Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a solid 1440p experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, but the data reveals that 4K Ultra remains a stretch target. This combination sits at rank 507 out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. The CPU, a 6-core/12-thread Zen 3 part with a 3.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost, provides enough throughput for the game's open-world demands, while the RTX 3080's 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 1440 MHz base / 1710 MHz boost clocks determine the ceiling at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What average FPS does this combo achieve at 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the measured average FPS is 63.5. This is the lowest 1080p result tested, indicating that Ultra settings impose a significant load even at this resolution.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 71. This is the second-highest 1440p result, only behind the Low preset's 106.5 FPS, making it a practical choice for quality-focused play.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 69 on Low settings. High settings drop to 46.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35.1 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 507 out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 70th percentile overall. This indicates strong performance relative to the broader test pool.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 21765. It is 0.6% ahead of the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (21635), 0.6% behind the AMD EPYC 9554P (21899), and 0.9% behind the Intel Core i7-11700F (21957).

Q: What is the RTX 3080's position relative to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon 880M (35646), and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary driver of frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2, especially at higher resolutions. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the game's large textures and open-world streaming. The GPU's base clock runs at 1440 MHz with a boost up to 1710 MHz, and it features 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing effects.

The GPU's FP32 performance is 29.77 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 164.2 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s. These specifications translate into the measured FPS figures: at 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 35.1 FPS, while at 1080p Low it reaches 145 FPS. The 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU indicate a power-hungry part, but the data shows the GPU scales well with resolution changes. The RTX 3080's 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs (avg benchmark score 35787) confirms it is a high-tier part, though the 4K results show its limits in this demanding title.

The memory configuration is particularly relevant: 10 GB is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p across all settings, but 4K Ultra may approach capacity limits, contributing to the 35.1 FPS result. The GPU's memory clock of 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) ensures consistent bandwidth delivery, but the data indicates that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K, as CPU scaling cannot compensate for the reduced frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 145 FPS on Low, 107.8 on Medium, 92.8 on High, and 63.5 on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, these figures drop to 106.5, 82.4, 71, and 50.8 respectively. At 3840x2160, the numbers fall further to 69, 57.1, 46.4, and 35.1.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings shows a 23.5% FPS reduction (from 92.8 to 71), while the jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings results in a 34.6% reduction (from 71 to 46.4). This nonlinear drop indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The 4K Low result of 69 FPS is notably lower than 1080p Ultra's 63.5 FPS, suggesting that even on Low settings, the 4K resolution stresses the GPU more than the highest settings at 1080p.

The data reveals that the CPU maintains adequate performance across resolutions, as the Ryzen 5 5600's 6 cores and 12 threads can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. However, the RTX 3080's 10 GB memory and 320-bit bus cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K with high-quality settings. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution: at 1080p, the difference is 81.5 FPS (145 vs 63.5), while at 4K it narrows to 33.9 FPS (69 vs 35.1), further confirming GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best results with 145 FPS on Low settings. Medium settings produce 107.8 FPS, High settings yield 92.8 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 63.5 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 81.5 FPS, indicating substantial headroom for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors at lower presets.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings deliver 106.5 FPS, Medium drops to 82.4 FPS, High reaches 71 FPS, and Ultra settles at 50.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 55.7 FPS, showing that the GPU's workload increases with resolution. High settings at 1440p remain playable, but Ultra dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low settings provide 69 FPS, Medium yields 57.1 FPS, High manages 46.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 33.9 FPS, the smallest spread across all resolutions. This suggests that the GPU is saturated even at Low settings, and additional quality settings only marginally affect performance. The 4K Ultra result of 35.1 FPS is below playable standards for most users, while 4K Low at 69 FPS offers a viable alternative for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 507 out of 1687 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 30% of all configurations. This rank reflects the balance between the Ryzen 5 5600 and RTX 3080, with the GPU providing most of the performance headroom. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 among all processors (avg benchmark score 21765) is slightly below the GPU's percentile rank of 80 (avg benchmark score 35787), indicating that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing.

The rank suggests that this combo outperforms roughly 70% of tested systems, though it is not in the top tier. The nearest CPU rivals show minimal performance differences: the Intel Core i7-11700F is 0.9% ahead, and the AMD EPYC 9554P is 0.6% ahead, but these are workstation-class parts with different use cases. On the GPU side, the RTX 3080's rivals show similarly small deltas, with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE 0.9% behind and the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile 1% ahead. These narrow margins indicate that the combo's rank is stable relative to comparable hardware.

The measured FPS data aligns with this ranking: the combo achieves 71 FPS at 1440p High, which is a strong result for a game of Red Dead Redemption 2's graphical fidelity. However, the 4K Ultra result of 35.1 FPS places it below systems with more powerful GPUs or those with higher VRAM capacities. The rank of 507 out of 1687 reflects this balanced but not extreme performance profile.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename) on a 7 nm process node from TSMC. It operates at a 3.50 GHz base clock with a 4.40 GHz boost, and its 32 MB of shared L3 cache provides adequate data throughput for gaming workloads. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes, which complements the RTX 3080's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS scaling with resolution shows. The CPU's benchmark scores — including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and single-core score of 2584 — indicate strong per-thread performance, which is essential for the game's single-threaded tasks. The PassMark multithread score of 21541 and single-thread score of 3256 further confirm the CPU's capability.

The 65 W TDP and 74 mm² die size with 4,150 million transistors make this an efficient part, but the data does not show CPU bottlenecking at any resolution. At 1080p Low (145 FPS), the GPU is still the limiting factor, as the CPU can deliver over 200 FPS in lighter titles. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 and average benchmark score of 21765 place it near the Intel Core i7-11700F (21957), which is 0.9% faster, but this difference does not translate into meaningful FPS deltas in this game. The Ryzen 5 5600's 12 threads are sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2's multi-threaded rendering tasks, and the data shows no advantage from additional cores in the measured results.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 with ECC capability and dual-channel configuration ensures stable performance, though the game's memory usage is more dependent on the GPU's 10 GB VRAM. Overall, the Ryzen 5 5600 provides a solid foundation for the RTX 3080, with no observed CPU-induced frame rate limitations across the tested resolutions and settings.