 2913 total combinations. This places the combo in the upper half of all tested systems, but not in the top tier. The rank is determined by the overall performance in the game, which is a composite of the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings.

Given the GPU's 81st percentile ranking and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking, the combo's overall rank of 1438 (which is roughly the 49th percentile) suggests that the game's performance is not solely dependent on raw hardware scores. The data shows that the combo performs admirably at 1080p and 1440p, but the steep drop in performance at 4K prevents it from ranking higher. Many combos ranked above it likely feature more powerful GPUs that can handle 4K with higher average frame rates. The relative standing indicates that this is a capable 1440p gaming system, with the ability to play at 4K only with significant compromises in visual settings. The combination of the Core Ultra 9 185H's strong CPU performance and the RTX 4070's mid-to-high-range GPU power results in a balanced system that excels at standard resolutions but is not optimized for 4K gaming.