Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 in a combination that lands at rank 889 out of 3714 tested configurations. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is consistently capable of smooth gameplay, though the relationship between CPU and GPU load shifts noticeably as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear progression across the four available presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 152 FPS, which drops to 114 FPS at Medium, 95 FPS at High, and 68 FPS at Ultra. The step from Low to Medium costs 38 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 27 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns at the highest preset, where the visual uplift may not justify the performance loss for users seeking high refresh rates.

At 1440p, the pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers: Low averages 113 FPS, Medium 85 FPS, High 71 FPS, and Ultra 51 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p offers a strong balance, sitting comfortably above 60 FPS while still providing a meaningful upgrade over Low. The High preset at 1440p remains playable at 71 FPS, but the margin over Medium narrows to 14 FPS, making Medium the more efficient choice for consistent frame pacing.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. Low averages 75 FPS, Medium 56 FPS, High 47 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only one that stays within a reasonable range of 60 FPS, and even then it falls short. The measured minimum for Medium at 4K is 48 FPS, which indicates some frame dips below the average. For a stable experience at 4K, Low is the only preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Considering all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the best overall experience. It provides the highest average FPS that remains above 60 at both 1080p and 1440p, and at 4K it delivers 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS—borderline but workable. The data shows that Medium consistently outperforms High and Ultra by a wide margin while still providing a visually richer experience than Low. Users prioritizing maximum smoothness should default to Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Ryzen 5 5500 and RTX 4070 achieves a rank of 889 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the top quarter of all configurations, indicating a strong performance tier. The percentile data for the individual components supports this: the CPU sits at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank being lower than either component percentile suggests that the pairing is slightly less than the sum of its parts, likely due to the CPU becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 with a delta of -0.1%, the Intel Core i5-12500 at -0.4%, and the Intel Core i7-10700F at +0.5%. These deltas are all within 1% of the Ryzen 5 5500's average score of 19593, indicating that the CPU competes directly with these mid-range parts. The Intel Core i5-11600KF is the closest rival at -0.7% delta, meaning the Ryzen 5 5500 slightly outperforms it in general benchmarks.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 has a delta of +0.1%, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is at +0.4%, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 is at +1.3%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the only rival with a negative delta at -1.3%, meaning the RTX 4070 outperforms it by that margin. These small deltas confirm that the RTX 4070 sits in a well-populated performance band where minor differences separate competitors.

The combo's rank of 889 out of 3714 means it outperforms roughly 76% of tested configurations. This is a solid result for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU, though it does not crack the top tier. The data suggests that users with higher-end CPUs would see better combo ranks, as the Ryzen 5 5500 may limit the RTX 4070 in CPU-bound scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of L3 cache. This processor supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the performance gap between presets is largest. At 1080p Low, the system averages 152 FPS, which drops to 114 FPS at Medium. This 38 FPS drop indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase. The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at a 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319, is sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4070 at these levels.

The multi-threaded performance of the Ryzen 5 5500 is strong for its class, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a PassMark multithread score of 19330. Red Dead Redemption 2 is known to utilize multiple cores, and the 6-core/12-thread configuration provides enough parallelism for the game's engine. The data shows that at 1440p, the CPU still manages to maintain high frame rates, with Low averaging 113 FPS and Medium 85 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution either.

However, at 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes. The frame rates at 4K are significantly lower across all presets, with Low averaging 75 FPS and Medium 56 FPS. This shift indicates that the GPU is now the primary limiting factor, as the resolution increase places more demand on the RTX 4070's rendering capabilities. The CPU's role becomes secondary, as it has ample headroom to process game logic and draw calls while the GPU struggles with the higher pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the average is 152 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 113 FPS, a 25.7% decrease. At 4K Low, the average falls to 75 FPS, a further 33.6% decrease from 1440p. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 4070's rendering workload grows proportionally with pixel count.

For the Medium preset, the scaling is similar: 114 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p (a 25.4% drop), and 56 FPS at 4K (a 34.1% drop). The High preset shows 95 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p (25.3% drop), and 47 FPS at 4K (33.8% drop). The Ultra preset follows the same trend: 68 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p (25% drop), and 34 FPS at 4K (33.3% drop).

This consistent percentage drop across all presets indicates that the limiting component is the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would not scale as predictably with resolution, as the CPU workload remains relatively constant regardless of pixel count. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for all tested resolutions, but the raw compute power, measured at 29.15 TFLOPS FP32, is what limits performance at higher resolutions.

The data also shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K. For example, at High settings, the 1080p to 1440p drop is 24 FPS, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 24 FPS as well. This linear scaling suggests that the RTX 4070's architecture handles resolution increases uniformly, with no sudden cliff in performance.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p offers the best balance. At Medium settings, it averages 85 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1080p, the system can push much higher frame rates (114 FPS at Medium), but 1440p provides a more visually detailed image while still maintaining excellent performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 19593. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, scores 19617, a delta of -0.1%. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19668 (-0.4%), the Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499 (+0.5%), and the Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19723 (-0.7%). These deltas show the Ryzen 5 5500 is statistically tied with all four rivals.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 a bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 75, but at Medium it drops to 56 and at High to 47. The RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 performance is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with higher settings, making the CPU largely irrelevant at this resolution.

Q: What settings preset should I use for the highest frame rates?

A: The Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at all resolutions: 152 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 75 FPS at 4K. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. For a balance of performance and quality, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it stays above 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p.

Q: How does this combo rank among other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 889 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the top 24% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result. The CPU's 73rd percentile and GPU's 81st percentile among their respective components explain this ranking, as the pairing is slightly below what either component could achieve with a more balanced partner.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 75, which is playable. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced scenes. For a smooth 4K experience, Low settings are required, while Medium is borderline.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 152 FPS. The Medium preset averages 114 FPS, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS. The High preset averages 95 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 68 FPS. This resolution shows the widest spread between presets, with a 84 FPS difference between Low and Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 113 FPS. The Medium preset averages 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS. The High preset averages 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 51 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 62 FPS, reflecting the increased GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 75 FPS. The Medium preset averages 56 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS. The High preset averages 47 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows further to 41 FPS, as the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck.

The Medium preset is the only one with measured minimum and maximum FPS values across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 97 FPS and the maximum is 131 FPS, a range of 34 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 25 FPS (72 to 97), and at 4K Medium, the range is 16 FPS (48 to 64). This tightening range with resolution suggests more consistent frame pacing at higher resolutions, likely due to the GPU being more uniformly utilized.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, along with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU has a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, providing 21 Gbps effective and a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the RTX 4070's role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to render high frame rates, with Low averaging 152 FPS and Medium 114 FPS. The GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than sufficient for this resolution, allowing the CPU to push frame rates to their limits. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops.

The 12 GB of VRAM is adequate for all tested settings and resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the GPU maintains an average of 34 FPS, which is low but indicates that memory capacity is not a bottleneck. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is also sufficient, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution rather than showing sudden drops due to memory constraints.

The RTX 4070's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 with a delta of +0.1%, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at +0.4%, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at +1.3%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the only rival with a negative delta at -1.3%, meaning the RTX 4070 outperforms it. These deltas indicate that the RTX 4070 is competitive within its performance class, though the differences are small enough to be within measurement noise.

The GPU's 81st percentile among all GPUs confirms its high-end positioning. In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, this translates to strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, with playable frame rates at 4K on lower settings. The data shows that the RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this combo, with the CPU playing a supporting role that becomes less relevant as resolution increases.