Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a playable yet heavily settings-dependent experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. Benchmark data across three resolutions reveals a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at high and ultra presets, while the CPU’s four cores become more exposed at lower settings. The measured frame rates show a clear hierarchy: 1080p offers the most headroom, 1440p requires compromises, and 4K demands significant sacrifices for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all presets, indicating that the RTX 5060’s 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory interface are the limiting factors at higher pixel counts. At High settings, average FPS falls from 75.4 at 1920x1080 to 52.3 at 2560x1440, a 30.6% reduction, and then to 35.5 at 3840x2160, a further 32.1% drop. This progression shows a nearly linear scaling with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario where the rendering load increases proportionally.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1920x1080, the combo reaches 113.9 FPS, but this drops to 88.8 at 1440p (a 22.0% decline) and 56.9 at 4K (a 35.9% decline from 1440p). The smaller relative drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests the CPU begins to assert its influence at lower graphical loads, preventing the GPU from fully scaling its output. The i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads, while capable, cannot feed the RTX 5060 enough data at 1080p Low to maintain the same scaling efficiency seen at higher presets.

Medium settings reinforce this pattern. The 1080p result of 88.1 FPS drops to 64.8 at 1440p (a 26.4% reduction) and 45.9 at 4K (a 29.2% reduction from 1440p). The gap between Medium and High at each resolution is relatively small—roughly 12-13 FPS at 1080p and 1440p—indicating that the preset’s main impact is on GPU load rather than CPU utilization. At Ultra, the RTX 5060 is clearly overwhelmed: 54 FPS at 1080p, 41.6 at 1440p, and 24.7 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is barely playable, and the 1080p Ultra figure suggests the GPU’s 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for maximum settings at any resolution above 720p.

The data shows that resolution scaling is smooth and predictable, with no sudden cliff effects. This implies the system is well-balanced for this game, but the overall performance ceiling is modest. The RTX 5060’s 8 GB of GDDR7 memory is a likely constraint at 4K, where texture and geometry data can exceed this capacity, causing the frame rate to drop more sharply than pure pixel count would suggest.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset is the clear winner at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 88.1 FPS, which is 12.7 FPS higher than High and 34.1 FPS higher than Ultra, while still providing a substantial visual upgrade over Low. The jump from Low to Medium costs 25.8 FPS (from 113.9 to 88.1), but the graphical improvements are significant in a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which relies heavily on lighting and shadow detail.

At 2560x1440, Medium produces 64.8 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. High settings at this resolution yield 52.3 FPS, which may be acceptable for some users but is noticeably less fluid. Ultra at 1440p drops to 41.6 FPS, making it unsuitable for action sequences. Low at 1440p reaches 88.8 FPS, but this preset strips away much of the game’s visual identity, making it a poor trade-off for the extra frame rate.

For 4K, the options are limited. Medium at 3840x2160 produces 45.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game with this level of detail. High drops to 35.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24.7 FPS, both of which are below acceptable thresholds for most players. Low at 4K achieves 56.9 FPS, but this is a last-resort option. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo unless the user accepts significant visual compromises, and even then, the frame rate is only marginally playable.

The optimal configuration is Medium at 1440p, which provides a 64.8 FPS average that balances responsiveness with visual fidelity. For users prioritizing frame rate over graphics, Low at 1080p offers 113.9 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays. High at 1080p is a reasonable middle ground at 75.4 FPS, but it does not offer enough of a visual boost over Medium to justify the 12.7 FPS penalty.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 809 out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 48th percentile. This is a mid-pack result, indicating that while the hardware is not exceptional for this title, it is also not a poor performer. The ranking suggests that roughly half of all tested combinations achieve higher frame rates, which is consistent with the measured FPS figures that show the system struggling at 4K and requiring medium settings at lower resolutions.

The CPU’s standing relative to other processors is informative. The i3-12100F has a percentileVsAllCpus of 72, meaning it outperforms 72% of all CPUs in general benchmarks. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores nearly identically with a deltaPct of -0.1%, while the Intel Core i7-1250U is 0.4% behind. This indicates that the i3-12100F is a strong performer for its class, but its 4-core, 8-thread design limits its ability to sustain high frame rates in CPU-intensive scenarios.

The GPU, in contrast, has a percentileVsAllGpus of 73, with its closest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at a deltaPct of 0.0%. This puts the RTX 5060 in the upper quartile of GPUs, but its 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus are below average for the current generation. The game’s ranking of 809 out of 1687 suggests that the combo is held back more by the GPU at high resolutions and by the CPU at low resolutions, resulting in a system that is competent but not top-tier for this specific title.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 113.9 at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration that exceeds 100 FPS, indicating that high frame rates require significant visual compromises.

Q: Can this system run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: At 3840x2160, the best result is 56.9 FPS with the Low preset. Medium produces 45.9 FPS, High 35.5 FPS, and Ultra 24.7 FPS. Only Low settings provide a frame rate that could be considered consistently smooth, and even that is marginal.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 30109, which is essentially identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT’s 30097, a deltaPct of 0.0%. The NVIDIA Tesla M60 is 0.5% behind, and the RTX 5070 Mobile is 0.6% ahead.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming on this hardware?

A: Medium settings at 1920x1080 yield 88.1 FPS, which offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. High is 12.7 FPS slower at 75.4 FPS, while Ultra drops to 54 FPS, making Medium the most efficient choice.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for this game?

A: The CPU is not a significant bottleneck at higher presets, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. However, at Low settings, the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less efficient (a 22.0% drop versus the 30.6% drop at High), suggesting the 4-core processor limits performance when the GPU load is low.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested systems for this game?

A: The combination ranks 809 out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the 48th percentile. This is a mid-tier result, meaning half of all tested systems perform better and half perform worse.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the dominant factor in this combo’s performance in Red Dead Redemption 2. Its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory, running at 28 Gbps effective over a 128-bit bus, provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming at medium presets, but the 4K results indicate that the memory capacity and bandwidth are inadequate for high-resolution textures. The measured FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings (24.7 FPS) is less than half of the 1080p Medium result (88.1 FPS), showing that the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory subsystem are severely stressed at 4K.

The GPU’s clock speeds—2280 MHz base and 2497 MHz boost—are typical for a mid-range Blackwell 2.0 part, and its 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is modest by current standards. The 3840 shading units and 48 ROPs are the key components for rasterization, and the data suggests they are adequate for 1440p but not for 4K. The RTX 5060’s percentileVsAllGpus of 73 places it above 73% of all GPUs, yet its performance in this game is constrained by its memory configuration rather than its compute capability.

The GPU’s 145 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU indicate a power-efficient design, but this does not translate to high-end performance. The PCIe 5.0 x8 interface provides ample bandwidth for the CPU to communicate with the GPU, so the bottleneck is purely in the GPU’s rendering capabilities. The data shows that the RTX 5060 is a capable 1080p and entry-level 1440p card for Red Dead Redemption 2, but its 8 GB memory limit prevents it from delivering consistent frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU’s performance.