Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers its strongest performance at 1080p, where the frame rate scales dramatically with settings, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate ranges from 151.3 FPS on Low settings down to 67.7 FPS on Ultra, showing a massive 83.6 FPS spread that indicates the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower graphical loads. Moving to 2560x1440, the spread narrows to 66.2 FPS, with Low hitting 115.1 FPS and Ultra dropping to 48.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, the gap compresses further to 43.7 FPS, with Low producing 74.4 FPS and Ultra falling to 30.7 FPS. This progressive narrowing of the FPS gap as resolution climbs demonstrates that the RTX 4070 becomes the limiting component at 4K, while the Ryzen 5 3600’s six-core, twelve-thread design holds up adequately at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results show that resolution scaling follows an expected pattern, but the magnitude of the performance drop between 1080p and 4K is heavily dependent on the chosen settings preset. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (94.8 FPS) to 2560x1440 (73.5 FPS) represents a 22.4% reduction, while moving to 3840x2160 (49.4 FPS) cuts the frame rate by another 32.8% relative to 1440p. The Low preset tells a different story: 1080p delivers 151.3 FPS, 1440p drops to 115.1 FPS, and 4K sinks to 74.4 FPS, which is a 50.8% total loss from 1080p to 4K. Interestingly, the Ultra preset shows the steepest relative decline, with 67.7 FPS at 1080p falling to 48.9 FPS at 1440p and then collapsing to 30.7 FPS at 4K — a 54.6% drop from 1080p to 4K. These figures indicate that at 1080p and 1440p, the RTX 4070 is not fully saturated on Low or Medium settings, allowing the Ryzen 5 3600 to push higher frame rates, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s 12 GB of memory and Ada Lovelace architecture are clearly working near their limits.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this CPU-GPU combination achieves a combo rank of 431 out of 1,687 tested configurations, placing it in the top 25.5% of all pairings. This rank reflects a balanced pairing where the RTX 4070’s high-end capabilities are partially constrained by the older Ryzen 5 3600 processor. The CPU itself holds a percentile rank of 76 against all tested processors, while the GPU sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, suggesting the GPU is slightly stronger relative to its peers than the CPU is. The combo’s placement at 431 out of 1,687 indicates that while this is a capable system for Red Dead Redemption 2, there are 430 other combinations that achieve better overall performance, likely featuring newer processors with higher single-thread performance or more powerful GPUs. The Ryzen 5 3600’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-11400 (deltaPct -0.1%), AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (deltaPct 0.2%), and AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (deltaPct -0.2%), showing that this CPU sits in a tightly contested mid-range bracket where performance differences are minimal.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the primary factor enabling playable frame rates at 4K. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz, combined with 5,888 shading units, deliver 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the data shows that the GPU’s memory capacity becomes a critical factor at 3840x2160 Ultra, where the average frame rate drops to 30.7 FPS — below the 60 FPS threshold most players target. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for High settings at 4K (49.4 FPS) and Medium at 4K (54.1 FPS), but the Ultra preset’s increased texture and shadow demands push the GPU to its limits. The RTX 4070’s nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 with a deltaPct of -0.6%, while the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A shows a deltaPct of -1.9%, indicating the RTX 4070 sits slightly below those parts in aggregate benchmark scores despite its newer architecture.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Red Dead Redemption 2 with this combo?

A: Based on measured data, 2560x1440 provides the best balance, with High settings delivering 73.5 FPS and Medium reaching 86.3 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS while maintaining visual quality.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Yes, but only at lower presets. The data shows 4K Low achieves 74.4 FPS and 4K Medium reaches 54.1 FPS, while 4K High drops to 49.4 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to 30.7 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37,283, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, 1.9% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A, and 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5300M.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance tier relative to other processors?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 ranks in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18,129, placing it nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-11400 (deltaPct -0.1%) and AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (deltaPct 0.2%).

Q: Is the Ultra preset viable for this game at any resolution?

A: Only at 1920x1080, where Ultra produces 67.7 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra drops to 48.9 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Ultra falls to 30.7 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay at higher resolutions.

Q: How much performance is gained by dropping from High to Low settings?

A: At 1080p, the gain is 56.5 FPS (from 94.8 to 151.3 FPS). At 1440p, the gain is 41.6 FPS (from 73.5 to 115.1 FPS). At 4K, the gain is 25.0 FPS (from 49.4 to 74.4 FPS).

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process with a die size of 74 mm² and 3,800 million transistors. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, provide the single-thread performance necessary for Red Dead Redemption 2’s game logic and physics. The CPU’s benchmark results show a single-thread score of 696 in 3DMark and 2,124 in Cinebench R23, with a multicore score of 15,045 in Cinebench R23. In the context of this game, the CPU’s 12 threads allow it to handle background tasks while maintaining frame delivery, but the data suggests it can become a limiting factor at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU has excess capacity. The Ryzen 5 3600’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-11400, scores nearly identically (deltaPct -0.1%), indicating that either processor would produce similar results in this title. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and Socket AM4 compatibility make it a modest power consumer, though the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,605 shows the processor’s ceiling in heavily threaded workloads.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this hardware, the measured FPS data points to 2560x1440 with High settings as the optimal configuration, delivering 73.5 FPS — enough for smooth gameplay while maintaining visual fidelity. Players prioritizing frame rate over visual quality should consider 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which achieves 115.5 FPS, or 1440p Low at 115.1 FPS, both providing a substantial margin above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as even at 1920x1080 it only produces 67.7 FPS, and at 1440p it drops to 48.9 FPS. For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only viable option at 74.4 FPS, while Medium at 54.1 FPS may be acceptable for players who tolerate lower frame rates. The data suggests that High settings at 1440p strike the best balance between visual quality and performance, with the 73.5 FPS average leaving headroom for demanding scenes without dipping below playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 151.3 FPS, Medium at 115.5 FPS, High at 94.8 FPS, and Ultra at 67.7 FPS. This represents a 55.2% drop from Low to Ultra, with each preset tier costing roughly 20-30 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 115.1 FPS, Medium at 86.3 FPS, High at 73.5 FPS, and Ultra at 48.9 FPS. The 1440p results show a 57.5% reduction from Low to Ultra, slightly steeper than 1080p due to increased pixel count. At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 74.4 FPS, Medium at 54.1 FPS, High at 49.4 FPS, and Ultra at 30.7 FPS. The 4K data reveals that the gap between Medium and High narrows to just 4.7 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 18.7 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects disproportionately impact the RTX 4070 at this resolution. Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently provides the highest frame rates, but the diminishing returns between Medium and High at 4K suggest that players should choose High over Medium for better visual quality at a minimal FPS cost.