Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a highly capable Red Dead Redemption 2 experience, placing 415th out of 1687 tested combos. This places the combination in the top quarter of all systems tested, with the data showing strong 1440p performance and playable 4K results. The following analysis breaks down how this pairing behaves across resolutions and settings, using only the measured FPS data and component specifications.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Red Dead Redemption 2 with this combo?

A: 2560x1440 with High settings provides the sweet spot at 74.1 FPS average, offering a significant jump from 4K while maintaining excellent visual quality. The 4K High result of 49.2 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How much performance does Ultra settings cost compared to High?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra drops to 70.7 FPS from High's 94.3 FPS — a 25% reduction. The gap widens at 2560x1440 where Ultra yields 53.1 FPS versus High's 74.1 FPS, and at 4K the Ultra setting falls to 32.4 FPS, which is below the smooth-playability threshold.

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

A: The 154.6 FPS Low setting at 1080p suggests the GPU is the primary constraint even at lower resolutions, as the Ryzen 7 9700X's strong single-thread score of 1280 in 3DMark indicates it can feed frames well beyond this level. The 89th percentile CPU ranking supports this interpretation.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 415th out of 1687 total combinations, placing it in the 75th percentile of tested configurations. This is a strong result for a mainstream desktop pairing.

Q: What settings preset delivers the most balanced experience at 4K?

A: Medium settings at 3840x2160 produces 53.9 FPS, which is the only 4K preset above the 50 FPS threshold besides Low's 73.5 FPS. High at 49.2 FPS is close but slightly below that mark.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM capacity create any bottlenecks in this game?

A: With Red Dead Redemption 2's demanding environments, the 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient based on the measured results, as even Ultra settings at 4K achieves 32.4 FPS without indication of VRAM-related stutter in the data.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This 4 nm processor from the 9000 series shows exceptional single-thread performance in the 3DMark single-thread test with a score of 1280, which is critical for Red Dead Redemption 2's game logic and draw-call processing. The multi-threaded capabilities are equally impressive, with the 3DMark max-threads score reaching 9771 and Cinebench R23 multicore hitting 31588.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors indicates it outperforms the vast majority of installed CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14500HX, scores 35940 average versus the 9700X's 36029, a mere 0.2% difference, while the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H trails by 0.4%. This tight grouping shows the 9700X sits at the top of its performance class.

For Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the CPU's 32 MB shared L3 cache helps maintain consistent frame pacing in the open world, where asset streaming and NPC simulation can spike CPU load. The DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures the CPU can quickly access game data. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 154.6 FPS, demonstrating that the CPU can comfortably drive high frame rates when the GPU has less work to do. The passmark single-thread score of 4654 further confirms this processor's strength in lightly-threaded workloads typical of game physics.

How This Combo Ranks

The 415th rank out of 1687 tested combinations places this system in the upper 25% of all configurations. This ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely bottlenecks the other. In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2's demanding rendering, this rank indicates the system can handle the game at high settings across most resolutions.

Compared to the CPU's 89th percentile and the GPU's 81st percentile, the combo's 75th percentile ranking suggests the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37507 average versus the RTX 4070's 37283, a 0.6% difference. Interestingly, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, which is 2.2% higher, though that is a mobile part. The AMD Radeon RX 5300M trails by 2.5% with 36371.

The data shows that this combo outperforms many higher-tier CPUs when paired with weaker GPUs, but falls short of configurations using top-end graphics cards. For Red Dead Redemption 2, where GPU load is substantial, the RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute proves sufficient for high-refresh 1440p gaming but struggles at 4K Ultra. The 81st GPU percentile confirms this is a solid mid-to-high-tier graphics solution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results across all settings. Low preset achieves 154.6 FPS, providing maximum headroom for competitive play. Medium drops to 113.6 FPS, still well above 100 FPS. High produces 94.3 FPS, an excellent balance of quality and speed. Ultra falls to 70.7 FPS, which remains smooth on standard 60 Hz monitors but shows the cost of maximum quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low yields 111.9 FPS, Medium reaches 82.7 FPS, and High delivers 74.1 FPS — all excellent for 1440p gaming. Ultra drops to 53.1 FPS, which is playable but approaches the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable in fast action sequences.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low achieves 73.5 FPS, which is surprisingly strong for 4K. Medium produces 53.9 FPS, High manages 49.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 32.4 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate the RTX 4070's capability at lower settings but its struggle with maximum quality at this resolution.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows consistent ~50-55% performance reduction, indicating the GPU's rendering pipeline handles the settings uniformly. The 12 GB VRAM appears adequate throughout, as no anomalous drops suggest memory swapping.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 utilizes the AD104 chip on a 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors. Its 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs provide substantial rasterization throughput. The boost clock of 2475 MHz helps achieve the 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute performance measured in the specs.

Memory configuration plays a critical role in Red Dead Redemption 2's large open world. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, which handles the game's texture streaming and draw distances effectively. The 21 Gbps effective memory clock ensures adequate data transfer for high-resolution textures.

The GPU's 81st percentile ranking positions it above most installed graphics cards. Its passmark G3D score of 26927 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 indicate strong DirectX 12 performance, which Red Dead Redemption 2 utilizes effectively. The ray tracing cores (46) and tensor cores (184) provide future-proofing, though this game's primary load falls on traditional rasterization.

The 200 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest the card runs within standard thermal limits. The 550 W suggested PSU requirement indicates system builders need adequate power delivery. The 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs support modern display configurations, including high-refresh 1440p monitors.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to 2560x1440 High settings as the optimal configuration. The 74.1 FPS average provides smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality that showcases the game's detailed environments. This setting balances the GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS compute with the CPU's ability to feed frames effectively.

At 1920x1080, High settings at 94.3 FPS offer an excellent high-refresh experience for players with 144 Hz monitors. The jump from Medium's 113.6 FPS to High's 94.3 FPS represents a reasonable quality improvement for a 17% frame rate cost. Ultra's 70.7 FPS is acceptable but the visual difference from High may not justify the performance loss.

For 4K displays, Medium settings at 53.9 FPS provide the best playable experience. Low at 73.5 FPS is smoother but sacrifices significant visual detail. High at 49.2 FPS is borderline playable, while Ultra's 32.4 FPS falls below the 40 FPS threshold where action games become difficult to play smoothly.

Players prioritizing frame rate over visuals should consider 1440p Low at 111.9 FPS, which delivers near-competitive gaming performance while maintaining decent image quality. The 1080p Low result of 154.6 FPS serves players with 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitors seeking maximum responsiveness.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this workload. At High settings, the FPS drops from 94.3 at 1080p to 74.1 at 1440p (21.4% reduction) and then to 49.2 at 4K (33.6% reduction from 1440p). This progressive decline aligns with the pixel count increase: 1440p has 1.78x the pixels of 1080p, while 4K has 2.25x the pixels of 1440p.

Low settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 154.6 FPS at 1080p dropping to 111.9 FPS at 1440p (27.6% reduction) and 73.5 FPS at 4K (34.3% reduction from 1440p). The less demanding settings put more relative strain on the GPU's fixed overhead, amplifying the resolution penalty.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest 4K drop, falling to 32.4 FPS from 53.1 FPS at 1440p — a 39% reduction. This indicates that at maximum quality, the RTX 4070's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate become significant constraints. The 12 GB VRAM also reaches its practical limit with Ultra textures at 4K, though the data shows no catastrophic failure, just expected performance degradation.

The CPU's role in scaling appears minimal, as the 9700X's strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1280) ensures it does not bottleneck even at 1080p Low where the GPU produces 154.6 FPS. This suggests the system is well-balanced for Red Dead Redemption 2, with the GPU as the clear performance ceiling across all tested configurations.