Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 — AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + Intel Arc B390

The data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B390 presents a challenging performance picture. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the average frame rates range from 11 FPS at 4K Ultra to 51 FPS at 1080p Low. The combo ranks 2568th out of 2902 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 12th percentile of all recorded configs. The GPU's benchmark percentile sits at 9, while the CPU's is 77, indicating a substantial imbalance where the graphics processor is the primary constraint in nearly every scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent decline as resolution increases, which is a classic indicator of GPU-bound performance. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 51 FPS at 1920x1080 to 38 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 25.5% reduction — and then further to 25 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 51% drop from the 1080p baseline. The scaling pattern suggests that the Intel Arc B390's rendering throughput is the limiting factor, as the CPU's workload does not scale with resolution in the same way.

Moving from 1440p to 4K produces a smaller relative decrease than from 1080p to 1440p. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 39 at 1080p to 29 at 1440p (a 25.6% drop), then to 19 at 4K (a 34.5% drop from 1440p). This non-linear behavior indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is operating closer to its raw pixel throughput ceiling, where additional resolution increases yield diminishing absolute returns but still significant relative losses.

At High settings, the pattern continues: 32 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p (25% drop), and 16 FPS at 4K (33.3% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings levels — roughly 25% from 1080p to 1440p and 33% from 1440p to 4K — points to a GPU that is uniformly overwhelmed by pixel count increases, regardless of the graphical preset. This uniformity is notable because it suggests the bottleneck is not specific to any particular rendering feature but rather the overall fill rate and shading capacity of the Arc B390.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 23 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p (26.1% drop), and 11 FPS at 4K (35.3% drop from 1440p). At 4K Ultra, the 11 FPS average is below playable thresholds by any standard. The data indicates that this combination cannot sustain respectable frame rates at any resolution above 1080p, and even at 1080p, only the Low preset approaches 60 FPS territory. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as the Ryzen 5 8400F's strong CPU-side benchmarks (77th percentile) do not translate into higher frame rates when the GPU is saturated.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combination achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 51 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only measured configuration that exceeds 50 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 4K?

A: Yes, but with severe performance limitations. At 4K, the average FPS ranges from 25 at Low to 11 at Ultra, with Medium achieving 19 FPS. None of these are comfortably playable.

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

A: The Intel Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443).

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25005. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, scores 24964 (0.2% lower).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. The CPU ranks in the 77th percentile while the GPU ranks in the 9th percentile, and frame rates drop uniformly with resolution increases, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination is closest to 60 FPS?

A: The closest to 60 FPS is 1080p Low at 51 FPS average. The next highest is 1080p Medium at 39 FPS, which is 23.5% lower than the Low preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 8400F demonstrates solid multi-threaded capability. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 20851, while the single-core score is 2943. PassMark multi-thread performance is 24389, with a single-thread score of 3685. The 3DMark threaded tests show scaling from 951 (single-thread) to 6165 (max-threads), with 8-thread performance at 5275. These numbers place the CPU in the 77th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 25005.

The nearest CPU rivals, based on average score, are the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24964, 0.2% lower), Intel Core i7-11850H (24935, 0.3% lower), Intel Core i7-13620H (24911, 0.4% lower), and AMD EPYC 9474F (25103, 0.4% higher). This clustering indicates that the 8400F is well within the expected performance envelope for its class, but none of this CPU capability translates into playable frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2 because the GPU is the binding constraint.

Given that the game's frame rates at 4K are single-digit to low-20s across all settings, the CPU's 12 threads and 4.7 GHz boost are effectively underutilized in this pairing. The measured FPS data shows no scenario where higher CPU clocks or more cores would meaningfully improve results, as the Arc B390's 9th-percentile GPU ranking is the dominant factor. The CPU's 25,000 million transistors and 178 mm² die size are irrelevant to this game's performance when the GPU cannot render frames fast enough.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2568th out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the bottom 11.5% of all configs, which is consistent with the GPU's low individual ranking. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 puts it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710.

The delta percentages among these GPU rivals are tight — from 1.3% to 2.7% — indicating that the Arc B390 sits in a performance tier populated by very old, low-end mobile and OEM graphics solutions. This context is crucial: the combo's rank is not a reflection of the CPU, which is competitive with modern mid-range processors, but rather a direct consequence of the GPU's severely limited rendering capabilities.

When interpreting the combo rank, it is important to note that this is a measured result (dataIsMeasured: true), not an estimate. The 2568th position out of 2902 means there are only 334 tested combos that perform worse in this game. The practical implication is that users of this combo will experience frame rates that are below 30 FPS in almost all settings above 1080p Low, and even at 1080p Low, the 51 FPS average is marginal for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which benefits from higher refresh rates for smoother camera movement.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the resolution with the best results, the measured averages are: Low at 51 FPS, Medium at 39 FPS (with a min of 33 and max of 44), High at 32 FPS, and Ultra at 23 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 28 FPS, representing a 54.9% reduction. The Medium preset's min-max range (33-44) shows a 33.3% variance between lows and highs, indicating frame pacing instability even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, all presets drop below 40 FPS. Low averages 38 FPS, Medium averages 29 FPS (min 24, max 33), High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 21 FPS (55.3% reduction), which is proportionally similar to 1080p. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a min-max range of 24-33, a 37.5% variance that suggests occasional stutter.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes largely unusable. Low averages 25 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS (min 16, max 22), High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 14 FPS (56% reduction), maintaining the same proportional pattern seen at lower resolutions. The Medium preset's min of 16 FPS and max of 22 FPS shows a 37.5% variance, consistent with the trend across all resolutions.

Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Medium reduces FPS by roughly 23-24% (e.g., 51 to 39 at 1080p, 38 to 29 at 1440p, 25 to 19 at 4K). The Medium-to-High step costs another 18-21% (39 to 32, 29 to 24, 19 to 16). The High-to-Ultra step costs 28-31% (32 to 23, 24 to 17, 16 to 11). The increasing percentage cost of Ultra settings at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is disproportionately taxed by the additional rendering features in the Ultra preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only configuration that approaches a playable frame rate is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which averages 51 FPS. This is 30.8% higher than the next best option (1080p Medium at 39 FPS). For users who prioritize frame rate above all else, 1080p Low is the clear choice, though it is important to note that even this setting does not reach a locked 60 FPS.

If visual quality is more important than frame rate, 1080p Medium at 39 FPS is the only preset that stays above 30 FPS while offering improved graphics over Low. The Medium preset's minimum of 33 FPS indicates that it can hold above 30 FPS in most scenes, though the maximum of 44 FPS shows headroom is limited. At 1440p, the Low preset (38 FPS) is the only option above 30 FPS, but it is only marginally better than 1080p Medium and comes with the resolution advantage.

For users who insist on 4K, the data offers no viable options — the best 4K result is 25 FPS at Low, which is below the standard 30 FPS threshold for playability in a story-driven game like Red Dead Redemption 2. At 4K Medium, the 19 FPS average and 16 FPS minimum will result in noticeable judder. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended, as it yields the lowest frame rates (11-23 FPS) and the highest percentage cost (28-31% over High) for what is likely a marginal visual gain.

The data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo is 1080p Medium, which balances the 39 FPS average with a minimum of 33 FPS, providing a reasonably stable experience. Users who cannot tolerate drops below 30 FPS should drop to 1080p Low, where the 51 FPS average leaves more headroom. At 1440p, only the Low preset is viable, and at 4K, no preset is recommended based on the measured averages.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by Intel. It features 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores. The GPU's base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz, yielding a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). The TDP is 80 W, and it uses system-shared memory with bandwidth that is system dependent.

The GPU's only recorded benchmark is 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 with a score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all significantly older NVIDIA parts: the GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% lower), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% lower), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% lower), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7% lower). The fact that the Arc B390 only outperforms these legacy parts by 1-3% in a modern DX12 benchmark strongly indicates that its real-world gaming performance will be severely limited.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role as the bottleneck is confirmed by the resolution scaling data. The consistent ~25% FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~33% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings presets is the signature of a GPU that is saturated by pixel throughput demands. The system-shared memory architecture means that bandwidth depends on the CPU's DDR5 configuration (83.2 GB/s for the Ryzen 5 8400F), which is likely insufficient for a game of Red Dead Redemption 2's scale at higher resolutions.

The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz and 1536 shading units produce a theoretical FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS, but the measured results show that this compute capability does not translate into playable performance. The 11 FPS at 4K Ultra and 16 FPS at 4K High indicate that the GPU is unable to handle the game's advanced rendering features, including volumetric lighting and high-resolution textures, at any reasonable pace. The ray tracing cores (12) do not appear to provide any benefit in this game's rasterization-heavy workload, as the frame rates are uniformly low regardless of settings.

The GPU's 9th-percentile ranking, combined with its narrow margin over decade-old NVIDIA parts, establishes that the Arc B390 is fundamentally unsuitable for Red Dead Redemption 2 at playable frame rates beyond 1080p Low/Medium. The CPU's strong performance (77th percentile) is wasted in this pairing, as the GPU cannot deliver frames fast enough to utilize the processor's capabilities. This combination is a case study in GPU-bound bottlenecking, where the weakest component determines the entire experience.