Red Dead Redemption 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 117.3 FPS, which drops to 90.2 FPS at Medium, 75.1 FPS at High, and 51.3 FPS at Ultra. This progression shows a 56.3% reduction from Low to Ultra at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor even at the lowest resolution.

Moving to 1440p, the same settings hierarchy yields 89.5 FPS at Low, 67.5 FPS at Medium, 54.2 FPS at High, and 39.0 FPS at Ultra. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is 27.8 FPS, or roughly 23.7%. At High settings, the 1440p result of 54.2 FPS is 20.9 FPS lower than the 1080p High result of 75.1 FPS. This consistent reduction across settings suggests that the rendering load scales predictably with pixel count, and the GPU's memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s becomes increasingly strained as resolution rises.

At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. High settings produce only 33.6 FPS, while Medium drops to 42.7 FPS, Low reaches 55.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24.2 FPS. The gap between 1440p High (54.2 FPS) and 4K High (33.6 FPS) is 20.6 FPS, a 38% reduction. Notably, the 4K Low result of 55.5 FPS is nearly identical to the 1440p High result of 54.2 FPS, demonstrating that resolution scaling here is almost purely GPU-bound. The RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus appears to be the limiting factor at 4K, as the bandwidth cannot sustain the higher pixel throughput without significant frame rate penalties.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the bottleneck in this title. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 66 FPS, which is substantial but still shows the GPU responding to settings changes. If the CPU were the constraint, the FPS would cluster more tightly regardless of resolution. Instead, the consistent scaling across all three resolutions points to the GPU as the dominant limiter, particularly at 4K where Ultra settings yield just 24.2 FPS — a figure that would be considered borderline playable at best.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this configuration in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 817 out of 1687 tested combinations. This places the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 in the upper-middle tier of the database, with roughly 48% of tested combos performing better and 52% performing worse. The percentile ranking for the CPU is 82, meaning it outperforms 82% of all CPUs in the database, while the GPU sits at the 73rd percentile.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 25064 places it in close competition with several notable rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X scores 25057, a delta of 0%, meaning these two processors are effectively tied in overall compute performance. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 scores 25099, which is 0.1% higher, while the AMD EPYC 9474F scores 25103, also 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F scores 24993, which is 0.3% lower than the 8400F. This tight clustering suggests that the 8400F's Zen 4 architecture provides competitive multi-threaded performance, but it is not a standout in raw compute terms.

For the GPU, the RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 30109 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which scores 30097 with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 570 scores 30158, which is 0.2% higher, and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 29969, 0.5% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile scores 29928, 0.6% lower. This suggests the desktop RTX 5060 is well-positioned among mid-range GPUs, though its 73rd percentile ranking indicates it is not a top-tier performer.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the combo's rank of 817 out of 1687 suggests that while this hardware pair is competent, it does not excel in this particular game. The game's open-world nature and demanding rendering engine likely benefit from higher-end GPUs, and the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM may be a limiting factor at higher settings, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 24.2 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB206 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It contains 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die, yielding a density of 121.0M transistors per mm². The GPU operates with a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 117.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. However, at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 51.3 FPS, indicating that the GPU's shading units (3840), TMUs (120), and ROPs (48) are being pushed to their limits. The pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p but struggle at higher resolutions.

The memory configuration is particularly noteworthy. With only 8 GB of VRAM, the RTX 5060 may encounter capacity issues at 4K with High or Ultra settings, as the game's textures and geometry can exceed this limit. The 4K Ultra result of 24.2 FPS suggests that the GPU is not only bandwidth-limited but possibly VRAM-limited as well. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is substantial for a 128-bit bus, but it cannot compensate for the sheer pixel count at 4K.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS is competitive for its class, and the 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for ray tracing and DLSS, though the benchmark data does not include RT-specific results. The RTX 5060's predecessor is the GeForce 40 series, and its percentile ranking of 73 indicates it outperforms nearly three-quarters of all GPUs in the database.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS across all resolution and settings combinations, the data suggests that the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, all settings levels are playable, with Low at 117.3 FPS, Medium at 90.2 FPS, High at 75.1 FPS, and Ultra at 51.3 FPS. For a 60 FPS target, High settings at 1080p provide a comfortable margin at 75.1 FPS, while Ultra falls below the threshold at 51.3 FPS.

At 1440p, the situation tightens. Low settings yield 89.5 FPS, which is excellent, while Medium at 67.5 FPS remains above 60 FPS. High settings drop to 54.2 FPS, slightly below the 60 FPS target, and Ultra falls to 39.0 FPS. For 1440p gaming, Medium settings offer the best balance between visual fidelity and performance, delivering 67.5 FPS. High settings are viable for those willing to accept a sub-60 FPS experience, but the drop to 54.2 FPS may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced scenes.

At 4K, the results are less encouraging. Low settings produce 55.5 FPS, which is just below 60 FPS, while Medium yields 42.7 FPS, High produces 33.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 24.2 FPS. For 4K, Low settings are the only option approaching playability, and even then, the frame rate is borderline. The data strongly suggests that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming with this title, and users should target 1080p or 1440p instead.

The recommendation is clear: for the best experience, use 1080p with High settings (75.1 FPS) or 1440p with Medium settings (67.5 FPS). Both configurations provide smooth gameplay while maintaining reasonable visual quality. Pushing to Ultra at any resolution results in frame rates below 60 FPS, with 1080p Ultra at 51.3 FPS being the only Ultra setting that remains playable. For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 117.3 FPS or 1440p Low at 89.5 FPS are excellent choices, particularly for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p with High settings achieves 75.1 FPS, while 1440p with Medium settings achieves 67.5 FPS. Both are above 60 FPS, but 1080p offers a higher frame rate with better visual settings, making it the recommended choice.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, even Low settings only produce 55.5 FPS, which is below 60 FPS. Ultra settings at 4K yield just 24.2 FPS, indicating that this hardware is not suitable for 4K gaming in this title.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 30109 is virtually identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT's 30097, with a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon RX 570 scores 30158, which is 0.2% higher.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F a bottleneck for this game?

A: The CPU's percentile ranking of 82 and its close performance to rivals like the Ryzen 7 2700X (25057 vs 25064) suggest it is not the limiting factor. The consistent FPS scaling across resolutions indicates the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: What settings provide the highest frame rate?

A: The highest measured frame rate is 117.3 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. This is followed by 90.2 FPS at 1080p Medium and 89.5 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 75.1 FPS at 1080p to 54.2 FPS at 1440p, and then to 33.6 FPS at 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 41.5 FPS, representing a 55.3% decrease.