Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers a playable but mixed experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and quality presets. The measured data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 3070’s 8 GB frame buffer and the CPU’s high single-thread performance create a system that excels at 1080p and handles 1440p adequately, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with higher settings. This analysis breaks down the optimal settings, ranking, and component roles based solely on the provided benchmark results.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset for this combo is Low at every resolution tested, as it provides the only consistently high frame rates across the board. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 124.7 FPS, which is more than double the 56.8 FPS seen at Ultra. At 2560x1440, Low yields 93.3 FPS, while at 3840x2160, Low still manages a respectable 61.7 FPS. This makes Low the only preset that breaks the 60 FPS threshold at 4K, indicating that for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, this is the go-to choice.

However, for a balance between visual fidelity and performance, Medium is the best compromise. At 1080p, Medium delivers 96.4 FPS, which is still excellent and only 28.3 FPS below Low. At 1440p, Medium produces 72.4 FPS, which is smooth for most displays. The jump from Medium to High is substantial: at 1440p, High drops to 56.4 FPS, a loss of 16 FPS, and at 4K, High falls to 36.9 FPS, which is barely playable. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution, as it only achieves 56.8 FPS at 1080p, 39.6 FPS at 1440p, and 28.8 FPS at 4K, all of which are below the ideal smoothness threshold.

Therefore, the data suggests that players should prioritize Medium for a quality experience at 1080p or 1440p, or drop to Low if targeting 4K or maximum frame rates. The gap between Medium and High is the largest performance cliff in the dataset, making High a poor trade-off for the visual gains it provides.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 770th out of 1687 tested combos for Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the upper-middle tier, meaning it outperforms roughly 54% of other configurations tested in this game. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing: the Ryzen 9 7900X is a high-end processor, while the RTX 3070 is a mid-range GPU, and the combination lands in a position where the GPU is likely the limiting factor at higher settings.

The CPU itself is competitive among its peers. In general benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 7900X scores an average of 50556, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, which scores 50598 and shows a delta of -0.1%. It is also just 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT and 0.5% behind the Intel Core i7-13850HX. The closest rival, the Intel Core i9-13980HX, leads by only 0.8%. This suggests that the 7900X is not a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios, and its 12 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s demands.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3070’s average benchmark score of 28238 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, scores 27985, putting the RTX 3070 just 0.9% ahead. Interestingly, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti scores 27956, which is 1% behind, while the AMD FirePro S7150 scores 28409, which is 0.6% ahead. This indicates that the RTX 3070 is positioned at the edge of a performance cluster, where small percentage differences separate models.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 plays the critical role in this combo, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus is a defining factor in Red Dead Redemption 2. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is substantial, but the 8 GB capacity appears to be the limiting constraint at higher resolutions and presets. The data shows a stark drop in performance when moving from Medium to High at 4K, where average FPS falls from 46.2 to 36.9, and again from High to Ultra, falling to 28.8. This pattern strongly suggests that the game exceeds the available VRAM at higher settings, forcing the system to manage memory less efficiently.

The GPU’s clocks are modest for modern standards, with a base of 1500 MHz and a boost of 1725 MHz. Despite this, the card’s 5888 shading units and 46 ray tracing cores provide ample compute power for rasterized workloads. The 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is sufficient for the game’s engine, but the memory ceiling is the real bottleneck. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to push 124.7 FPS on Low, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 28.8 FPS, indicating that the memory subsystem is overwhelmed.

The RTX 3070’s 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms it is a solid mainstream performer, but not a high-end one. In this game, its role is to provide smooth frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with moderate settings, while 4K is only viable on the Low preset. The 8 GB VRAM is the primary limitation, and users should be aware that Ultra or High presets at 4K will not deliver a consistent experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows a wide range of performance. Low settings deliver 124.7 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors. Medium drops to 96.4 FPS, still very smooth. High produces 78.1 FPS, which is acceptable, but Ultra falls to 56.8 FPS, a significant 21.3 FPS loss from High. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 67.9 FPS difference, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher presets.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with lower absolute numbers. Low achieves 93.3 FPS, which is still ideal for most users. Medium drops to 72.4 FPS, which is playable. High falls to 56.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 39.6 FPS. The 1440p results show a 53.7 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the higher resolution amplifies the GPU’s VRAM and compute limitations.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal. Low is the only playable preset at 61.7 FPS. Medium drops to 46.2 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold. High falls to 36.9 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 28.8 FPS. The 4K results show a 32.9 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, but the key takeaway is that only Low crosses the 60 FPS line. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is only viable with the lowest settings on this hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 60+ FPS experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice at 2560x1440, delivering an average of 72.4 FPS. The Low preset also works at 93.3 FPS, but Medium offers a better balance between visual quality and performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but only with the Low preset, which achieves 61.7 FPS at 3840x2160. Higher presets such as Medium (46.2 FPS), High (36.9 FPS), and Ultra (28.8 FPS) all fall below the ideal 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 7900X compare to its closest rival in general benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X scores an average of 50556, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 5 235’s 50598, a delta of -0.1%. It is 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT and 0.8% behind the Intel Core i9-13980HX.

Q: What is the performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 124.7 FPS, while Ultra produces 56.8 FPS. This represents a 67.9 FPS difference, meaning Ultra is roughly 54% slower than Low.

Q: Is the RTX 3070’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests it is not at higher settings. The large frame rate drops between Medium and High at 1440p (from 72.4 to 56.4 FPS) and at 4K (from 46.2 to 36.9 FPS) indicate that the 8 GB frame buffer is a limiting factor when pushing higher quality presets.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 rank against the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 28238, which is 0.9% higher than the RX 6600 XT’s 27985. This places the two cards very close in overall performance, though the RTX 3070 holds a slight edge.