Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with AMD Ryzen 5 5600X + Intel Arc B370

This combination pairs a strong mid-range desktop processor with an integrated-class GPU, creating a system that struggles to maintain playable frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2 across all tested settings. Benchmark results place this combo at rank 2670 out of 2902 tested combinations, putting it in the bottom 8% of all system pairings for this title. The data shows a consistent pattern: the Intel Arc B370 is the dominant constraint, with the Ryzen 5 5600X providing ample headroom that goes largely unused.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at every setting level. At 1080p Low, the system averages 47 FPS, which drops to 35 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 23 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 51% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings — a dramatic falloff that points squarely at pixel throughput limits rather than CPU bottlenecks.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling at higher quality presets. At High settings, average FPS goes from 29 at 1080p to 22 at 1440p to 14 at 4K, a 52% total decline. Medium settings show 35 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K, with a similar 51% drop. Ultra settings follow the same trajectory: 21 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K, representing a 52% reduction. The uniformity of these percentage drops across all four quality presets indicates that resolution scaling is entirely GPU-bound, with no evidence of CPU limitations emerging at lower resolutions.

The 4K results are especially revealing. Even at Low settings, the system only manages 23 FPS, which is far below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for playable action. At Medium 4K, the average falls to 17 FPS with a minimum of 15 FPS and a maximum of 20 FPS — the only resolution/setting combination in the dataset that includes min and max values, showing tight but consistently low performance. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is roughly proportional to the pixel count increase, suggesting the GPU's rendering pipeline scales predictably without unexpected memory or bandwidth cliffs.

Interestingly, the delta between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution is also consistent: roughly 55-57% performance loss at every resolution when maxing out quality. This consistency implies that the GPU's shading units, texture units, and ROPs are all saturated proportionally as settings increase, rather than any single bottleneck (like texture memory) causing a disproportionate collapse at higher presets.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3nm process node. Its 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units deliver a theoretical peak of 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The board runs at a base clock of 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz, and its memory configuration is system-shared, with bandwidth described as system dependent. This is a 25 W part with no power connectors and an IGP form factor, indicating it shares power and thermal budget with the host processor.

The benchmark data shows this GPU sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, delta -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, delta -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, delta -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, delta 1.4%). The Arc B370 essentially trades blows with integrated and low-end discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, which contextualizes its Red Dead Redemption 2 performance.

In this game specifically, the GPU's limitations manifest clearly. At 1080p Low, 47 FPS is the best achievable average, but that requires dropping to the lowest quality preset. The boost clock of 2400 MHz helps at lower resolutions where the GPU's 20 ROPs can keep up with pixel fill demands, but the 6.144 TFLOPS compute throughput is insufficient for the complex shading and lighting in Red Dead Redemption 2's open world. The system-shared memory architecture means the GPU draws from the same DDR4 pool as the CPU, which likely contributes to the consistent performance drops at 4K where memory bandwidth demands spike.

The GPU's 10 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are technically present, but the raw compute and memory bandwidth limitations make any ray-traced features impractical at playable frame rates. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are theoretical maximums that the measured FPS data shows are rarely approached in real gameplay, particularly at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60 FPS?

A: No. The highest measured average FPS across all resolutions and settings is 47 FPS at 1080p Low. Every other configuration falls below 35 FPS, and no setting combination reaches 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this hardware?

A: 1080p is the only resolution that approaches playable frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system averages 47 FPS, while 1440p Low drops to 35 FPS and 4K Low falls to 23 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Arc B370 scores 1184, which is within 1.4% of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168) and within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). It sits at the 5th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600X holding back performance in this game?

A: No. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs (average benchmark score 21771) far exceeds the GPU's 5th percentile. The Ryzen 5 5600X has sufficient single-thread and multi-thread performance; the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: 1440p Medium yields an average of 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 FPS and maximum of 30 FPS. This is below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth playability.

Q: Does lowering settings from Ultra to Low help more at 4K than at 1080p?

A: The percentage improvement is similar across resolutions. At 4K, Low (23 FPS) is 130% faster than Ultra (10 FPS). At 1080p, Low (47 FPS) is 124% faster than Ultra (21 FPS). The absolute gain is larger at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear trade-off between visual quality and playability, with no configuration achieving both. If the goal is the smoothest experience, 1080p Low is the only viable option, delivering 47 FPS average. This is the sole setting that stays above the 35 FPS range, and it represents a 130% improvement over 1080p Ultra's 21 FPS. For players who prioritize frame rate stability over visual fidelity, this is the recommended starting point.

For those willing to accept lower frame rates for better visuals, 1080p Medium at 35 FPS (minimum 30 FPS, maximum 40 FPS) is the next best option. The minimum of 30 FPS means the game stays technically playable, though dips will be noticeable. 1080p High at 29 FPS is borderline, while 1080p Ultra at 21 FPS should be avoided unless the player values screenshots over gameplay.

At 1440p, the situation worsens. Even at Low settings, the average drops to 35 FPS, which matches 1080p Medium but with lower visual quality. 1440p Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS — too low for consistent playability. 1440p High (22 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (16 FPS) are effectively unplayable for action sequences. The data suggests that 1440p should be reserved for static scenes or if the player can tolerate sub-30 FPS performance.

4K resolution is not recommended under any settings. The best 4K result is 23 FPS at Low, and every other preset falls between 10 and 17 FPS. The 4K Medium measurement shows a minimum of 15 FPS and maximum of 20 FPS, confirming that even the most favorable variance cannot reach playable levels. For this hardware, 1080p Low or Medium provides the best balance of playability and visual fidelity, with the understanding that this is a last-generation experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results. Low settings average 47 FPS, Medium averages 35 FPS with a range of 30-40 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 21 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 55% performance penalty for maximum quality, which is significant but not catastrophic at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, all averages drop below the 1080p equivalents. Low delivers 35 FPS, Medium averages 26 FPS with a range of 22-30 FPS, High averages 22 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 9 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 6 FPS. The overall penalty from Low to Ultra is 19 FPS, or 54%.

At 3840x2160, the system is severely limited. Low averages 23 FPS, Medium averages 17 FPS with a range of 15-20 FPS, High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 10 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 13 FPS, or 57%, which is proportionally similar to the lower resolutions but results in a sub-15 FPS experience at any setting above Low.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings, the pattern is consistent. Low settings lose 12 FPS from 1080p to 1440p (47 to 35) and another 12 FPS from 1440p to 4K (35 to 23). Medium settings lose 9 FPS from 1080p to 1440p (35 to 26) and another 9 FPS to 4K (26 to 17). High settings lose 7 FPS from 1080p to 1440p (29 to 22) and 8 FPS to 4K (22 to 14). Ultra settings lose 5 FPS from 1080p to 1440p (21 to 16) and 6 FPS to 4K (16 to 10). The consistent 50-57% scaling penalty across all settings suggests the GPU's bandwidth and compute resources are the limiting factor at every quality level.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename), manufactured on TSMC's 7nm process. It runs at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts to 4.60 GHz, with 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it a flexible desktop part, and it launched at $299 MSRP.

Benchmark results show the 5600X performing strongly for its class. It scores 11838 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1541 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 9173 and single-core score of 1989. Its 3DMark scores scale from 917 single-thread to 5588 max-thread, and PassMark multi-thread reaches 21858. The CPU sits at the 75th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 21771. Its nearest rivals are closely matched: the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H scores 21749 (0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U scores 21874 (-0.5% delta), and the Intel Core i7-11700 scores 21891 (-0.5% delta).

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the 5600X's capabilities are largely untapped. The measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU throttling — the performance scales consistently with resolution and settings changes, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, where CPU load would be highest relative to GPU load, the 47 FPS average still falls far below what the 5600X could support with a more powerful GPU. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this game's threading model, and the 4.60 GHz boost clock provides strong single-thread performance for game logic and draw call processing.

The CPU's 32 MB L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are more than adequate for the game's data streaming needs. Even at 4K, where system memory traffic increases due to the shared GPU memory architecture, the CPU-side memory bandwidth does not become a constraint — the GPU simply cannot process frames fast enough to saturate the available bandwidth. The 5600X is effectively waiting on the Arc B370 at every resolution and settings combination, meaning players upgrading the GPU later would see immediate and substantial FPS gains without needing to replace the processor.