Red Dead Redemption 2

The data for Red Dead Redemption 2 on the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 reveals a configuration that is heavily constrained by graphics settings and resolution, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the twelve tested combinations show a clear pattern: performance scales predictably with resolution, but the relationship between settings presets and frame rate is non-linear, indicating specific architectural limits.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic and consistent drop in frame rates across all settings presets, confirming that the rendering pipeline is pixel-bound. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 109.3 at 1080p to 56.5 at 4K, a reduction of approximately 48%. This near-halving of performance suggests that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are saturated as pixel count quadruples. The 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth of the RTX 4060 appear to be a limiting factor here, as the data shows the frame rate does not scale linearly with the pixel count increase.

Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the High preset drops from 51 FPS to 37 FPS, a 27% decline. This is a smaller relative drop than the 1080p-to-1440p transition, where High settings fall from 70.9 to 51 FPS, a 28% reduction. The consistency of these drops indicates that the GPU is the dominant constraint, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom at these resolutions. However, at 1080p with Low settings, the 109.3 FPS figure approaches the ceiling of what this combination can achieve, suggesting that if the CPU were the bottleneck, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p would show a much steeper decline than the observed 25% drop to 81.5 FPS. The data implies that the RTX 4060 is the limiting component from 1440p upward, while at 1080p, the CPU begins to exert more influence, particularly at lower settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060’s specifications directly explain the measured performance patterns. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the card delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest for a 4K workload. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields only 22.3 FPS, a figure that aligns with the card’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 48 ROPs. The boost clock of 2460 MHz provides the raw clock speed, but the pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s appears insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the fill-rate demand exceeds what the ROPs can deliver. Interestingly, the jump from Medium (39.1 FPS) to High (37 FPS) at 4K is only 5%, but the jump from High to Ultra is a steep 40% drop, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces a specific rendering feature that disproportionately taxes the GPU.

The memory configuration is also telling. At 1080p, the card achieves 109.3 FPS on Low, but this drops to 84.2 on Medium and 70.9 on High. The gap between Medium and High is 16%, suggesting that higher texture quality and shadow detail are consuming additional bandwidth. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: 81.5 FPS on Low, 59.8 on Medium, and 51 on High. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB frame buffer is not being exhausted at these settings, as the data shows no sudden collapse in performance that would indicate memory swapping, but the bandwidth is clearly a limiting factor as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 4060 ranks 977th out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the benchmark database. This ranking reflects the GPU’s 66th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 76th percentile. The combo’s position suggests that while the individual components are mid-range, their pairing does not boost the overall gaming experience in this specific title. The RTX 4060’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6) and the Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7), indicating that the GPU is closely matched with these alternatives. However, the combo rank of 977 out of 1687 suggests that many other pairings, whether with stronger CPUs or GPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this game. The data implies that the RTX 4060’s performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but falls short at 4K, dragging the combo’s overall standing down relative to configurations with more powerful graphics cards.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows point to a clear sweet spot for this hardware. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 84.2 FPS, which is a 19% improvement over High (70.9 FPS) and only a 23% reduction from Low (109.3 FPS). This suggests that Medium offers the best visual fidelity per frame rate cost at 1080p. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields 59.8 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target, while High drops to 51 FPS and Low jumps to 81.5 FPS. For a smoother experience at 1440p, Low settings provide an 36% boost over Medium, but the visual compromise may be significant. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a playable 60 FPS, with Low being the only option above 50 FPS at 56.5. The data suggests that 4K gaming is not viable with this combo unless the player accepts Low settings, which still falls short of the standard 60 FPS target. The recommendation is to use Medium at 1080p and Low at 1440p for the best balance, while 4K should be avoided or reserved for less demanding scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 109.3 on Low to 47.1 on Ultra. The progression is: Low (109.3), Medium (84.2), High (70.9), and Ultra (47.1). The gap between Medium and High is 13.3 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 23.8 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant performance penalty. At 2560x1440, the figures are 81.5 (Low), 59.8 (Medium), 51 (High), and 35.1 (Ultra). The drop from Medium to High is 8.8 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 15.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, the results are 56.5 (Low), 39.1 (Medium), 37 (High), and 22.3 (Ultra). The High-to-Ultra drop of 14.7 FPS is the largest absolute decline at this resolution, highlighting the Ultra preset’s punishing cost. Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest frame rates, with the 4K Ultra figure of 22.3 FPS being the worst result in the entire dataset.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all presets except Ultra exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 109.3, Medium at 84.2, and High at 70.9. At 1440p, only Low (81.5) and Medium (59.8) approach or exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset affect performance compared to High?

A: At 1080p, Ultra drops to 47.1 FPS from High’s 70.9, a 34% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 51 to 35.1 FPS (31%), and at 4K, from 37 to 22.3 FPS (40%). The Ultra preset consistently costs over 30% performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a near-halving of FPS at Low settings (109.3 to 56.5), indicating the GPU is the primary limiter. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide enough headroom, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (25%).

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: No preset achieves 60 FPS at 3840x2160. The best result is Low at 56.5 FPS, which is below the standard target. Ultra at 4K yields only 22.3 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 scores 23181 on average, with the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scoring 23321 (0.6% higher) and the Intel Arc B580 scoring 23021 (0.7% lower). This places it in a tight competitive band.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking?

A: It ranks 977th out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 42% of configurations for this game, despite the GPU being in the 66th percentile of all GPUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with 6 cores and 12 threads, operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for feeding the RTX 4060 in this title. The CPU’s benchmarks show a single-thread score of 696 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 4605, which are moderate but not exceptional. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is evident in the 1080p Low result of 109.3 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the dataset. If the CPU were severely limiting, this figure would be lower, but the fact that it is nearly double the 4K Low result (56.5 FPS) suggests the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU’s percentile of 76 indicates it outperforms most processors, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-11400, has a nearly identical average score (18150 vs 18129, a delta of -0.1%). This parity means the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo; the GPU’s 66th percentile is the weaker link. The data implies that upgrading the CPU would yield minimal gains at 1440p and 4K, where the RTX 4060 is saturated, but could provide a modest boost at 1080p Low, where the CPU has more influence on the frame rate.