Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a severely GPU-bound experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, ranking 2568th out of 2902 tested combos. This places the combination in the bottom 11.5% of all tested systems, a position driven almost entirely by the graphics card's low compute throughput. The CPU, a 12-core Zen 5 part, is not the limiting factor; the data shows the Arc B390 caps performance at levels that leave the processor largely idle.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2568 out of 2902 tested combinations places it in a very low percentile for this game. Benchmark results indicate this is not a playable configuration at any tested setting, as the highest average frame rate recorded is 51 FPS at 1080p Low. The ranking reflects the GPU's position in the broader market: the Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with its average benchmark score of 1482 placing it near the bottom of the performance spectrum.

The CPU, by contrast, is a top-tier part. The Ryzen 9 9900X holds the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57498. This stark contrast between the two components explains why the combination ranks so low: the GPU is fundamentally incapable of pushing high frame rates, regardless of the CPU's capacity. In the measured data, even the most favorable scenario — 1080p with Low settings — yields only 51 FPS, which is barely acceptable for smooth gameplay and far below what the CPU could support.

The gap between the CPU's potential and the GPU's delivery is evident when comparing to rival combinations. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 9015 (deltaPct -0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-14900 (deltaPct -1.1%), perform almost identically in synthetic CPU tests, confirming the 9900X is not a bottleneck. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are ancient low-end parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (deltaPct 1.3%), GeForce 800M (deltaPct 1.5%), GT 625 OEM (deltaPct 2.5%), and GT 710 (deltaPct 2.7%). The Arc B390's score of 1482 is only marginally better than these decade-old components, which contextualizes the poor in-game results.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The maximum average frame rate recorded across all tested configurations is 51 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD EPYC 9015 (57555) and 0.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 7313 (57399). It trails the Intel Core i9-14900 by 1.1% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M by 1.4%.

Q: Is the GPU better or worse than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710?

A: The Intel Arc B390 is 2.7% faster than the GT 710 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, with a score of 1482 versus 1443.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low?

A: The average frame rate falls from 51 FPS at 1920x1080 Low to 25 FPS at 3840x2160 Low, a reduction of 26 FPS (approximately 51%).

Q: Does the CPU have enough threads for this game?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X provides 24 threads across 12 cores, which is far more than necessary. The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution, so additional CPU resources would not improve frame rates.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded?

A: The lowest average is 11 FPS, measured at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. Moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at Low settings reduces the average frame rate from 51 FPS to 25 FPS, a drop of 51%. At High settings, the drop is from 32 FPS at 1080p to 16 FPS at 4K, again a 50% reduction. This halving of performance when pixel count quadruples indicates the GPU is operating at its compute limit; the rendering workload scales directly with resolution, and the Arc B390's fixed resources cannot compensate.

The pattern at Medium settings shows the same trend, with average FPS falling from 39 at 1080p to 29 at 1440p and 19 at 4K. The minimum FPS values follow suit: 33 at 1080p, 24 at 1440p, and 16 at 4K. Ultra settings produce the steepest relative decline, from 23 FPS at 1080p to 17 FPS at 1440p and 11 FPS at 4K. These numbers confirm that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU's performance would not degrade with resolution changes.

The consistency of the scaling — roughly a 50% FPS loss from 1080p to 4K across all settings — is a strong indicator that the Arc B390's rendering pipeline is fully saturated. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its high single-thread score of 1286 in 3DMark and 4672 in PassMark, would not show any meaningful performance variation across these resolutions. The data suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU has ample headroom to handle the game's draw calls and physics.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination produces its best results. Low settings yield an average of 51 FPS, which is the only configuration approaching smoothness. Medium settings drop to 39 FPS on average, with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44. High settings reduce the average to 32 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 23 FPS. These figures demonstrate that the Arc B390 struggles even at the lowest resolution, and only the most minimal settings produce a playable frame rate.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades further. Low settings average 38 FPS, a 25% drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 33. High settings produce 24 FPS on average, and Ultra settings drop to 17 FPS. None of these results are suitable for action gameplay, as even the fastest configuration at this resolution falls below the 40 FPS threshold typically required for smooth motion.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low settings average 25 FPS, Medium settings average 19 FPS (with a minimum of 16 and maximum of 22), High settings average 16 FPS, and Ultra settings average 11 FPS. The minimum FPS of 16 at 4K Medium indicates significant frame time variance, which would result in noticeable stuttering. The data across all resolutions and settings shows a monotonic decline, with no configuration exceeding 51 FPS at any point.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, built on a 4nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253. In multi-threaded workloads, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and a Geekbench multicore score of 22174, placing it in the top 8% of all CPUs.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is minimal because the GPU is the limiting factor. The game's engine is known to scale well with multi-core processors, and the 9900X's 24 threads are more than sufficient. The PassMark multithread score of 54643 and the 3DMark max-threads score of 13929 confirm the CPU's ability to handle heavy workloads, but the measured FPS data shows no scenario where the CPU could be the bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would typically matter most, the 51 FPS result is constrained by the GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface also plays a role, but again, the GPU's shared memory architecture (System Shared) creates a different bottleneck. The CPU can feed data quickly, but the Arc B390's rendering capacity is too low to utilize it. The 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache ensure the CPU has ample on-die storage for game data, yet this advantage is wasted when the GPU cannot render frames fast enough.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the only viable settings for this combination are at 1920x1080 with Low presets. The 51 FPS average at this configuration is the sole result that approaches playability, though it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target. At 1080p Medium, the 39 FPS average with a 33 FPS minimum would result in noticeable stuttering during intense scenes, making it a poor choice for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 that features frequent combat and fast camera movements.

For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the 1440p Medium setting (29 FPS average) might be acceptable for slow exploration, but the 24 FPS minimum suggests significant drops during action sequences. The 4K settings are entirely unusable, with the best result being 25 FPS at Low, which is below the threshold for consistent motion rendering. The data indicates that any setting above 1080p Low will produce a sub-30 FPS experience, which is generally considered unplayable for this genre.

The recommendation is clear: 1920x1080 with Low settings is the only configuration that provides a usable frame rate. The 51 FPS average is not ideal, but it is the maximum achievable with this hardware. Users should also consider that the minimum FPS values at other settings — such as 16 FPS at 4K Medium — indicate severe frame pacing issues that would make even those low averages feel worse in practice. For a smoother experience, reducing resolution to 1280x720 would likely yield higher FPS, though this is not covered in the measured data.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant factor in this combination's poor performance. Based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip) built on Intel's 3nm process, the GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2500 MHz and base clock of 300 MHz are respectable for an integrated part, but the shared memory architecture (System Shared) and the lack of dedicated VRAM severely limit its bandwidth. The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are far too low for modern game rendering at high resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark results confirm its low-end positioning. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with the nearest rivals being the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), GeForce 800M (1460), GT 625 OEM (1446), and GT 710 (1443). The Arc B390 is only 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX, a GPU from the early 2010s. The FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS is the theoretical ceiling, and the measured FPS shows the GPU hitting this limit at all resolutions.

The GPU's 80W TDP and IGP form factor indicate it is designed for portable devices, not desktop gaming. The shared system memory means the GPU competes with the CPU for bandwidth, exacerbating the bottleneck. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's 24 ROPs are insufficient for pixel fill at 4K, explaining the 11 FPS result at Ultra settings. The 12 RT cores are irrelevant here, as the game's DirectX 12 mode does not leverage ray tracing in the tested configurations. The GPU's Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6 support are present, but the raw compute power is simply too low to deliver acceptable frame rates.