Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 pairing delivers playable performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 only at lower resolutions and settings, with the GPU acting as the primary constraint across the board. This combination ranks 1405th out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of the database, and the measured frame rates confirm that the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and Turing architecture are the decisive factors in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a system that is heavily GPU-bound. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 85.4 at 1920x1080 to 64.9 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 24%, and then plummets to 40.5 at 3840x2160, a further 38% decline. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 2060 simply cannot sustain the pixel throughput demanded by higher resolutions, regardless of how much the CPU has to offer.

Moving to Medium settings, the same trajectory holds: 61.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 47.3 at 1440p and then to 32.1 at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K narrows slightly as settings increase, suggesting that the GPU is hitting a memory bandwidth or compute ceiling rather than a pure pixel-fill limit. At High settings, the numbers are 51.0, 39.4, and 23.8 FPS respectively, with the 4K result falling below the threshold of comfortable playability.

The Ultra preset illustrates the worst-case scenario: 39.7 FPS at 1080p, 27.9 at 1440p, and 18.3 at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is over 50%, which is a clear sign that the GPU's 6 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory bus are overwhelmed by the high-resolution textures and effects. The scaling data shows no evidence of CPU limitation at any resolution, as the Ryzen 7 9700X's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for this title's engine.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the definitive bottleneck in this configuration. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the card sits at the 58th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its benchmark scores tell a mixed story: a Passmark G3D score of 14111 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242, with compute performance of 5488 in Passmark GPU Compute.

The GPU's closest rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (0.5% higher average score), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 (both 1.7% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (1.8% lower). This tight clustering means the RTX 2060 is competitive with those parts in general compute, but in Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the measured results show it struggling to maintain 60 FPS at 1080p except on Low settings.

The card's base clock of 1365 MHz and boost of 1680 MHz are modest by modern standards, and its 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs are simply not enough for high-refresh gameplay at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM is particularly problematic at 4K, where the Ultra preset yields only 18.3 FPS, a result that aligns with the card's 58th percentile ranking and its position relative to the RX 7600S and other rivals.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 40.5 FPS. At Medium, High, and Ultra, the averages drop to 32.1, 23.8, and 18.3 FPS respectively, all of which are below smooth playability thresholds.

Q: What is the best resolution for 60 FPS gameplay?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system reaches 85.4 FPS, and Medium settings yield 61.4 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1080p Medium is the highest setting that achieves this, while 1440p Low hits 64.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the RX 7600S, 1.7% lower than the Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700, and 1.8% higher than the Radeon Pro W5500.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X holding back the GPU?

A: No. The CPU's benchmarks, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 and a Passmark multithread score of 37161, place it at the 89th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it has ample headroom for this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low settings produce 85.4 FPS, while Ultra drops to 39.7 FPS, a reduction of 45.7 FPS or approximately 54% lower performance when switching from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: What does the combo rank of 1405 out of 1687 mean?

A: It places this pairing in the bottom 17% of all tested combinations, indicating that the GPU bottleneck significantly limits the overall experience in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1405 out of 1687 tested combos places this system firmly in the lower tier of the database. This is a direct consequence of pairing a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU that was released in 2019 and is now end-of-life. The Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 5 architecture, is a top-tier processor that scores at the 89th percentile of all CPUs, but the RTX 2060's 58th percentile GPU ranking drags the overall experience down.

The rank reflects the measured FPS data, which shows no resolution or setting combination achieving a 4K High preset above 30 FPS. Even at 1080p, the Ultra preset fails to reach 40 FPS, and only Low and Medium settings provide smooth frame rates. This is a system that can handle the game at modest quality levels, but it cannot compete with higher-ranked combos that feature more modern GPUs with larger memory pools and higher bandwidth.

The delta between the CPU and GPU performance tiers is stark: the Ryzen 7 9700X outperforms its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14500HX, by 0.2% and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4%, while the GPU is within 1.8% of its own closest competitors. This imbalance means that upgrading the GPU would yield significant gains, while the CPU would remain underutilized in this specific title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a Zen 5 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost of 5.50 GHz. It features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Its benchmark results are strong across the board: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588, a Geekbench multicore score of 17002, and a Passmark multithread score of 37161.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is minimal because the game is heavily GPU-bound at all tested settings. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9824 and 8-thread score of 8184 indicate that the processor can handle multi-threaded workloads effectively, but the game's engine does not appear to stress the CPU beyond what a lower-tier processor could manage. The single-thread performance, as evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4654, is also more than adequate.

The Ryzen 7 9700X's 65W TDP and 4 nm process node from TSMC make it an efficient part, but its performance headroom is not exploited in this pairing. The CPU's percentile rank of 89 versus the GPU's 58 clearly shows that the processor is not the limiting factor, and the measured FPS deltas between settings and resolutions are entirely attributable to GPU performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture across four resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system averages 85.4 FPS on Low, 61.4 on Medium, 51.0 on High, and 39.7 on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is a 24 FPS drop, while High to Ultra costs 11.3 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 64.9 FPS on Low, 47.3 on Medium, 39.4 on High, and 27.9 on Ultra. The 1440p Low result is the only setting at this resolution that exceeds 60 FPS, and it comes within 1.5 FPS of the 1080p High result, indicating that resolution scaling is more punishing than quality scaling in this range.

At 3840x2160, the results are 40.5 FPS on Low, 32.1 on Medium, 23.8 on High, and 18.3 on Ultra. The 4K Low result is the only one that approaches playability, and the Ultra result is less than half of the 1080p Low average. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 22.2 FPS, which is the largest absolute gap across all resolutions, underscoring the GPU's inability to handle high-quality 4K rendering.

Settings Recommendations

For a consistent 60 FPS experience, the only viable options are 1080p Medium (61.4 FPS) or 1440p Low (64.9 FPS). The 1080p High preset at 51.0 FPS is playable but not smooth, and 1440p Medium at 47.3 FPS falls short of the 60 FPS target. Users prioritizing visual quality over frame rate should consider 1080p High, which offers a balanced compromise at 51 FPS.

For players with a 1080p display, Medium settings provide the best combination of smoothness and visual fidelity, as the jump to High costs 10.4 FPS without a proportional visual gain. The Ultra preset at 39.7 FPS is not recommended, as the performance penalty exceeds the quality benefits. On 1440p displays, Low settings are the only way to maintain 60 FPS, but Medium at 47.3 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay.

At 4K, no settings preset delivers a satisfactory experience. Low at 40.5 FPS is the closest to playable, but even this falls below 60 FPS, and Medium, High, and Ultra all dip below 33 FPS. The data suggests that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2, and users should either lower the resolution or accept sub-30 FPS performance on higher presets.