Outriders

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Outriders with the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 reveal a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo produces 190 FPS, which drops to 120 FPS at 1440p and further to 63 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings, indicating that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count.

The High settings tier tells a similar story. The system delivers 143 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 48%. This non-linear scaling suggests that at 4K, the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck, as the pixel throughput requirements outpace what the RTX 5060 can sustain.

Low settings show the most dramatic resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 261 FPS, which falls to 165 FPS at 1440p and 86 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K reduction here is 67%, nearly identical to the Medium tier's 66% drop. This consistency across settings tiers indicates that resolution scaling is largely independent of the graphics preset chosen.

Ultra settings produce the steepest absolute declines. The system manages 103 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and only 34 FPS at 4K. The 4K result at Ultra is below the 47 FPS achieved at High, showing that the additional visual effects in Ultra impose a substantial cost at higher resolutions.

The data suggests that 4K gaming with this hardware combination is only viable at Low or Medium settings, where 86 and 63 FPS respectively remain playable. At High and Ultra, the 47 and 34 FPS results fall short of smooth gameplay expectations. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface struggle with the increased pixel workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus brings 24 cores and 24 threads to the Outriders benchmark, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This processor belongs to the Core Ultra Series 2 family, built on a 3 nm process node by TSMC, and features 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate substantial multi-threaded capability, achieving 51,731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7,303 in single-core tests.

In Outriders, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU across most settings and resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 261 FPS shows that the processor can feed the GPU with frames well beyond typical display refresh rates. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 103 FPS result indicates no CPU bottleneck, as the frame rate remains high enough to suggest the GPU is still the limiting factor.

The processor's percentile ranking of 96 among all CPUs places it in the top tier of desktop processors. Its average benchmark score of 84,003 nearly matches the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83,807, a delta of only 0.2%. This close performance parity means the 290K Plus offers no meaningful advantage over its direct predecessor in CPU-bound scenarios.

However, at lower resolutions with reduced graphics settings, the CPU's high single-thread performance becomes more relevant. The 261 FPS at 1080p Low is likely approaching the point where CPU frame generation limits could appear, though the data shows no such limitation at this combination. The processor's 4823 Passmark single-thread score and 60,860 multi-thread score suggest robust performance across both lightly and heavily threaded workloads.

Outriders, as a looter shooter, typically benefits from strong single-core performance for game logic and physics. The 290K Plus's 5.80 GHz boost clock provides ample headroom for such tasks. The processor's 125 W TDP indicates it can sustain high clocks without excessive power draw, though this metric does not directly appear in the gaming results.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 serves as the primary determinant of Outriders' frame rates in most tested configurations. This GPU features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 2280 MHz with a boost clock of 2497 MHz, and it houses 3840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 26,331 places it at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 860M at 26,401 (a -0.3% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26,421 (-0.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26,553 (-0.8%). The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT trails at 26,011, a 1.2% delta in favor of the RTX 5060.

In Outriders, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity proves sufficient at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, as the frame rates remain high. At 4K, however, the VRAM and memory bandwidth constraints become apparent. The 4K High result of 47 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS indicate that the GPU cannot maintain playable performance at higher resolutions with demanding presets.

The GPU's 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power provides adequate raw throughput for Outriders' effects, but the 448 GB/s memory bandwidth may limit texture streaming at high resolutions. The 128-bit memory bus, while paired with fast GDDR7 memory, restricts total bandwidth compared to wider-bus competitors.

The RTX 5060's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) aligns well with Outriders' modern rendering requirements. Its 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores suggest hardware-accelerated ray tracing capability, though the measured data does not include ray-traced results. The GPU's 145 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a modest power consumer relative to its performance class.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 achieves a rank of 1106 out of 2913 tested combos in Outriders. This places the pairing in the 62nd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 38% of combinations perform better. Given that the CPU ranks at the 96th percentile while the GPU ranks at the 72nd percentile, the overall combo rank reflects the GPU's more modest standing.

The CPU's strong benchmark position — 0.2% ahead of the Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX — does not translate into a top-tier gaming rank because Outriders depends more heavily on GPU performance. The combo's mid-pack ranking suggests that the RTX 5060, while capable, does not push this system into the upper echelon of gaming performance.

At 1080p, the combo's results are competitive, with the Low preset reaching 261 FPS and Medium reaching 190 FPS. These figures would place the system well above average for 1080p gaming. The 1440p results, ranging from 65 FPS at Ultra to 165 FPS at Low, also represent solid mid-range performance. The 4K results, however, pull the overall ranking down, as only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS.

The gap between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's lower rank highlights the GPU-bound nature of Outriders at higher resolutions. A system with a more powerful GPU paired with this CPU would likely rank significantly higher, as the processor clearly has headroom to support faster graphics cards.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset at 1440p emerges as the optimal configuration from the measured data. This setting delivers 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, providing smooth gameplay while maintaining acceptable visual fidelity. The 4K Medium result of 63 FPS with a 53 FPS minimum also remains playable, though it sits closer to the edge of smooth performance.

At 1080p, the High preset at 143 FPS offers an excellent experience for users with high-refresh-rate displays, while the Medium preset at 190 FPS suits competitive play. The Low preset at 261 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all monitors, making it unnecessary except for extreme competitive scenarios. The Ultra preset at 103 FPS remains highly playable at 1080p, offering the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

For 1440p users, the High preset at 90 FPS provides a good balance, though the Medium preset's 120 FPS with a 102 FPS minimum ensures fewer frame drops during intense combat. The Ultra preset at 65 FPS is borderline but may be acceptable for players who prioritize visuals over frame rate stability.

At 4K, the Low preset at 86 FPS is the only settings tier that delivers consistently smooth performance. The Medium preset at 63 FPS is playable but may exhibit noticeable frame pacing issues during heavy action. The High and Ultra presets at 47 and 34 FPS respectively are not recommended for 4K gaming with this hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 261 FPS. Medium settings produce 190 FPS, with a minimum of 162 FPS and a maximum of 219 FPS. High settings deliver 143 FPS average. Ultra settings achieve 103 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease proportionally. Low settings average 165 FPS. Medium settings average 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. High settings average 90 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 65 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the performance ceiling becomes apparent. Low settings average 86 FPS. Medium settings average 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. High settings average 47 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 34 FPS average.

The Medium settings tier is the only preset with reported minimum and maximum values across all three resolutions, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the minimum of 162 FPS represents a 15% drop from the average, while at 1440p the minimum of 102 FPS is a 15% drop, and at 4K the minimum of 53 FPS is a 16% drop. This consistent variance suggests stable frame pacing across resolutions.

The scaling from Ultra to Low at each resolution shows the impact of graphics settings. At 1080p, Low is 153% faster than Ultra (261 vs 103 FPS). At 1440p, Low is 154% faster (165 vs 65 FPS). At 4K, Low is 153% faster (86 vs 34 FPS). This uniformity indicates that the settings presets scale consistently regardless of resolution.

The data reveals that this hardware combination excels at 1080p and 1440p gaming, with all settings tiers at 1080p and the Low, Medium, and High tiers at 1440p exceeding 60 FPS. The 4K experience is limited to Low and Medium presets for acceptable performance. The RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM and 448 GB/s bandwidth define the upper boundary of this system's capability in Outriders.