Outriders

FAQ

Q: What is the best measured average FPS for this combo in Outriders?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 227 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next-best result is 202 FPS at 1080p Medium, showing that even a moderate settings increase costs about 11% performance at that resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35,670, which is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, 0.2% behind the Intel Core 7 250H, 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, and 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. The differences are minimal, placing all four processors within a tight performance band.

Q: What are the GPU's key memory specifications?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 1875 MHz, which translates to 30 Gbps effective.

Q: Which resolution offers the most balanced experience between visual quality and frame rate?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo delivers 115 FPS average. This is nearly double the 4K High result of 60 FPS while still maintaining a high visual preset, making 1440p High the practical sweet spot for this pairing.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for Outriders?

A: The combo ranks 643rd out of 2,913 tested combinations, placing it in the top 22% of all tested systems for this game.

Q: Is there a measurable FPS range recorded for any settings?

A: Yes, the Medium preset includes min/max data. At 4K, the range is 68 to 92 FPS with an average of 80. At 1440p, the range is 130 to 176 FPS with an average of 153. At 1080p, the range is 171 to 232 FPS with an average of 202.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 45 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In benchmark terms, this CPU scores 17,984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,810.5 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 11,657 multi-core and 1,794 single-core. The Passmark multi-thread score is 29,376, with a single-thread score of 3,697. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 85, meaning it outperforms 85% of all processors in the database.

The nearest rivals show that this CPU sits in a crowded performance tier. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X by only 0.7% in average score, which suggests that in Outriders, CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions will see nearly identical performance among these chips. The 16-core configuration with 22 threads provides ample parallelism for the game's looter-shooter mechanics, which typically spawn many enemies and track numerous simultaneous effects.

For Outriders specifically, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 227 FPS, a figure that requires strong single-thread performance for game logic and draw call submission. The 5.10 GHz boost clock helps here, as does the Passmark single-thread score of 3,697.

The L3 cache of 24 MB shared is sufficient for the game's asset streaming patterns. The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. The 7 nm process node and 45 W TDP indicate this is a power-efficient mobile part, but in a laptop chassis, thermal headroom will determine sustained boost behavior.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on settings selection. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 153 FPS average with a range of 130 to 176 FPS, which is a strong balance of visual quality and performance. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p drops the average to 115 FPS, a 25% reduction that may not justify the visual improvement for competitive play.

At 1080p, the Medium preset yields 202 FPS average with a range of 171 to 232 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at 1080p still delivers 181 FPS, making it a viable choice for those prioritizing image quality. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 131 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant step down from Medium.

For 4K displays, the Medium preset is the only reasonable choice, delivering 80 FPS average with a range of 68 to 92 FPS. The High preset at 4K barely reaches 60 FPS, while Ultra falls to 43 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. Low at 4K provides 110 FPS but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for most users.

The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset across all resolutions. It provides the best balance between frame rate and visual quality, and it is the only preset with complete min/max data, indicating consistent performance. The measured ranges at Medium (68-92 at 4K, 130-176 at 1440p, 171-232 at 1080p) show that the combo maintains stable frame delivery without severe dips.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 643rd out of 2,913 tested combinations in Outriders. This places it in the top 22% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given the mobile CPU paired with a desktop-class GPU.

The GPU's benchmark scores help contextualize this ranking. The RTX 5080 achieves an average benchmark score of 56,083, with a percentile versus all GPUs of 87. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S at 0.6% higher score, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 0.7% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 2.2% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 2.3%.

The rank of 643 out of 2,913 suggests that while this combo is strong, it is not among the elite configurations for Outriders. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS indicates that the highest settings at 4K are not fully playable, which likely holds the combo back from a higher ranking. The 1080p results, however, are excellent, with the Low preset hitting 227 FPS.

The gap between the 1080p and 4K results is substantial. At Medium settings, the combo drops from 202 FPS at 1080p to 80 FPS at 4K, a 60% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, despite its strong memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB203 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It contains 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, with a transistor density of 120.6 million per mm². The GPU has 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units, along with 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores.

The clock speeds are 2,295 MHz base and 2,617 MHz boost. The memory configuration is 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The pixel rate is 293.1 GPixel/s, the texture rate is 879.3 GTexel/s, and the FP32 performance is 56.28 TFLOPS.

In Outriders, the GPU's role is evident in the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 227 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given the high frame rate. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The 4K High result of 60 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS show that the GPU is working near its limits at the highest resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,637, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 235,901, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 255,450. The Passmark G3D score is 36,565, with a GPU compute score of 21,789.

The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory is more than sufficient for Outriders at 4K, as the game's texture requirements are unlikely to exceed this capacity. The 960.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and frame buffer operations are not constrained by memory bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 227 FPS, followed by Medium at 202 FPS with a range of 171 to 232 FPS. High averages 181 FPS, and Ultra drops to 131 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 42% reduction in average frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 195 FPS, Medium averages 153 FPS with a range of 130 to 176 FPS, High averages 115 FPS, and Ultra averages 83 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 57%, which is more pronounced than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 110 FPS, Medium averages 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92 FPS, High averages 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 61%, indicating that the GPU is increasingly stressed at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions, which allows for a detailed analysis. At 1080p, the range is 171 to 232 FPS, a spread of 61 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 130 to 176 FPS, a spread of 46 FPS. At 4K, the range is 68 to 92 FPS, a spread of 24 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is more consistently loaded, with less variance in frame delivery.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 202 at 1080p to 153 at 1440p, a 24% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is from 153 to 80 FPS, a 48% reduction.

The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings is 60% (from 202 to 80 FPS). This is a significant scaling penalty that indicates the GPU is the limiting component at 4K. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect less severe scaling at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 227 to 110 FPS, a 52% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 181 to 60 FPS, a 67% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 131 to 43 FPS, a 67% reduction. The scaling becomes more severe at higher settings, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint.

The data suggests that the CPU is sufficient to drive high frame rates at 1080p, as evidenced by the 227 FPS Low result. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth resources become the limiting factor. The 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, while substantial, is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

For users targeting 4K, the Medium preset is the highest playable option, with an average of 80 FPS. For 1440p, the High preset at 115 FPS is a strong choice, while 1080p users can comfortably use the High preset at 181 FPS or even Ultra at 131 FPS. The resolution scaling analysis clearly shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring substantial settings compromises.