Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + Intel Arc B390 combination, with measured results placing this pairing in the 2568th position out of 2902 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, indicating that while the system is capable of running the game, it requires significant compromises in visual fidelity to achieve playable frame rates. The data across all resolutions and settings reveals a system that is consistently bound by its graphics subsystem, with the CPU demonstrating sufficient headroom to support the GPU's output at every tested configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 51 FPS at 1080p to 38 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 13 FPS or approximately 25%. Moving further to 4K at the same Low settings yields an average of 25 FPS, which is just under half the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that the rendering pipeline is saturated by the graphics processor's workload, with each pixel count increase translating directly into a nearly proportional drop in throughput.

The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory, with averages of 39 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 4K here is 20 FPS, a 51% reduction that again points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. High settings show 32 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K, while the Ultra preset delivers 23 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p, and just 11 FPS at 4K. The consistent nature of these drops—roughly a 25-30% penalty for each step up in resolution—confirms that the Arc B390's processing capabilities, rather than memory bandwidth or CPU throughput, are the bottleneck.

Notably, the minimum FPS values recorded at Medium settings show that frame pacing remains relatively stable, with the 4K minimum of 16 FPS matching the 1080p minimum of 33 FPS in proportion to the average. This suggests that the GPU is not experiencing sudden stalls or resource exhaustion, but rather a steady-state inability to keep up with the pixel fill requirements of higher resolutions. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 51 FPS while 4K Ultra manages only 11 FPS—a 4.6x difference in performance for a 4x increase in pixel count plus higher shader complexity—underscores how heavily the graphics hardware is taxed.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 brings 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s of dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth provide a solid foundation for gaming workloads. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319, with a Geekbench multicore result of 7976. These figures place the processor in the 73rd percentile against all CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer that should not be the primary constraint in most gaming scenarios.

The benchmark data from Red Dead Redemption 2 supports this assessment. At 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lowest, the system reaches 51 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the graphics card with enough draw calls to maintain this frame rate. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra drops to 23 FPS—a 55% reduction from Low—while the CPU's workload barely changes indicates that the processor has ample headroom and is nowhere near its limits. The 3DMark results reinforce this: the CPU scores 836 in single-thread and 5411 in max-threads tests, with a 3DMark 16-thread score of 5386, showing consistent scaling across thread counts.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 19593 sits within 0.7% of the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723) and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i7-10700F (19499). This tight clustering of scores around the 19500-19700 range confirms that the CPU is not a performance outlier in either direction. In the context of this game's measured FPS, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient to drive the Arc B390 to its maximum output, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU workload rather than CPU load. The processor's 65W TDP and 7nm process node also suggest it operates efficiently without thermal throttling, allowing sustained performance during extended gaming sessions.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution that achieves an average FPS above 30 across multiple presets. At this resolution, Low delivers 51 FPS, Medium delivers 39 FPS, and High delivers 32 FPS. Higher resolutions fall below playable thresholds, with 1440p and 4K averages ranging from 11 to 38 FPS depending on settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 19593 is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19617), 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-12500 (19668), and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723). It is 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i7-10700F (19499), placing it in a tight competitive band.

Q: Does the GPU have enough performance headroom for future driver updates?

A: The Intel Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443) and GT 625 OEM (1446). While driver optimizations could improve performance, the large gap between this GPU and more capable parts suggests limited upside potential.

Q: Is the system CPU-bound or GPU-bound in this game?

A: The data clearly indicates a GPU bottleneck. For example, at 1080p, dropping from Ultra to Low increases average FPS from 23 to 51, a 122% improvement, while the CPU workload remains largely unchanged. Resolution scaling also shows steep performance drops, which is characteristic of a graphics-limited scenario.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 29 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with minimum FPS of 24 and maximum of 33. This is marginally below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered acceptable for playable performance.

Q: How does the GPU's performance rank against other tested graphics cards?

A: The Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with a benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower, while the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, which is 2.7% lower.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2568th out of 2902 tested configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the bottom 11.5% of all combos. This ranking reflects the GPU's significant performance limitations, as the CPU is a mid-range part that would not typically drag a system to such a low position. The fact that the combo sits at this rank while the CPU alone is in the 73rd percentile of all processors highlights the imbalance in this pairing.

The ranking suggests that in a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its demanding graphics engine, the Arc B390 is the primary factor holding back overall system performance. The 9th percentile GPU ranking versus the 73rd percentile CPU ranking creates a situation where the system's potential is capped by its weakest link. For context, the GPU's benchmark score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, a product from an entirely different performance class.

This rank of 2568 out of 2902 also implies that users would need to be selective about their settings and resolution to achieve a playable experience. The data shows that only the 1080p Low preset (51 FPS) and 1080p Medium preset (39 FPS) provide frame rates above 30 FPS, while all other configurations fall below this threshold. The practical implication is that this combo is suited for 1080p gaming with reduced visual quality, rather than higher resolutions or maximum settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of playable configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2. The 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings is the only preset that exceeds 50 FPS, averaging 51 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Dropping to 1080p Medium reduces the average to 39 FPS, which is still above the 30 FPS playability threshold and offers improved visual fidelity with a 23% performance cost.

For users prioritizing visual quality over raw frame rate, 1080p High provides an average of 32 FPS, which is at the edge of acceptable playability for slower-paced games like Red Dead Redemption 2. The 1080p Ultra preset, at 23 FPS average, is not recommended as it falls below the 30 FPS minimum for comfortable play. At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 38 FPS, which is playable but requires significant visual compromises; Medium at 1440p (29 FPS) and High (24 FPS) are marginal, while Ultra (17 FPS) is not viable.

The 4K resolution is not recommended on this hardware, as even the Low preset only reaches 25 FPS, and High settings drop to 16 FPS. The best experience per the measured rows is a trade-off between 1080p Low for maximum fluidity and 1080p Medium for a balance of visual quality and performance. Given that the game is an action-adventure title where aiming and camera movement benefit from higher frame rates, the 1080p Medium preset at 39 FPS offers the most balanced experience, with 1080p Low available as a fallback for users who prefer smoother motion.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average frame rates across presets: Low achieves 51 FPS, Medium achieves 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44, High achieves 32 FPS, and Ultra achieves 23 FPS. This represents a performance range of 28 FPS between the lowest and highest quality settings, demonstrating that the GPU has a substantial workload variance depending on preset. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 33 indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above the 30 FPS threshold, providing a consistent experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 38 FPS for Low, 29 FPS for Medium (with minimum 24 and maximum 33), 24 FPS for High, and 17 FPS for Ultra. The 1440p Low preset is the only option at this resolution that maintains an average above 30 FPS, while the Medium preset dips below this threshold. The minimum FPS of 24 at Medium suggests potential stuttering in heavy scenes, making this a less reliable choice for consistent gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the performance is severely limited: Low averages 25 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS (minimum 16, maximum 22), High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. None of these configurations reach the 30 FPS playability threshold, making 4K gaming impractical on this hardware. The difference between 1080p Low (51 FPS) and 4K Ultra (11 FPS) is a 78% reduction in performance, underscoring the GPU's inability to handle high-resolution rendering.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is based on the Xe3-LPG architecture on a 3nm process, with 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units. Its boost clock of 2500 MHz yields a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. The GPU's memory is system-shared, meaning it relies on the host system's RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as system-dependent. This architecture places the GPU in the 9th percentile of all graphics cards, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482.

The benchmark data from Red Dead Redemption 2 shows that the GPU is the definitive performance limiter. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 51 FPS, but this drops to 23 FPS at Ultra, a 55% reduction that is entirely attributable to increased graphics workload. The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower) and GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), which are entry-level parts from previous generations. This positioning explains why the combo ranks so low in the overall standings.

The GPU's shared memory architecture may also contribute to performance variability, as the system-dependent bandwidth could introduce latency under heavy load. However, the measured FPS data shows relatively stable frame pacing, with the Medium preset's minimum FPS values staying within 15-18% of the average across all resolutions. This suggests that while the GPU is slow, it is not erratic, providing predictable performance that users can plan around. The 80W TDP and IGP form factor indicate this is designed for integrated use cases, which aligns with its modest performance profile in this demanding title.