Red Dead Redemption 2

How This Combo Ranks

In Red Dead Redemption 2, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 lands at rank 324 out of 1687 tested combos. That places it comfortably inside the top 20% of all configurations, which is a strong result for a system built around a mid-generation CPU and a current-generation GPU. The ranking reflects the balance between the two components: the RTX 5070 carries the visual load, while the Ryzen 7 5700 provides enough processing headroom to avoid becoming the primary constraint at most settings.

The combo's position in the list is not a fluke of one resolution. Across the board, the measured frames per second are consistent with what one would expect from a system in this percentile. The data indicates that this is not a pairing where one component drags the other down; rather, it is a match that scales predictably with workload. The 84th percentile ranking of the CPU and the 83rd percentile ranking of the GPU among all parts suggest they are well-matched in overall capability, which is reflected in the game's performance tier.

For context, the CPU's average benchmark score of 27220 is nearly identical to that of the Intel Core i9-9900K, which scores 27043, a delta of only 0.7%. This means the processor is operating at a level where it can feed the GPU without introducing significant bottlenecks in a title like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its demanding draw distances and physics simulations. The GPU, with an average benchmark score of 41687, sits just 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (scoring 41441), indicating that the graphics card is performing at a tier that was previously considered high-end.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory is a critical asset for Red Dead Redemption 2. The game's open-world environments, dense foliage, and detailed textures place significant pressure on VRAM, and the 12 GB capacity ensures that even at higher settings, the card does not run into memory ceilings that would cause stuttering or texture pop-in. The memory bus width of 192 bit and bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s provide ample throughput for the game's streaming assets, which is essential for maintaining smooth traversal across the map.

The GPU's clocks are set at a base of 2325 MHz and a boost of 2512 MHz, which are respectable figures for a 50-series card. These clock speeds translate into a pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s, both of which are directly relevant to how the game renders its detailed world. The FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS indicates that the card has substantial raw compute power for the shader work required by Red Dead Redemption 2's lighting and post-processing effects.

In the measured results, the GPU's role becomes clearer when comparing the Low and Ultra settings. At 1080p, the card delivers 167 FPS at Low settings, which demonstrates that the GPU is not the limiting factor when the workload is light. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 33.3 FPS, showing that the card is being pushed to its limits by the combined demands of resolution and maximum quality presets. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 192 TMUs are sufficient for the game's rasterization needs, but the jump from 84.1 FPS at 4K Low to 51.3 FPS at 4K High illustrates how quickly the card's performance erodes as settings are increased at high resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running on the AM4 socket. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz provide solid single-thread performance, which is important for Red Dead Redemption 2's game logic and AI calculations. The CPU's 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB per-core L2 cache help reduce latency when accessing frequently used data, which is beneficial for the game's open-world streaming.

The CPU's benchmark scores reflect its capability in this context. In Cinebench R23, it scores 20655 in multi-core and 2916 in single-core, which are strong numbers for a processor in this class. The multi-threaded performance is particularly relevant because Red Dead Redemption 2 can utilize multiple cores for tasks like physics and crowd simulation, even if it is not as heavily threaded as some modern titles. The data from the 3DMark tests shows a 16-thread score of 6628 and a single-thread score of 901, indicating that the CPU scales well with additional threads, which helps maintain frame pacing in busy scenes.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the GPU is not heavily taxed. At 167 FPS, the system is likely approaching the CPU's limit for draw call processing, but the fact that the frame rate remains that high suggests the Ryzen 7 5700 is not causing a major bottleneck. The CPU's 65W TDP and 7 nm process node from TSMC mean it runs efficiently, which is a practical advantage for builders who do not want to invest in exotic cooling solutions. The processor's nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-9900K, performs almost identically in average score (27043 vs 27220), confirming that this CPU is not holding back the RTX 5070 in a meaningful way.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo performs across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the system is capable of high refresh rates: Low settings yield 167 FPS, Medium drops to 123.4 FPS, High comes in at 102.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 76 FPS. These numbers indicate that the combo is well-suited for 1080p gaming, even at maximum quality, as 76 FPS is still smooth for a single-player narrative game.

Moving to 1440p, the performance scales down but remains playable. Low settings produce 121.3 FPS, Medium hits 89.4 FPS, High manages 73.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 57 FPS. At 1440p, the system is right at the edge of the 60 FPS threshold on Ultra, but the High preset provides a comfortable margin above it. The 57 FPS at Ultra is a notable result because it shows that the GPU is starting to struggle with the increased pixel count, but the CPU is still keeping pace.

At 4K, the data shows a significant drop. Low settings yield 84.1 FPS, Medium drops to 61.9 FPS, High falls to 51.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 33.3 FPS. The 4K results are the most telling: the gap between Low and Ultra is 50.8 FPS, which is a massive range that highlights the GPU's workload. At 4K Ultra, the system is not delivering a playable experience for most users, but the High preset at 51.3 FPS is borderline, and Medium at 61.9 FPS is acceptable for gamers who prioritize resolution over maximum fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 167 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 84.1 FPS. That is a 49.6% reduction in performance, which is a direct consequence of the GPU being tasked with rendering four times the pixels. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal; if the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would not drop as drastically with resolution.

The scaling pattern is consistent across settings. At High settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 102.1 FPS to 51.3 FPS, a reduction of 49.8%. At Ultra, the drop is from 76 FPS to 33.3 FPS, a 56.2% reduction. These percentages indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the frame rate scales inversely with the pixel count. The data suggests that the CPU has enough headroom to support the GPU's demands even at 4K, as the frame rate drops are largely linear with resolution.

This analysis implies that if a user wants to push beyond 1080p, they should focus on GPU settings rather than CPU upgrades. The Ryzen 7 5700 is capable of feeding the RTX 5070 at all tested resolutions, so any performance gains would come from reducing the GPU workload, such as lowering shadow quality or draw distance. The 1440p results are particularly instructive: the system can achieve 89.4 FPS at Medium, which is a sweet spot for high-refresh monitors, while the 4K results show that the GPU is the ceiling for performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience relative to performance is achieved at the Medium preset across most resolutions. At 1080p, Medium yields 123.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience with better visuals than Low. At 1440p, Medium produces 89.4 FPS, which is ideal for a 144Hz monitor, as it offers a significant visual upgrade over Low (121.3 FPS) without the steep drop to High (73.7 FPS). At 4K, Medium delivers 61.9 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target and is the only preset that achieves this at 4K without falling below it.

The High preset is a reasonable choice for users with 1080p or 1440p monitors who prioritize visual fidelity. At 1080p, High offers 102.1 FPS, which is still smooth, and at 1440p, it delivers 73.7 FPS, which is acceptable for most players. However, at 4K, High drops to 51.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and may cause noticeable stutter on some displays. The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it pushes the system to its limits: 76 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 33.3 FPS at 4K. The visual gains from Ultra over High are typically marginal in Red Dead Redemption 2, but the performance cost is steep, especially at higher resolutions.

For a balanced experience, the data indicates that Medium is the optimal choice for this combo. It provides the best trade-off between visual quality and frame rate, and it ensures that the system remains playable across all tested resolutions. Users with 1080p monitors can comfortably use High or even Ultra if they prefer, but for 1440p and 4K, Medium is the safest recommendation to maintain a consistent frame rate without sacrificing too much detail. The Low preset is only advisable for competitive play or extreme frame rate targets, as the visual downgrade is significant.