Red Dead Redemption 2

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i3-12100F compare to its closest rivals in synthetic CPU benchmarks?

A: The i3-12100F posts an average benchmark score of 13,494, placing it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, scores 13,492, a delta of 0%. The Intel Core i5-9500 is 0.3% ahead with 13,452, while the Intel Core 5 120UL is 0.7% behind at 13,594, and the Intel Core i7-1250U trails by 1.1% with 13,351.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's benchmark standing compare to its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 5090 D achieves an average benchmark score of 77,712, ranking in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT is 1.1% ahead at 76,904, while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.6% behind at 78,940. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB trails by 2.1% (79,396), and the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB is 2.4% behind at 79,605.

Q: What are the core and thread counts of the i3-12100F, and what does that mean for its benchmark profile?

A: The i3-12100F has 4 cores and 8 threads. Its single-thread performance is strong, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,674. Multi-threaded scaling is limited by the core count, as seen in the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,051 versus the 4-thread score of 2,859, indicating the extra threads provide about a 41% uplift.

Q: What memory and interface specifications does the RTX 5090 D carry?

A: The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Memory clocks are rated at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The card uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: How does the i3-12100F's clock speed and cache configuration affect its performance in older games?

A: With a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, the i3-12100F has a 12 MB shared L3 cache. Its single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 score of 1,674) is competitive, and the data shows that even in a demanding title like Red Dead Redemption 2, this CPU can drive the RTX 5090 D to playable framerates at lower settings, indicating the game is not heavily multi-threaded.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the two components in this combo?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has a launch MSRP of $97. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D has a launch MSRP of 2,299 USD.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. The die contains 92,200 million transistors across a 750 mm² area. Clock speeds are rated at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is critical for high-resolution texture streaming in Red Dead Redemption 2's open world.

The GPU's raw compute capability is substantial: 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. It delivers 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s indicates strong fill-rate headroom. These specifications translate into a PassMark G3D score of 44,065 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326, placing the GPU in the 92nd percentile of all graphics cards.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role becomes apparent when examining the measured FPS across settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 52, while at 4K Low, it rises to 115. This 63 FPS swing (from 52 to 115) demonstrates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the game's highest quality presets. The 32 GB memory buffer ensures no VRAM capacity bottlenecks even at 4K Ultra, as the game's texture requirements are well within this allocation.

The RTX 5090 D's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% ahead), RX 6850M XT (1.6% behind), and NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (2.1-2.4% behind). These deltas are small, but in real-world gaming, the 5090 D's advantage in bandwidth and shading units becomes more pronounced, as evidenced by its ability to maintain playable framerates at 4K High (72 FPS).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family. It runs at a base clock of 3.30 GHz with a boost up to 4.30 GHz. The CPU has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core. Single-thread performance is a strong point: the 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,674 are respectable for a budget-oriented chip.

Multi-threaded performance is where the i3-12100F shows its limitations. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11,860 and 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,051 indicate that the 4-core configuration caps throughput. However, the 3DMark 8-thread score of 4,026 nearly matches the 16-thread result, suggesting that the CPU's hyperthreading provides minimal additional benefit beyond 8 threads. The PassMark multithread score of 14,015 places the CPU in the 68th percentile overall.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's influence on performance is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 205 FPS, which is 79 FPS higher than at 1080p Ultra (105 FPS). This 100 FPS range indicates that at lower settings, the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently to reach high framerates. However, the gap between 1080p Low (205 FPS) and 4K Low (115 FPS) is 90 FPS, suggesting that at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The i3-12100F's nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core 3 N355 (0% delta), Core i5-9500 (0.3% ahead), and Core 5 120UL (0.7% behind). These small deltas in synthetic benchmarks reflect similar real-world performance. In this game, the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are sufficient to avoid severe bottlenecks, as the measured FPS at 1080p High (146 FPS) demonstrates, but the gap between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings (37 FPS difference) shows the GPU beginning to take over.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 42nd out of 2,902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the top 1.5% of all configurations tested. The ranking reflects the GPU's dominant contribution to overall gaming performance, as the i3-12100F's synthetic scores (68th percentile) are modest compared to the RTX 5090 D's (92nd percentile).

The data indicates an imbalanced pairing. The CPU's 4 cores limit multi-threaded workloads, but in this title, the game's engine appears to favor single-thread performance. The i3-12100F's single-thread score of 1,674 in Cinebench R23 is sufficient to maintain high framerates at lower settings. However, the 42nd rank out of 2,902 combos suggests that many other CPU+GPU pairings achieve better overall results, likely due to more balanced CPU-GPU scaling at higher settings.

The combo's rank is particularly telling when examining the FPS data. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 52 is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth. At 4K Medium, the average rises to 86 FPS, which is more playable. This suggests that the CPU's limitations become more apparent at the highest quality presets, where the GPU is not fully utilized due to CPU-bound frame pacing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 205 FPS average
• Medium: 175 FPS average (min 149, max 202)
• High: 146 FPS average
• Ultra: 105 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 175 FPS average
• Medium: 131 FPS average (min 111, max 150)
• High: 109 FPS average
• Ultra: 79 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 115 FPS average
• Medium: 86 FPS average (min 74, max 99)
• High: 72 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows consistent drops. At Low settings, the drop is 30 FPS (from 205 to 175). At High settings, the drop is 37 FPS (from 146 to 109). At Ultra, the drop is 26 FPS (from 105 to 79). These reductions indicate that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

From 1440p to 4K, the drops are more dramatic. At Low settings, the drop is 60 FPS (from 175 to 115). At Medium, the drop is 45 FPS (from 131 to 86). At High, the drop is 37 FPS (from 109 to 72). At Ultra, the drop is 27 FPS (from 79 to 52). The percentage drops grow larger at higher resolutions, confirming the GPU's increasing dominance.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired framerate. At 4K, the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 86 FPS and a minimum of 74 FPS. The High preset at 4K (72 FPS) is also playable, but the Medium preset offers a 14 FPS advantage with minimal visual difference in most scenes.

At 1440p, the High preset (109 FPS) delivers smooth gameplay while maintaining visual fidelity. The Ultra preset (79 FPS) is viable for players who prioritize image quality over framerate. The Medium preset (131 FPS) is recommended for competitive play or for users with high-refresh-rate monitors, as it maintains a consistent 111 FPS minimum.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset (105 FPS) is fully playable and provides the best visual experience. The High preset (146 FPS) is recommended for high-refresh-rate displays, offering a 41 FPS advantage over Ultra. The Low preset (205 FPS) is only necessary for the most demanding competitive scenarios, where maximum framerate is paramount.

The data shows that the Medium preset offers the most consistent performance across all resolutions, with the smallest gap between average and minimum FPS (11-12 FPS). This indicates that the Medium preset avoids the frame time spikes that can occur at higher settings, making it the most stable choice for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern. At Low settings, the drop is 90 FPS (from 205 to 115), representing a 44% reduction. At Medium, the drop is 89 FPS (from 175 to 86), a 51% reduction. At High, the drop is 74 FPS (from 146 to 72), a 51% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is 53 FPS (from 105 to 52), a 50% reduction.

These proportional drops indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. The RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 32 GB memory are taxed more heavily as pixel count increases, but the consistent ~50% reduction across settings suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

The CPU's role is more evident when comparing the FPS at the same resolution across settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 100 FPS (from 205 to 105). At 1440p, this difference is 96 FPS (from 175 to 79). At 4K, the difference narrows to 63 FPS (from 115 to 52). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions confirms that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands at lower settings, but as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows, and the CPU's 4 cores become less of a limiting factor.

The data suggests that the i3-12100F is capable of driving the RTX 5090 D to high framerates at 1080p and 1440p, but the pairing is less efficient at 4K Ultra where the GPU's massive compute resources are underutilized due to the CPU's single-thread limitations. For the best experience at 4K, the Medium preset (86 FPS) is recommended, as it balances the load between CPU and GPU more effectively than the Ultra preset (52 FPS).