Red Dead Redemption 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows a clear and expected pattern: performance drops substantially as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combination produces an average of 73.3 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High preset reduces the average to 57 FPS, a decline of roughly 22%. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 35.1 FPS, which represents a 52% drop from the 1080p result.

This scaling pattern reveals that the RTX 5060 is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus width, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, are pushed hard as pixel count increases. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs about 16 FPS on High, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 22 FPS. The data indicates that 4K at High settings is not viable for smooth gameplay, as the 35.1 FPS average falls below typical playability thresholds.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is similar but the absolute numbers are higher. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 117.8 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 87.3 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it settles at 59.5 FPS. The 4K Low result is interesting because it shows that even the most demanding resolution can produce playable frame rates when the settings are reduced sufficiently. The difference between 4K Low and 4K High is 24.4 FPS, which is a larger gap than the 30.5 FPS difference between 1080p Low and 1080p High. This suggests that the GPU's rendering load scales more steeply with settings at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset occupies a middle ground. At 1080p, Medium produces 87.4 FPS, which is 30.4 FPS lower than Low but 14.1 FPS higher than High. At 1440p, Medium delivers 64.4 FPS, and at 4K, it drops to 41.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 4K Ultra yielding only 27.4 FPS. This is the lowest measured result across all configurations, and it indicates that Ultra settings at 4K are beyond the capabilities of this hardware combination.

The data overall shows that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the CPU has more influence, as the frame rates are high enough for the Ryzen 5 5500's six cores and twelve threads to matter. At 4K, the GPU dominates the performance picture, and the CPU becomes less relevant. The 808th rank out of 1687 combinations in this game suggests that this pairing is mid-pack, neither exceptionally strong nor weak for Red Dead Redemption 2.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. Its 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die give it a transistor density of 121.0M per mm². The GPU has 3840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. It also includes 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores, which are relevant for the game's advanced lighting and reflection effects.

The memory subsystem is a notable feature. The 8 GB of GDDR7 memory operates at 1750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective, and the 128-bit bus width yields a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest that 8 GB of VRAM can become a constraint. The 4K High result of 35.1 FPS, compared to the 1440p High result of 57 FPS, shows a steep drop that cannot be explained solely by pixel count. The memory capacity is likely a contributing factor.

Clock speeds are modest but effective. The base clock is 2280 MHz, and the boost clock reaches 2497 MHz. The pixel rate is 119.9 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 299.6 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 19.18 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 19.18 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio. These figures place the RTX 5060 in a competitive position, as shown by its benchmark scores. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 120785, and the Vulkan score is 116626. The Passmark G3D score is 20891, and the GPU compute score is 10899.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 73rd among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score is 30109. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, with an average score of 30097 and a deltaPct of 0, meaning they are statistically tied. The NVIDIA Tesla M60 and the RTX 5070 Mobile are also close, with deltaPct values of 0.5 and 0.6 respectively. This indicates that the RTX 5060 is a solid mid-range performer, and the measured FPS data in Red Dead Redemption 2 reflects that positioning.

The GPU's power draw is 145 W TDP, with a suggested PSU of 300 W. It uses a single 8-pin power connector and occupies a dual-slot form factor. The PCIe 5.0 x8 interface is modern, and the display outputs include one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b connectors. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers the API requirements of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the High preset delivers 73.3 FPS, which is smooth and visually appealing. The Medium preset at 87.4 FPS offers a 14.1 FPS improvement over High, but the visual difference may not justify the performance gain. The Low preset at 117.8 FPS is the fastest, but the reduced visual quality is likely noticeable. For most players at 1080p, High provides the best balance.

At 1440p, the High preset produces 57 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 64.4 FPS is a better option, offering 7.4 FPS more than High while maintaining reasonable visuals. The Low preset at 87.3 FPS is the most playable, but the visual downgrade is significant. The Ultra preset at 38.1 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the 40 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended choice, with Low as a fallback if higher frame rates are needed.

At 4K, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset at 59.5 FPS is the only configuration that provides a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 41.3 FPS is playable but not ideal, and the High preset at 35.1 FPS is too slow for most players. The Ultra preset at 27.4 FPS is effectively unplayable. For 4K, Low is the only viable option, and even then, the 59.5 FPS average is not as high as the 1080p Medium result of 87.4 FPS.

The data suggests that the RTX 5060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2. At 1080p, High settings provide a good experience, and at 1440p, Medium settings are the sweet spot. The 4K resolution is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the performance is marginal. Players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate may accept the 4K Medium result of 41.3 FPS, but the data indicates that this is a compromise.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combination in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with High settings delivers 73.3 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce 64.4 FPS, which is also playable, but the 1080p High result is smoother.

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which yields 59.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 41.3 FPS is borderline, and the High preset at 35.1 FPS is below acceptable playability thresholds.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5060's average benchmark score is 30109, which is tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 30097 (deltaPct 0). It is 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60 and 0.6% ahead of the RTX 5070 Mobile.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU has more influence, as frame rates are high enough for the six cores and twelve threads to matter. At 4K, the GPU is the primary limiting component, and the CPU's role diminishes.

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

A: The Low preset produces 87.3 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 38.1 FPS. This is a difference of 49.2 FPS, which is substantial and indicates the GPU's rendering load scales significantly with settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5060 have, and does it matter?

A: The RTX 5060 has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory. The 4K results suggest that this capacity can become a constraint, as the drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings is steeper than the pixel count alone would indicate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture with the Cezanne codename. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The TDP is 65 W, and it uses the AMD Socket AM4. The 7 nm process node from TSMC houses 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU's memory support is DDR4 with a dual-channel bus, providing 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. It uses PCIe Gen 3, which is an older standard compared to the GPU's PCIe 5.0 interface. The CPU has no integrated graphics, so the RTX 5060 is the only display output. The multiplier is unlocked, allowing for overclocking, and the part number is 100-000000457. The launch MSRP is $159.

Benchmark results show that the Ryzen 5 5500 is a capable mid-range processor. In Cinebench R23, it scores 16429 in multicore and 2319 in single-core. The Cinebench R20 scores are 6900 and 973 respectively, and the R15 scores are 1656 and 233. The Passmark multithread score is 19330, with a single-thread score of 3058. The 3DMark scores range from 836 in single-thread to 5411 in max-threads, with a 2-thread score of 1645, a 4-thread score of 3151, and an 8-thread score of 4593.

The CPU's percentile ranking is 79th among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score is 20875. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i5-12500, with an average score of 20897 and a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the 5500 is essentially tied with it. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE is also close at 20900 with a deltaPct of -0.1, while the AMD EPYC 7J13 is 0.1% behind and the Intel Core i5-12600T is 0.2% behind.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p. The difference between Low and High settings at 1080p is 44.5 FPS (117.8 vs 73.3), which indicates that the GPU is doing most of the work. However, the CPU's six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to keep up with the game's demands at these frame rates. At 4K, the CPU's influence is minimal, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The 4K Low result of 59.5 FPS is less dependent on CPU performance than the 1080p Low result of 117.8 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 117.8 FPS, which is the highest measured result. The Medium preset follows at 87.4 FPS, then High at 73.3 FPS, and finally Ultra at 55 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 62.8 FPS, which shows the significant impact of settings on performance.

At 2560x1440, the order is the same but the numbers are lower. Low delivers 87.3 FPS, Medium delivers 64.4 FPS, High delivers 57 FPS, and Ultra delivers 38.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 49.2 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops considerably. Low produces 59.5 FPS, Medium produces 41.3 FPS, High produces 35.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 27.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 32.1 FPS, which is the narrowest of all resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the dominant constraint, and settings have less relative impact.

Comparing across resolutions, the 1080p Low result of 117.8 FPS is nearly double the 4K Low result of 59.5 FPS. The 1080p High result of 73.3 FPS is more than double the 4K High result of 35.1 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result of 55 FPS is exactly double the 4K Ultra result of 27.4 FPS. This consistent halving of performance from 1080p to 4K across all settings confirms that the RTX 5060's rendering capabilities are scaled directly with pixel count.

The Medium preset shows a slightly different pattern. The 1080p Medium result is 87.4 FPS, the 1440p Medium result is 64.4 FPS, and the 4K Medium result is 41.3 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 23 FPS, and the drop from 1440p to 4K is 23.1 FPS, which is remarkably consistent. The High preset drops by 16.3 FPS from 1080p to 1440p and by 21.9 FPS from 1440p to 4K. The Low preset drops by 30.5 FPS and then 27.8 FPS, while Ultra drops by 16.9 FPS and then 10.7 FPS.

These measurements place the combination in the 808th rank out of 1687 combinations for this game. The data is measured, not estimated, which adds confidence to the results. The overall picture is that this mid-range CPU and GPU pairing is suitable for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2, with 4K requiring significant setting reductions to achieve playable frame rates.