Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a playable, though not consistently smooth, experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. This combination ranks at 1364 out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The data shows that the RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, is the primary constraint on performance. The Ryzen 5 7500F, a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 part with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, provides ample processing headroom. Users should target 1080p with medium-to-high settings for the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, as higher resolutions and ultra settings quickly push the GPU past its limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates indicate that the "Ultra" preset is not practical for this combo. At 1920x1080, Ultra yields an average of 36.2 FPS, which dips below the smoothness threshold for action-adventure gameplay. Similarly, at 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 25.7 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to a stuttery 22.1 FPS. These numbers suggest that the Ultra preset demands more from the RTX 2060 than its 6 GB frame buffer and 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 compute can deliver.

The "High" preset is the most sensible starting point for a quality experience. At 1920x1080, it produces an average of 54.4 FPS, which is acceptable for a story-driven title. However, the performance cliff appears when moving to 2560x1440, where High drops to 39.3 FPS. This indicates that High is only viable at 1080p for this hardware.

For users who prioritize frame rate above all, the "Low" preset offers a substantial boost. At 1920x1080, Low achieves 83.9 FPS, and at 2560x1440, it still holds 66.1 FPS. Even at 4K, Low manages 40.8 FPS. The "Medium" preset sits between these extremes, providing 63.7 FPS at 1080p and 46.5 FPS at 1440p, but it does not offer a significant visual uplift over Low in this configuration.

The optimal recommendation is to run the game at 1920x1080 with the High preset, accepting the 54.4 FPS average. If a higher frame rate is required, dropping to Medium yields 63.7 FPS without a drastic change in rendering load. Avoid Ultra entirely, as the 36.2 FPS at 1080p represents a 33% performance penalty over High for marginal visual gains.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 4 architecture with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores reflect a strong single-thread and multi-thread performer. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22799 and single-core score of 3218 place it well above the average for desktop CPUs, ranking in the 82nd percentile against all CPUs.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a GPU-heavy title at most settings, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The data supports this conclusion: at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 83.9 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all tested configurations. This suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions where the render load is lighter. The Ryzen 5 7500F's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support (with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide adequate data throughput for the game's open-world streaming.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 7500F shows a near-tie with the Intel Core i7-11850H (deltaPct 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (deltaPct 0.4), while slightly trailing the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (deltaPct -0.3) and Ryzen 5 8400F (deltaPct -0.3). These differences are negligible, meaning the CPU's performance in this game is consistent with its class. The 12 threads handle the game's background simulation tasks without issue, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU settings rather than CPU load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the limiting factor in this pairing. It features a TU106 chip on the 12 nm process, with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its memory configuration of 6 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at higher resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores tell the story of a mid-range part. Its PassMark G3D score of 14111 places it in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 is modest, and the Geekbench OpenCL score of 71278 is similarly unremarkable. The RTX 2060's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (deltaPct 0.5) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (deltaPct -1.7), showing it is roughly on par with those parts.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM is a clear constraint. The measured frame rates show a steep drop when transitioning from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings. For example, High settings at 1080p yield 54.4 FPS, but at 1440p this falls to 39.3 FPS, a 28% reduction. This is consistent with the GPU running out of memory bandwidth and capacity as the render target grows. The situation worsens at 4K, where High settings produce only 28.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 22.1 FPS. The RTX 2060's 6 GB frame buffer is simply not enough for 4K textures and high detail levels in this game.

The GPU also features 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, but Red Dead Redemption 2 does not heavily utilize ray tracing, so these have minimal impact on the measured results. The boost clock of 1680 MHz is typical for the 20-series, and its 160 W TDP is modest, but the raw compute throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS is the limiting factor for this title's demanding shader work.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1364 out of 1687 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the 19th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 80% of tested combos perform better. This is a low ranking, but it is expected given that the RTX 2060 is an older, entry-level ray tracing GPU, while the Ryzen 5 7500F is a modern mid-range CPU.

The rank indicates that this system is suited for 1080p gaming with compromises. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor; when paired with a stronger GPU, the Ryzen 5 7500F would likely rank much higher. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as evidenced by the fact that lowering settings from High to Low at 1080p increases the frame rate from 54.4 FPS to 83.9 FPS, a 54% improvement. This is a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU has headroom to spare.

Given the CPU's 82nd percentile ranking against all CPUs and the GPU's 58th percentile ranking, the combo's overall rank of 1364 is dragged down by the GPU. Users considering this combo should be aware that upgrading the GPU alone would yield significant performance gains, while upgrading the CPU would have minimal impact on this game's frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 83.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the frame rate drops to 66.1 FPS, a 21% reduction. At 3840x2160, it falls to 40.8 FPS, a 38% reduction from 1440p and a 51% reduction from 1080p.

This scaling behavior is typical of a GPU-limited system. The CPU's performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU's render output units (48 ROPs) and texture rate (201.6 GTexel/s) cannot keep up with the increasing pixel count. The pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s is a theoretical maximum that the RTX 2060 cannot sustain in real-world gameplay at 4K.

The data also shows that the gap between settings narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (83.9 FPS) and Ultra (36.2 FPS) is 47.7 FPS. At 4K, the difference between Low (40.8 FPS) and Ultra (22.1 FPS) is only 18.7 FPS. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so overwhelmed that even reducing settings provides diminishing returns, as the memory bandwidth and fill rate become the hard limits.

For this combo, 1080p is the only resolution that offers a consistently playable experience across all settings. At 1440p, only Low settings (66.1 FPS) approach the 60 FPS target, while Medium and High fall below 50 FPS. The 4K resolution is not viable for this hardware, as even Low settings produce only 40.8 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth action gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU/GPU combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 provides the best balance, yielding 54.4 FPS. For higher frame rates, the Medium preset at 1080p gives 63.7 FPS, while Low at 1080p reaches 83.9 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7500F or the RTX 2060 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data clearly shows the RTX 2060 is the bottleneck. The CPU's benchmark scores (82nd percentile) are strong, while the GPU's (58th percentile) are average. Frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU settings, indicating the CPU has headroom.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, but only with Low settings, which produces 66.1 FPS. High settings at 1440p drop to 39.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 25.7 FPS, making those presets impractical.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S?

A: The RTX 2060 is 0.5% ahead of the RX 7600S in average benchmark score. This is a negligible difference, meaning performance in this game would be virtually identical between the two.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever usable with this hardware?

A: No. Even at 1080p, Ultra produces only 36.2 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. At 4K, Ultra drops to 22.1 FPS, making it unusable for this title.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 4K with this combo?

A: The highest achievable at 4K is 40.8 FPS with Low settings. Medium settings yield 33.9 FPS, High yields 28.8 FPS, and Ultra yields 22.1 FPS. None of these are ideal for smooth gameplay.