Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 371st out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 22% of all systems benchmarked. This is a strong result for a desktop pairing, though the rank reflects the game's heavy demand on both CPU and GPU resources. The data indicates this combo is positioned well above median performance, but with clear headroom for improvement at higher settings, as the measured frame rates reveal a system that is capable yet not dominant at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 371 out of 1687 places this pairing in the 78th percentile of all tested systems for Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a strong showing, indicating that the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 5070 together outperform roughly four out of five other configurations in this specific title. The ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits at the 89th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 83rd percentile against all GPUs, suggesting a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other. However, the rank is not top-tier because the game's engine scales aggressively with both core count and raw GPU throughput, and this combo, while excellent, does not reach the extreme high end of the tested spectrum. The data shows that the combo's performance is more dependent on the GPU at higher resolutions, which the measured FPS breakdown will confirm.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. It carries 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The boost clock is 2512 MHz, and the GPU's FP32 compute is rated at 30.87 TFLOPS. In Red Dead Redemption 2, these specifications translate to a GPU that is well-suited for 1440p and playable 4K, but the 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus become limiting factors at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's benchmark results show a passmark G3D score of 29137 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5077, placing it at the 83rd percentile. Relative to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5070 scores 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, and is 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla M40 and 0.7% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 580X. These deltas are negligible in practice, but in this game, the measured FPS data shows the GPU's performance scales inversely with settings, indicating that its 12 GB frame buffer is a constraint at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and features PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 31588 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4459 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 17002 and single-core of 3353. The CPU's percentile rank is 89, and its nearest rivals show it is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX, 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, and 0.4% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and 0.8% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H. For Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's 8 cores are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p, where the data shows high frame rates, but its role diminishes at 4K, where the GPU becomes the primary limiter. The CPU's high single-thread performance is crucial for this game's engine, which relies on a few main threads for game logic.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data across resolutions and settings shows a clear hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 162.3 FPS on Low, 124.8 FPS on Medium, 101.0 FPS on High, and 72.6 FPS on Ultra. At 2560x1440, the scores are 124.9 FPS on Low, 89.1 FPS on Medium, 75.5 FPS on High, and 57.4 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the scores drop to 78.9 FPS on Low, 58.4 FPS on Medium, 47.5 FPS on High, and 34.7 FPS on Ultra. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system pushes over 160 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors. At 1440p, the performance remains strong, with High settings still above 75 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings achieve near 80 FPS, while Ultra dips below 35 FPS. The FPS delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution is significant: at 1080p, the drop is 89.7 FPS; at 1440p, it is 67.5 FPS; and at 4K, it is 44.2 FPS. This indicates that the settings scale has a larger absolute impact at lower resolutions, where the CPU has more headroom to feed the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling reveals a consistent pattern of FPS degradation as pixel count increases. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 23% (e.g., from 101.0 to 75.5 on High). From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe, averaging 37% (e.g., from 75.5 to 47.5 on High). The data shows that the system is CPU-limited at 1080p, as the FPS at Low settings (162.3) is nearly double the FPS at 4K Low (78.9), indicating that the GPU is not fully utilized at lower resolutions. At 4K, the performance is clearly GPU-limited, as the gap between High and Ultra narrows (47.5 vs 34.7) compared to the larger gap at 1080p (101.0 vs 72.6). The limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, with the crossover occurring around 1440p where both components contribute equally to the bottleneck. This is typical for a balanced mid-high-end pairing, but the 12 GB VRAM on the RTX 5070 becomes a constraint at 4K Ultra, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS drop.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on resolution. At 1080p, the High preset at 101.0 FPS offers the best balance, providing smooth gameplay without the 31% FPS penalty of Ultra. For competitive play, the Low preset at 162.3 FPS is preferable, but for visual fidelity, High is the sweet spot. At 1440p, the Medium preset at 89.1 FPS is the best choice, as it maintains fluid motion while High at 75.5 FPS is still acceptable, but Ultra at 57.4 FPS starts to feel less responsive. At 4K, the data strongly suggests using Low settings at 78.9 FPS, as Medium at 58.4 FPS is borderline and High at 47.5 FPS is marginal, while Ultra at 34.7 FPS is unplayable for action sequences. The measured data indicates that the Ultra preset is not viable at any resolution above 1080p, as it consistently drops below 60 FPS at 1440p and below 40 FPS at 4K. Therefore, the recommendation is to prioritize High at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K to achieve the best frame rate per visual quality trade-off.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most versatile, with High settings yielding 101.0 FPS and Low yielding 162.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium yields 89.1 FPS, which is acceptable, but 3840x2160 only reaches 78.9 FPS on Low, making 1080p the optimal resolution for consistent high frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3090?

A: The RTX 5070 scores 0.6% higher than the RTX 3090 in average benchmark score. In this game, the FPS data shows the 5070 handles 1440p High at 75.5 FPS and 4K High at 47.5 FPS, which indicates it is a more modern but similar-performing card for this title.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, as the Low preset achieves 162.3 FPS, which is higher than most displays refresh rates. The CPU's 8 cores and 5.50 GHz boost clock are sufficient, as the bottleneck shifts to the GPU at higher resolutions.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 124.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 57.4 FPS, resulting in a 67.5 FPS difference. This is a 54% reduction in frame rate when switching from Low to Ultra.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured data shows 3840x2160 Ultra averages 34.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus of the RTX 5070 are insufficient for this game's Ultra preset at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance translate to this game?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X scores 31588 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 17002 in Geekbench multi-core. In this game, the 8-core/16-thread configuration is adequate, as FPS at 1080p High (101.0) is not CPU-limited, but the game does not scale beyond 16 threads, so the CPU's performance is sufficient for the engine's demands.