Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B580 pairing delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with benchmark results showing a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K performance falls short of smooth gameplay standards across all tested settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, a pattern that points directly to the Intel Arc B580 as the primary limiting component. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 90 FPS, but dropping to 2560x1440 Low reduces that to 67 FPS—a 25.5% decrease. Pushing further to 3840x2160 Low yields just 44 FPS, which is a 51.1% drop from the 1080p result. This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the rendering workload expands faster than the graphics card can process it.

The trend holds across all settings presets. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 56 FPS at 1080p to 42 FPS at 1440p (a 25% reduction), then to 28 FPS at 4K (a 50% reduction from 1080p). Medium settings show 67 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, with the same proportional drop-off pattern. Ultra settings are the most punishing, starting at 40 FPS at 1080p, falling to 30 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 20 FPS at 4K.

The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly 25% from 1080p to 1440p and another 33% from 1440p to 4K—suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the Arc B580’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width struggle to maintain throughput as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The GPU’s 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in this demanding title.

Notably, the variance between settings narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 50 FPS (90 vs 40), but at 4K that gap compresses to 24 FPS (44 vs 20). This compression indicates that at 4K, even the lowest settings overwhelm the GPU, and raising quality levels adds relatively little marginal cost because the baseline pixel workload is already beyond the card’s comfort zone.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader database of tested combinations, this CPU-GPU pairing sits at rank 2195 out of 2902 combos for Red Dead Redemption 2. That places it in the 75th percentile—better than roughly three-quarters of all tested configurations, but far from the top tier. The ranking reflects a mid-pack position where the combination delivers acceptable performance at mainstream resolutions but cannot compete with high-end setups.

The GPU’s individual standing helps contextualize this rank. The Intel Arc B580 scores in the 68th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (deltaPct 0.6), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (deltaPct -0.7), and NVIDIA P106-100 (deltaPct -1). These deltaPct values show the Arc B580 is essentially performance-equivalent to an RTX 2080 and RTX 3080 in aggregate benchmarks, despite being a much newer architecture. The tight clustering—all within 1% of each other—means the B580’s real-world gaming performance will vary heavily by title and driver optimization.

The CPU, meanwhile, ranks in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69996. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (deltaPct 0.2), Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct -0.2), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (deltaPct 0.7), and Intel Core i7-14700K (deltaPct 0.9). The Ryzen 7 9700F is a top-tier processor that outperforms or matches these heavy hitters, meaning the combo’s mid-pack rank in this game is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s limitations rather than CPU shortfalls.

The disparity between the CPU’s 94th percentile and the GPU’s 68th percentile creates an imbalanced pairing. In Red Dead Redemption 2, this imbalance manifests as the GPU bottleneck observed in resolution scaling. A stronger GPU would likely push this combo significantly higher in the rankings, while a weaker CPU would not meaningfully change the outcome given the current GPU ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings balance depends heavily on the target resolution and desired smoothness threshold. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS and maximum of 77 FPS. This is the sweet spot for this combo—it stays above the 60 FPS mark on average while providing better visual quality than Low. High settings at 1080p drop to 56 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold many users target. Low at 1080p hits 90 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, but sacrifices significant visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the situation shifts. Medium produces 50 FPS (minimum 43, maximum 58), which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Low at 1440p achieves 67 FPS, making it the only preset that clears 60 FPS at this resolution. High at 1440p sits at 42 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS. For 1440p users, Low is the recommended preset if frame rate is the priority, while Medium offers a reasonable compromise for those willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve playable frame rates. Low yields 44 FPS, Medium 33 FPS, High 28 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. The data suggests 4K is not viable for this combo, regardless of settings. Even the minimum FPS at Medium (28 FPS) falls below the threshold for comfortable gameplay.

The most balanced recommendation across all resolutions is Medium at 1080p, which provides the best combination of frame rate stability and visual quality. The measured minimum of 57 FPS ensures relatively consistent performance, avoiding the dips that would occur with High or Ultra presets at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measurement set provides a clear picture of this combo’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results across presets are: Low averages 90 FPS, Medium averages 67 FPS with a range of 57 to 77 FPS, High averages 56 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The 50 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates the GPU’s sensitivity to quality settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance drops across the board: Low averages 67 FPS, Medium averages 50 FPS with a range of 43 to 58 FPS, High averages 42 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS. The spread narrows to 37 FPS between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU begins to saturate even at Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low averages 44 FPS, Medium averages 33 FPS with a range of 28 to 38 FPS, High averages 28 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS. The spread further narrows to 24 FPS, confirming that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K regardless of settings.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the 57–77 FPS range shows a 20 FPS variance; at 1440p, the 43–58 FPS range shows a 15 FPS variance; at 4K, the 28–38 FPS range shows a 10 FPS variance. This decreasing variance at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes the absolute bottleneck, eliminating CPU-driven spikes.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K?*

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 44 FPS on Low settings, with Medium at 33 FPS, High at 28 FPS, and Ultra at 20 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU pairing?

A: 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution. The data shows 90 FPS on Low, 67 FPS on Medium, 56 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra, with Medium providing the best balance of quality and frame rate.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B580’s average benchmark score is 23021. It sits within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (deltaPct 0.6), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (deltaPct -0.7), and NVIDIA P106-100 (deltaPct -1).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F holding back the Arc B580 in this game?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile overall with a benchmark score of 69996, and its nearest rivals include the Ryzen 9 7950X (deltaPct 0.7) and Core i7-14700K (deltaPct 0.9). Resolution scaling shows the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the minimum is 57 FPS. At 1440p, the minimum is 43 FPS. At 4K, the minimum is 28 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: It ranks 2195 out of 2902 combos, placing it in the 75th percentile of all tested CPU-GPU pairings for Red Dead Redemption 2.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor built on TSMC’s 4 nm process, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface with 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, physics calculations, and AI logic. The PassMark multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 indicate strong performance in both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. The game’s open-world nature benefits from the 8-core configuration, which allows the CPU to handle background simulation tasks without starving the main game thread.

The measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 90 FPS, which is well within the CPU’s capability to sustain. The consistent 25% performance drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 33% drop from 1440p to 4K, matches what would be expected from a purely GPU-limited scenario. If the CPU were the constraint, the frame rate would plateau at higher resolutions rather than continuing to fall.

The Ryzen 7 9700F’s 94th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69996, places it well above the GPU’s 68th percentile. This gap means the CPU has substantial headroom for future GPU upgrades without becoming a limiting factor. For this specific game, the CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and high boost clock of 5.50 GHz help maintain consistent frame delivery, as evidenced by the relatively tight minimum FPS figures at Medium settings across all resolutions.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks—Ryzen 9 7940HX (deltaPct 0.2), Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct -0.2), Ryzen 9 7950X (deltaPct 0.7), and Core i7-14700K (deltaPct 0.9)—are all high-end desktop or mobile processors. The 9700F matches or slightly exceeds these in overall score, confirming that the processor is not the weak link in this pairing. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU comfortably drives the Arc B580 to its full potential at 1080p and 1440p, and the performance ceiling is defined entirely by the GPU’s rendering capabilities.