Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + Intel Arc B570

The data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B570 shows a combination that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, with the measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets revealing a clear performance hierarchy. This pairing ranks 2335th out of 2902 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower third of all configurations, which aligns with the GPU's 65th percentile ranking among all graphics cards. The following analysis breaks down how this system behaves across resolution scaling, component roles, and settings optimization, using only the measured FPS data provided.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings, indicating that the Intel Arc B570 becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 79 FPS at 1920x1080 to 59 FPS at 2560x1440, a 25% reduction, and then further drops to 39 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 51% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario where the rendering workload grows quadratically with resolution.

At Medium settings, the progression is similar but with lower absolute values: 59 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 25% from 1080p to 1440p, and 34% from 1440p to 4K. High settings show 49 FPS at 1080p, 37 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, with drops of 24% and 35% respectively. Ultra settings produce the steepest decline: 36 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K, representing 25% and 33% reductions.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets—roughly 24-25% from 1080p to 1440p, and 33-35% from 1440p to 4K—suggests that the scaling is uniform and entirely dependent on the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities. The CPU, with 12 cores and 24 threads, is not showing any signs of limiting at lower resolutions, as the frame rates continue to scale predictably with resolution changes. The data indicates that at 1080p, the system is still GPU-bound, since even the lowest preset at 79 FPS does not approach the CPU's potential ceiling based on its benchmark scores. The 4K results, particularly the 18 FPS at Ultra, confirm that this combo is not suitable for high-fidelity 4K gaming, while 1080p remains the most playable resolution across all settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2335th out of 2902 tested combos for Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 80th percentile of all configurations (meaning only about 20% of combos perform worse). This rank is primarily driven by the GPU's performance tier rather than the CPU, as the Ryzen 9 9900X sits in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The gap between these two component rankings highlights the imbalance in this pairing—the CPU is far more capable than the GPU, which drags the overall combo rank down.

When comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals, the Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is nearly identical to several other cards. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, a delta of +0.1% relative to the Arc B570, meaning the Arc is essentially tied with that mobile GPU. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, which is -0.1% relative to the Arc B570, again a near-identical performance level. The AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662, a delta of -0.5%, and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480, a delta of +0.4%. These tiny deltas indicate that the Arc B570 sits in a very dense performance cluster, where any of these cards would produce nearly identical frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. The AMD EPYC 9015 scores 57555, a delta of -0.1% against the Ryzen 9 9900X's average benchmark score of 57498. The AMD EPYC 7313 scores 57399, a delta of +0.2%. The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, a delta of -1.1%, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58323, a delta of -1.4%. These small deltas confirm that the Ryzen 9 9900X is competitively positioned among high-end desktop and server CPUs, but this strength does not translate into a high combo rank because the GPU becomes the limiting factor in gaming workloads.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the dominant component in determining this combo's gaming performance. With 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, the memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the 24 FPS average at High settings and 18 FPS at Ultra indicate severe bandwidth pressure. The GPU's clocks are fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), which is modest compared to higher-tier cards in the same generation.

The GPU's compute capabilities are defined by 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation units. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s provide the theoretical foundation for the measured frame rates. The FP32 throughput of 11.52 TFLOPS is what drives the shader work in Red Dead Redemption 2, and the game's open-world rendering demands are reflected in the scaling behavior observed across resolutions. The 18 ray tracing cores are present but do not appear to be a significant factor in this game's standard rendering path.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 65% among all GPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 20556, places it in the mid-range segment. In the context of this game, the measured FPS at 1080p—ranging from 36 FPS at Ultra to 79 FPS at Low—shows that the card can handle the game at lower presets but struggles with higher quality settings. The 4K results are uniformly below playable thresholds, confirming that the 10 GB memory buffer and 160-bit bus are insufficient for high-resolution textures and effects. The VRAM capacity is not directly measured in the FPS data, but the steep drop from 1080p to 1440p and 4K suggests that memory bandwidth, not capacity, is the primary constraint, as the game's texture streaming at higher resolutions demands more bandwidth than the 380.0 GB/s can provide.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 79 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches high-refresh-rate gaming. Medium at 1080p yields 59 FPS, which is still smooth for most players, while High drops to 49 FPS and Ultra falls to 36 FPS. The 1080p Medium setting appears to be the best balance, offering a 25% improvement over High while maintaining a playable frame rate above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 59 FPS, which is the only option that maintains a playable frame rate. Medium drops to 44 FPS, High to 37 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS. For 1440p gaming, Low is the recommended preset, as it is the only one that stays above the 60 FPS threshold, though it does so marginally. The Medium setting at 44 FPS could be acceptable for players who prioritize visual quality over smoothness, but the data suggests that the GPU is already stretched at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, all presets produce sub-30 FPS results, with Low at 39 FPS being the only option above 30 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra yield 29, 24, and 18 FPS respectively, making 4K gaming impractical with this combination. The 4K Low setting at 39 FPS is the only viable option, and even that falls short of the 60 FPS standard. The data indicates that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, providing a 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS, which offers both smooth gameplay and reasonable visual fidelity without the performance penalty of High or Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are 79 for Low, 59 for Medium, 49 for High, and 36 for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS, providing a stable frame rate range. The gap between Low and Medium is 20 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 10 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 13 FPS. This progressive decline indicates that each quality tier adds a consistent rendering load, with the largest jump occurring between Low and Medium.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 59 for Low, 44 for Medium, 37 for High, and 27 for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, between Medium and High is 7 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 10 FPS. At this resolution, the performance gap between presets narrows, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor and the additional settings have diminishing returns on visual quality relative to frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are 39 for Low, 29 for Medium, 24 for High, and 18 for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS. The differences are 10 FPS between Low and Medium, 5 FPS between Medium and High, and 6 FPS between High and Ultra. The narrowing gaps at 4K indicate that the GPU is severely constrained, and the settings are having less impact on frame rate because the resolution itself is the dominant workload. The progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows a consistent drop for each preset, with the Low preset dropping from 79 to 59 to 39 FPS, Medium from 59 to 44 to 29 FPS, High from 49 to 37 to 24 FPS, and Ultra from 36 to 27 to 18 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture with a codename of Granite Ridge. It operates at a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming workloads. The memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration, providing a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and the CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32172 in multi-core and 2253 in single-core. The Geekbench scores are 22174 in multi-core and 3010 in single-core. The 3DMark scores show a progression from 1286 in single-thread to 13929 in max threads, indicating excellent scaling across cores. The PassMark scores include 54643 in multi-thread and 4672 in single-thread, with specific workloads like integer math at 181056 and floating point math at 120083. The CPU's percentile ranking of 92% among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 57498 place it in the top tier of processors.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. Given that the GPU is the bottleneck at all tested resolutions, the CPU's performance is more than sufficient to handle the game's requirements. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the frame rate reaches 79 FPS, which is still below what the CPU could potentially deliver based on its benchmark scores. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads are likely underutilized in this game, as the workload is predominantly GPU-bound. The 64 MB L3 cache helps with game asset streaming, and the high boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures responsive single-threaded performance, but these advantages do not translate into higher frame rates because the Arc B570 is the limiting component.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets produce playable frame rates, with Low at 79 FPS, Medium at 59 FPS, High at 49 FPS, and Ultra at 36 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low reaches 59 FPS, while at 3840x2160, all presets fall below 39 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, +0.1%), Intel Arc A750 (20582, -0.1%), AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662, -0.5%), and NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, +0.4%). These cards would perform similarly in this game.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X bottlenecking the Arc B570?

A: No, the data indicates the opposite. The CPU ranks in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 65th percentile. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions shows that the GPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates drop consistently with increasing resolution regardless of CPU capability.

Q: What settings should I use for a 60 FPS target?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 79 FPS and Medium achieves 59 FPS, so Medium is the only preset that stays near 60 FPS while offering better visuals. At 1440p, only Low reaches 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with the highest being Low at 39 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: This combo ranks 2335th out of 2902 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations. This rank is driven by the GPU's mid-range performance, despite the CPU's high-end capabilities.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 59, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. This provides a stable experience with minimal frame time variance compared to other presets.