Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Red Dead Redemption 2. This combination, ranking 517th out of 3714 tested combos, places it in the top 14% of all configurations, yet the data reveals a complex relationship where the CPU's 4-core/8-thread design interacts with a high-end GPU in ways that shift dramatically across resolutions and settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, running on the Intel Socket 1700 platform. Its base clock sits at 3.30 GHz with a boost clock reaching 4.30 GHz. This is a part that punches above its weight in synthetic benchmarks, posting a single-thread score of 1674 in Cinebench R23 and a multi-core score of 11860 in the same test. The 3DMark suite shows a clear scaling pattern: 2-thread scores hit 1659, 4-thread reaches 2859, and 8-thread jumps to 4026, with max-thread performance nearly identical at 4023. This suggests the processor is effectively saturated by 8 threads, which is precisely what its 4-core/8-thread configuration would predict.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, this CPU profile becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 178 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 80 FPS. This 98 FPS swing cannot be attributed to the GPU alone; the RTX 4070 Ti is far more capable than that. Instead, the CPU's 4 physical cores are being taxed heavily by the game's simulation and AI workloads. The processor's passmark multi-thread score of 14015 places it at the 68th percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable but not top-tier. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core i5-1250U at 13351 (1.1% slower), while the Intel Core 5 120UL sits slightly ahead at 13594 (0.7% faster).

The key insight is that the i3-12100F's single-thread strength, evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 3444, helps maintain playable frame rates, but the lack of additional cores means that when the game demands more parallel processing, the GPU has to wait. The L3 cache is 12 MB shared, which is modest for a modern title, and the processor supports dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5 memory, though the memory bandwidth is not specified in the data.

What is curious is that the frame rates at 1080p Low (178 FPS) versus 1080p Medium (133 FPS) show a 45 FPS drop, which is substantial. This indicates that even at Low settings, the CPU is working near its limits, and any increase in draw calls or physics calculations from medium settings pushes it further. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 versus the 8-thread score of 4026 confirms that the processor gains nothing from additional threads beyond 8, meaning it is fully utilized in multi-threaded scenarios.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This is a GPU that sits at the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role becomes dominant at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 39 FPS, while at 4K Low, it reaches 88 FPS. This massive 49 FPS difference is almost entirely GPU-driven, as the pixel throughput demands at 3840x2160 overwhelm the graphics card's capabilities. The RTX 4070 Ti's 7680 shading units and 240 texture mapping units provide substantial raw power, but the 80 ROPs (render output units) limit pixel fill rate to 208.8 GPixel/s, which is a constraint at 4K.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile at 45152 (0.8% faster), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT at 45384 (1.3% faster), and the Intel Arc A730M at 45592 (1.7% faster), while the NVIDIA RTX A6000 trails at 44075 (1.6% slower). This places the RTX 4070 Ti in a competitive mid-to-high range, but its 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are not the largest available, which may explain why 4K Ultra performance falls to sub-40 FPS.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is fully utilized by Red Dead Redemption 2, and the 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but not heavily leveraged in this title, which is primarily rasterization-bound. The 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 performance is strong, but the bottleneck at 4K is likely the memory subsystem—504.2 GB/s is adequate but not exceptional for 4K textures. The pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s combined with texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s shows that the GPU can process textures quickly, but the ROP count limits final pixel output.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so dramatically from 1080p Low (178 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (80 FPS)?

A: The 98 FPS difference at 1080p is primarily CPU-bound. The i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads are fully saturated by Red Dead Redemption 2's simulation and AI workloads, and raising settings from Low to Ultra increases draw calls and object counts that tax the CPU. The GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates at Low settings.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti the bottleneck at 4K resolutions?

A: Yes, the data supports this. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves only 39 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 88 FPS. This 49 FPS swing is much larger than the CPU-bound 1080p scenario, indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s) are the limiting factors at 3840x2160 resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to other CPUs in the same performance tier?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494, placing it at the 68th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core i7-1250U at 13351 (1.1% slower). The Intel Core 5 120UL is 0.7% faster at 13594, but the differences are minimal, indicating this CPU is competitively positioned.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at for a balance of quality and performance?

A: The 1440p Medium setting provides 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, which is a solid balance. The 1440p High setting achieves 83 FPS, while 1440p Ultra drops to 60 FPS. Given the data, 1440p Medium appears to be the sweet spot for this combo.

Q: Does the CPU's lack of more cores affect performance at any resolution?

A: Yes, particularly at 1080p. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 4026 and max-thread score of 4023 show that the CPU gains nothing from additional threads, confirming it is fully utilized. This leads to CPU-bound behavior at 1080p, where the GPU is not the limiting factor, resulting in frame rates that are lower than the GPU alone could achieve.

Q: How does the combo's overall ranking reflect its real-world gaming performance?

A: The combo ranks 517th out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 14%. This is a strong showing, but the ranking masks the fact that the CPU is a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The GPU's 84th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 68th percentile shows a mismatch that becomes more apparent at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 517 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places the configuration in the 86th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 86% of combinations tested. However, this ranking requires careful interpretation because it aggregates across all resolutions and settings, masking the varying bottleneck behavior.

The CPU's percentile rank of 68 against all CPUs and the GPU's percentile rank of 84 against all GPUs create an interesting dynamic. The GPU is clearly the more capable component in isolation, but the CPU's 4-core/8-thread design limits overall system performance in CPU-bound scenarios. The fact that this combo still ranks in the top 14% of all tested combos suggests that in many scenarios, particularly at higher resolutions, the GPU's power compensates for the CPU's limitations.

When looking at the measured frame rates, the combo's strongest performance is at 1080p Low with 178 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. However, at 4K Ultra, the 39 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. The ranking of 517 out of 3714 suggests that while this is a strong combo, there are many configurations that outperform it, likely those with more balanced CPU-GPU pairings.

The data also shows that the combo's performance is not linear across settings. At 1440p, the difference between Low (133 FPS) and Ultra (60 FPS) is 73 FPS, which is a significant range. This wide performance envelope means that the combo can adapt to different player preferences, from high-refresh-rate gaming at lower settings to more visually demanding play at higher settings, albeit with lower frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear picture of how the CPU and GPU share the workload. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 178 FPS, which drops to 133 FPS at 1440p Low (a 25% reduction) and then to 88 FPS at 4K Low (a 34% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern is consistent with GPU-bound behavior as resolution increases, but the absolute numbers tell a more nuanced story.

At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 133 FPS, but at 1440p Medium, it drops to 99 FPS (a 26% reduction), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 66 FPS (a 33% reduction from 1440p). The min-to-max frame times at Medium settings show consistency: 113-153 FPS at 1080p, 84-114 FPS at 1440p, and 56-76 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the frame pacing remains stable, but the overall performance degrades predictably with resolution.

The High settings show a different pattern. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 111 FPS, dropping to 83 FPS at 1440p High (a 25% reduction) and 55 FPS at 4K High (a 34% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra settings are the most demanding: 80 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p (a 25% reduction), and 39 FPS at 4K (a 35% reduction from 1440p).

The consistent 25% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and 33-35% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the limiting component is scaling uniformly with resolution. This is characteristic of GPU-bound performance, where the rendering workload increases proportionally with pixel count. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra (80 FPS) is lower than 1440p Low (133 FPS) by 53 FPS shows that the CPU is also playing a role, as the settings increase the CPU workload alongside the GPU workload.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU becomes the primary limiter, as evidenced by the massive 98 FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiter, with the 49 FPS difference between Low and Ultra being more attributable to pixel throughput. The 1440p resolution appears to be the transition zone where neither component is overwhelmingly dominant, making it the most balanced for this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 178 FPS, Medium produces 133 FPS with a range of 113-153 FPS, High produces 111 FPS, and Ultra produces 80 FPS. The 98 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is the largest of any resolution, confirming CPU-bound behavior. The minimum frame rate at Medium is 113 FPS, which is still well above 60 FPS, indicating smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings achieve 133 FPS, Medium achieves 99 FPS with a range of 84-114 FPS, High achieves 83 FPS, and Ultra achieves 60 FPS. The 73 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is smaller than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload. The minimum frame rate at Medium drops to 84 FPS, which is still playable but shows more variance.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates reflect GPU-bound performance. Low settings reach 88 FPS, Medium achieves 66 FPS with a range of 56-76 FPS, High achieves 55 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. The 49 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of the three resolutions, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint. The minimum frame rate at Medium is 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but still playable.

The data shows that the combo's performance envelope ranges from 39 FPS at 4K Ultra to 178 FPS at 1080p Low. The Medium settings consistently provide the most stable frame pacing, with min and max values recorded for each resolution: 113-153 FPS at 1080p, 84-114 FPS at 1440p, and 56-76 FPS at 4K. This consistency suggests that Medium is the most optimized preset for this hardware combination.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS, providing a high-refresh-rate experience without sacrificing too much visual quality. The 1440p Medium setting achieves 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, which is excellent for a 1440p monitor and maintains smooth gameplay. Even at 4K Medium, the 66 FPS average with a 56 FPS minimum is playable, though it hovers near the 60 FPS threshold.

For players with 1080p displays, the High preset at 111 FPS is a strong alternative to Medium, offering better visuals with only a 22 FPS penalty. The Ultra preset at 80 FPS is also viable for 1080p, as it remains above 60 FPS, but the 53 FPS drop from Low to Ultra indicates that the CPU is being heavily taxed. For 1440p displays, the High preset at 83 FPS provides a good balance of quality and performance, while Ultra at 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold and may cause occasional dips.

The 4K resolution is the most demanding, and the data suggests that Medium at 66 FPS is the highest preset that maintains playable frame rates. The High preset at 55 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold and would likely result in noticeable stuttering during fast-paced scenes. Low at 88 FPS is the smoothest 4K option, but it sacrifices significant visual quality.

The most striking recommendation from the data is that the combo performs best when the CPU is not the sole bottleneck. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance, so reducing settings to Low provides diminishing returns in visual quality but massive gains in frame rate. At 4K, the GPU limits performance, so reducing settings provides more linear improvements. The 1440p Medium setting appears to be the optimal compromise, providing 99 FPS with stable frame pacing and a good balance between CPU and GPU utilization.