Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers a playable but constrained experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the data showing a clear pattern: 1080p Medium and High settings are the sweet spot, while 4K Ultra pushes the system to its limits. The measured frames per second (FPS) across twelve resolution and settings combinations reveal a GPU-bound title at higher resolutions and a CPU that keeps pace at 1080p, though the 4-core processor shows its age in the game’s most demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 with High settings produces an average of 61 FPS, while Medium at the same resolution yields 73 FPS. Low at 1080p reaches 98 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and smoothness, 1080p High is recommended, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 perform at 4K in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the RTX 5050 averages 30 FPS on High, 36 FPS on Medium, 48 FPS on Low, and 22 FPS on Ultra. The data indicates that 4K is only viable at Low settings, where the 48 FPS average is still below the 60 FPS target for most players.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 in this title?

A: The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674, suggest it has sufficient single-thread performance for 1080p gaming. However, the 4-core, 8-thread design limits multi-threaded workloads, and the measured FPS drop from 98 FPS at 1080p Low to 73 FPS at 1080p Medium indicates that GPU load increases with settings, but the CPU can still deliver playable frame rates.

Q: What is the GPU’s VRAM capacity and how does it affect 4K performance?

A: The RTX 5050 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 22, which is likely influenced by the 8 GB VRAM capacity being stressed by high-resolution textures, though the exact VRAM usage is not provided in the data.

Q: How does this combo rank among tested systems for Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The combination ranks 1760 out of 2902 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier. This ranking reflects the balanced but modest performance, with the RTX 5050’s percentile versus all GPUs at 66 and the i3-12100F’s percentile versus all CPUs at 68.

Q: What is the difference between Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 73 FPS, Medium averages 55 FPS (with a min of 46 and max of 63), High averages 46 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The data shows a consistent 18-20 FPS drop between each settings tier, indicating that GPU load scales predictably with quality presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with memory clocked at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest for a 2025 GPU but sufficient for 1080p gaming.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings rise. At 1080p Low, the RTX 5050 delivers 98 FPS, but this drops to 61 FPS at High and 44 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 55% reduction in average FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary performance limiter at this resolution. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low averages 73 FPS, Medium 55 FPS, High 46 FPS, and Ultra 33 FPS. The 4K results are more severe, with Low at 48 FPS, Medium at 36 FPS, High at 30 FPS, and Ultra at 22 FPS.

The RTX 5050’s benchmark scores provide additional context. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2502, and its PassMark G3D score is 17326, with a percentile versus all GPUs of 66. The nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% faster) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (1.6% slower), which places the RTX 5050 in a narrow performance band. The GPU’s 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 20 RT cores support modern rendering features, but the 8 GB VRAM capacity is a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 22 FPS average suggests the GPU is struggling with memory bandwidth and capacity.

The data from the measured FPS shows that the RTX 5050 can handle 1080p gaming comfortably, but 1440p High and 4K Ultra are beyond its comfort zone. The 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is adequate for 1080p but becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 32 ROPs and 80 TMUs contribute to a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s, which are sufficient for 1080p but insufficient for 4K at high settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the scaling behavior of this hardware in Red Dead Redemption 2. At Low settings, the average FPS decreases from 98 at 1080p to 73 at 1440p (a 25.5% drop) and then to 48 at 4K (a 34.2% drop from 1440p). At Medium settings, the averages are 73, 55, and 36 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively, representing a 24.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 34.5% drop from 1440p to 4K. High settings show 61, 46, and 30 FPS, with a 24.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 34.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. Ultra settings produce 44, 33, and 22 FPS, with a 25% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 33.3% drop from 1440p to 4K.

These percentages are remarkably consistent across settings, with the 1080p-to-1440p drop averaging around 25% and the 1440p-to-4K drop averaging around 34%. This consistency indicates that the performance scaling is dominated by the GPU, as the pixel count increases by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p and by 2.25x from 1440p to 4K. The FPS drops are slightly less than the pixel count increases, suggesting that the GPU has some headroom, but not enough to maintain 60 FPS at 1440p or 4K.

The limiting component analysis points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a PassMark single-thread score of 3444 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 893, are sufficient for 1080p gaming but may not be able to feed the GPU at 4K, particularly in CPU-intensive scenes. However, the consistent FPS scaling across settings suggests that the GPU is the main constraint. At 1080p, the CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads can keep up with the RTX 5050, as evidenced by the 98 FPS average at Low settings. At 4K, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become the limiting factors, with the 22 FPS Ultra result indicating severe performance degradation.

The measured data shows that 1080p is the native resolution for this combo, with 1440p being playable only at Low settings (73 FPS) or Medium (55 FPS). 4K is only viable at Low settings, where the 48 FPS average is still below the 60 FPS threshold. The FPS drops between resolutions are not linear, with the 1440p-to-4K transition being more punishing than the 1080p-to-1440p transition, which aligns with the GPU’s memory bandwidth limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows four settings presets. Low settings produce an average of 98 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combo. Medium settings average 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS, indicating a playable range for most scenes. High settings average 61 FPS, just above the 60 FPS target, but with no min or max data provided. Ultra settings average 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced scenes.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 73 FPS, which is still playable. Medium settings average 55 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS, meaning the frame rate can dip below 60 FPS in demanding moments. High settings average 46 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings average 33 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS playability floor for many players but still technically playable.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but playable for slower-paced games. Medium settings average 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS, indicating that the frame rate is consistently in the 30-40 FPS range. High settings average 30 FPS, which is exactly at the playability floor. Ultra settings average 22 FPS, which is unplayable for most users, as the frame rate is too low for smooth motion.

The measured FPS rows show that the Medium preset at each resolution includes min and max values, while Low, High, and Ultra only have averages. This suggests that the Medium preset was tested with a more detailed data capture. The min FPS values at Medium are important: 62 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that the frame rate can drop below the average in demanding scenes, which is a consideration for players who are sensitive to frame time spikes.

The range between min and max at Medium settings is 22 FPS at 1080p (62-84), 17 FPS at 1440p (46-63), and 10 FPS at 4K (31-41). The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is consistently saturated, leaving less headroom for frame rate variation. At 1080p, the larger range indicates that the CPU or other system components can cause frame rate fluctuations, while the GPU is not fully maxed out.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, and its 58 W TDP makes it a low-power option for budget builds.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark scores show that the i3-12100F has strong single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 893. Multi-threaded performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 14015. These scores place the CPU at the 68th percentile versus all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-9500 (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core 5 120UL (0.7% faster).

The data indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1080p, as evidenced by the 98 FPS average at Low settings. However, the 4-core, 8-thread design may limit performance in scenes with many NPCs or complex physics, which are common in Red Dead Redemption 2’s open world. The PassMark physics score of 985 is modest, suggesting that the CPU may struggle with the game’s physics calculations. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 4026 and max-thread score of 4023 show that the CPU’s performance plateaus after 8 threads, which is expected for a 4-core processor.

At higher resolutions, the CPU’s role diminishes as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across settings, which suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s frame output at all resolutions. However, the 1080p Medium min FPS of 62 and the 1440p Medium min FPS of 46 indicate that the CPU may cause occasional frame drops in CPU-heavy scenes. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz helps with single-threaded tasks, but the lack of additional cores means that multi-threaded workloads, such as background game systems, may cause contention.

The i3-12100F’s launch MSRP is $97, and its performance in this game is adequate for 1080p gaming. The CPU’s 68th percentile ranking places it above the median, and its nearest rivals show that it performs similarly to the Intel Core i5-9500, which is a 6-core processor. This suggests that the i3-12100F’s high clock speeds compensate for its lower core count in this game, which is not heavily multi-threaded.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the player’s resolution and performance preferences. At 1920x1080, High settings provide an average of 61 FPS, which meets the 60 FPS target for most players. Medium settings offer a higher 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS, providing a safety margin for demanding scenes. Low settings at 98 FPS are ideal for competitive play or for users who prioritize frame rate over visual quality. Ultra settings at 44 FPS are not recommended, as the visual improvement over High does not justify the 28% FPS reduction.

At 2560x1440, Low settings at 73 FPS are the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS. Medium settings at 55 FPS (with a min of 46) are playable but may experience noticeable frame drops. High settings at 46 FPS are borderline, and Ultra at 33 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 1440p users, Low or Medium is the best choice, with Medium offering better visuals at the cost of some frame rate stability.

At 3840x2160, Low settings at 48 FPS are the only viable option, and even this is below the 60 FPS target. Medium at 36 FPS is playable for slower-paced games but will feel sluggish in action scenes. High at 30 FPS is at the playability floor, and Ultra at 22 FPS is unplayable. For 4K users, the recommendation is to use Low settings and accept the 48 FPS average, or to reduce the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The data suggests that the best overall experience is 1080p Medium, which provides a 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS. This setting balances visual quality and performance, with the min FPS ensuring that the game remains smooth even in demanding moments. The 1080p High preset is also a good choice for players who want better visuals, as the 61 FPS average is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the lack of min FPS data means there is a risk of drops below 60 FPS.

The measured FPS rows show that the Medium preset at each resolution has the most detailed data, including min and max values. This suggests that Medium is the recommended preset for benchmarking purposes, as it provides a complete picture of performance. For players who want to maximize visual quality, High at 1080p is the highest setting that maintains an acceptable frame rate. Ultra is only recommended for players who prioritize visuals over performance and are willing to accept 44 FPS at 1080p or lower at higher resolutions.