Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the data indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution climbs. The measured frame rates show a steep drop from 1080p to 4K, with the High preset falling from 62.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to just 29.5 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction that highlights the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to feed the higher pixel counts. This pairing ranks in the 61st percentile of all tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier but clearly not optimized for 4K gaming.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS degradation from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and consistent across all settings, confirming that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the combo achieves 104.8 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 76.9 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 26.6% decrease) and further to 48 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 54.2% decrease from 1080p). This pattern intensifies at higher presets: High settings go from 62.4 FPS at 1080p to 50.5 FPS at 1440p to 29.5 FPS at 4K, while Ultra plunges from 47.1 FPS at 1080p to 34 FPS at 1440p and finally to 21.8 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that the 6-core, 12-thread i5-12400 with a 4.40 GHz boost clock is not the limiting factor here. The consistent frame rate drops as resolution increases — rather than a plateau or stutter pattern — point squarely at the GPU’s pixel throughput limits. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for 4K in this title, especially when the game’s detailed environments demand heavy shader work. At 1080p, the combo shows healthy headroom, but the 4K results, with even the Low preset barely breaking 48 FPS, make it clear that 1440p is the realistic ceiling for this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data strongly favors the High preset at 1440p as the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 2560x1440, High delivers 50.5 FPS, which is comfortably playable, while Medium offers only a modest improvement to 58.3 FPS and Low jumps to 76.9 FPS but sacrifices the visual fidelity that Red Dead Redemption 2’s open world benefits from. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 34 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS threshold and introduces noticeable judder in fast-moving scenes.

At 1080p, the High preset at 62.4 FPS is the optimal choice, providing smooth gameplay with room for the GPU to breathe; Medium at 78.2 FPS is also viable for users prioritizing frame rate, and Low at 104.8 FPS serves competitive or high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset is the outlier — at 1080p it still manages 47.1 FPS, but the marginal visual gains over High do not justify the 24.5% performance hit. For 4K, the data shows that even Low at 48 FPS is barely acceptable, so users should avoid this resolution unless they are willing to accept sub-30 FPS at High (29.5 FPS) or the unplayable 21.8 FPS at Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1032nd out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, positioning it in the 61st percentile of all configurations. This is a respectable mid-pack result, but it underscores that the RTX 2070 SUPER is not a high-end card by current standards. The GPU’s own benchmark percentile against all GPUs is 65, with an average benchmark score of 22206, placing it just 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z. The RTX 2070 SUPER also trails the RTX 4060 Mobile by 2.3% in average score, though it beats the AMD Radeon RX 5700 by 2.5%.

The CPU’s ranking is stronger: the i5-12400 sits in the 77th percentile against all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 19850. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-9700 (0.1% ahead), the Intel Core i7-8700 (0.2% behind), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (0.4% behind), showing that the i5-12400’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration punches well above its class. The combo rank of 1032 out of 1687 indicates that while the CPU is capable, the GPU drags the overall result down, particularly at higher resolutions where the RTX 2070 SUPER’s limitations become apparent.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression: Low settings hit 104.8 FPS, Medium reaches 78.2 FPS, High delivers 62.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 47.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 57.7 FPS, or a 55% reduction, indicating that the game’s ultra settings impose a significant load on the GPU. The 1080p results are all playable, with even Ultra staying above 45 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates compress: Low yields 76.9 FPS, Medium drops to 58.3 FPS, High manages 50.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. The jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 20-25% performance across all settings, which is consistent with the increased pixel count. The 1440p High result of 50.5 FPS is the sweet spot, while Ultra clearly exceeds the GPU’s comfort zone.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal at best: Low produces 48 FPS, Medium 40 FPS, High 29.5 FPS, and Ultra 21.8 FPS. The 4K data reveals that only the Low preset approaches playability, and even then, it falls short of 60 FPS. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB VRAM and 256-bit bus are insufficient for the 4K texture loads, causing the frame rate to collapse under the weight of the higher resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows only the Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves a playable 48 FPS. Medium drops to 40 FPS, High to 29.5 FPS, and Ultra to 21.8 FPS, so 4K is only viable at Low settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 2560x1440 at High settings provides 50.5 FPS, which balances visual quality and smoothness. At 1080p, High delivers 62.4 FPS, but 4K is not recommended given the sub-30 FPS results at High and Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 22206 places it 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 and 2.3% behind the RTX 4060 Mobile, while it leads the GTX TITAN Z by 0.9% and the RX 5700 by 2.5%.

Q: Is the i5-12400 a bottleneck in this game?

A: No, the CPU’s 77th percentile ranking and performance within 0.4% of the Threadripper PRO 5995WX indicate it is not the limiting factor. The FPS drops with resolution point to the GPU as the bottleneck.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 47.1 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS target. Dropping to High yields 62.4 FPS, a 32.5% improvement.

Q: How does this combo rank overall?

A: It ranks 1032nd out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the 61st percentile — a solid mid-range result driven by the CPU’s strength but held back by the GPU’s limits at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings 6 cores and 12 threads from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 provide solid throughput for the game’s CPU-bound tasks, such as NPC simulation and physics. The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its capability: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and a single-core score of 2249 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is crucial for Red Dead Redemption 2’s engine that relies on a few heavily loaded threads.

The 3DMark results show scaling from 1692 in the 2-thread test to 5890 in the max-thread test, demonstrating that the 12-thread configuration effectively utilizes its resources. In this game, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic, and the data suggests it does so without bottlenecking the RTX 2070 SUPER. The combination’s FPS drops are proportional to resolution increases, which would not occur if the CPU were the limiting factor. The i5-12400’s 77th percentile ranking and its proximity to the Core i7-9700 (0.1% ahead) confirm that it punches above its 6-core class, making it a reliable partner for this GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the defining component in this pairing, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process, features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz. The GPU’s 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are moderate by today’s standards, and the benchmark results reflect this: a Passmark G3D score of 18169 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1651.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the FPS scaling. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to deliver over 100 FPS on Low, but the 4K results show it hitting its compute and memory bandwidth limits. The 8 GB VRAM is a particular constraint at 4K, where the game’s high-resolution textures exceed the available memory, causing the frame rate to drop to 29.5 FPS at High. The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking and its position relative to rivals — 2.3% behind the RTX 4060 Mobile and 2.5% ahead of the RX 5700 — indicate it is a capable mid-range card, but not one designed for 4K gaming. The data suggests that users should target 1440p to get the most out of this GPU in this title.