Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 260th out of 3,714 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places the combo in the top 7% of all tested systems, indicating a high-performing pairing for this specific title. The combination of the 8-core Zen 3 processor with the Ada Lovelace flagship yields a result that sits comfortably above the median, though the substantial gap between the 260th position and the very top of the leaderboard suggests that other, more recent hardware configurations can push higher frame rates in this demanding open-world title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 260 out of 3,714 tested combinations places this system in the 93rd percentile of all tested configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a strong result, but the data shows that the top 259 combinations achieve higher average frame rates, meaning this pairing is not at the absolute bleeding edge of performance for this game. The ranking is driven by the combined capabilities of both components; the RTX 4080 provides the raw graphics horsepower, while the Ryzen 7 5800X ensures the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at most settings.

The GPU itself holds an 86th percentile rank against all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209, a negligible delta of 0.1% higher, indicating that the standard RTX 4080 is essentially performance-equivalent to its SUPER variant in general compute benchmarks. The CPU holds an 81st percentile rank against all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 29,123, sitting just 0.1% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT. These percentile positions suggest that while the GPU is a top-tier part, the CPU is slightly less exceptional relative to its own market, which can influence performance in CPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. It comes equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The base clock is 2,205 MHz with a boost clock of 2,505 MHz, which are the figures that determine the GPU's raw processing speed. The memory operates at an effective speed of 22.4 Gbps.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU’s role is dominant. The measured FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern that points to the graphics card being the primary limiting factor in most configurations. The substantial VRAM allocation of 16 GB is sufficient for the high-resolution textures and large draw distances that the game requires, even at the highest settings. The data indicates that the GPU’s compute capabilities, measured in 48.74 TFLOPS FP32, are heavily utilized, as frame rates scale predictably with changes to resolution and preset. The RTX 4080's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, has an average benchmark score that is 2.6% lower, but in this game, the performance delta is more dependent on the specific workload and driver optimization.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance drop as resolution increases, which is expected for a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 194 FPS. At 1440p Low, this drops to 145 FPS, a 25% reduction. Moving to 4K Low, the average falls to 96 FPS, which is another 34% reduction from 1440p. This pattern shows that the GPU is the limiting component, as the workload scales directly with the number of pixels rendered.

The trend is consistent across all settings. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 121 at 1080p to 90 at 1440p (a 26% drop), and then to 60 at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p). At Ultra settings, the averages are 87, 65, and 43 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The consistent percentage drops indicate that the Ryzen 7 5800X is not introducing a bottleneck at any resolution; the performance is scaling almost entirely with the GPU’s pixel throughput. At 1080p, the high frame rates suggest the CPU is keeping up, but the GPU is still the primary constraint, as lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p yields a significant FPS increase, which would not happen if the CPU were the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of the performance trade-offs across the four presets. For the best balance of visual fidelity and smooth gameplay, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal choice. At 4K, it delivers an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, which is a playable experience on a high-refresh-rate monitor. At 1440p, Medium produces 108 FPS on average, with a minimum of 92 FPS, which is excellent for competitive or fast-paced play. At 1080p, it reaches 145 FPS, with a minimum of 123 FPS, providing a very high frame rate for maximum smoothness.

The High preset is also viable, but it drops the average FPS to 60 at 4K, which is a borderline experience for some users. At 1440p High, the average is 90 FPS, which is still smooth. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding 43 FPS at 4K and 65 FPS at 1440p, which may be too low for consistent smoothness on many displays. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates, but the visual compromise is often not worth the performance gain. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, offering a significant improvement over Low in visual quality while maintaining frame rates that are substantially higher than High or Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 194 FPS average.
• Medium: 145 FPS average, with a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 167 FPS.
• High: 121 FPS average.
• Ultra: 87 FPS average.

2560x1440:

• Low: 145 FPS average.
• Medium: 108 FPS average, with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 125 FPS.
• High: 90 FPS average.
• Ultra: 65 FPS average.

3840x2160:

• Low: 96 FPS average.
• Medium: 72 FPS average, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS.
• High: 60 FPS average.
• Ultra: 43 FPS average.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one that provides a minimum FPS above 60 at all three resolutions, ensuring a consistently smooth experience. The High preset at 4K averages exactly 60 FPS, but without a reported minimum, it is unclear if the frame rate dips below that threshold. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below the 30 FPS playability threshold, making it the least suitable for actual gameplay. The scaling from Low to Medium to High is consistent, with each step up in quality costing roughly 20-25% of the average frame rate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a Zen 3 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with 32 MB of L3 cache. Its memory bandwidth is rated at 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle the game’s physics and AI calculations. The benchmark results indicate that the 5800X is more than capable of doing so, as the frame rates are consistently high and scale with GPU load.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 29,123 places it 81st percentile among all processors. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H, scores 29,093, which is a 0.1% difference, suggesting they have similar multi-threaded performance. The Ryzen 7 5800X is 0.6% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT. In the context of this game, the CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck at any tested setting. Even at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU has the least amount of work, the average FPS of 194 indicates that the CPU can handle a high number of frames per second. The lack of a separate CPU-bound test in the measured FPS data means the analysis is based on the scaling pattern, which firmly points to the GPU as the limiting component across all resolutions and presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: This combo ranks 260th out of 3,714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER's score of 54,209. It is also 2.6% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB.

Q: What is the best setting preset for a smooth experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS. The High preset provides 90 FPS, while Low and Ultra yield 145 and 65 FPS respectively.

Q: At which resolution and setting does the combo fail to maintain 60 FPS on average?

A: The only configuration with an average frame rate below 60 FPS is 4K with the Ultra preset, which averages 43 FPS. The 4K High setting averages exactly 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The average frame rate of 194 FPS at 1080p Low is high, but the fact that it drops to 145 FPS at 1440p Low shows that resolution scaling is impacting performance, which is a characteristic of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 4080 has a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s, utilizing 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus.