Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. At 1080p, the combination is capable of exceeding 100 FPS on Low settings, but the frame rate drops steeply as resolution and quality increase, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck in this demanding open-world title. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the sweet spot for high refresh rates, while 4K gaming requires significant compromises in visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a pronounced impact from resolution scaling. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 69.7 FPS to 54.1 FPS, a reduction of approximately 22%. This scaling continues at 3840x2160, where High settings produce an average of just 33.8 FPS. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, with the performance gap between 1080p and 4K widening as graphical intensity increases.

At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 108 FPS at 1080p to 80.1 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 52.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 52% drop from the lowest to highest resolution tested. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, dropping from 52.2 FPS at 1080p to 35.8 FPS at 1440p and just 25.7 FPS at 4K. This steep decline strongly suggests that the RTX 4060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus, is the limiting component when pushing higher pixel counts. The CPU's role is relatively minor at higher resolutions, as the workload shifts overwhelmingly to the graphics card.

The data indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can consistently maintain frame rates above 60 FPS across all settings except Ultra, which sits at 52.2 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings exceed the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K results are uniformly below 60 FPS, with even Low settings failing to reach playable levels for competitive or fast-paced action.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs tested. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with a virtually identical average score (17189 vs 17181 for the i5), and the Intel Core i7-1260P, which is 0.2% slower in aggregate benchmarks.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's influence is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 108 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at this level. However, the 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient for the game's demands, as frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes. The CPU's single-thread performance, reflected in a Geekbench single-core score of 1979 and a Passmark single-thread score of 2981, is adequate for the game's primary game logic and physics threads.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR4 interface is a potential constraint, but benchmark results do not show stalling at 1080p. The CPU's 65 W TDP and PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes ensure it does not bottleneck the RTX 4060's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. At higher resolutions, the CPU's role diminishes, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops across all settings when moving from 1440p to 4K, which aligns with GPU-bound behavior.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the clear performance driver in this pairing. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, it features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and boosts to 2460 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a notable limitation for high-resolution gaming, as the data shows significant frame rate penalties at 4K.

In synthetic tests, the RTX 4060 achieves a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 98095, placing it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, which is 0.6% faster, and the Intel Arc B580, which is 0.7% slower. The GPU's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial, but the 8 GB VRAM becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average frame rate collapses to 25.7 FPS.

The RTX 4060's performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 is characterized by steep settings-dependent scaling. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 55.8 FPS (108 vs 52.2), demonstrating that the GPU's compute and memory subsystems are heavily taxed by the game's graphical features. The 4K results, ranging from 25.7 FPS at Ultra to 52.3 FPS at Low, underscore that this GPU is not designed for native 4K gaming in this title. The 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB capacity are insufficient for the large texture and geometry workloads at 3840x2160.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 69.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset provides 82.3 FPS, offering a comfortable margin for frame rate fluctuations. For players seeking maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 52.2 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid during intense scenes.

At 2560x1440, the data shows that Low settings are required to exceed 60 FPS, delivering 80.1 FPS. The Medium preset at 62.3 FPS is marginally above 60 FPS and represents a good balance of visual quality and performance. High settings at 54.1 FPS are playable but may exhibit occasional stuttering, while Ultra at 35.8 FPS is not recommended for a satisfying experience.

For 3840x2160, the results are less favorable. Low settings at 52.3 FPS are the only option approaching playability, but even this falls below 60 FPS. Medium at 42.6 FPS and High at 33.8 FPS are visually impaired by the frame rate drops, and Ultra at 25.7 FPS is effectively unplayable for most users. The data suggests that 4K gaming on this combo requires either significant resolution scaling or acceptance of sub-40 FPS performance. The best overall experience is at 1080p High, which balances visual quality with a 69.7 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 958th out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the benchmark database. This ranking reflects the GPU's limited 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus, which are below the ideal configuration for this demanding title. The CPU's performance, while respectable at the 75th percentile, does not compensate for the GPU's resolution limitations.

The ranking indicates that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates, particularly those with more powerful GPUs or larger memory bandwidth. However, the combo still provides a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings. The data shows that the RTX 4060's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, are within 0.6% in synthetic benchmarks, suggesting similar in-game performance potential. The i5-11400F's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, also show negligible performance differences.

The rank of 958 out of 1687 suggests that while this combo is not at the bottom of the performance scale, it is below the median. This is primarily attributable to the GPU's memory constraints at higher resolutions, as the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is adequate for the game's processing demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches an average of 108 FPS. This drops to 82.3 FPS at Medium, 69.7 FPS at High, and 52.2 FPS at Ultra.

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS gaming at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which produce 80.1 FPS. Medium settings at 62.3 FPS also exceed 60 FPS, while High at 54.1 FPS and Ultra at 35.8 FPS fall below the threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4060's VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus is a bottleneck at 3840x2160. The highest 4K average is 52.3 FPS on Low settings, dropping to 25.7 FPS on Ultra, indicating the memory capacity and bandwidth limit high-resolution performance.

Q: What are the nearest rivals to the Intel Core i5-11400F?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700U has an average score of 17189, essentially matching the i5's 17181. The Intel Core i7-1260P is 0.2% slower, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U is also 0.2% slower.

Q: What are the nearest rivals to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600M is 0.6% faster with an average score of 23321, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti is 0.7% faster. The Intel Arc B580 is 0.7% slower, and the AMD Radeon 760M is 0.8% slower.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F and RTX 4060 combination ranks 958th out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measurements for each resolution and settings preset:

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS |

|------------|----------|-------------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 33.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 52.3 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 42.6 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 25.7 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 54.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 80.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 62.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 35.8 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 69.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 108 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 82.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 52.2 |

The data shows a consistent performance hierarchy across all resolutions, with Low settings providing the highest frame rates and Ultra the lowest. The most significant performance gap occurs at 1080p, where the difference between Low and Ultra is 55.8 FPS. At 4K, this gap narrows to 26.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is already saturated at lower settings and additional quality increases have diminishing returns. The 1440p results show a 44.3 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, reflecting a balanced scaling curve that is typical of a GPU-limited system.