Outriders

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 pairing delivers exceptional performance in Outriders, ranking in the top 1% of all tested combinations. The data shows this combo is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom even at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to show how each component contributes to the gaming experience across different settings and resolutions.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Arrow Lake Refresh generation, built on a 3 nm process with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This high-boost capability is critical for gaming performance, as Outriders benefits from strong single-thread performance. The CPU’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 192 KB of L1 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which is important for maintaining consistent frame times in a looter shooter where enemies and effects populate the screen dynamically.

Benchmark results confirm the CPU’s strength. In Cinebench R23, it scores 51,731 in multi-core and 7,303 in single-core tests. These scores place it in the 96th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,003. Compared to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, it is 0.2% ahead, while it leads the AMD EPYC 4584PX by 1.1%. This margin is small, but the 290K Plus’s advantage in single-threaded workloads (evidenced by the 7,303 R23 single-core score) translates directly to Outriders’ frame pacing.

In Outriders, the CPU’s role becomes less prominent as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 298 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far beyond typical display refresh rates. However, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 110 FPS (298 to 188), indicating that even at this resolution, the GPU starts to become a limiting factor at higher settings. The CPU’s 24 threads are more than sufficient for Outriders’ engine, which rarely scales beyond a handful of cores, making the high boost clock more relevant than the core count.

The PassMark multithread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 reinforce that this processor excels in both throughput and responsiveness. For Outriders, which relies on real-time physics and AI calculations, the CPU’s floating-point math score of 214,760 in PassMark indicates it can handle complex simulation without bottlenecking the GPU. The data shows that at 1440p High, the system delivers 165 FPS, which is 73% of the 1080p High result (238 FPS), suggesting the CPU is not the primary constraint at these settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores. Its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the key driver for Outriders’ high frame rates at 1440p and 4K.

The RTX 4090’s PassMark G3D score of 38,194 and GPU compute score of 26,613 place it in the 88th percentile versus all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 60,347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% delta). While those rivals are workstation cards, the RTX 4090’s gaming-oriented design is evident in the measured FPS, particularly at 4K where the 24 GB VRAM prevents any memory-related stutters.

In Outriders, the GPU’s VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any settings. At 4K Ultra, the system still achieves 62 FPS, which is playable, but the more telling results are at 4K Medium (115 FPS) and 4K High (86 FPS). The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets load quickly, which is crucial for Outriders’ fast-paced gameplay. The boost clock of 2520 MHz allows the GPU to maintain high utilization during intense combat sequences, as evidenced by the 1440p Medium result of 219 FPS with a minimum of 187 FPS.

The RTX 4090’s performance scales predictably with settings. At 1080p, going from Low (298 FPS) to Ultra (188 FPS) reduces frame rate by 37%, while at 4K, the same settings change reduces FPS by 61% (158 to 62). This indicates that at lower resolutions, the GPU has spare capacity, but at 4K Ultra, it is fully saturated. The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures full compatibility with Outriders’ rendering pipeline, allowing the 128 RT cores to handle any ray-traced effects without a significant performance penalty.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-limited scaling. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 238 to 165, a 31% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe: 165 to 86 FPS, a 48% reduction. This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound system, where the rendering load increases quadratically with pixel count.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The system delivers 298 FPS at 1080p, 255 FPS at 1440p, and 158 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 47%, which is less than the High setting’s 64% drop (238 to 86). This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU begins to play a larger role, as the GPU has more headroom to render frames quickly. However, the CPU still maintains a minimum of 158 FPS at 4K Low, indicating it is not a bottleneck even at this resolution.

The Medium settings provide the most detailed data, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 265 FPS with a minimum of 225 and maximum of 304. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 219 FPS (min 187, max 252), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 115 FPS (min 97, max 132). The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (97) is still well above 60, showing that the RTX 4090 can maintain playable frame rates even at 4K with moderate settings.

The scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 4090 is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p. At 4K Ultra, the system produces only 62 FPS, which is 21% of the 1080p Low result (298 FPS). This 79% performance loss from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra is entirely attributable to the GPU’s rendering load. The CPU’s influence is minimal, as evidenced by the modest FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (298 to 255, a 14% drop), which is closer to the pixel count difference (1.78x) than the GPU-bound scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This combination of Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 25th out of 3,710 tested combos in Outriders. This places it in the top 0.7% of all systems, which is exceptional given the game’s optimization for a wide range of hardware. The rank reflects the CPU’s 96th percentile standing among all CPUs and the GPU’s 88th percentile among all GPUs, with the combination outperforming what either component alone might suggest.

The ranking is likely driven by the CPU’s strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Outriders’ game logic, combined with the GPU’s massive memory bandwidth and shading power. The 24-core CPU ensures that no background threads (such as streaming or physics) interfere with the main game thread, while the RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM prevents any texture pop-in during extended sessions.

Compared to other high-end combos, this system’s 4K Ultra score of 62 FPS is notable because many CPUs in the top 25 rankings might sacrifice single-thread performance for more cores. The 290K Plus’s boost clock of 5.80 GHz is among the highest in the dataset, giving it an edge in Outriders’ CPU-bound moments. The data shows that this combo is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K in average CPU benchmark score, a margin that could translate to a few FPS in frame-time consistency.

The ranking also benefits from the GPU’s efficiency. The RTX 4090’s 88th percentile GPU ranking might seem low for a flagship, but this is due to the inclusion of workstation cards in the dataset. In gaming-specific workloads, the RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate ensure that Outriders’ particle effects and lighting calculations are handled with minimal cost to frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Outriders with this combo for a smooth 60+ FPS experience?

A: The data shows that 4K High settings deliver 86 FPS, while 4K Medium delivers 115 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 4K Ultra (62 FPS) is borderline, so 4K High is the optimal choice for 4K gaming.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 238 at 1080p High to 86 at 4K High, a 64% reduction. This indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck this GPU in Outriders?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 298 FPS, which is well above any display refresh rate. Even at 4K Low (158 FPS), the CPU is not limiting, as the GPU’s rendering load is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the most stable settings preset based on the minimum FPS data?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 225, while at 1440p Medium it is 187. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 97 FPS, which is the lowest recorded but still above 60 FPS, making it a stable choice for 4K.

Q: How does this combo compare to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K in terms of CPU performance?

A: The 290K Plus is 0.2% ahead of the 285K in average benchmark score (84,003 vs 83,807). This margin is negligible in gaming, but the 290K Plus’s higher boost clock may offer marginal frame-time improvements.

Q: Is the RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM necessary for Outriders?

A: The game runs at 4K Ultra with 62 FPS, and no VRAM-related issues are reported in the data. The 24 GB capacity is more than sufficient for Outriders, though it provides headroom for future titles.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. For 1080p, the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 265 FPS and a minimum of 225 FPS. This is a 27 FPS improvement over High (238 FPS) and only 33 FPS below Low (298 FPS), making Medium the most efficient choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 1440p, the Medium preset again offers the best experience, delivering 219 FPS with a minimum of 187 FPS. The High preset (165 FPS) is also excellent for 1440p, but Medium provides a 33% higher frame rate with only a minor visual downgrade. The Ultra preset at 119 FPS is playable but sacrifices 45% of the Medium’s performance for marginal graphical gains.

For 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, offering 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS. The High preset (86 FPS) is a close second, but the 29 FPS difference between them makes Medium the superior option for maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 62 FPS is technically playable but leaves no headroom for demanding combat sequences, so it should be avoided unless visual fidelity is the absolute priority.

The Low preset is only recommended for 4K if the user prioritizes frame rate above all else, as it delivers 158 FPS but with significant visual compromises. In summary, the data supports using Medium settings at all resolutions, as it provides the highest frame rates while maintaining a minimum FPS above 97 at 4K. For users with 120 Hz or higher displays, the High preset at 1440p (165 FPS) is a viable alternative that balances quality and speed.