Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a very narrow band of performance in Red Dead Redemption 2, with benchmark results placing this combination near the bottom of the database. The combo ranks 2568th out of 2902 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems tested for this specific game. This ranking reflects a fundamental mismatch between the demands of this 2018 Action Adventure title and the capabilities of the Arc B390, which is an integrated graphics solution rather than a discrete GPU. The data shows that even at the lowest settings and resolution, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates, suggesting that the GPU is the dominant constraint in nearly every scenario tested.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position at rank 2568 out of 2902 tested combinations places it firmly in the lower tier of systems capable of running Red Dead Redemption 2. This ranking is particularly telling because the CPU component is far from weak; the Core i5-11400F sits at the 71st percentile when compared against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17177. The processor's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% higher score), Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% lower), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% lower), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% higher). These deltas are all within 1%, showing that the i5-11400F is a solidly mid-range processor that holds its own against much more expensive server and mobile parts.

In stark contrast, the Intel Arc B390's benchmark footprint is minimal, with only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 to define its performance class. The GPU sits at just the 9th percentile when compared to all other GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% higher), GeForce 800M (1.5% higher), GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% higher), and GeForce GT 710 (2.7% higher). These are all entry-level or integrated graphics chips from years past, which contextualizes the Arc B390's position as fundamentally a low-power integrated solution rather than a gaming-oriented discrete card. The 2568th rank for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2 is therefore driven almost entirely by the GPU's limitations, with the CPU having ample headroom that the graphics hardware simply cannot exploit.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is built on Intel's 3 nm process with the Xe3-LPG architecture, sharing its Panther Lake chip design with mobile processors. Its specifications reveal its integrated nature: the GPU clocks at a base of 300 MHz and boosts to 2500 MHz, with memory classified as "System Shared" in both size and type. This means the graphics card does not have dedicated VRAM but instead borrows from system memory, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." The memory bus width is similarly shared, making the entire memory subsystem contingent on the host system's DDR4 configuration rather than being optimized for graphics workloads.

The GPU's compute resources are modest: 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 raster operations pipelines, and 12 ray tracing cores. Pixel rate is rated at 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate at 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS and FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. The 80 W TDP and "IGP" slot width confirm that this is an integrated graphics processor, not a discrete add-in card, which explains why its performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 is so limited. The API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning the hardware is technically capable of running modern graphics features, but the raw throughput is insufficient for demanding titles like this one.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU's role as the bottleneck becomes clear when examining scaling across settings at a fixed resolution. At 1920x1080, dropping from Ultra to Low settings improves average FPS from 23 to 51, a 122% increase. This dramatic sensitivity to settings is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where reducing graphical load directly translates to higher frame rates. The Arc B390's 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its proximity to decade-old NVIDIA parts like the GT 710 (2.7% higher score) underscores that this is not a component designed for AAA gaming at any resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across the three tested resolutions, and the pattern is consistent with a GPU that lacks sufficient memory bandwidth and compute power. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings drops average FPS from 51 to 38, a 25.5% reduction. The same resolution increase at High settings yields a drop from 32 to 24 FPS, a 25% decline. When moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at Low settings, average FPS falls from 38 to 25, a 34.2% reduction. At High settings, the 1440p to 4K transition drops from 24 to 16 FPS, a 33.3% decline.

These scaling factors are notable because they show a near-linear relationship between pixel count and frame rate, which is the signature of a compute-bound GPU. Doubling the pixel count roughly halves the frame rate, indicating that the Arc B390 is saturated at even the lowest settings and cannot hide its limitations behind geometry or shading complexity. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 51 FPS, which is the only configuration that approaches playable frame rates, and even that is marginal for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 that benefits from higher frame rates for smooth camera movement. At 4K Ultra, the system manages just 11 FPS, which is essentially a slideshow and indicates that this combo is not viable for 4K gaming under any circumstances.

The limiting component is unambiguously the GPU. The Core i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads running at base clock 2.60 GHz and boost 4.40 GHz, provides more than enough processing power for this game. The CPU's 3DMark scores show strong scaling from 1691 at 2 threads to 5652 at max threads, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 confirms a capable processor. Had the CPU been the limiting factor, we would expect to see frame rates plateau across resolutions, but instead the data shows steady degradation as pixel count rises, confirming that the Arc B390 is the primary constraint at every settings level.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system produces its best results. Low settings yield an average of 51 FPS with no minimum or maximum recorded. Medium settings drop to 39 FPS average, with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44. High settings further reduce performance to 32 FPS average, and Ultra settings bottom out at 23 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 28 FPS, or approximately 122% improvement when dropping from Ultra to Low, which demonstrates that settings adjustments have a substantial impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates begin to fall below playable thresholds. Low settings produce 38 FPS average, which is borderline acceptable but still below the 60 FPS target many players prefer. Medium settings average 29 FPS with a range of 24 to 33, High settings average 24 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 17 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level shows roughly a 25-26% reduction in frame rate, which is consistent across all four settings presets, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of this combo.

At 3840x2160, the system is largely unable to run the game smoothly. Low settings average 25 FPS, Medium settings average 19 FPS with a range of 16 to 22, High settings average 16 FPS, and Ultra settings average 11 FPS. None of these configurations reach 30 FPS, which is widely considered the minimum for playable console-style gaming, let alone the 60 FPS target for PC gaming. The lowest recorded minimum FPS across the entire dataset is 16 FPS at 4K Medium, and the highest recorded maximum is 44 FPS at 1080p Medium, both of which highlight the narrow performance envelope of this hardware combination.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 51 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. No other configuration in the measured data exceeds this value.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its closest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% lower than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% lower than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% lower than the GeForce GT 710 (1443).

Q: Is the Core i5-11400F a strong CPU relative to other processors?

A: Yes, the i5-11400F sits at the 71st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177. Its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, scores 17120, a difference of only 0.3%.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average FPS is 39, while at 3840x2160 Medium, it drops to 19 FPS. This represents a 51.3% reduction in average frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at any settings?

A: No, the data shows no configuration that reaches 60 FPS. The closest is 1080p Low at 51 FPS average, which is still below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the CPU's multicore performance compare to its single-core performance?

A: In Cinebench R23, the multicore score is 14340, while the single-core score is 2024, giving a ratio of approximately 7.1x. In 3DMark, the max threads score of 5652 is 6.5x higher than the single-thread score of 868.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that approaches playable frame rates is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves an average of 51 FPS. This is the recommended settings preset if the goal is to maintain the highest frame rate possible. However, even this setting falls short of the 60 FPS standard, and players may need to accept frame rates in the 40s if they want any visual improvements. Medium settings at 1080p average 39 FPS with a minimum of 33, which is still playable but may show stutter in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 38 FPS average, which is lower than 1080p Medium and may not be worth the resolution trade-off given the marginal visual difference between 1080p and 1440p on many displays. High settings at 1080p at 32 FPS and Ultra at 23 FPS are not recommended, as the frame rate drops below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay smoothness. At 3840x2160, no settings preset is viable, with the best option being Low at 25 FPS, which is still below playability standards.

The data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo is 1080p Low, accepting that the game will run at roughly 51 FPS average. Players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate might consider 1080p Medium at 39 FPS, but the 12 FPS loss may not justify the modest graphical improvement. The 4K resolution should be avoided entirely, as even the lowest settings result in a sub-30 FPS experience. This combo is fundamentally constrained by the Arc B390's integrated nature, and users seeking higher frame rates would need to reduce resolution to below 1080p or accept lower settings, though the measured data does not include any sub-1080p configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F contributes a strong foundation to this combo, with 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Rocket Lake architecture built on Intel's 14 nm process. The processor operates at a 2.60 GHz base clock and boosts to 4.40 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP within an Intel Socket 1200. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache, which is sufficient for feeding the GPU with draw calls and game logic in Red Dead Redemption 2. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is shared with the GPU for its system memory allocation.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-11400F shows balanced performance across workloads. Its 3DMark scores scale from 1691 at 2 threads to 5652 at max threads, showing good multithreading efficiency. Cinebench R23 results of 14340 multicore and 2024 single-core place it well above the minimum requirements for this game. The PassMark multithread score of 16908 and single-thread score of 2981 further confirm that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo. The processor's 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177, positions it as a mid-range performer that can handle modern games' CPU demands without issue.

The measured FPS data supports this assessment. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see frame rates that remain constant across different settings at the same resolution, since reducing graphical settings would not alleviate CPU load. Instead, the data shows that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 1080p increases FPS from 23 to 51, a 122% improvement. This pattern is repeated at 1440p (17 to 38 FPS) and 4K (11 to 25 FPS), confirming that the GPU is solely responsible for the performance ceiling. The i5-11400F has ample headroom to drive higher frame rates if paired with a more capable graphics solution, but with the Arc B390, its potential is unrealized in this title.