Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 pairs a 6-core, 12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 in a combination that ranks 242nd out of 3,714 tested setups. This pairing represents a significant generational mismatch, where the GPU's immense rendering power is frequently constrained by the CPU's older Zen 2 architecture. The measured data reveals a system that delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but with scaling behaviors that clearly expose the processor as the primary bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved with this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the highest average FPS is 153, recorded with Low settings. The Medium preset delivers 137 FPS, High settings yield 129 FPS, and Ultra produces 99 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system averages 49 FPS. This is the lowest average frame rate across all tested resolutions and settings, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at this configuration.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 139 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 74 FPS. This represents a 65 FPS reduction, or approximately a 47% decrease in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Does the RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM become a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM capacity as a limiting factor. The RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is far beyond the requirements of Red Dead Redemption 2, and the measured FPS variations across settings are driven by computational load and CPU limitations, not memory capacity.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 17,035, which places it 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1260P (17,007) and 0.2% behind the Intel Core i5-11400 (17,067). Its performance is effectively tied with these processors.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 5090 ranks 242nd out of 3,714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 7% of all tested systems.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 serves as the primary rendering engine in this configuration, bringing a substantial amount of computational resources to Red Dead Redemption 2. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, powered by the GB202 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the game's open-world textures and draw distances.

In terms of raw compute, the RTX 5090 provides 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, alongside 21,760 shading units and 680 texture mapping units. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's role shifts dramatically based on resolution. At 1080p, the GPU is often idle waiting for CPU instructions, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS gap between Low (153 FPS) and High (129 FPS) settings. At 4K, however, the GPU's workload increases substantially, with the gap between Low (108 FPS) and High (68 FPS) widening to 40 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming the more active constraint.

The RTX 5090's benchmark performance places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79,605 (0.3% slower) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X at 80,959 (1.4% faster). These comparisons underscore the GPU's high-end positioning, yet in this specific game, the measured FPS often falls short of what the GPU's compute capabilities would suggest, pointing to other system components limiting performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this combo suggests that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 137 FPS with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS, providing smooth gameplay with only a 16 FPS drop compared to Low settings. The High preset at 1080p still achieves 129 FPS, but the jump to Ultra reduces performance to 99 FPS, which is a more significant 38 FPS drop from Medium.

At 1440p, Medium again emerges as the sweet spot, delivering 123 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS. High settings at this resolution drop to 102 FPS, which is nearly identical in average performance, though the Medium preset's recorded minimum of 104 FPS suggests more consistent frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 74 FPS, which is a substantial 49 FPS reduction from Medium.

For 4K gaming, Medium is the highest playable preset, averaging 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS. High settings at 4K drop to 68 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, while Ultra falls to 49 FPS, which many players would find too choppy. The data indicates that Medium at 4K provides the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance, while Low settings at 1080p offer the highest possible frame rates for competitive or high-refresh-rate displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of this combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 153 FPS on Low, 137 FPS on Medium, 129 FPS on High, and 99 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows the only recorded minimum and maximum values at this resolution, with a range of 117 to 158 FPS, indicating a 41 FPS spread between the lowest and highest frames.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably: Low settings achieve 139 FPS, Medium delivers 123 FPS, High drops to 102 FPS, and Ultra falls to 74 FPS. The Medium preset again provides the only min/max data, with a range of 104 to 141 FPS, representing a 37 FPS spread. This narrower range compared to 1080p suggests more consistent frame delivery as the GPU workload increases.

At 3840x2160, the impact of higher resolution is most pronounced. Low settings yield 108 FPS, Medium averages 81 FPS, High drops to 68 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS, a 24 FPS spread. This tighter range at 4K indicates that the GPU is more consistently saturated, reducing frame time variability compared to lower resolutions where CPU bottlenecks can cause more erratic frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 242nd out of 3,714 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This placement puts the system in the top 6.5% of all tested configurations, which is notable given the CPU's age and mid-range positioning. The ranking suggests that while the RTX 5090 is capable of exceptional performance, the Ryzen 5 3600's limitations prevent this combo from reaching the upper echelons of the leaderboard.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores provide context for this ranking. The Ryzen 5 3600 achieves an average benchmark score of 17,035, placing it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1260P (17,007, 0.2% slower) and the Intel Core i5-11400 (17,067, 0.2% faster). These tightly clustered scores indicate that the CPU is competitive with other mid-range options from its era, but it lacks the multi-threaded muscle of newer processors that could better feed the RTX 5090.

The GPU, by contrast, ranks in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. The disparity between the CPU's 71st percentile and the GPU's 92nd percentile highlights the bottleneck: the combo's 242nd rank out of 3,714 suggests that many systems with slightly weaker GPUs but stronger CPUs achieve better in-game performance, as they can maintain higher frame rates without being held back by processor limitations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 plays a critical role in determining this combo's performance ceiling, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully utilized. This 6-core, 12-thread processor is based on the Zen 2 architecture (codename Matisse) and operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 3600 demonstrates strong single-threaded performance for its generation, scoring 2,124 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 892 in Cinebench R20 single-core. Its multi-threaded results are more modest, with Cinebench R23 multi-core scoring 15,045 and Geekbench multi-core at 7,372. These scores indicate that while the CPU can handle modern game workloads, its 6-core/12-thread configuration may struggle to keep up with the RTX 5090's frame generation capabilities.

The CPU's role becomes evident when examining FPS differences across settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only 54 FPS (153 vs 99), despite the GPU having to render significantly more visual effects at Ultra. This relatively small gap suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is often the limiting factor, as the GPU has spare capacity that cannot be utilized due to processor instruction throughput limitations. At 4K, the Low to Ultra difference widens to 59 FPS (108 vs 49), indicating that the GPU becomes more of a constraint at higher resolutions, though the CPU still influences overall performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about which component limits performance at each resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 153 at 1080p to 139 at 1440p (a 9.2% decrease) and then to 108 at 4K (a 22.3% decrease from 1440p). This scaling pattern suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is the primary bottleneck across all resolutions, as even at 4K the game is not demanding enough on the GPU to overcome the processor's limitations.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more pronounced: FPS drops from 137 at 1080p to 123 at 1440p (10.2% decrease) and then to 81 at 4K (34.1% decrease from 1440p). The larger drop at 4K indicates that the GPU is starting to become more involved, but the CPU still plays a significant role in maintaining frame rates. The High settings show a similar trend, with FPS decreasing from 129 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p (20.9% decrease) and then to 68 at 4K (33.3% decrease from 1440p).

Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling, with FPS dropping from 99 at 1080p to 74 at 1440p (25.3% decrease) and then to 49 at 4K (33.8% decrease from 1440p). This pattern indicates that at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint at 1440p and above, as the CPU has enough headroom to issue draw calls while the GPU struggles with the increased rendering load. The data suggests that for this combo, the CPU limits performance primarily at 1080p and Low/Medium settings, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K and/or Ultra settings. The transition point appears to be around 1440p with High settings, where both components are relatively balanced in their workload distribution.