Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers a robust, high-refresh-rate experience in Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra remains the primary challenge. The measured data shows a clear performance hierarchy across settings, with the system ranking in the 71st percentile of all tested combinations for this title.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the combo averages 81 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At High settings, it maintains 68 FPS. The 1920x1080 results are higher (91 FPS High, 109 FPS Medium) but the 1440p experience offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Q: How does the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 72 at Low settings to 45 at High and 32 at Ultra. This 40 FPS swing from Low to Ultra suggests that the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are being stressed at higher quality presets, where the data indicates the card becomes the limiting factor.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7500F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The benchmark results suggest not. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo hits 145 FPS, and at Medium it delivers 109 FPS. The CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a 5.00 GHz boost clock appears sufficient to feed the GPU at these frame rates, as the drop from 1080p to 1440p is proportional to resolution scaling.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset averages 81 FPS, while the High preset averages 68 FPS. That is a 13 FPS difference (about 19% lower) for the visual upgrade to High. The Medium preset also has recorded minimum and maximum values of 69 and 93 FPS, respectively, indicating consistent frame pacing.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1066 out of 3714 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the top 29% of all systems tested, which is a strong result for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance matter for this game?

A: Yes, the data suggests it does. The Ryzen 5 7500F scores 974 in the 3dmark single-thread test and 3218 in cinebench r23 single-core. At 1080p, where the GPU has less work per frame, the combo still achieves 145 FPS at Low settings, indicating that the CPU's strong single-core performance (relative to its 77th percentile ranking) prevents a frame rate ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing for Red Dead Redemption 2. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, built on the Ampere architecture with 8704 shading units. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the game's large open-world textures and draw distances.

The data shows that the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the average FPS scales from 145 at Low to 65 at Ultra, a factor of 2.2x. At 3840x2160, the same comparison yields 72 FPS at Low versus 32 FPS at Ultra, a factor of 2.25x. This consistency indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance across all settings, but the absolute frame rates at 4K reveal its limitations. The RTX 3080's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 23172 align with the observed 4K Medium result of 54 FPS, suggesting that the card is well-suited for 1440p gaming but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with this game's demanding presets.

The memory bandwidth is particularly relevant. With 760.3 GB/s available, the GPU can handle the game's streaming requirements at 1440p without issue, as evidenced by the 81 FPS Medium result. However, at 4K Ultra, the 32 FPS average suggests that the 10 GB VRAM capacity may be insufficient for the highest texture quality, causing the GPU to rely on slower memory operations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable scaling pattern across resolutions. At High settings, the combo delivers 91 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. This represents a 25% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 51% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not perfectly linear with pixel count, which indicates that the GPU remains the limiting component throughout.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar: 109 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 33%, which is slightly less than the High preset's 34% drop, suggesting that Medium settings reduce the GPU load enough to allow the CPU to contribute more at higher resolutions.

The Low settings results tell a different story. At 1080p, the combo achieves 145 FPS, at 1440p it reaches 108 FPS, and at 4K it maintains 72 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is 26%, but from 1440p to 4K it is 33%. This larger drop at higher resolutions confirms that the RTX 3080's memory bandwidth and compute capabilities are the primary bottleneck, as the CPU's 6-core configuration with 32 MB of L3 cache is sufficient to keep up with the frame rates at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that Medium settings at 2560x1440 provides the best overall experience for this combo. The 81 FPS average with a minimum of 69 FPS and maximum of 93 FPS indicates a smooth, consistent frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS target for most displays. The High preset at 1440p, while offering better visuals, drops to 68 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, 1920x1080 at Medium settings delivers 109 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS, ensuring no drops below 90 FPS. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 145 FPS, but the visual sacrifice is significant for a game known for its detailed environments.

At 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option, averaging 54 FPS. The High preset at 45 FPS and Ultra at 32 FPS are below the smoothness threshold for most players. The data shows that the combo is not well-suited for 4K Ultra, as the 10 GB VRAM and the GPU's compute throughput are insufficient for this title's most demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured dataset for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 145 FPS. The Medium preset averages 109 FPS, with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 125 FPS. The High preset averages 91 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 65 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 108 FPS. The Medium preset averages 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. The High preset averages 68 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 49 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 72 FPS. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS. The High preset averages 45 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 32 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only setting that includes full minimum and maximum data across all resolutions, providing the most complete picture of performance stability. The 1080p Medium result of 109 FPS with a 92 FPS minimum shows excellent frame pacing, while the 1440p Medium result of 81 FPS with a 69 FPS minimum demonstrates that the combo can handle sustained action sequences without significant drops.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture using a 5 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU's benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. In cinebench r23, it scores 3218 single-core and 22799 multi-core. The 3dmark tests show a single-thread score of 974 and a max-thread score of 6379. These results place the CPU in the 77th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 24964.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 145 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires the CPU to feed the GPU with enough data. The 12 threads and 5.00 GHz boost clock are sufficient for this task. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the proportional FPS drops with increased pixel count.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-11850H with a delta of 0.1%, the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F with a delta of -0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-13620H with a delta of 0.2%. These small deltas indicate that the 7500F is well-matched with other mid-range to high-end CPUs, and its performance in this game is not anomalous.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1066 out of 3714 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the 71st percentile, meaning it outperforms 71% of all tested systems. Given the RTX 3080's 68th percentile ranking among GPUs and the CPU's 77th percentile ranking, the combo performs slightly above what the GPU's individual ranking would suggest, indicating that the CPU is not holding the system back.

The rank of 1066 out of 3714 is a strong result for a system with a 6-core CPU and a high-end GPU. The data shows that the combo is capable of delivering 60+ FPS at 1440p High settings, which is a common target for modern gaming. The 4K Medium result of 54 FPS is also respectable, though it falls short of 60 FPS.

The ranking also reflects the balance of the pairing. The RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are well-matched with the CPU's single-thread performance, as evidenced by the smooth scaling across resolutions. Systems with more powerful CPUs might achieve slightly higher frame rates at 1080p, but the 145 FPS result at Low settings already exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The combo's rank suggests that it is a well-balanced configuration for this game, with the GPU being the primary determinant of performance at higher resolutions and settings.