Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2670th out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested pairings. This is a severely GPU-limited configuration; the CPU is a top-tier desktop part while the GPU is an integrated-class solution that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at any resolution above 1080p Low. The data shows a system that is profoundly unbalanced for this title, where the graphics processor becomes the overwhelming bottleneck regardless of quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2670 out of 2902 tested combinations puts it in the 8th percentile overall, meaning roughly 92% of tested CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a poor result for a system built around a flagship-class CPU, but the ranking reflects the GPU's limitations rather than any deficiency in the processor. Benchmark results indicate a clear pattern: the Arc B370's performance ceiling is so low that it drags the entire combo down to near the bottom of the database, even when paired with one of the fastest gaming CPUs available.

To contextualize the CPU side, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's average benchmark score of 58386 places it at the 92nd percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (avg score 58323, deltaPct 0.1), the Intel Core i9-14900 (avg score 58115, deltaPct 0.5), and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (avg score 58826, deltaPct -0.7). This means the processor is essentially tied with these high-end parts, performing within 1% of each. The GPU, by contrast, scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, deltaPct -0.2), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, deltaPct -0.5), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, deltaPct -0.7), and AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168, deltaPct 1.4). These are all legacy or entry-level mobile parts, underscoring how far behind modern discrete GPUs the Arc B370 sits.

The practical implication is that this combo ranks low not because of any CPU deficiency but because the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its heavy graphics load, the Arc B370's performance is the single defining factor in the combo's placement. Any other CPU paired with this GPU would likely achieve nearly identical results, as the graphics card becomes the hard limit at every tested setting.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3nm process. Its clock speeds are a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz, with a power envelope of just 25 W. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it uses the host system's DDR5 RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This is a fundamental limitation for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which benefits significantly from dedicated video memory bandwidth.

The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. These specs place it firmly in the entry-level integrated segment, and the measured frame rates confirm this. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 47 FPS average, which is the only playable result across all tested configurations. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 35 FPS, and at High it falls to 29 FPS. Ultra at 1080p yields just 21 FPS.

The data shows a clear pattern: the Arc B370's performance collapses as resolution increases. At 1440p, even Low settings only produce 35 FPS, while Medium drops to 26 FPS and High to 22 FPS. At 4K, the results are unusable, with Low at 23 FPS, Medium at 17 FPS, High at 14 FPS, and Ultra at 10 FPS. The GPU's shared memory architecture means it competes with the CPU for system memory bandwidth, which likely exacerbates the performance drop at higher resolutions where memory pressure increases. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, which places it at the 5th percentile, is consistent with these in-game results, confirming that the Arc B370 is not designed for demanding AAA titles at high settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a 9000-series desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) built on TSMC's 4nm process. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it has a 120 W TDP. The cache configuration includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache is a hallmark of the X3D line, designed to improve gaming performance by reducing memory latency.

The CPU's benchmark results are outstanding. In Cinebench R23, it scores 22807 multicore and 2228 singlecore. In PassMark, it achieves 41318 multithread and 4704 single-thread scores, with notable results in data compression (474501), floating point math (81998), and integer math (123140). Its average benchmark score of 58386 puts it at the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, with rivals like the Intel Core i9-14900 (avg score 58115, deltaPct 0.5) and Intel Xeon w5-2545 (avg score 58504, deltaPct -0.2) showing it trades blows with the best desktop processors available.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU is vastly overqualified. The game's measured frame rates are entirely GPU-bound; the Ryzen 7 9850X3D could easily push well over 100 FPS in this title with a capable discrete GPU. The data shows that the combo's rank is not influenced by CPU performance, as the Arc B370 limits output to a maximum of 47 FPS at 1080p Low. The CPU's 96 MB of L3 cache and 5.60 GHz boost clock would be ideal for this game's CPU-heavy scenes, but those scenes never materialize as a bottleneck because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to stress the processor. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 further ensures that system memory is not a limiting factor for the integrated GPU, yet the GPU still underperforms due to its fundamental computational limits.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 47 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that approaches playable performance, and it still falls short of the 60 FPS target most players prefer.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D scores 58386 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323), 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115), and 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826). These are all within a 1% margin, indicating comparable performance.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B370 a discrete graphics card?

A: No, the Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a slot width of "IGP" and no power connectors. It uses System Shared memory, meaning it relies on the host system's DDR5 RAM for video memory rather than having its own dedicated VRAM.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, 0.2% faster), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, 0.5% faster), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, 0.7% faster), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% slower). All of these are legacy parts from over a decade ago.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded at 1440p and at what settings?

A: The highest 1440p result is 35 FPS at Low settings. Medium produces 26 FPS, High produces 22 FPS, and Ultra produces 16 FPS, all below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the CPU's performance vary significantly between single-thread and multi-thread workloads?

A: The CPU shows strong results in both areas. In Cinebench R23, it scores 22807 multicore and 2228 singlecore. In PassMark, it scores 41318 multithread and 4704 single-thread. These figures indicate balanced performance that would excel in both gaming and productivity, though the GPU prevents this from manifesting in-game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a textbook GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 47 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 35 FPS, a 25.5% reduction. At 4K Low, it falls to 23 FPS, another 34.3% reduction from 1440p. The pattern holds across all settings: 1080p High (29 FPS) to 1440p High (22 FPS) is a 24.1% drop, and 4K High (14 FPS) is a 36.4% drop from 1440p. Medium settings show 35 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p (25.7% drop), and 17 FPS at 4K (34.6% drop). Ultra follows the same trend: 21 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p (23.8% drop), and 10 FPS at 4K (37.5% drop).

These consistent percentage drops as resolution increases indicate that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor. The Arc B370 has a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s, which is simply insufficient for 4K workloads in a demanding game like Red Dead Redemption 2. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal; even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would normally have more influence, the frame rate is only 47 FPS, suggesting the GPU is already saturated. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a consistent 24-26% drop, which is characteristic of a pixel-bound graphics processor.

The data also shows that the game's settings have a larger impact than resolution in some cases. For example, at 1080p, dropping from Low (47 FPS) to Medium (35 FPS) results in a 25.5% performance penalty, while moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (35 FPS) produces the exact same percentage drop. This suggests that the GPU is equally stressed by increased resolution and increased quality settings, reinforcing its status as the sole limiting component. The combination of low pixel rate and shared memory bandwidth means that any increase in workload — whether from more pixels or more complex shading — directly translates to lower frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the only viable configuration for this combo is 1080p with Low settings, which produces 47 FPS average. This is the sole result that approaches playability, though it still falls short of the 60 FPS target. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 35 FPS, which is borderline but may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual quality over smoothness. The 1080p Medium result includes a minimum FPS of 30 and maximum of 40, indicating some frame time variance, but the average is 35 FPS.

For any resolution above 1080p, the data shows that even Low settings cannot deliver playable frame rates. At 1440p Low, the average is 35 FPS, but this is a 25% drop from 1080p Low and likely to feel stuttery in action scenes. At 4K, all settings produce averages between 10 and 23 FPS, which are effectively unplayable. The Ultra preset is the worst performer at every resolution, with 21 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. These results confirm that Ultra settings are entirely unsuitable for this hardware combination.

The practical recommendation is to run the game at 1080p with Low settings if smoothness is the priority, or 1080p Medium if visual fidelity matters more and the player can tolerate sub-40 FPS. The minimum FPS of 30 at 1080p Medium suggests that frame pacing may be inconsistent, but it is still the second-best option available. High settings at 1080p produce 29 FPS, which is only slightly worse than Medium but offers better visuals; however, the lack of minimum FPS data for High makes it harder to assess frame consistency. The data strongly suggests that this combo is not suited for Red Dead Redemption 2 at high quality settings, and players should either lower their expectations or consider a different GPU entirely. The Arc B370's 5th percentile ranking and 1184 3DMark score are clear indicators that it is not designed for demanding AAA titles, and no amount of CPU power can compensate for the GPU's fundamental limitations.