Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a severely GPU-limited experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a configuration where the CPU’s substantial multi-threaded capacity is largely irrelevant to the final frame rate, as the integrated graphics solution becomes the overwhelming bottleneck across all tested resolutions and settings. This analysis examines the measured performance data, contextualizes it against the component specifications, and provides a detailed breakdown of what users can expect from this combination.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is a high-end desktop processor built on the Zen 4 architecture, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. It operates at a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 32 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates strong performance, scoring 19,088 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,987 in single-core tests. Its average benchmark score of 35,909 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, making it a top-tier processor for compute-heavy workloads.

However, in Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is almost entirely secondary. The game’s frame rates are dictated by the graphics solution, not the processor. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 47 FPS, which is the highest recorded average across all configurations. When moving to 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 21 FPS. This pattern indicates that even at the lowest resolution and settings, the CPU is not the limiting factor; rather, the GPU is saturated.

The Ryzen 7 7700X’s multi-threaded capabilities, as evidenced by its 3DMark 16-thread score of 8,859 and PassMark multi-thread score of 35,686, would be more than sufficient for modern game engines. The nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (0.3% faster) and the Intel Core 7 250H (0.5% faster), show that the 7700X is competitively positioned among similar processors. Yet, in this specific game, the CPU’s performance headroom is never utilized, as the frame rates are capped by the GPU’s output.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s for DDR5 and PCIe Gen 5 support are architectural advantages that do not translate into higher FPS here. The benchmark results reveal a scenario where the processor is effectively idle, waiting for the graphics pipeline to deliver frames. For users considering this combo, the CPU is not the bottleneck; it is the enabler of a system that is fundamentally constrained by its integrated graphics.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 47 FPS at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that approaches playable frame rates, and it still falls short of the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1,184 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. Its nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1,186, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1,192 (0.7% higher), while the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1,168 (1.4% lower). These are all legacy or low-power parts, indicating the Arc B370 is in the bottom percentile of GPU performance.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo produce the lowest frame rate?

A: The lowest average FPS is 10 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is an unplayable frame rate, confirming that the combo is unsuitable for 4K gaming at high quality presets.

Q: Does the CPU’s performance percentile correlate with in-game frame rates?

A: No. The Ryzen 7 7700X is in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, but the combo’s frame rates are entirely GPU-bound. For example, at 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 35 FPS, which is far below what the CPU could support if paired with a discrete GPU. The CPU’s high synthetic scores do not translate to higher FPS in this configuration.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking among all tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2,670 out of 2,902 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU’s severe performance limitations, not the CPU’s capabilities.

Q: Is there any configuration where the frame rate exceeds 30 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440 with Low settings, the combo achieves 35 FPS. All other 1440p settings (Medium, High, Ultra) produce average FPS below 30, with Ultra dropping to 16 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 47 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the frame rate drops to 35 FPS, a 25.5% reduction. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 23 FPS, a 51.1% reduction from 1080p. This scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload increases quadratically with pixel count.

For Medium settings, the pattern continues: 35 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p (a 25.7% drop), and 17 FPS at 4K (a 51.4% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU is the sole limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively stable across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count.

The High settings row shows 29 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. The Ultra settings row shows 21 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. In every case, the frame rate at 4K is less than half of the 1080p equivalent, confirming that the GPU is saturated even at the lowest resolution. The data suggests that the limiting component is unequivocally the Intel Arc B370, as its raw compute throughput (6.144 TFLOPS FP32) is insufficient for the demands of this game at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2,670 out of 2,902 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the bottom 8% of all configurations, which is consistent with the GPU’s performance percentile of 5% (bottom 5% of all GPUs). The CPU, by contrast, is in the 85th percentile, creating a massive imbalance between the two components.

This ranking is driven entirely by the GPU. The Arc B370’s average benchmark score of 1,184 is within 1% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, both of which are over a decade old. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,184 is a clear indicator of its limited capabilities, and the in-game results reflect this.

The combo’s rank of 2,670 out of 2,902 means that 2,669 other tested combinations produced higher frame rates. This is not a surprising outcome given the GPU’s specifications. The Arc B370 has 1,280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2,400 MHz. While these numbers are not trivial for an integrated solution, they are insufficient for a demanding title like Red Dead Redemption 2, which requires substantial GPU throughput to maintain playable frame rates at modern resolutions.

For context, the CPU’s nearest rivals (e.g., AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 with a 0.3% higher average score) would not change the ranking if paired with this GPU. The bottleneck is so severe that any CPU in the 85th percentile would produce nearly identical frame rates, as the GPU is the limiting factor in every measured scenario.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 3 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2,400 MHz, with 1,280 shading units. The GPU’s memory is system-shared, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," which is a critical limitation for gaming.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU’s performance is poor across the board. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,184 places the Arc B370 in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, meaning 95% of GPUs perform better. Its nearest rivals are all legacy parts from the early 2010s, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% higher score) and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% higher score). This puts the Arc B370’s performance in the range of entry-level discrete GPUs from over a decade ago.

The GPU’s 25 W TDP and IGP form factor mean it has no dedicated memory bandwidth, relying on system RAM. This is particularly detrimental in a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which features large open-world environments that require constant texture streaming. The measured FPS data supports this analysis: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 47 FPS, but this drops to 35 FPS at Medium and 29 FPS at High. The incremental performance cost of each setting increase is steep, indicating that the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are exhausted quickly.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS is theoretically sufficient for 1080p gaming at low settings in some titles, but the system-shared memory architecture and lack of dedicated VRAM severely hamper real-world performance. The data shows that the Arc B370 cannot maintain playable frame rates (above 30 FPS) at any setting above Low, and even at Low, 47 FPS is the ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield 47 FPS average, Medium yields 35 FPS (with a min of 30 and max of 40), High yields 29 FPS, and Ultra yields 21 FPS. The 26 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates the GPU’s inability to handle increasing visual complexity.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly: Low produces 35 FPS, Medium produces 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), High produces 22 FPS, and Ultra produces 16 FPS. The 1440p results show that only Low settings exceed 30 FPS, and even then, it is marginal. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 19 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p, further confirming the GPU is the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable: Low produces 23 FPS, Medium produces 17 FPS (min 15, max 20), High produces 14 FPS, and Ultra produces 10 FPS. The 4K results show that no setting achieves 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset at 10 FPS is effectively a slideshow. The data shows a consistent pattern: for every resolution, moving from Low to Medium costs approximately 12 FPS, from Medium to High costs 6-9 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 6-8 FPS.

The minimum FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings: 30 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K. These minimums suggest that even at Medium, the frame rate can dip significantly, particularly at higher resolutions. The absence of min/max data for other settings implies that the averages are already so low that variance is less meaningful.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that approaches a playable experience is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces 47 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset and is suitable for a smooth, albeit visually compromised, experience. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 35 FPS, which is still technically playable but may feel less responsive, especially during action sequences.

For users prioritizing frame rate, 1080p Low is the only viable option. The 47 FPS average is close to the 60 FPS target, but the lack of min/max data for Low settings means frame pacing cannot be verified. If visual quality is more important than frame rate, 1080p Medium at 35 FPS (with a min of 30) is the best trade-off, as it ensures the frame rate does not drop below 30 FPS.

At 1440p, the situation is more dire. Only Low settings exceed 30 FPS at 35 FPS, but this is a marginal result. Users with 1440p monitors should strongly consider lowering the resolution to 1080p, as the performance difference is significant: 35 FPS at 1440p Low versus 47 FPS at 1080p Low. The 12 FPS gain from reducing resolution is substantial and likely worth the visual compromise.

4K gaming is not viable with this combo. The highest 4K average is 23 FPS at Low settings, which is below the threshold for playability. Users attempting 4K will experience severe stuttering and input lag, making the game effectively unplayable. The data suggests that 1080p Low or Medium is the optimal target for this combination, with the understanding that the experience will be limited by the GPU’s performance.