Outriders

# Outriders Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

This combination of the 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 920th out of 2,913 tested combos in Outriders, placing it in the 68th percentile of all systems tested for this title. The ranking reflects a pairing where a top-tier CPU (96th percentile among all CPUs) meets a mid-range GPU (61st percentile among all GPUs), and the data shows how this asymmetry shapes the gaming experience across different resolutions and quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 920 out of 2,913 systems places this pairing comfortably above the median tested configuration, though it is not among the elite performers. The CPU is the standout component here, sitting in the 96th percentile versus all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 84,003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83,807 — a delta of just 0.2%, meaning the 290K Plus offers virtually identical raw compute performance to its predecessor. The AMD EPYC 4584PX trails by 1.1% (83,090), while the AMD EPYC 9135 sits 1.2% behind at 82,980. Interestingly, the AMD EPYC 7F72 scores higher at 85,072, putting the 290K Plus 1.3% behind that server-oriented chip.

The GPU tells a different story. The RTX 3070 sits in the 61st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,208. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, scores 17,083 (0.7% behind), while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 and AMD Radeon HD 7970M are essentially tied at 17,037 and 17,019 respectively (1.0% and 1.1% behind). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c edges ahead at 17,468, making the RTX 3070 1.5% slower than that compute-focused card. This places the GPU in a different competitive tier than the CPU, which explains why the combo ranks lower than the CPU's individual percentile might suggest.

The 920th rank out of 2,913 combos means roughly two-thirds of tested systems outperform this pairing in Outriders. Given that the CPU is near the top of its class while the GPU is mid-pack, the data strongly implies that the RTX 3070 is the limiting factor in this configuration. The benchmark results across resolutions will clarify this further.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset delivers the optimal experience at each resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset achieves 109 FPS average, which is smooth and playable, but the High preset jumps to 152 FPS — a 39% improvement that makes High the better choice for competitive play. The Medium preset at 202 FPS offers diminishing returns in visual quality for a frame rate that exceeds most displays' refresh rates, while Low at 278 FPS is only relevant for esports-level responsiveness.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. High delivers 96 FPS, which is acceptable, but Ultra drops to 69 FPS — still playable but approaching the threshold where fast-paced action in a looter shooter becomes less fluid. Medium at 128 FPS offers a substantial cushion over High while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity. The data suggests Medium is the sweet spot at 1440p for this combo, balancing the 128 FPS average with a minimum of 108 FPS and maximum of 147 FPS.

At 4K, the recommendations change dramatically. High averages 50 FPS, which is borderline for a game requiring quick reactions. Medium improves to 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS and maximum of 77 FPS, making it the only 4K preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS. Ultra at 36 FPS is not viable for gameplay, and Low at 92 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for the resolution. Therefore, Medium is the recommended preset at 4K, while High serves well at 1440p and 1080p users can choose between High and Ultra based on their preference for frame rate or fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 152 at 1080p to 96 at 1440p (a 37% reduction) and then to 50 at 4K (a 67% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario — the RTX 3070's rendering throughput is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more revealing. The 1080p result of 278 FPS drops to 175 at 1440p (37% lower) and 92 at 4K (67% lower). The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical across settings presets suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors regardless of visual complexity. The RTX 3070's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient at 1080p, but the pixel throughput demands of 1440p and especially 4K overwhelm the GPU.

The CPU's role becomes clearer when examining the Low preset at 1080p: 278 FPS is an extremely high frame rate that requires substantial CPU processing for game logic and draw calls. The 24-core, 24-thread Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with its 5.80 GHz boost clock and 36 MB of shared L3 cache handles this without breaking a sweat. However, at 4K Low, the 92 FPS result indicates the GPU is now the dominant constraint — the CPU could likely push far higher frame rates if the GPU could render them.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset shows consistent scaling across all three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 278 FPS average, Medium delivers 202 FPS with a minimum of 172 and maximum of 232, High delivers 152 FPS, and Ultra delivers 109 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression where each settings tier costs roughly 25-30% of frame rate, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 169 FPS (60% reduction).

At 2560x1440, Low averages 175 FPS, Medium averages 128 FPS with a range of 108 to 147, High averages 96 FPS, and Ultra averages 69 FPS. The Medium preset data at 1440p shows the narrowest min-max spread in the entire dataset (39 FPS), suggesting stable frame delivery during intense combat sequences. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 37% of frame rate at every settings level, reinforcing the GPU-bound analysis.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 92 FPS, Medium averages 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 77, High averages 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The 4K results show that even the Low preset cannot maintain 100 FPS, and the Medium preset's 57 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips below 60 FPS during demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 36 FPS is essentially unplayable for a looter shooter where quick aiming and reaction speed matter.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Outriders?

A: The data shows strong performance at both resolutions, but 1080p is clearly superior. At 1080p High, the combo averages 152 FPS, while at 1440p High it drops to 96 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset at 128 FPS is the best way to exceed 120 FPS at the higher resolution, but 1080p High or Ultra provides the smoothest experience overall.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Outriders?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, where it averages 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 50 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS, both of which are below the ideal threshold for a fast-paced game. The 4K Low preset at 92 FPS is playable but sacrifices visual quality significantly.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K?

A: The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84,003, which is just 0.2% higher than the Core Ultra 9 285K's 83,807. In practice, this means the two CPUs deliver nearly identical performance, with the 290K Plus offering no meaningful advantage in Outriders.

Q: What is the GPU's competitive position relative to the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT?

A: The RTX 3070 scores 17,208 in average benchmarks, which is 0.7% higher than the RX 7600 XT's 17,083. This indicates the two GPUs are essentially tied in raw performance, though the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth shape its specific behavior in Outriders.

Q: Why does the FPS drop so significantly from 1080p to 4K at Low settings?

A: At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 278 FPS at 1080p to 92 FPS at 4K, a 67% reduction. This nearly matches the drop at High settings (152 to 50 FPS, also 67%), indicating that the GPU's rendering throughput is the limiting factor regardless of settings complexity.

Q: Does the CPU's high core count benefit Outriders?

A: The 24-core, 24-thread configuration with a 5.80 GHz boost clock allows very high frame rates at 1080p (up to 278 FPS at Low), showing the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the constraint, and the CPU's additional cores do not translate into higher frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on Arrow Lake Refresh architecture using TSMC's 3 nm process. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz boosts up to 5.80 GHz, and it carries 36 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 192 KB L1 and 3 MB L2 per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth and includes 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes.

In Outriders, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p, where the Low preset achieves 278 FPS. This frame rate demands substantial CPU throughput for game logic, physics, and draw call submission, and the 290K Plus delivers it without signs of struggle. The single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,823, ensures that the game's primary simulation thread runs efficiently. The multi-thread capabilities, shown by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and PassMark multithread score of 60,860, provide headroom for background tasks and streaming.

However, the data indicates that the CPU's full potential is unrealized in this game at higher resolutions. At 4K, even the Low preset only reaches 92 FPS, which is far below what the CPU could theoretically support. This is not a critique of the CPU — rather, it highlights that Outriders at 4K is firmly GPU-bound. The 290K Plus ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, and its nearest rival (the Core Ultra 9 285K) is just 0.2% behind, confirming that this processor is at the upper echelon of gaming CPUs. Its 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest overclocking potential, though the game's performance ceiling at higher resolutions makes such tuning unlikely to yield visible gains.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is an Ampere-architecture GPU built on Samsung's 8 nm process, featuring the GA104 chip with 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. It operates at a base clock of 1500 MHz with a boost up to 1725 MHz, and its 8 GB GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, with a pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s.

In Outriders, the RTX 3070's role is decisive at 1440p and 4K. The benchmark data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions, with frame rates dropping 67% from 1080p to 4K at every settings level. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for all tested presets, but the GPU's raw compute throughput (20.31 TFLOPS FP32) determines the performance ceiling. At 4K Ultra, the 36 FPS average suggests the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximal visual effects.

The RTX 3070's competitive position, at 61st percentile among all GPUs, aligns with its mid-range status in the GeForce 30-series lineup. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, is essentially identical in average score (0.7% difference), indicating that Outriders performance would be similar with that alternative. The GPU's 220 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU are modest requirements, and its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides ample bandwidth. The data clearly shows that for this combo, upgrading the GPU would yield the greatest performance gains in Outriders, particularly for those targeting 4K gameplay or higher settings at 1440p.