Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a robust experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions and settings. The data set provides 12 measured FPS points, offering a clear picture of where this combination excels and where it begins to strain. This analysis walks through the specific numbers, the role of each component, and how this pairing ranks among other tested configurations.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a high refresh rate experience in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo produces an average of 194 FPS on Low settings and 121 FPS on High settings, making 1080p the only resolution where the average FPS consistently exceeds the 120 FPS threshold across multiple presets.

Q: How does the RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM influence performance in this game?

A: The 16 GB frame buffer is not a limiting factor in the measured rows; the average FPS scales smoothly from 43 FPS at 4K Ultra to 194 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the GPU's memory capacity is sufficient even at the highest memory pressure scenario of 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: What is the performance delta between the RTX 4080 and its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209 score, placing the two cards statistically at parity in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at lower resolutions?

A: The data suggests the CPU begins to limit frame rates as resolution drops, as the FPS jump from 4K High (60 FPS) to 1440p High (90 FPS) is 30 FPS, but the jump from 1440p High to 1080p High is only 31 FPS, showing diminishing returns that point to a CPU constraint at 1080p.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo, and at which settings?

A: The lowest average FPS is 43, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings, which is the most demanding configuration in the measured data.

Q: How does this combo rank in terms of overall performance in this game?

A: This combination ranks 260th out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top percentile of systems for this specific title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary driver of frame rates in this configuration. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the texture and geometry loads of Red Dead Redemption 2. The core clock operates at a base of 2205 MHz and boosts to 2505 MHz, with 9728 shading units available to handle the game's rendering tasks.

The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the dominant factor in performance scaling. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 43, while at 4K Low, it climbs to 96. This 53 FPS swing between the lowest and highest quality presets at the same resolution is a direct result of the GPU's workload changing dramatically with settings. The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design are necessary to sustain these clock speeds under load, as the card is clearly being pushed hard in the Ultra preset scenarios.

The RTX 4080's position in the market is notable. Its average benchmark score of 54247 puts it at the 86th percentile of all GPUs. It is essentially tied with the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 0.1% lower, and it is 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. This indicates that the RTX 4080 is a top-tier card, and the FPS numbers in Red Dead Redemption 2 reflect that, as even at 4K High, it maintains a 60 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience targeting 60 FPS, the High preset at 4K is the clear choice, delivering an average of 60 FPS. If a higher frame rate is desired at 4K, the Medium preset provides a 20% improvement in average FPS over High, jumping to 72 FPS. The Low preset at 4K is also viable for players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, achieving an average of 96 FPS.

At 1440p, the High preset offers an excellent balance, producing an average of 90 FPS. The Medium preset is also strong at 108 FPS, but the data shows that the Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 65 FPS, which is a significant reduction for a marginal visual gain. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 121 FPS is the sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors, while the Medium preset at 145 FPS is available for those who want an even smoother experience.

The Ultra preset is generally not recommended for this combo. The average FPS at 4K Ultra (43) and 1440p Ultra (65) falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and even at 1080p Ultra (87 FPS), the performance cost is substantial compared to High. The data indicates that the High preset is the optimal choice across all resolutions, providing a significant performance uplift over Ultra while maintaining the core visual quality that the game is known for.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the combo produces the following average FPS: 43 on Ultra, 60 on High, 72 on Medium, and 96 on Low. The Medium preset has a recorded minimum FPS of 61 and a maximum of 82, indicating some fluctuation, but the average remains playable. The gap between Ultra and High is 17 FPS, which is the largest single-preset drop at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS improves significantly: 65 on Ultra, 90 on High, 108 on Medium, and 145 on Low. The Medium preset again shows a min-max range of 92 to 125 FPS. The jump from 4K to 1440p results in a 50% increase in average FPS for the High preset, from 60 to 90 FPS, and a 51% increase for the Medium preset, from 72 to 108 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the combo reaches its highest frame rates: 87 on Ultra, 121 on High, 145 on Medium, and 194 on Low. The Medium preset has a min-max range of 123 to 167 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 1080p is less pronounced than from 4K to 1440p, with the High preset improving from 90 to 121 FPS (a 34% increase) and the Medium preset from 108 to 145 FPS (a 34% increase). This pattern is consistent across all presets, showing that the performance gains from lowering resolution diminish as the CPU begins to play a larger role.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 260 out of 3714 combos. This places the system in the top 7% of all tested setups, which is an outstanding result for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU.

The ranking reflects the strength of the RTX 4080, which is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed. The CPU's contribution is secondary, but the 6-core, 12-thread i5-12400 is sufficient to avoid severely bottlenecking the GPU at the tested settings. The fact that the combo ranks this high despite the CPU not being a top-tier model suggests that Red Dead Redemption 2 is not an extremely CPU-intensive title, or that the GPU is powerful enough to compensate for any CPU limitations.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system is clearly positioned for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming and solid 4K performance. The rank of 260 indicates that only a small fraction of tested systems, likely those with even more powerful CPUs like the higher-end Core i7 or i9 models, are able to outperform this setup in this particular game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture chip features 18 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its synthetic benchmark scores are solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. The FPS data shows that as resolution decreases, the performance gains shrink, indicating the CPU is becoming the limiting factor. For example, going from 4K High to 1440p High results in a 30 FPS increase, but going from 1440p High to 1080p High results in a 31 FPS increase. The relative improvement is much smaller when moving from 1440p to 1080p, suggesting the CPU is nearing its capacity to feed frames to the GPU.

The CPU's percentile rank is 72, meaning it performs better than 72% of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7643, is only 0.1% faster in average benchmark score, showing that the i5-12400 is a highly competitive processor for its class. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 5873 and the max-thread score of 5890 indicate that the CPU can handle multi-threaded workloads effectively, which is beneficial for a game that does use multiple cores, but the single-thread score of 910 is more critical for game performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU load. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 121 at 1080p, to 90 at 1440p, and down to 60 at 4K. This represents a 50% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 1440p, and a 50% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The linear scaling suggests a GPU-bound scenario, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the frame rate halves accordingly.

However, the scaling is not perfectly linear across all presets. For the Low preset, the FPS goes from 194 at 1080p to 145 at 1440p (a 25% drop) and then to 96 at 4K (a 34% drop). This variation indicates that at lower settings, the CPU becomes more of a factor, as the GPU is less stressed and can produce frames faster than the CPU can process them. The 1080p Low result of 194 FPS is a clear indicator of a CPU limitation, as the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates in other scenarios.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 is the primary bottleneck at 4K and 1440p across all settings, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution. At 1080p, particularly with Low and Medium settings, the i5-12400 becomes a more significant constraint, capping the maximum achievable FPS. This is a typical pattern for high-end GPUs paired with mid-range CPUs, where the GPU is fully utilized at higher resolutions, but the CPU's single-thread performance limits the top-end frame rates at lower resolutions.