Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the Intel Arc B370 presents a stark contrast in capabilities, combining a high-end 2020 desktop processor with a low-power integrated-class GPU. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the benchmark data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly constrained by its graphics component, with the CPU's substantial multi-threaded power unable to compensate for the GPU's limited rendering throughput. The measured results show that this combination is positioned near the bottom of the performance hierarchy for this title, making it suitable only for the most modest graphical settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2670 out of 2902 tested combos in this game, placing it in the 8th percentile of all tested systems. This indicates that the vast majority of other hardware configurations deliver higher frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X has an average benchmark score of 41376. This puts it 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H and 0.4% ahead of both the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440. It trails the Intel Core i7-14650HX by 0.5%. These are very marginal differences.

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable at 1080p with this hardware?

A: The highest measured average FPS for this combo is 47, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. Dropping to Medium settings reduces the average to 35 FPS, and High settings yield 29 FPS.

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

A: No, the data identifies the Intel Arc B370 as an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with a bus interface of "IGP". It has a low power draw of 25 W and uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it relies on the system's main RAM.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest performance rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the Arc B370 scores 1184. This is 0.2% slower than the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and 0.5% slower than the ATI Radeon HD 5770. It is 0.7% slower than the AMD Radeon HD 7650M but 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 35 FPS on Low settings to just 16 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 54% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the decisive factor in this system's performance in Red Dead Redemption 2. Its specifications paint a picture of a component designed for basic graphical output rather than high-end gaming. The GPU features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units, with a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. These figures are extremely low for a modern gaming context. The clock speeds range from a base of 300 MHz to a boost of 2400 MHz, but the architecture's overall throughput is capped by its modest configuration.

The memory subsystem is a critical limitation. The Arc B370 uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM of its own. This forces the GPU to share bandwidth with the CPU, which is a major bottleneck for a demanding open-world title like Red Dead Redemption 2. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," and the bus width is also "System Shared." This shared memory architecture means that performance can be highly variable and is often limited by the speed and capacity of the system's DDR4 memory, rather than the GPU itself. The FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS provides a theoretical peak, but in practice, the shared memory and low power envelope of 25 W severely restrict real-world frame rates. The data shows this clearly: at 1080p Medium settings, the game only manages an average of 35 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the only viable way to achieve a playable experience with this hardware is to use the Low settings preset. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 47 FPS, which is the only measured configuration that approaches a generally acceptable level of fluidity. While this is still not ideal for competitive or high-refresh-rate gaming, it is the most functional option presented in the data. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 35 FPS, which is a significant step down and may result in noticeable stuttering in a game with as much environmental detail as Red Dead Redemption 2.

Moving to higher resolutions is not recommended. At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 35 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it drops to 23 FPS. None of the Medium, High, or Ultra presets at any resolution provide a frame rate above 35 FPS, with the Ultra preset at 4K being effectively unplayable at 10 FPS. The data suggests that for a consistent experience, users should stick to 1080p with Low settings. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p incurs a 12 FPS penalty (from 47 to 35), which is a 25% performance hit for a visual upgrade that may not be worth the loss of smoothness on this hardware. The High preset at 1080p, at 29 FPS, is also best avoided.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2670 out of 2902 places it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2. This low standing is almost entirely attributable to the Intel Arc B370 GPU, which itself sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 1184. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark are all legacy ATI/AMD parts from over a decade ago, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, underscoring how far behind modern standards this integrated solution is.

In contrast, the CPU is a high-performance part. The Ryzen 9 5900X is in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41376. This places it in the top 13% of processors, and its nearest rivals are modern mobile and desktop chips like the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H and the Intel Core i7-14650HX. This pairing of a top-tier CPU with a bottom-tier GPU creates a massive imbalance. The data implies that the system's rank is not a measure of the CPU's capability but rather a direct reflection of the GPU's inability to render the game at competitive frame rates. The processor is likely idle for much of the time, waiting for the GPU to finish its work.

Resolution Scaling

The performance degradation from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a system that is entirely GPU-limited. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 47 FPS at 1920x1080 to 35 FPS at 2560x1440, a 25.5% drop. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160, the frame rate falls further to 23 FPS, another 34.3% drop. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is from 47 FPS to 23 FPS, a 51% decrease.

This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, confirming that the rendering resolution is the primary bottleneck. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 29 FPS at 1080p to 22 FPS at 1440p and then to 14 FPS at 4K. The scaling behavior shows that as the pixel count increases, the GPU's limited pixel fill rate and texture processing capabilities become overwhelmed. The fact that the FPS drops so dramatically with resolution indicates that the system is not constrained by the CPU or memory bandwidth in a way that would keep frame rates more stable across resolutions. The Intel Arc B370's shared memory architecture and low ROPS count of 20 are likely the key factors, as they directly impact the ability to output pixels at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a clear picture of the hardware's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are 47 for Low, 35 for Medium, 29 for High, and 21 for Ultra. The Medium preset also shows a minimum of 30 FPS and a maximum of 40 FPS, indicating some frame time variance. At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 35 for Low, 26 for Medium, 22 for High, and 16 for Ultra. The Medium preset here has a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS. Finally, at 3840x2160, the average FPS values are 23 for Low, 17 for Medium, 14 for High, and 10 for Ultra. The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum of 15 FPS and a maximum of 20 FPS.

These numbers show that the system can only achieve an average FPS above 30 at 1080p with Low settings. Every other configuration tested fails to reach this threshold. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets is substantial at every resolution. At 1080p, the gap is 26 FPS (from 47 to 21). At 1440p, the gap is 19 FPS (from 35 to 16). At 4K, the gap is 13 FPS (from 23 to 10). The data indicates that the game is unplayable at Ultra settings at any resolution, and even Medium and High presets at 1080p result in a sub-30 FPS experience that would be considered choppy for most players.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. This is a powerful desktop CPU with a substantial 64 MB of L3 cache. Its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16262 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 14118, demonstrate its high multi-threaded capability. This processor is designed to handle the most demanding workloads, including heavy multitasking and content creation.

However, in the context of Red Dead Redemption 2 with the Intel Arc B370, the CPU's role is largely passive. The game's frame rate is so severely limited by the GPU that the processor's performance is irrelevant. The 12 cores and 24 threads of the Ryzen 9 5900X are more than sufficient to handle the game's logic, physics, and AI. The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistent with what one would expect from a GPU of this low caliber. The high single-threaded performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 941, is also not a limiting factor. The system's performance is fundamentally capped by the integrated GPU's inability to process frames quickly enough, leaving the Ryzen 9 5900X with significant headroom to spare. The pairing is a classic case of a CPU being far more powerful than the GPU, resulting in a system where the graphics card is the sole determinant of gaming performance.