Red Dead Redemption 2

The data for Red Dead Redemption 2 on the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a system that is decisively constrained by its graphics card at higher resolutions, while the processor’s strength becomes more apparent only as the resolution drops. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 26 FPS, a figure that climbs to 34.5 FPS at High settings. This places the experience well below the 60 FPS threshold that most users target for smooth gameplay. The pattern is clear: this pairing is not built for native 4K gaming in this title, regardless of the quality preset.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and illustrates where the bottleneck resides. At 1080p Low, the system produces 111.4 FPS, which is a strong result. However, moving to 1440p Low drops that figure to 82.4 FPS, a reduction of roughly 26%. Scaling up to 4K Low yields just 52.3 FPS, which is a 53% decline from the 1080p Low result. This dramatic falloff is the signature of a GPU-limited scenario; the RTX 4060 is simply running out of pixel throughput as the resolution increases.

The trend holds across all settings. At High quality, the combo delivers 69.1 FPS at 1080p, 50.4 FPS at 1440p, and 34.5 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p High is 18.7 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K High is 15.9 FPS. This consistent degradation indicates that the graphics card is the primary limiting factor. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is not the constraint here; if it were, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions as the GPU load increased.

A more granular look at the Medium preset reinforces this. At 1080p Medium, the system hits 82 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it falls to 58.8 FPS. At 4K Medium, it drops to 43.5 FPS. The pattern is identical to the other presets, suggesting that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are saturated well before the CPU’s capabilities are tested. The 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth of the RTX 4060 are likely contributing factors, as higher resolutions demand more texture and geometry data to be streamed.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 is the decisive component in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus is a modest allocation for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its large, open environments. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 26 FPS, and at 4K High it produces 34.5 FPS. These numbers suggest that the GPU is struggling with both memory capacity and raw shading power. The card’s boost clock is rated at 2460 MHz, and its FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, but these specifications do not translate into playable 4K performance in this title.

The GPU’s benchmark percentile reflects its mid-range standing. It sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score is 23181. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, posts an average score of 23321, which is a 0.6% advantage. Conversely, the Intel Arc B580 trails by 0.7% with a score of 23021. These are tight margins, indicating that the RTX 4060 is competitive with its immediate peers, but none of them are top-tier 4K performers. The card’s 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present, but they do not rescue the 4K Ultra result, which remains below 30 FPS.

The GPU’s memory configuration is a notable weakness. With only 8 GB of VRAM, the card may be forced to swap data to system memory at higher resolutions and detail levels, which would cause stuttering and frame drops. The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 60.2 FPS (111.4 vs 51.2). At 4K, the difference is 26.3 FPS (52.3 vs 26). This compression of performance at 4K indicates that the GPU is hitting a hard ceiling, likely due to memory bandwidth and capacity limits rather than just raw shader throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p High settings?

A: The system delivers an average of 69.1 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is a playable frame rate for most users.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 26, which is not smooth and indicates the GPU is overwhelmed.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this game?

A: The benchmark data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, as FPS drops significantly with each resolution increase, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance is not fully utilized.

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: The only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS at 1440p is Low settings, which produces 82.4 FPS. At 1080p, both Low and Medium settings exceed 60 FPS, with 111.4 and 82 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181, which is 0.6% lower than the RX 6600M’s score of 23321.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: This specific combination of CPU and GPU ranks 964th out of 1687 total combos tested for Red Dead Redemption 2.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 964th out of 1687 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU’s mid-range capabilities. While the CPU is a high-end part, the GPU holds the system back. The RTX 4060’s 66th percentile standing among all GPUs is mirrored in the overall combo ranking, which sits at the 57th percentile (964/1687). This indicates that the pairing is balanced in the sense that the GPU is the weaker link, but it is not a high-performing combination for this specific game.

The ranking suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver better average FPS in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck, so any combo with a stronger GPU would likely rank higher, regardless of the CPU. Conversely, pairing this CPU with a weaker GPU would result in an even lower rank. The 12-core, 24-thread processor is not the issue; it is the 8 GB graphics card that limits the experience. The rank of 964 is a clear signal that users seeking higher frame rates in this title should prioritize a more powerful GPU over a faster CPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a high-end processor, but its contribution to this game’s performance is largely secondary. With 12 cores and 24 threads, it provides ample compute resources, and its boost clock of 5.60 GHz is high. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 50556, which places it at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, scores 50598, a negligible 0.1% difference. This indicates that the 7900X is a top-tier processor, but that strength is not reflected in the 4K results, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 111.4 FPS, which is a strong result that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU efficiently. The high single-core performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2952, helps maintain high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. However, as resolution increases, the GPU’s workload expands, and the CPU’s advantage becomes less relevant. The 64 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support are beneficial, but they do not compensate for the GPU’s 128-bit memory bus.

The CPU’s benchmark data shows it is a powerful part, but it is wasted in this pairing at higher resolutions. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 43695 and single-core score of 6168 demonstrate its capability. Yet, in Red Dead Redemption 2, the system’s performance is capped by the RTX 4060. For users playing at 1080p, the CPU ensures high frame rates, but at 4K, the CPU is effectively idle while the GPU struggles. The data suggests that this processor would be better paired with a more powerful GPU to unlock its full potential in graphically intensive titles.