Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a clear pattern: the combination is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K remains out of reach for smooth frame rates. The measured results indicate that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, with the CPU’s six cores providing sufficient headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 87.2 at 1920x1080 to 64.4 at 2560x1440, a 26% reduction, and then to 42.8 at 3840x2160, a further 34% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern suggests the GPU is the limiting component; the RTX 2060’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width struggle to feed the pixel throughput demanded by 4K. The trend is similar at Medium settings, where FPS drops from 63.1 at 1080p to 49.7 at 1440p and 31.6 at 4K. At High settings, the decline is from 51.8 to 41.1 to 24.1. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic falloff: 36.6 at 1080p, 28.4 at 1440p, and just 18.5 at 4K. The data indicates that the scaling from 1440p to 4K is more punishing than from 1080p to 1440p, reinforcing that the GPU exhausts its capabilities as pixel count rises. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 12 threads appear adequate for the workload, as the FPS degradation tracks the GPU’s rendering load rather than showing a sudden plateau that would indicate CPU limitation. For gamers targeting 4K, the results are clear: even Low settings only reach 42.8 FPS, which falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target. The 1440p results are more encouraging, with Low and Medium presets delivering 64.4 and 49.7 FPS respectively.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060’s specifications directly explain the measured performance. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed. The memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is a critical factor in Red Dead Redemption 2, a game known for large textures and open-world streaming. At 4K Ultra, the 18.5 FPS average indicates the GPU is overwhelmed; the 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs cannot keep pace with the demand for pixel fill rate. The texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s are insufficient for 4K Ultra settings. Comparing to rivals, the RTX 2060’s average benchmark score of 16074 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, which scores 15996 with a deltaPct of 0.5, meaning the RTX 2060 is marginally ahead. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 both score 16351, putting them 1.7% ahead. This competitive positioning explains why the RTX 2060 can handle 1080p and 1440p well but falls apart at 4K; it is a mid-range card from the GeForce 20-series, built on the 12 nm Turing architecture. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a notable constraint at higher resolutions, as the data shows a disproportionate FPS loss when moving to 4K, likely due to memory capacity limits forcing texture swapping. The GPU’s percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs confirms it sits in the middle of the pack, making high-resolution gaming a compromise.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the standout choice. The data shows 49.7 FPS at this setting, which is acceptable for a story-driven action adventure, and it provides a significant visual upgrade over Low settings. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 63.1 FPS, which is smooth and represents the sweet spot for this combination; High settings at 1080p drop to 51.8 FPS, still playable but with diminishing returns. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 87.2 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual compromise is severe. At 1440p, High settings at 41.1 FPS are borderline, and Ultra at 28.4 FPS is not recommended for consistent gameplay. The Ultra preset is essentially unplayable at all resolutions; even at 1080p, it only reaches 36.6 FPS. The data suggests that Medium settings are the default recommendation, with Low as a fallback for 4K. At 4K, the best option is Low at 42.8 FPS, but this requires accepting significant graphical downgrades. Users with a 1440p monitor should opt for Medium, while 1080p users can choose between Medium for quality or High for a modest improvement at the cost of 11.3 FPS. The measured rows clearly indicate that Ultra settings are reserved for future hardware, not this combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces the following averages: Low delivers 87.2 FPS, Medium 63.1 FPS, High 51.8 FPS, and Ultra 36.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 24.1 FPS, while the step from Medium to High is 11.3 FPS, and High to Ultra is 15.2 FPS. This shows that the most efficient performance gain comes from dropping from Medium to Low, while the cost of Ultra is steep. At 2560x1440, the averages are 64.4 FPS for Low, 49.7 FPS for Medium, 41.1 FPS for High, and 28.4 FPS for Ultra. The relative scaling is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower across the board, with the Low preset at 1440p barely outpacing the High preset at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the results are 42.8 FPS for Low, 31.6 FPS for Medium, 24.1 FPS for High, and 18.5 FPS for Ultra. The 4K Low result is lower than the 1080p Ultra result, highlighting the resolution penalty. The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step up reduces FPS by roughly 20-30% for a given setting, and each settings step up reduces FPS by a similar margin for a given resolution. This creates a matrix where users must choose between resolution and quality; for example, 1440p Medium at 49.7 FPS is comparable to 1080p High at 51.8 FPS, suggesting the RTX 2060 can trade resolution for quality with minimal FPS impact.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most capable resolution, with Low settings achieving 87.2 FPS and Medium achieving 63.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings exceed 60 FPS at 64.4 FPS, while Medium drops to 49.7 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: The measured results indicate no. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 42.8 at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS target. Ultra settings at 4K produce only 18.5 FPS, making it unplayable.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S at 15996. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700, both scoring 16351, by 1.7%.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever viable?

A: No. Even at 1080p, Ultra only achieves 36.6 FPS, and it drops to 18.5 FPS at 4K. The data suggests Ultra is not a usable setting for this hardware.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Medium at 1080p?

A: The difference is 24.1 FPS, with Low at 87.2 FPS and Medium at 63.1 FPS. This is a substantial gain that may justify the visual downgrade for smoother gameplay.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data does not show a CPU bottleneck. The Intel Core i5-11400F has 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The FPS scaling with resolution follows the GPU’s workload, indicating the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor throughout.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides a solid foundation for this gaming combination. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it offers sufficient parallel processing for modern game engines. The base clock of 2.60 GHz can boost up to 4.40 GHz, which is crucial for single-threaded performance in Red Dead Redemption 2’s simulation-heavy open world. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed game data. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is adequate but not exceptional. Benchmark scores for the CPU show a 3dmark single-thread score of 868 and a passmark single-thread score of 2981, indicating strong per-core performance. The multi-threaded capabilities are reflected in a cinebench r23 multicore score of 14372 and a passmark multithread score of 16908. The CPU’s percentile rank of 75 against all CPUs places it above average, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, has an average score of 17189 with a deltaPct of 0, showing they are performance equals. The Intel Core i7-1260P and Core Ultra 7 164U are 0.2% behind, while the Core i5-1240U is 0.2% ahead. This indicates the i5-11400F is competitive with modern mobile CPUs in synthetic tests. In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s 12 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 2060 at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the smooth FPS scaling. The CPU does not appear to limit performance; the FPS drops are consistent with GPU-bound scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1377 out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower half of the database. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range status, as the CPU is comparatively stronger. The RTX 2060’s percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs is lower than the CPU’s percentile rank of 75, meaning the GPU is the weak link in this pairing. The combo’s rank of 1377 suggests that many other combinations, likely those with higher-end GPUs, achieve better frame rates. The measured FPS data confirms this: the highest average FPS recorded is 87.2 at 1080p Low, which is respectable but not exceptional. The rank is influenced by the fact that the RTX 2060 is an older generation card, released in 2019, and its 6 GB of VRAM is a limiting factor in a game with large textures. The CPU’s strong showing in benchmarks, such as a geekbench multicore score of 7579 and a passmark physics score of 842, does not compensate for the GPU’s limitations at high resolutions. The combo’s performance is consistent with its ranking; it delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but it cannot compete with combos featuring more powerful GPUs. For users with this hardware, the data indicates that managing settings is essential to achieve a playable experience, and the combination is best suited for 1080p gaming with Medium or High settings. The ranking of 1377 out of 1687 places it in the 18th percentile of tested combos, meaning 82% of combinations perform better. This is a direct consequence of the RTX 2060’s position in the GPU hierarchy, as the CPU is capable of supporting more powerful graphics cards without bottlenecking.