Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + Intel Arc B370

The pairing of AMD's flagship 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X with Intel's entry-level Arc B370 integrated graphics produces a profoundly GPU-limited experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. The benchmark data reveals a system where the CPU's immense processing headroom is effectively trapped behind a graphics solution that ranks in the 5th percentile among all GPUs, resulting in frame rates that range from barely playable at 1080p Low to nearly static at 4K Ultra. The measured performance curve tells a story of a processor waiting for a graphics card that never arrives, with every resolution and settings combination exposing the Arc B370 as the definitive bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a purely GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 47 at 1920x1080 to 35 at 2560x1440, then plummets to 23 at 3840x2160. That represents a 26% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a steeper 34% drop from 1440p to 4K. This accelerating decline with resolution is the classic signature of a graphics processor overwhelmed by pixel throughput, not a CPU limitation.

The Medium settings curve mirrors this pattern almost exactly: 35 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p (a 26% reduction), and 17 FPS at 4K (a 35% reduction). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings tiers indicates that the limiting component scales uniformly with pixel count, which points directly at the GPU's fillrate and shading capabilities rather than any memory bandwidth constraint on the CPU side.

High settings show a slightly different pattern: 29 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p (24% drop), and 14 FPS at 4K (36% drop). The 4K High result of 14 FPS is particularly telling—it suggests that at this resolution, the Arc B370 is operating near its absolute ceiling, with the additional shading load of High quality settings consuming nearly all available processing capacity. Ultra settings at 4K yields just 10 FPS, which is effectively a slideshow.

The resolution scaling data implies that the Ryzen 9 7900X is never the constraining factor in this combination. Even at 1080p Low, where CPU load would be highest relative to GPU work, the system only reaches 47 FPS—far below what a 12-core Zen 4 processor with a 5.60 GHz boost clock could deliver if paired with a discrete graphics solution. The game is entirely render-bound, and the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield near-linear FPS improvements until the CPU's own limits are reached, which the benchmarks indicate would require far more graphics horsepower than the Arc B370 provides.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU-GPU combination ranks 2670th out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. That ranking is almost entirely attributable to the Intel Arc B370, which scores in the 5th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 1184. The GPU's nearest rivals in that benchmark are 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 legacy or low-end parts from a decade ago.

The contrast with the CPU is stark. The Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53288. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206, 0.2% slower), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469, 0.3% faster), Intel Xeon 634 (52974, 0.6% slower), and Intel Core i7-14700F (53620, 0.6% faster). The CPU is a top-tier performer, while the GPU is at the bottom of the barrel—this rank disparity explains why the combo sits so low in the game-specific ranking.

The data suggests that this combination is a mismatch of extremes. The 2670th rank out of 2902 combos in RDR2 is not a reflection of the CPU's capability but rather a direct consequence of pairing a 91st-percentile processor with a 5th-percentile graphics solution. In practical terms, the combo's ranking means that nearly 92% of all tested configurations deliver better performance in this game, and the bottleneck is so severe that the CPU's contribution to gaming performance is essentially negligible.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the only viable settings for actual playability are Low or Medium at 1080p. The Low preset at 1920x1080 produces an average of 47 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. Medium at 1080p drops to 35 FPS, which remains playable but with noticeable compromise. High at 1080p falls to 29 FPS, which is borderline, while Ultra at 1080p yields only 21 FPS—too low for a smooth experience.

At 1440p, Low settings produce 35 FPS, which might be acceptable for less demanding play, but Medium drops to 26 FPS and High to 22 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is effectively unplayable at 16 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly poor: Low at 23 FPS, Medium at 17 FPS, High at 14 FPS, and Ultra at 10 FPS. None of these are suitable for serious gameplay.

Based on the data, the optimal experience for this combo is 1080p Low, which delivers 47 FPS with a margin above the 30 FPS threshold that typically defines minimum playability. For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p Medium at 35 FPS is a reasonable compromise, though the measured minimum of 30 FPS suggests occasional dips below the ideal threshold. The 1080p Medium result includes a minimum of 30 FPS and maximum of 40 FPS, indicating relatively stable performance within that range.

The data does not support using this combo at any resolution above 1080p for a satisfactory experience. The 1440p Low result of 35 FPS is the only non-1080p configuration that approaches playability, but even that represents a 26% performance penalty compared to 1080p Low. The settings recommendation is clear: 1080p Low for maximum smoothness, or 1080p Medium if visual fidelity is prioritized over the extra 12 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings ladder shows a steady decline as quality increases. Low settings deliver an average of 47 FPS, Medium drops to 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40, High falls to 29 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium (12 FPS) is larger than the gap between Medium and High (6 FPS), suggesting that the Low-to-Medium transition involves substantial shader and texture work that the Arc B370 struggles to handle.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 35 FPS, Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 and maximum of 30, High averages 22 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS. The performance degradation from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings: 26% for Low, 26% for Medium, 24% for High, and 24% for Ultra. This uniformity reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the system.

At 3840x2160, the results become marginal. Low averages 23 FPS, Medium averages 17 FPS with a minimum of 15 and maximum of 20, High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 10 FPS. The 4K Low result of 23 FPS is the only 4K configuration that even approaches the lower bounds of playability, and it still represents a 51% reduction from 1080p Low. The 4K Medium minimum of 15 FPS indicates that frame time consistency degrades significantly at this resolution.

Looking at the complete dataset, the Arc B370's performance ceiling in RDR2 is clearly 47 FPS at 1080p Low. Every other configuration produces lower results, with the worst being 10 FPS at 4K Ultra. The measured data includes minimum and maximum values only for Medium settings, which show ranges of 30-40 FPS at 1080p, 22-30 FPS at 1440p, and 15-20 FPS at 4K. These ranges suggest that Medium settings provide relatively consistent frame pacing, though the absolute values remain low.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the defining component in this system's RDR2 performance, and the benchmark data leaves no doubt about its limitations. The GPU's average benchmark score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile among all graphics cards, with nearest rivals that are all legacy ATI/AMD parts from the early 2010s. The GPU's architecture is Xe3-LPG on Intel's 3nm process, with a base clock of 300 MHz and boost clock of 2400 MHz, but these specifications translate into just 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The memory configuration is "System Shared" with "System Dependent" bandwidth, which means the GPU relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory arrangement is likely a significant contributor to the low performance, as the GPU must compete with CPU workloads for memory access and cannot benefit from dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM. The 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth of the Ryzen 9 7900X's dual-channel DDR5 is shared between the CPU and GPU, which could explain the steep performance drops at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth demands increase.

The GPU's pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, figures that are consistent with an integrated-class solution. With 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, 20 ROPs, and 10 RT cores, the Arc B370 is clearly designed for basic graphical tasks rather than demanding games like RDR2. The GPU's TDP of 25 W and IGP slot width confirm its integrated nature, and the absence of a dedicated power connector further reinforces that this is not a gaming-class part.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 provides a synthetic benchmark reference that aligns with the in-game results—both indicate entry-level performance. The GPU's nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770) are over a decade old, which contextualizes exactly where this GPU sits in the performance hierarchy. The data suggests that the Arc B370's role is not to deliver playable frame rates in AAA titles at high settings, but rather to provide basic display output and light graphical acceleration.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 47, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that approaches smooth playability, with all other settings and resolutions producing notably lower results.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with this CPU-GPU combination?

A: Technically yes, but not practically. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 23 on Low settings, dropping to 10 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K averages 17 FPS with a minimum of 15 FPS, which is far below playable thresholds.

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

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it within 1% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). The AMD FirePro M2000 is slightly slower at 1168, which is 1.4% behind.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark ranking compare to the GPU's?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs with an average score of 53288, while the Arc B370 ranks in the 5th percentile among GPUs with a score of 1184. This 86-percentile gap illustrates the extreme mismatch between the two components.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 47 at 1920x1080 to 23 at 3840x2160, representing a 51% reduction. This substantial loss is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where pixel throughput is the limiting factor.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most consistent frame pacing?

A: Medium settings are the only preset with measured minimum and maximum values, showing ranges of 30-40 FPS at 1080p, 22-30 FPS at 1440p, and 15-20 FPS at 4K. These ranges indicate relatively stable performance, though the absolute averages of 35, 26, and 17 FPS respectively remain low.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael codename), manufactured on TSMC's 5nm process with 13,140 million transistors across a 2x 71 mm² die. It features a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 170W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 64 MB shared L3 cache, providing ample capacity for gaming workloads.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 7900X demonstrates exceptional performance: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 29300, single-core scores 2016.5, Geekbench multi-core reaches 19267, and 3DMark max-threads hits 12536. The CPU's average benchmark score of 53288 places it in the 91st percentile, with nearest rivals including the EPYC 7313P (0.2% slower), Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% faster), Xeon 634 (0.6% slower), and Core i7-14700F (0.6% faster). These results confirm that the processor is a top-tier part capable of handling any gaming workload.

However, in this specific game combination, the CPU's role is essentially passive. The benchmark data shows frame rates that are far below what the 7900X could sustain, even in the most favorable 1080p Low scenario. The measured 47 FPS at 1080p Low is not a CPU limitation—the 7900X's single-thread performance (2016.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 4238 in PassMark single-thread) would support much higher frame rates in RDR2 if the GPU could keep up.

The 7900X's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s from dual-channel DDR5 is shared with the Arc B370's "System Shared" memory, which could theoretically create a bottleneck at higher resolutions. However, the consistent performance drops across settings suggest that the GPU's compute and fillrate limitations dominate, rather than memory bandwidth contention. The CPU's 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and Radeon integrated graphics are not factors in this setup, as the Arc B370 operates as an IGP with no dedicated bus interface.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 9 7900X is effectively wasted in this configuration for gaming purposes. Its 91st-percentile ranking and top-tier benchmark scores are irrelevant to the actual gaming experience because the Arc B370's 5th-percentile GPU performance caps every frame rate. The CPU's role in this combo is to feed a GPU that cannot consume its output, resulting in a system where the processor's 12 cores and 24 threads remain largely idle during RDR2 gameplay.