Outriders

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 lands at rank 1478 out of 2913 tested combos for Outriders. That places it squarely in the upper-middle tier of the database, meaning it outperforms roughly half of all recorded configurations while trailing the top-tier desktop monsters. The data indicates this is a capable mobile pairing, but not one that will top any leaderboards. The deltaPct figures from the CPU's nearest rivals show a razor-thin margin: the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 is just 0.1% behind in average benchmark score, the Intel Core 7 250H is 0.2% behind, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 trails by 0.4%. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, a desktop part, is only 0.7% ahead. This tells you the 185H is holding its own in the compute department, and the RTX 5070's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests the graphics side is doing the heavy lifting for this combo's overall position.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1478 out of 2913 places it in the 50th to 60th percentile band of all tested pairings. This is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, but it is far from a weak one. The RTX 5070 GPU, with its 82nd percentile ranking, is the stronger component here. Its average benchmark score of 40377 puts it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals: the AMD Radeon Pro 580 is 0.1% ahead, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 is 0.8% ahead, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is 1.2% behind. The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile trails by 2%. This clustering means the RTX 5070 is a solid, mid-pack performer in the GPU hierarchy, and its presence in this combo is what keeps the overall rank respectable.

The CPU side is a different story. The Core Ultra 9 185H has an 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, which is higher than the GPU's percentile. Its average benchmark score of 35670 is remarkably close to its nearest rivals, with deltas under 1% in either direction. The data suggests this processor is not a bottleneck in most scenarios, but it is also not a standout. The combo's overall rank of 1478, when both components sit in the 82nd and 85th percentiles, indicates that the pairing's performance in Outriders is slightly below what the individual component rankings might suggest. This is likely due to the game's specific engine characteristics rather than any hardware deficiency.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo handles Outriders across different presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 227 FPS average, which is exceptionally high and far beyond what most displays can show. Medium drops to 175 FPS, still a massive headroom above 144Hz monitors. High comes in at 132 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. Ultra, however, falls to 95 FPS, which is still playable but begins to show the limits of the GPU at maximum settings. The sweet spot at 1080p is clearly High: it maintains a triple-digit frame rate while offering significantly better visual quality than Low or Medium. The jump from Medium to High costs roughly 43 FPS, but the visual uplift is worth it. Ultra's 95 FPS is a noticeable drop from High's 132 FPS, a 28% reduction that may not justify the extra graphical fidelity.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 152 FPS, Medium hits 111 FPS, and High manages 83 FPS. Ultra drops to 60 FPS exactly. At this resolution, the High preset is the best balance, offering a smooth 83 FPS that stays above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. Medium at 111 FPS is also viable if you prefer higher frame rates over visual polish. The 1440p Ultra setting at 60 FPS is borderline; the data shows it works, but you are right at the edge of smoothness. For a looter shooter where you want consistent responsiveness, High is the recommended preset at 1440p. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. Low delivers 80 FPS, Medium drops to 58 FPS, High falls to 43 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 31 FPS. The only comfortable option at 4K is Low, which provides a playable 80 FPS. Medium at 58 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced play, but High and Ultra are not recommended for any serious gaming session.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across resolutions reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 132 to 83, a 37% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at High, it falls from 83 to 43, a 48% reduction. The scaling is steep and consistent, indicating the RTX 5070 is the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU is not the bottleneck here; if it were, the frame rate would stay relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the pixel count is crushing the GPU. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 227 FPS, which is so high that the CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads are likely keeping up without issue. The data suggests this is a GPU-limited pairing in Outriders, especially at higher resolutions.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 175 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it drops to 111; at 4K Medium, it falls to 58. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is roughly half the frame rate, which is typical for a doubling of pixel count. This tells you that the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the workload, but the GPU's compute power is the ceiling. The 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is being fully utilized, and there is no headroom left for higher resolutions at demanding settings. If you want to play Outriders at 4K with this combo, you must accept Low settings or consider a GPU upgrade. The data does not show any DLSS or upscaling metrics, so we cannot comment on those features.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results are as follows. Low settings produce an average of 227 FPS. Medium produces 175 FPS, with a minimum of 149 and a maximum of 202. High produces 132 FPS. Ultra produces 95 FPS. These numbers show a clear performance hierarchy. The gap between Low and Medium is 52 FPS, which is substantial. The gap between Medium and High is 43 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 37 FPS. The scaling is relatively linear, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. The 1080p Medium minimum of 149 FPS is important; it means even in the heaviest scenes, the frame rate stays above 144 FPS, making this a great option for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the data shows: Low averages 152 FPS. Medium averages 111 FPS, with a minimum of 94 and a maximum of 127. High averages 83 FPS. Ultra averages 60 FPS. The minimum at 1440p Medium is 94 FPS, which means the 1% lows are still above 90 FPS, providing a smooth experience. The jump from High to Ultra is 23 FPS, which is a significant cost for the extra settings. At this resolution, the 60 FPS Ultra average is a hard cap; you cannot expect much more from this combo.

At 3840x2160, the results are more limited. Low averages 80 FPS. Medium averages 58 FPS, with a minimum of 49 and a maximum of 67. High averages 43 FPS. Ultra averages 31 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 49 FPS is a concern; it means the frame rate can dip below 50 FPS in demanding scenes, which may cause noticeable stuttering. High and Ultra are not viable for consistent gameplay at 4K. The drop from 80 FPS at Low to 58 FPS at Medium is a 22 FPS cost, which is substantial. The data clearly shows that 4K is only playable at Low settings, and even then, the 80 FPS average is not exceptionally high.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Outriders at 1440p with high settings smoothly?

A: Yes. The measured 1440p High average is 83 FPS. This is above the standard 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience. The 1440p Medium preset offers even more headroom at 111 FPS, but High is the recommended balance of visual quality and performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Outriders?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The frame rate scales dramatically with resolution, dropping from 227 FPS at 1080p Low to 80 FPS at 4K Low. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would not vary this much with resolution changes. The RTX 5070 is being fully utilized, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 132 FPS is the best choice for 1080p. It offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium at 175 FPS while still maintaining a frame rate well above 120 FPS. Ultra at 95 FPS is not worth the performance cost unless you prioritize maximum graphical fidelity.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this CPU and GPU?

A: Only at Low settings, which produce an average of 80 FPS. Medium at 58 FPS is borderline, and High at 43 FPS and Ultra at 31 FPS are not playable for a smooth experience. If you want to play at 4K, you must compromise heavily on settings.

Q: How does this combo's CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35670. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, scores 35719, a delta of -0.1%. The Intel Core 7 250H scores 35728, a delta of -0.2%. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X scores 35909, a delta of -0.7%. The 185H is effectively tied with these processors.

Q: What is the maximum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The maximum FPS recorded is 202, observed at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The minimum FPS recorded is 31, observed at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The data shows a wide range of performance depending on the resolution and preset. The 1080p Medium setting has the most complete data, with a minimum of 149 and a maximum of 202.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache is a significant asset for gaming workloads. In Outriders, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 227 FPS, which is a scenario where the CPU might start to become more relevant. However, the CPU's benchmarks show it is a strong performer. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 17984.5, and its single-core score is 1810.5. The Geekbench multi-core score is 11657, with a single-core score of 1794. These numbers indicate the 185H can feed the RTX 5070 without causing a bottleneck at most settings.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs supports this. It is not a top-tier desktop processor, but it is a high-end mobile part. The nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance, with the 185H sitting just 0.7% behind the desktop AMD Ryzen 7 7700X in average benchmark score. This is a strong result for a mobile chip. The passmark multithread score of 29376 and single-thread score of 3697 further confirm its capability. The data suggests that in Outriders, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The RTX 5070's performance at 4K High (43 FPS) versus 1080p High (132 FPS) is a 67% drop, which is far too large to be caused by CPU limitations. This is a GPU-bound scenario.

The 185H's 45W TDP is typical for a high-performance mobile processor, and its 7nm process node from Intel is competitive. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 128EU is present, but it is not relevant for gaming with a discrete RTX 5070 installed. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is sufficient for dual-channel DDR5. In terms of gaming, the 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample parallelism for modern game engines. Outriders is not a CPU-heavy title, and the data confirms this. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is so high that the CPU is clearly keeping up. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU efficiently, and the benchmark results indicate it does so without issue. The 0.1% to 0.7% deltas to its rivals show that swapping to a different CPU in this class would have a negligible impact on Outriders performance. The GPU choice is what matters.