Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a demanding open-world title, and this specific pairing of an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D with an Intel Arc B390 produces results that are heavily constrained by the graphics side of the equation. The benchmark data shows a combination that ranks near the bottom of the tested pool, making it a configuration suited for low-resolution or low-fidelity play rather than high-end experiences. The CPU is clearly a top-tier part, but the integrated graphics solution acts as a severe bottleneck in nearly every scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested CPU and GPU combinations for Red Dead Redemption 2, this pairing sits at rank 2568 out of 2902 combos. That places it in the bottom 12% of all tested configurations, a position that underscores the fundamental mismatch between the processor's capability and the graphics subsystem's output. The combo's rank is not a reflection of the CPU, which is an elite performer, but rather a direct consequence of the Intel Arc B390's standing as a low-tier graphics solution.

The GPU's individual percentile ranking is a stark 9th percentile among all tested graphics cards. This means that in the vast majority of other system configurations, the graphics component is capable of producing higher frame rates. The delta between the Arc B390 and its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark pool is minimal, with the Intel part scoring 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its closest competitor, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, a delta of 1.3%. The performance gap between the B390 and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 is also narrow at 2.7%. These figures paint a picture of a GPU that is trading blows with decade-old entry-level parts, which directly explains the low combo rank.

In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals show a different story. The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D has an average benchmark score of 58386, placing it just 0.1% above the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% above the Intel Core i9-14900. It is a marginal 0.2% behind the Intel Xeon w5-2545. This data confirms that the processor is performing at the top of its class. The bottleneck is unambiguous: the CPU is capable of feeding frames far faster than the GPU can render them, which is why the overall combo rank is so low despite the processor's strength.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) built on Intel's 3 nm process and featuring the Xe3-LPG architecture. Its memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning it pulls from the main system RAM rather than having its own dedicated VRAM pool. The memory bus width and bandwidth are likewise system-dependent, which is a critical factor in its performance. This lack of dedicated video memory is a primary reason for its low benchmark showing.

Clock speeds for the GPU are 300 MHz base and 2500 MHz boost. While the boost clock is respectable on paper, the architecture's limits are evident in its raw compute capabilities. The GPU provides 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units (TMUs), and only 24 render output units (ROPs). Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS. In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, these specifications result in the measured frame rates we see. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is the benchmark that places it in the 9th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts with similar legacy performance levels.

The data indicates that the GPU's role in this combo is purely limiting. It is the component that determines the final frame output, and its performance ceiling is very low. The system-shared memory means that increasing resolution or settings will rapidly saturate the available bandwidth, leading to the dramatic frame rate drops observed in the measured FPS data. This is not a GPU designed for high-fidelity gaming, and the benchmark results confirm that it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 1080p with High settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. This scaling behavior is a textbook indicator of a GPU-bound system. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 51 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings drops the average to 38 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 4K with Low settings, the average falls to 25 FPS, which is a 51% reduction from the 1080p result.

This steep decline in performance with resolution is the definitive sign that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. A CPU-bound scenario would show much smaller frame rate differences across resolutions because the processor's workload does not scale linearly with pixel count. Here, the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated, and the frame rate plummets accordingly. At 1080p, the GPU is just barely able to keep up with the CPU's output at Low settings, but as the pixel count increases, it falls further behind.

The trend continues across all settings. At 1080p High, the average is 32 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 24 FPS. At 4K High, it is a slideshow-like 16 FPS. The frame rate data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings is also significant. At 1080p, the difference between Low (51 FPS) and Ultra (23 FPS) is 28 FPS. This indicates that the GPU lacks the raw compute power and memory bandwidth to handle the increased shading, texture, and draw distance demands of higher settings, regardless of resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's capabilities across three resolutions and four quality presets. The numbers are consistently low, confirming that this is not a high-performance gaming setup.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the results are largely unplayable. With Low settings, the average frame rate is 25 FPS. Medium settings reduce the average to 19 FPS, with a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 22 FPS. High settings yield only 16 FPS on average. Ultra settings produce an average of just 11 FPS. All of these figures fall below the generally accepted threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combination.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance is marginally better but still below 60 FPS in all cases. Low settings achieve an average of 38 FPS. Medium settings drop to 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33 FPS. High settings average 24 FPS. Ultra settings average 17 FPS. None of these results provide a consistently smooth experience, and even the Low setting falls short of a 40 FPS average.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the combo finally approaches a playable range. Low settings yield an average of 51 FPS, which is the only average above 50 FPS in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 39 FPS on average, with a minimum of 33 and a maximum of 44 FPS. High settings average 32 FPS. Ultra settings average 23 FPS. The data shows that for a consistent 60 FPS experience, this hardware is not sufficient, even at the lowest settings. The 51 FPS average on Low is the peak of this combo's performance, and it comes with the visual compromises inherent to Low settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU has a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is critical for gaming performance. It supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Its TDP is rated at 120 W.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The benchmark data shows that it is more than capable of this task. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 22807, and its single-core score is 2228. The PassMark single-thread score is 4704, and the multi-thread score is 41318. These scores place it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 58386. This performance level means that the processor is not a limiting factor in the measured frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all high-end server or desktop parts. It is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900. It is only 0.2% behind the Intel Xeon w5-2545. These margins are negligible, indicating that the 9850X3D is performing exactly as expected for a top-tier processor. Given this level of CPU performance, the frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2 are entirely dictated by the Intel Arc B390 GPU. The CPU is effectively idle, waiting for the GPU to finish rendering each frame.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60 FPS?

A: No. The measured data shows that the highest average frame rate achieved is 51 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. All other settings and resolutions produce lower averages, with 1440p and 4K results falling well below 40 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this hardware?

A: According to the benchmark data, 1080p with Low settings provides the best playable experience, with an average of 51 FPS. Medium settings at 1080p drop to 39 FPS, and High settings to 32 FPS, which are less smooth.

Q: How does the GPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482. It is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM. It is 1.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M and 2.7% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710.

Q: Why is the combo ranking so low despite having a powerful CPU?

A: The combo ranks 2568 out of 2902 due to the GPU's performance. The Intel Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which severely limits the frame output. The CPU, ranking in the 92nd percentile, is not the bottleneck.

Q: What is the impact of increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K?

A: The frame rate drops sharply. At Low settings, the average goes from 51 FPS at 1080p to 38 FPS at 1440p and 25 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as its performance scales poorly with pixel count.

Q: Does the CPU's cache size help in this game?

A: The CPU has 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is beneficial for gaming. However, the benchmark results show that the frame rates are capped by the GPU, so the cache's benefits are not visible in the final FPS numbers for this specific pairing.