Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable but not exceptional Red Dead Redemption 2 experience, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint across all resolutions. The combo ranks 2283rd out of 3714 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, and the benchmark data shows that while the 16-core/32-thread CPU provides ample headroom, the 8 GB RTX 4060 struggles to maintain high frame rates at demanding settings. At 1080p, the combo achieves a solid 61 FPS on High settings, but pushing to 4K Ultra drops performance to 22 FPS, a 64% reduction that underscores the GPU-limited nature of this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the bottleneck at every quality preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 98 FPS at 1920x1080 to 73 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 25.5% drop) and further to 48 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 51% drop from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where pixel throughput, not CPU processing, dictates the frame rate. The RTX 4060's 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply insufficient for 4K workloads, even at the lowest settings.

Moving to Medium settings, the same trend persists but with more pronounced degradation. The combo delivers 73 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K, representing a 50.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K. Notably, the 4K Medium result includes measured minimum and maximum values of 31 and 42 FPS, indicating frame time variance that could cause visible stuttering during intense scenes. This variance suggests that the GPU is operating near its memory bandwidth ceiling, struggling to sustain consistent output.

High settings show the most severe resolution scaling, with 61 FPS at 1080p dropping to 46 FPS at 1440p and 30 FPS at 4K — a 50.8% total decline. The 4K High result of exactly 30 FPS is borderline playable but falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most users consider smooth. Ultra settings are particularly punishing: 44 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Ultra result being below 60 FPS indicates that even at the lowest resolution, the GPU cannot handle the full visual feature set without compromises.

The data points to a clear conclusion: this combo is optimized for 1080p gaming, with acceptable 1440p performance only at Low or Medium settings. The 4K results are uniformly below playable thresholds except at Low settings, where 48 FPS remains suboptimal. The scaling behavior — roughly linear with pixel count — confirms that the RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 8 GB GDDR6 memory are the limiting factors, not the CPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and single-core score of 6030 place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, indicating exceptional processing capability. However, in Red Dead Redemption 2, the benchmark results show that this CPU power is largely underutilized, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck at all measured resolutions and settings.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance, demonstrated by a PassMark multi-thread score of 51405 and Cinebench R20 multi-core of 17939, suggests it could handle even the most demanding physics and simulation workloads that Red Dead Redemption 2 presents. The 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput for game logic. Yet the measured FPS scaling — where 1080p Low hits 98 FPS but 4K Low drops to 48 FPS — indicates that the game's rendering pipeline, not CPU calculations, limits performance.

The nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX with an average score of 76155 (0.1% faster), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P at 76492 (0.4% faster), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D at 75779 (0.6% slower). These near-identical scores suggest that swapping to any of these processors would yield negligible FPS differences in this game, as they all outpace what the RTX 4060 can feed. The CPU's single-thread performance, reflected in a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030, ensures that even lightly-threaded game logic won't create a bottleneck at 1080p High or Medium settings.

The PassMark physics score of 2168 and data compression score of 677755 indicate strong computational throughput, but these capabilities remain untapped in this gaming scenario. Benchmark results show that the CPU is never the limiting factor — the frame rate differences between settings presets (e.g., 98 FPS Low vs 44 FPS Ultra at 1080p) are entirely attributable to GPU workload changes. Users seeking higher frame rates should look to GPU upgrades rather than CPU improvements, as the 8945HX provides more than sufficient headroom for this title.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1080p in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Only at Low settings, where the measured average is 98 FPS. At Medium settings, the average drops to 73 FPS, which still exceeds 60 FPS, but High settings produce 61 FPS, barely meeting the threshold. Ultra settings fall short at 44 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Marginal at best. The data shows 48 FPS at Low settings, 36 FPS at Medium, 30 FPS at High, and 22 FPS at Ultra. None of these results reach the 60 FPS target, and only the Low setting exceeds 30 FPS comfortably.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings balance for smooth gameplay?

A: The data indicates 1440p Medium provides a good balance at 55 FPS, while 1080p High at 61 FPS offers similar performance with higher resolution. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1080p Medium at 73 FPS is the safest choice.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 2283rd out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the 61.5th percentile. The GPU's average benchmark score of 17639 puts it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 95th percentile, indicating a significant performance imbalance.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance in this game?

A: No. The benchmark data shows GPU-limited scaling across all resolutions and settings. The CPU's nearest rivals — Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% faster) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (0.6% slower) — have nearly identical average scores, meaning CPU choice has minimal impact on FPS in this title.

Q: Are the frame rates stable, or do they fluctuate significantly?

A: The only rows with min/max data are Medium settings: at 1080p, the range is 62-84 FPS (average 73), at 1440p it's 47-63 FPS (average 55), and at 4K it's 31-42 FPS (average 36). The 4K variance of 11 FPS suggests occasional stuttering, while 1080p and 1440p show tighter ranges.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings achieve an average of 98 FPS, providing a highly fluid experience suitable for competitive play or reduced visual fidelity. Medium settings produce 73 FPS with a measured range of 62-84 FPS, offering a good balance of visual quality and smoothness. High settings drop to 61 FPS, still above the 60 FPS threshold but with less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra settings fall to 44 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth, indicating that the RTX 4060 cannot fully handle the game's maximum visual features at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades predictably. Low settings yield 73 FPS, which remains playable but represents a 25.5% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings deliver 55 FPS with a range of 47-63 FPS, placing it below the 60 FPS target but still within a tolerable range for many users. High settings produce 46 FPS, and Ultra drops to 33 FPS — both below the smoothness threshold and better suited for slower-paced exploration rather than action sequences. The 1440p data suggests that Medium is the highest preset that maintains acceptable playability.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4060 clearly struggles. Low settings manage 48 FPS, which is borderline playable but far from ideal. Medium settings average 36 FPS with a range of 31-42 FPS, indicating inconsistency that could be jarring during gameplay. High settings produce exactly 30 FPS, the minimum threshold for playability, and Ultra drops to 22 FPS, which is effectively unplayable for most users. The 4K results demonstrate that this combo is not suited for high-resolution gaming without significant settings compromises.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent pattern: Ultra settings are roughly 55-60% slower than Low settings at the same resolution (e.g., 44 vs 98 FPS at 1080p, 33 vs 73 FPS at 1440p, 22 vs 48 FPS at 4K). This consistent ratio indicates that the GPU's compute and memory resources scale linearly with the increased workload from higher quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2283 out of 3714 tested configurations places this system in the 38.5th percentile of all measured combos, meaning roughly 61% of tested systems perform better in Red Dead Redemption 2. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-tier status rather than the CPU's high-end positioning. The RTX 4060's percentile of 61 among all GPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 17639, shows that this is a mainstream graphics card that struggles with demanding titles at high resolutions.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 76212 indicate that the processor is not the limiting factor — it outperforms 95% of all CPUs in general benchmarks. The disconnect between CPU and GPU performance tiers explains the combo's middling game rank: the system is essentially a high-end CPU mated to a mid-range GPU, and in a GPU-bound game like Red Dead Redemption 2, the graphics card determines the outcome.

Comparing to the GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks reveals a tight cluster: the AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17666 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17551 (0.5% lower). These marginal differences in synthetic tests suggest that real-world game performance among these GPUs would be nearly identical, further emphasizing that the RTX 4060's placement in the 61st GPU percentile is accurate.

The CPU's nearest rivals show similarly tight clustering, with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76155, +0.1%), AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76492, +0.4%), and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (76513, +0.4%) all within 0.6% of the 8945HX's score. This indicates that CPU choice among top-tier mobile processors has virtually no impact on this game's performance, as the GPU bottleneck dominates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that 1080p Medium is the optimal configuration for this combo, delivering 73 FPS with a range of 62-84 FPS. This setting provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes, while maintaining visual quality that is respectable without the performance penalty of High or Ultra settings. The 1080p High option at 61 FPS is viable for users who prioritize visual fidelity, but the smaller headroom means occasional drops below 60 FPS are possible.

For users with 1440p monitors, Medium settings at 55 FPS represent the best compromise between visual quality and playability. The 47-63 FPS range indicates that while average performance remains below 60 FPS, the experience is still acceptable for most players. Lowering to 1440p Low at 73 FPS provides a smoother experience but sacrifices significant visual detail. Users should avoid 1440p High (46 FPS) and Ultra (33 FPS) unless they prioritize visuals over gameplay smoothness.

At 4K, no setting provides an ideal experience. The 48 FPS at Low settings is the only option that approaches playability, but even this falls short of the 60 FPS target. Users with 4K displays should consider running the game at 1440p with Medium settings and allowing the display to upscale, as the 55 FPS result at 1440p Medium is substantially better than any native 4K option. The 30 FPS at 4K High is technically playable but will feel sluggish during action sequences, and the 22 FPS at Ultra is effectively unplayable.

Across all resolutions, Ultra settings are never recommended, as the performance penalty (44 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, 22 FPS at 4K) outweighs the visual benefits. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 12 FPS (73 to 61), while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 17 FPS (61 to 44) — a 27.9% reduction for marginal visual gains. The data supports a conservative approach: prioritize frame rate stability over maximum visual fidelity with this hardware combination.