Red Dead Redemption 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 201 FPS on average; moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops that to 150 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls further to 99 FPS. That represents a 50% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 34% reduction from 1440p to 4K, demonstrating that the workload scales almost linearly with pixel count.

The High preset tells a similar story, though with slightly different percentages. At 1080p High, the average is 126 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 94 FPS (a 25% decrease); and at 4K High, it reaches 62 FPS (a 34% decrease from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across resolutions indicate that the RTX 5080 is the limiting component throughout this range. The CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at these levels, especially given the Ryzen 7 5800XT's robust multi-threaded performance.

Medium settings follow the same trend with a 151 FPS average at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, produces 90 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combination is not suited for maximum settings at native 4K without compromising elsewhere.

What the scaling data suggests is that the RTX 5080's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the game's texture and geometry demands even at 4K, but the raw compute throughput becomes the bottleneck when settings escalate. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution grows as resolution increases: at 1080p, the difference is 111 FPS (201 vs 90); at 1440p, it is 83 FPS (150 vs 67); and at 4K, it narrows to 54 FPS (99 vs 45). This narrowing gap is typical of a GPU that is already heavily loaded at lower resolutions, leaving less relative headroom for settings changes at higher pixel counts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, is the primary driver of frame rates in this game. Its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Red Dead Redemption 2's large open-world textures. The measured results show that memory capacity is not a limiting factor at any resolution or settings combination tested—even the 4K Ultra configuration, which produces 45 FPS, does not exhibit signs of memory throttling, as the frame rate remains consistent rather than stuttering.

The GPU's clock speeds are equally relevant. With a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, the RTX 5080 maintains high frequency under load. The 10752 shading units and 336 texture mapping units provide the compute throughput necessary to handle the game's deferred rendering and post-processing effects. At 4K Ultra, the 45 FPS average suggests that the GPU's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being fully utilized, while the 112 ROPs handle pixel output at 293.1 GPixel/s.

Benchmark data places the RTX 5080 in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S (0.6% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.7% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (2.2% behind). These close margins indicate that the RTX 5080 sits in a competitive performance tier, though the measured FPS in Red Dead Redemption 2 shows it is more than capable of delivering playable frame rates at most settings.

The GPU's 5 nm process node and 45,600 million transistors contribute to its efficiency, though the 360 W TDP requires a robust power delivery system—the suggested PSU is 750 W. For this specific game, the GPU's role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns described above. The RTX 5080's performance at 1080p Low (201 FPS) far exceeds the CPU's ability to be the bottleneck, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor in nearly all scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved with this CPU/GPU combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 201 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, followed by 151 FPS at 1080p Medium and 150 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: Can this combination maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at certain settings. The 4K High preset averages 62 FPS, while 4K Medium averages 74 FPS and 4K Low averages 99 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset falls short at 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5080 scores 56083 on average, with the AMD Radeon 8060S scoring 0.6% higher, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scoring 0.7% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE scoring 2.2% lower.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT ranks in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29879. Its closest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H with a delta of 0%.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 150 FPS while Ultra produces 67 FPS, a difference of 83 FPS. Medium sits between at 112 FPS, and High is closer to Low at 94 FPS.

Q: Does the game's measured performance data include minimum FPS values?

A: Minimum FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings: 128 FPS at 1080p, 95 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The other settings presets do not have min/max values in the data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings preset for this hardware combination depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the High preset delivers 126 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smoother experience than Ultra's 90 FPS with minimal visual compromise. The Medium preset at 151 FPS is also viable for competitive play, but High offers a better balance of image quality and performance.

At 1440p, the High preset at 94 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a high refresh rate while delivering solid visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 112 FPS is an option for users who prioritize frame rate over detail, but the jump from Medium to High costs only 18 FPS (112 to 94) and yields noticeable improvements in texture quality and draw distance. The Ultra preset at 67 FPS is playable but may not be worth the performance hit unless the user has a 60 Hz display.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 74 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while retaining decent visual quality. The High preset at 62 FPS is also acceptable for 60 Hz displays, but it leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended for 4K gaming, as it falls below the 60 FPS standard and would require a variable refresh rate display to avoid noticeable stutter.

The data shows a clear trend: the Medium preset at each resolution provides the best balance of performance and visual quality. At 1080p, Medium delivers 151 FPS; at 1440p, it delivers 112 FPS; and at 4K, it delivers 74 FPS. These numbers are all above 60 FPS and offer a significant improvement over Low settings while remaining well below the demanding Ultra preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the hardware's performance in Red Dead Redemption 2.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 201 FPS; Medium settings average 151 FPS, with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS; High settings average 126 FPS; and Ultra settings average 90 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 111 FPS, indicating that the settings preset has a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 150 FPS, Medium at 112 FPS (min 95, max 129), High at 94 FPS, and Ultra at 67 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 83 FPS, slightly smaller than at 1080p. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 95 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold even in demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to: Low at 99 FPS, Medium at 74 FPS (min 63, max 85), High at 62 FPS, and Ultra at 45 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 54 FPS, the smallest of the three resolutions. The 4K Medium preset's minimum of 63 FPS is just above the 60 FPS line, while High's average of 62 FPS suggests occasional drops below 60 FPS are likely.

The overall combo rank in this game is 220 out of 3714 combinations, placing this CPU/GPU pairing in the top 6% of tested configurations. This ranking is consistent with the strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, though the 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS shows that even top-tier hardware struggles with maximum settings at the highest resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, with 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename), plays a supporting role in this game's performance. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz provide sufficient single-thread performance for game logic and physics, while the 16 threads handle background tasks and streaming. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR4 dual-channel memory (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world data streaming.

Synthetic benchmarks indicate the CPU is competitive: it scores 23794 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3359 in single-core, with a PassMark multithread score of 28053. Its percentile ranking of 81 places it above most processors, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (-0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (0.6% ahead). These close margins suggest that the 5800XT is well-positioned in its performance tier.

In the context of this game, the CPU's role is not the limiting factor. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (201 FPS) is high enough that the GPU becomes the bottleneck well before the CPU's threading capacity is exhausted. The 3dmark scores support this: 7683 for 16 threads and 7680 for max threads, with a single-thread score of 959. The CPU's 2-thread score of 1879 indicates strong per-core performance for games that rely on fewer threads.

The CPU's TDP of 105 W and AMD Socket AM4 compatibility make it a straightforward upgrade for existing platforms, and its production status is active. The 7 nm process node at TSMC with 4,150 million transistors on a 74 mm² die reflects a mature design that balances power efficiency with performance. For Red Dead Redemption 2, the Ryzen 7 5800XT provides more than enough computational headroom to keep the RTX 5080 fed at all resolutions, as evidenced by the GPU-bound scaling patterns observed across the measured configurations.