Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 529th out of 1,687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it firmly in the upper third of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects a pairing where the CPU's 84th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 80th percentile among all graphics cards align to produce a consistently playable experience, though the data reveals that the graphics card becomes the primary constraint as resolution and settings escalate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 529 out of 1,687 tested configurations places it ahead of roughly 68% of all tested systems. This is a strong showing for a pairing built around a mid-generation CPU and a previous-generation flagship GPU. The Ryzen 7 5700 achieves an average benchmark score of 27,220, which sits just 0.7% above the Intel Core i9-9900K and 0.8% above both the Intel Core i7-12700H and Intel Core i7-1370P. The gap widens only slightly to 1.2% when compared against the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340. These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming terms, meaning the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3080 posts an average benchmark score of 35,787, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, 0.4% behind the AMD Radeon 880M, and 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile, trails by 1.0%. These margins are all within 1%, indicating that the RTX 3080 remains competitive with much newer hardware in synthetic benchmarks. However, in Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the measured frame rates show that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached earlier than the CPU's, particularly at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 5700 bottleneck the RTX 3080 in this game?

A: No. The CPU's average benchmark score of 27,220 is within 1.2% of its nearest rivals, and its multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 20,655 demonstrates ample headroom. The measured FPS drops more sharply with resolution increases than with setting changes, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 145 FPS on Low and 88.7 FPS on High, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 2560x1440, High settings still produce 68 FPS, which is playable. At 3840x2160, only Low settings exceed 60 FPS, hitting 69 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 3080’s average benchmark score of 35,787 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, 0.4% lower than the AMD Radeon 880M, and 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE. The RTX 5070 Ti Mobile trails by 1.0%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5700 a strong multi-threaded processor?

A: Yes. It scores 20,655 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 8,675 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Its 8 cores and 16 threads at a 4.60 GHz boost clock provide substantial parallel processing capability.

Q: What is the CPU’s single-thread performance like?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700 scores 2,916 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 901 in 3DMark single-thread. These scores are competitive with its nearest rivals, which all sit within 1.2% in average benchmark scores.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: It averages 31.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Dropping to High settings at 4K raises the average to 45.3 FPS, still below 60. Low settings are required to reach 69 FPS at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings reduces the average frame rate from 88.7 to 68, a drop of 23.3%. Scaling further to 3840x2160 at High settings yields 45.3 FPS, a further 33.4% reduction. This progressive decline is consistent with a GPU that is increasingly taxed by pixel count, not a CPU that is running out of threads.

At Low settings, the trend is similar but with higher absolute values: 145 FPS at 1080p, 109.4 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 24.6% from 1080p to 1440p and 36.9% from 1440p to 4K. The fact that even at Low settings the 4K frame rate drops below 70 FPS indicates the RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions.

Comparing Medium settings across resolutions: 111.2 FPS at 1080p, 81.3 FPS at 1440p, and 56.6 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 26.9%, and from 1440p to 4K is 30.4%. This pattern suggests that the GPU’s shading units (8,704) and texture units (272) are the limiting factor, as the CPU’s 16 threads remain underutilized. The RTX 3080’s boost clock of 1,710 MHz and FP32 throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS are simply not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 145 FPS, which is more than double the 63.7 FPS seen at Ultra. Medium settings yield 111.2 FPS, while High settings average 88.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 81.3 FPS, representing a 127.8% increase in performance when dropping from Ultra to Low. This wide spread indicates that settings have a massive impact at 1080p, and the GPU is not the bottleneck—the CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads at 4.60 GHz boost are sufficient to push high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates compress somewhat. Low settings average 109.4 FPS, Medium 81.3 FPS, High 68 FPS, and Ultra 46.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 62.7 FPS, a 134.3% improvement from Ultra to Low. Notably, High at 1440p (68 FPS) is nearly identical to Low at 4K (69 FPS), suggesting that resolution and settings trade-offs can yield similar results.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings average 69 FPS, Medium 56.6 FPS, High 45.3 FPS, and Ultra 31.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 37.1 FPS, a 116.3% improvement from Ultra to Low. Even at Low settings, the frame rate barely exceeds 60 FPS, and at Ultra it falls below 32 FPS. This is a steep drop-off that cannot be mitigated by the CPU, which shows no signs of bottlenecking given its strong multi-threaded scores.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS, the data supports specific settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, High settings (88.7 FPS) provide a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, while Medium (111.2 FPS) and Low (145 FPS) offer even higher headroom. Ultra at 63.7 FPS just barely clears the 60 FPS threshold, but the margin is slim—dropping to High adds 25 FPS with likely minimal visual sacrifice.

At 2560x1440, High settings (68 FPS) are the recommended choice for a 60 FPS target, as they provide an 8 FPS buffer. Medium (81.3 FPS) offers more headroom for demanding scenes, while Low (109.4 FPS) is suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. Ultra at 46.7 FPS falls below 60 FPS, so it should be avoided unless the player prioritizes visual fidelity over smoothness.

At 3840x2160, only Low settings (69 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. Medium (56.6 FPS) and High (45.3 FPS) are below the threshold, and Ultra (31.9 FPS) is only suitable for screenshots or non-action sequences. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant settings compromises, and players should consider dropping to 1440p for a better experience.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5700 is a Zen 3 architecture processor built on TSMC’s 7 nm process, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 2,916 Cinebench R23 single-core score and 901 3DMark single-thread score. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for feeding the RTX 3080’s data demands.

In this game, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (145 FPS) shows that the CPU can drive frame rates well above 100 FPS, and its multi-threaded scores (20,655 in Cinebench R23, 8,675 in Cinebench R20) indicate it is not a bottleneck even at lower resolutions. The CPU’s nearest rivals all have average benchmark scores within 1.2%, confirming that the 5700 is not holding back the RTX 3080.

The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking among all processors, combined with the GPU’s 80th percentile, suggests a balanced pairing. However, the game’s resolution scaling patterns show that the GPU’s 10 GB memory capacity and 320-bit bus are the primary constraints at 4K. The CPU’s 16 threads handle the game’s simulation and draw-call overhead without issue, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across settings at each resolution. In short, the Ryzen 7 5700 provides ample computational headroom, and any performance limitations in Red Dead Redemption 2 are attributable to the RTX 3080’s graphics processing capabilities.