Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a mid-range experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with measured frame rates spanning from 21.8 FPS at 4K Ultra to 93.7 FPS at 1080p Low. The combo ranks 1228th out of 1687 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid tier of the database, though the data shows that settings and resolution choices dramatically alter the playability profile.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 60.4 FPS on High settings, which is the only resolution where a playable High preset is measured. At 2560x1440 High, the average drops to 44.6 FPS, while 3840x2160 High yields just 25.7 FPS.

Q: How much performance does dropping from Ultra to Low settings provide?

A: At 1080p, Low settings produce 93.7 FPS versus 40.3 FPS on Ultra, representing a 53.4 FPS improvement. At 1440p, the gap is 67.7 FPS versus 33.5 FPS, and at 4K the difference is 44 FPS versus 21.8 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases, but at 1080p the CPU still holds up well. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide sufficient headroom, as evidenced by the 93.7 FPS Low result at 1080p.

Q: Does the RTX 2060 SUPER support modern graphics APIs used by this game?

A: Yes, the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, covering all relevant rendering paths for Red Dead Redemption 2. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game's textures.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1228th out of 1687 total combinations, placing it in the 27th percentile of all tested systems. This indicates that roughly one-quarter of tested combos perform worse, while the majority outperform this pairing.

Q: What is the most balanced settings preset for 1440p?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 deliver 54.6 FPS, which is the closest to a 60 FPS target among 1440p options. High settings at 1440p drop to 44.6 FPS, while Ultra falls to 33.5 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications determine how the GPU handles Red Dead Redemption 2's demanding open-world rendering.

The GPU's 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects, though the game's traditional rasterization workload is the primary performance driver. The 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate indicate a mid-range part that must carefully balance settings to maintain playable frame rates.

At 1080p, the RTX 2060 SUPER's raw compute is sufficient for High settings at 60.4 FPS, but Ultra settings at the same resolution drop to 40.3 FPS. This performance cliff suggests that the game's Ultra preset includes effects that stress the GPU's 64 ROPs and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth. The 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes a limiting factor when the game increases draw distances and shadow complexity.

The GPU's 175 W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are consistent with its position in the GeForce 20-series lineup. The 12 nm TU106 chip contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die, which explains its thermal characteristics but does not directly influence game performance. The card's position in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs indicates it is a solid mid-range performer, though the measured FPS in this game show it struggling at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and consistent progression as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, frame rates drop from 60.4 FPS at 1080p to 44.6 FPS at 1440p (a 26.2% decrease) and further to 25.7 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the CPU workload does not scale with resolution.

At Low settings, the combo achieves 93.7 FPS at 1080p, 67.7 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. The ratio of 1080p to 4K performance is 2.13x, which is close to the pixel count difference of 4x when accounting for the fact that lower settings reduce per-pixel work. This suggests that even at Low settings, the RTX 2060 SUPER's memory bandwidth and shading capacity are being fully utilized.

The Medium preset shows 67.5 FPS at 1080p, 54.6 FPS at 1440p, and 34.3 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop is 37.2%, which is steeper than the 1080p to 1440p drop of 19.1%. This non-linear scaling indicates that the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, particularly with Medium and High texture quality.

Ultra settings produce 40.3 FPS at 1080p, 33.5 FPS at 1440p, and 21.8 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K performance ratio of 1.85x is lower than the pixel ratio, confirming that Ultra settings introduce additional GPU-bound effects that saturate the card's resources regardless of resolution. The data clearly shows that 4K is only viable at Low settings, where 44 FPS approaches playability but remains below the standard 60 FPS target.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the High preset offers the best balance at 60.4 FPS, which meets the standard refresh rate target. The Medium preset at 67.5 FPS provides a small performance buffer for demanding scenes, while Ultra at 40.3 FPS does not justify the visual improvement given the significant frame rate penalty. Low at 93.7 FPS is only recommended for competitive play or very high refresh rate displays.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings at 54.6 FPS are the most sensible choice, as they stay within 10% of the 60 FPS target. High at 44.6 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay, but the 10 FPS loss compared to Medium is noticeable. Low at 67.7 FPS delivers smooth performance but sacrifices visual quality. Ultra at 33.5 FPS is not recommended due to the severe frame rate drop.

For 3840x2160, the only viable preset is Low at 44 FPS, which provides a playable but not ideal experience. Medium at 34.3 FPS and High at 25.7 FPS are below the threshold for comfortable gameplay, while Ultra at 21.8 FPS is essentially unplayable. Users with 4K displays should strongly consider reducing resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The optimal configuration depends on the display's native resolution. For 1080p displays, High settings provide the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. For 1440p displays, Medium is the recommended preset. For 4K displays, Low settings are the only option, and users should accept the compromise or lower the resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1228 out of 1687 tested combinations places it in the 72.8th percentile of all systems, meaning it performs better than approximately 27% of tested configs. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the i5-12400 and RTX 2060 SUPER pairing, where neither component is severely limiting the other in most scenarios.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 19850 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, 0.1% faster) and Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, 0.2% slower). The i5-12400's performance is essentially tied with these older i7 parts, indicating that its 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.40 GHz boost clock provide competitive processing power.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 19774 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706, 0.3% faster) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (19680, 0.5% faster). The RTX 2060 SUPER is effectively at parity with these cards in synthetic benchmarks, though its 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth may behave differently in real-world gaming scenarios.

The measured FPS data in Red Dead Redemption 2 shows that this combo is capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles at 4K. The 1228th rank reflects this mixed performance profile. Systems ranked higher likely feature more powerful GPUs or CPUs that can maintain higher frame rates in this demanding title. The combo's position in the lower half of the database is consistent with its mid-range component selection, though the data shows that careful settings adjustment can yield a satisfying experience.