Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with Intel Core i5-10400F + Intel Arc B570

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but demanding experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the data showing a clear pattern: this combo is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while CPU headroom exists at 1080p. The Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth prove sufficient for the game's open-world demands, but the measured frame rates reveal that only the Low preset approaches consistently smooth performance across all tested resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases, which is classic behavior for a system where the GPU is the primary limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 79 FPS average, which drops to 59 FPS at 1440p Low (a 25% reduction) and then to 39 FPS at 4K Low (a 51% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B570's rendering throughput—11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s—is being taxed progressively harder as pixel count rises.

Looking at the High preset, the resolution scaling is even more dramatic. The average FPS goes from 49 at 1080p, to 37 at 1440p, and finally to 24 at 4K. That represents a 51% performance loss when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The 4K High result of 24 FPS is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay, suggesting that the GPU's 160-bit memory bus and 10 GB VRAM, while adequate in capacity, cannot sustain the bandwidth demands of 4K rendering with high-quality textures and effects.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with slightly better absolute numbers. From 59 FPS at 1080p Medium, the combo falls to 44 FPS at 1440p Medium, and then to 29 FPS at 4K Medium. The min FPS values available for Medium settings (50 at 1080p, 38 at 1440p, 25 at 4K) indicate that frame pacing remains stable even when average rates drop, which is a positive sign for the Arc B570's driver overhead management in this title.

Ultra settings are the most punishing. The data shows 36 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and only 18 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Ultra result is particularly telling because it shows that even at the lowest resolution tested, the Ultra preset overwhelms the GPU. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is a 50% drop, consistent with the other presets, reinforcing that resolution scaling is uniform across settings—the limiting component is always the GPU.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. The Intel Core i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, shows in its benchmarks that it has headroom for this game. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 suggest that CPU load is not the bottleneck, especially since the FPS drops are so consistent with resolution increases. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows the opposite.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for this combo is the Low preset at 1080p, which delivers 79 FPS average. This is the only configuration that breaks the 60 FPS threshold comfortably, providing headroom for the open-world traversal and combat scenarios typical of Red Dead Redemption 2. The 1440p Low preset achieves 59 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves no margin for demanding scenes, while 4K Low at 39 FPS is borderline for a game that benefits from smooth frame rates.

For gamers who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot. The 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum ensures that the experience remains fluid, and the visual upgrade from Low to Medium is substantial in a game as detailed as Red Dead Redemption 2. The 1440p Medium result of 44 FPS is acceptable for those with variable refresh rate displays, but the 38 FPS minimum could cause noticeable stutter on standard 60 Hz monitors.

The High preset is only viable at 1080p, where the 49 FPS average represents a trade-off between visuals and smoothness. At 1440p High, the 37 FPS average falls below the threshold for comfortable action sequences, and 4K High at 24 FPS is not recommended for any scenario. Ultra settings are effectively off the table for this combo—even 1080p Ultra at 36 FPS fails to maintain a consistent 40 FPS floor, which is generally considered the minimum for playable third-person action.

The data suggests that users should treat Medium as the default preset for this game, with Low reserved for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios. The Arc B570's driver maturity, as reflected in the consistent min FPS values at Medium settings, supports this recommendation. For 1440p owners, Low preset is the only option that maintains a 60 FPS target, while 4K users should expect to use Low and accept sub-40 FPS averages.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 39 FPS average. Medium drops to 29 FPS, High to 24 FPS, and Ultra to 18 FPS, making Low the only viable 4K preset for this hardware.

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

A: Low preset delivers the highest frame rate at 79 FPS average. Medium preset provides 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum, which is the best balance of visual quality and smoothness for most users.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck in this game?

A: The CPU benchmarks show strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283), and the consistent FPS scaling with resolution indicates that the GPU is the limiting component rather than the 6-core, 12-thread processor.

Q: How does the Arc B570's memory configuration affect performance?

A: The 10 GB GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. This proves sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest bandwidth constraints, as FPS drops are proportionally larger than the pixel count increase.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p?

A: Low preset gives 59 FPS average, Medium gives 44 FPS (38 min), High gives 37 FPS, and Ultra gives 27 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, Low is required.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever playable with this combo?

A: Only at 1080p, where it achieves 36 FPS average. This is below the 40 FPS threshold for comfortable play in action sequences, so Ultra is not recommended at any resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy across presets. Low settings produce 79 FPS average, which is the highest measured result for this combo in any configuration. Medium settings yield 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS, indicating stable frame delivery. High settings drop to 49 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 36 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 43 FPS, demonstrating that the Arc B570 has enough headroom at this resolution to benefit significantly from lower graphics presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the measured values show a uniform reduction across all presets. Low settings achieve 59 FPS average, which is a 25% decrease from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings produce 44 FPS average with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS, maintaining the same frame pacing stability seen at 1080p. High settings deliver 37 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 27 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that this resolution is the practical ceiling for Medium settings if a 40 FPS average is desired.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 39 FPS average, which is a 51% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings yield 29 FPS average with a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS, showing that even the lowest frame times are below 30 FPS. High settings achieve 24 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 18 FPS. The 4K data reveals that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming with any visual quality above Low, and even then, the frame rate is marginal.

The pattern across all resolutions is that the Arc B570's performance scales consistently with pixel count, and the 10 GB VRAM capacity is never exceeded (no texture pop-in or stutter is indicated by the stable min FPS values). The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, appear sufficient for this game's AI and physics demands, as evidenced by the lack of CPU-related frame drops in the measured data.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2335 out of 2902 tested combos for Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations in the database. This rank of 2335 means that approximately 80% of tested combos deliver better performance in this game, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing that only Low presets approach 60 FPS at 1080p.

The CPU's individual performance percentile of 68 (versus all CPUs) suggests that the processor is above average in the broader benchmark landscape, but the combo rank indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. The Arc B570's percentile of 65 (versus all GPUs) is slightly lower, and the 150 W TDP and dual-slot design reflect a mid-range GPU that struggles with a demanding title like Red Dead Redemption 2.

The nearest rivals for the GPU provide context for this performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 0.1% higher, the Intel Arc A750 scores 0.1% lower, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 0.5% lower. These are all comparable performers in synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS data for this specific game shows that the Arc B570 cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1080p High, which is a common target for mid-range hardware.

For the CPU, the nearest rivals—Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% higher), Intel Core 7 160UL (0.3% lower), AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% higher), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% lower)—all fall within a narrow band of the i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14185. This indicates that the CPU is not an outlier in either direction, and its contribution to the combo's rank is neutral. The bottleneck is squarely on the GPU side.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to this combo, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The 14 nm Comet Lake architecture, with its 12 MB shared L3 cache, provides a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The CPU's benchmark scores—Cinebench R23 multi-core of 10283 and single-core of 1451, Geekbench multi-core of 6257 and single-core of 1420—suggest that the processor has adequate compute power for Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world simulation.

The memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s (dual-channel DDR4) is a potential consideration, but the measured FPS data does not show any signs of memory bottleneck. The 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and 2-thread score of 1350 indicate that the CPU's per-core performance is sufficient for the game's primary thread, which typically handles player input and physics calculations in titles of this era.

The passmark physics score of 696 and integer math score of 41471 show strong general-purpose compute, which is relevant for the game's NPC AI and world simulation systems. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185, places it above the median, and the nearest rivals all score within 0.6% of this figure. This confirms that the i5-10400F is a capable mid-range processor that will not hold back the Arc B570 in most scenarios.

In the context of this game, the CPU's role is secondary. The FPS scaling with resolution and settings is uniform and predictable, which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload. The 12 threads allow the game to distribute its background tasks (streaming, physics, audio) without contention, and the boost clock of 4.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is not a limiting factor. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield far larger FPS gains than upgrading the CPU in this specific configuration.