Red Dead Redemption 2

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: This combination ranks 48th out of 1687 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 2.8% of all configurations tested.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5900X compare to its nearest rival in raw CPU benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X has an average benchmark score of 39453, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4245P (score 39383) and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13700F (score 39095). It trails the Intel Core i7-13700 by 1% and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS by 0.7%.

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS is 207.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The lowest recorded average FPS is 46.2, at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4090 have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4090 features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its memory clock runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

Q: What are the boost clock speeds for the CPU and GPU in this combo?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X has a boost clock of 4.80 GHz with a base clock of 3.70 GHz. The RTX 4090 has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the RTX 4090 compared to all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4090 sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4, scores 66733, a 0.4% difference.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this pairing at rank 48 out of 1687 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. That is a strong showing, but not the absolute top. The top 2.8% placement means this system is outperformed by only 47 other configurations in the database, yet it also indicates that some combos—likely with more recent or higher-end parts—manage to edge it out in this specific title.

The Ryzen 9 5900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, delivers a multi-threaded benchmark score of 33150 in Cinebench R23. Its single-core score of 4680 is competitive. The nearest CPU rival data shows a tight cluster: the EPYC 4245P is within 0.2%, the Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS within 0.7%, and the Core i7-13700F within 0.9%. This suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios; the 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this is a high-end processor.

For the GPU, the RTX 4090 scores 38194 in Passmark G3D and 317684 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its 91st percentile placement among all GPUs, with an average score of 66473, indicates it is one of the fastest graphics cards tested. The nearest GPU rivals—Tesla T4, Tesla P40, Radeon Pro Vega 56, and Quadro P6000—are all within a 1.3% deltaPct, which is a remarkably tight spread. This means the RTX 4090's raw compute performance is near the top of the database, but its game-specific results depend heavily on the resolution and settings used.

Given the data, the combo's rank of 48 likely stems from the game's engine scaling. Red Dead Redemption 2 is known for heavy GPU load at higher resolutions, so the RTX 4090's massive 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput should shine. However, the 5900X's older Zen 3 architecture, while fast, may hold back frame rates at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more prominent. The measured FPS data confirms this pattern, as the frame rate differences between settings grow larger at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

Looking at the measured FPS across resolutions, the data shows how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 207.4 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low yields 159.4 FPS, a 23% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 105.7 FPS, another 34% drop. This scaling pattern is steep, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

For High settings, the trend continues: 137.1 FPS at 1080p, 102.6 FPS at 1440p (25% lower), and 67.8 FPS at 4K (34% lower than 1440p). The consistent percentage drops between 1440p and 4K—roughly 30-35% across all settings—suggest that the RTX 4090's pixel throughput is the limiting factor at 4K. The GPU's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are high, but the game's draw calls at 4K overwhelm even this capability.

At 1080p, the picture is different. The jump from Low (207.4 FPS) to Medium (158.4 FPS) is a 24% decrease, while High (137.1 FPS) is 13% lower than Medium, and Ultra (98.7 FPS) is 28% lower than High. These large swings at the same resolution indicate that the CPU is feeding frames fast enough; the GPU's workload scales with settings, but the 5900X's 24 threads can keep up. The 1080p Ultra result of 98.7 FPS is still above 60, but the 4K Ultra result of 46.2 FPS shows where the system finally runs out of headroom.

The data reveals that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where even Ultra settings produce 73.9 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium settings (105.7 and 78 FPS, respectively) maintain playable frame rates above 60. The 5900X's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 64 MB L3 cache are sufficient for this game, but the GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is what matters most at high resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 207.4 (Low) to 98.7 (Ultra). The step from Low to Medium is 49 FPS, from Medium to High is 21.3 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 38.4 FPS. This non-linear scaling means that Medium offers a significant boost over Low, but High provides diminishing returns until Ultra, which costs a large frame rate penalty.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are 159.4 (Low), 119.8 (Medium), 102.6 (High), and 73.9 (Ultra). The gap between Low and Medium is 39.6 FPS, Medium to High is 17.2 FPS, and High to Ultra is 28.7 FPS. The pattern holds: Medium is the largest jump, but the absolute frame rates are lower due to the higher pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the results are 105.7 (Low), 78 (Medium), 67.8 (High), and 46.2 (Ultra). The difference between Low and Medium is 27.7 FPS, Medium to High is 10.2 FPS, and High to Ultra is 21.6 FPS. Here, the GPU is heavily stressed; even Low settings cannot reach 120 FPS, and Ultra drops below 60.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings, the scaling is consistent. For Low, 207.4 to 159.4 to 105.7 FPS. For Medium, 158.4 to 119.8 to 78 FPS. For High, 137.1 to 102.6 to 67.8 FPS. For Ultra, 98.7 to 73.9 to 46.2 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p drop averages around 25%, while 1440p-to-4K averages around 35%. This suggests that the RTX 4090's memory subsystem, with its 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, is the binding constraint at 4K, not the GPU cores.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, the card has ample capacity for Red Dead Redemption 2's textures at any resolution. The 384-bit memory bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming is rarely a bottleneck, even at 4K. The memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) is high, but the game's demands at 4K Ultra push the memory system to its limits, as evidenced by the 46.2 FPS result.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: 82.58 TFLOPS FP32, 128 RT cores, and 512 tensor cores. These specifications allow for high-quality effects, but the game's rasterization workload at 4K Ultra is the primary driver of performance. The 16384 shading units and 512 TMUs process geometry and textures efficiently, but the 176 ROPs are tasked with pixel output. At 4K, the pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s is sufficient for 60 FPS in theory, but the game's overdraw and alpha effects reduce effective throughput.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate this. The Passmark G3D score of 38194 is high, but the DirectX 12 score of 150 and DirectX 11 score of 326 indicate that the card's performance varies by API and workload. In Red Dead Redemption 2, which uses its own engine, the practical FPS results show that the RTX 4090 is not always maxed out. At 1080p Low, the 207.4 FPS suggests the GPU is not fully utilized—the CPU is likely the limiter. At 4K Ultra, the 46.2 FPS shows the GPU is saturated.

The RTX 4090's 450 W TDP and triple-slot design are not directly reflected in FPS, but the data implies that power delivery is not a constraint. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average score of 66473, confirms it is near the top of the database. The nearest rival, the Tesla T4, scores 66733—a 0.4% difference—but that card is a data center GPU, not optimized for gaming. This combo's GPU role is to provide massive headroom at 1080p and 1440p, while at 4K, it still delivers playable frame rates at Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1920x1080, all settings produce frame rates above 98.7 FPS, so the choice depends on the display's refresh rate. For a 144 Hz monitor, High (137.1 FPS) is the best balance, as it stays above 120 FPS. Ultra (98.7 FPS) is playable but sacrifices 28% of the frame rate for marginal visual gains. Low and Medium are unnecessarily fast for most users, as the CPU is likely the bottleneck above 160 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Medium (119.8 FPS) and High (102.6 FPS) are the sweet spots. Both exceed 100 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming. Ultra (73.9 FPS) is still above 60, so it is viable for users prioritizing image quality over frame rate. Low (159.4 FPS) is only useful for competitive play or extremely high refresh rate displays (240 Hz). The data shows that High offers a 14% frame rate reduction from Medium, while Ultra costs 28% from High—a steep penalty.

At 3840x2160, the options are more constrained. Low (105.7 FPS) and Medium (78 FPS) are the only settings that maintain 60 FPS or higher. High (67.8 FPS) is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra (46.2 FPS) falls below it. For a 60 Hz 4K display, Medium is the recommended choice, as it provides a 15% frame rate buffer over High while still looking significantly better than Low. The jump from Low to Medium is 27.7 FPS, which is worth the visual upgrade, but the jump from Medium to High is only 10.2 FPS, making it a poor trade-off.

Across all resolutions, the data indicates that Medium is the most efficient setting in terms of FPS per visual quality step. The percentage drops from Medium to High are smaller than from High to Ultra, suggesting that the game's Ultra preset includes effects that disproportionately tax the GPU. For this combo, the best experience is Medium or High at 1440p, or Medium at 4K if the display supports it. The 5900X's 12 cores ensure that CPU-bound scenarios are rare, so the settings recommendations are primarily GPU-driven.