Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with resolution, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination clearly illustrates where the performance ceiling lies. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, this pairing delivers an average of 151.7 FPS, but dropping to 3840x2160 with Ultra settings yields only 30.8 FPS, a dramatic reduction that highlights a shift from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state at higher ones. The scaling pattern shows a 51.9% performance drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, and a further 34.1% drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low, indicating that the RTX 4070 becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At 1080p Ultra, the system still manages 69.1 FPS, which is playable, but the jump to 4K Ultra cuts that to less than half, demonstrating that the most demanding preset at the highest resolution is only suitable for those who prioritize visual fidelity over smooth motion.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS deltas across resolutions are the clearest indicator of system balance. At Low settings, the RTX 4070 handles 1080p with ease, producing 151.7 FPS, while the CPU still has headroom. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 114.3 FPS, a 24.6% reduction, and at 4K Low it falls to 75.3 FPS, another 34.1% reduction. This consistent decline with each resolution step suggests that the GPU is increasingly burdened, but the CPU is still keeping pace. The situation changes more drastically at Ultra settings: 1080p Ultra yields 69.1 FPS, 1440p Ultra drops to 52.4 FPS (a 24.2% reduction), and 4K Ultra plummets to 30.8 FPS, a 41.2% reduction from 1440p. The larger percentage drop at 4K Ultra compared to 4K Low indicates that the combination of high resolution and high settings saturates the GPU’s resources, making the 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus the likely limiting factor. The data suggests that for 1080p and 1440p gaming, the Ryzen 5 9600X provides sufficient compute power to feed the GPU, but at 4K, the RTX 4070’s raw throughput becomes the bottleneck, particularly when settings are maxed out.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The best result is 151.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which represents the least demanding configuration tested.

Q: Can this system run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 75.3, which is above the standard 60 FPS threshold. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 30.8 FPS, which is not smooth for fast-paced action.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X scores 3603 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 25525 in multi-core, showing strong single-thread capability for game logic, while the multi-core score is nearly 7 times higher, which helps with background tasks.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the RTX 4070 in this system?

A: The GPU comes with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but can be strained at 4K with high textures.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 9600X considered a high-performance CPU overall?

A: Its average benchmark score of 28246 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the majority of processors, though it sits close to rivals like the Intel Core i5-13490F, which scores 0.3% higher.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce 82.9 FPS, while High settings yield 71.8 FPS, a difference of 11.1 FPS, indicating that High is more demanding but still playable.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show a balanced profile: the single-thread score of 1253 in 3DMark and 3603 in Cinebench R23 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for Red Dead Redemption 2’s game logic and physics simulation. The multi-thread scores, such as 25525 in Cinebench R23 and 30027 in Passmark, reveal that the CPU can handle multiple threads efficiently, though the game itself may not fully utilize all 12 threads. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 151.7 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU has plenty of headroom at that resolution. However, the CPU’s performance does not degrade the experience at higher resolutions; instead, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck. The 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth help maintain consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the gradual FPS decline from 1080p to 4K rather than sudden stutters. In terms of rivalry, the 9600X scores 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-13490F and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 230, while being 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS, indicating that it is competitively positioned for gaming workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results provide a complete picture of performance across twelve configurations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 151.7 FPS on Low, 114.8 FPS on Medium, 97.5 FPS on High, and 69.1 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium is a 24.3% reduction, while Medium to High is a 15.1% reduction, and High to Ultra is a 29.1% reduction, showing that Ultra settings impose a significant penalty. At 2560x1440, the numbers are 114.3 FPS on Low, 82.9 FPS on Medium, 71.8 FPS on High, and 52.4 FPS on Ultra. The relative drops are similar, but the absolute values are lower, confirming that the GPU is working harder. At 3840x2160, the results are 75.3 FPS on Low, 56.9 FPS on Medium, 47.6 FPS on High, and 30.8 FPS on Ultra. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K is a 35.3% reduction, which is the largest relative drop in the entire dataset, indicating that Ultra settings at 4K are pushing the RTX 4070 beyond its comfortable operating range. Across all resolutions, Low settings provide the highest FPS, while Ultra provides the lowest, with Medium and High offering intermediate performance. The data indicates that for a consistent 60 FPS experience, users should stick to Low or Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, or Ultra at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz, combined with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yields a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is a key factor in texture-heavy scenes. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 26927 places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 37283 is only 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, showing that it is a solid performer. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU’s role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the CPU likely limits performance, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s are insufficient to maintain high frame rates, resulting in 30.8 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with Ultra textures, the memory capacity and 192-bit bus width may cause the GPU to hit memory bandwidth limits, as evidenced by the steep performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K. The RTX 4070’s 46 RT cores are not heavily utilized in this game, but its rasterization performance is the primary factor in the measured results.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, Ultra settings provide 69.1 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and offers the best visual quality without sacrificing playability. For 1440p, High settings deliver 71.8 FPS, striking a balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, while Ultra drops to 52.4 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration but not for combat. For 4K, the data suggests that Low settings at 75.3 FPS are the only viable option for smooth gameplay, as Medium drops to 56.9 FPS and High to 47.6 FPS, both below the ideal 60 FPS mark. If the user prioritizes frame rate over visuals, 4K Low is the only choice, but if they can tolerate lower frame rates, Medium at 56.9 FPS is a compromise. Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is 1440p High, which offers 71.8 FPS and a significant visual upgrade over Low settings, while still maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. At 1080p, Ultra is recommended for those with high refresh rate monitors, as the 69.1 FPS result is playable, though not as smooth as the 97.5 FPS achieved on High.