Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, with the GPU becoming the dominant limiting factor as pixel count climbs. This analysis breaks down the frame rate scaling, component roles, and optimal settings based strictly on the provided benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, revealing where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 93 FPS, which falls to 69 FPS at 1440p and 46 FPS at 4K. That represents a 25.8% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33.3% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar across all settings presets, indicating that resolution scaling is the primary driver of performance loss.

At 1080p High, the average is 58 FPS, dropping to 43 FPS at 1440p and 29 FPS at 4K. The 1440p result is 74.1% of the 1080p frame rate, while the 4K result is only 50% of the 1080p figure. This halving of performance at 4K is a strong indicator that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the higher pixel counts, especially with High or Ultra settings.

The Medium preset shows the most detailed data, with minimum and maximum frames recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 69 FPS with a range of 59 to 80 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 52 FPS with a range of 44 to 60 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 34 FPS with a range of 29 to 39 FPS. The minimum frame rates at 4K Medium (29 FPS) are notably close to the average, suggesting occasional stutter under load.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with averages of 42 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is barely interactive, and even 1440p Ultra falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The scaling from 1080p to 4K on Ultra is a 50% reduction, identical to the High preset, which points to a consistent GPU-bound scenario rather than a CPU limitation.

The data indicates that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops are proportional to the pixel count increase, which is classic GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p Low, the 93 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed frames fast enough, but the GPU becomes the ceiling as resolution rises.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the key resource for Red Dead Redemption 2's large open-world textures. The base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and the card has 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs.

The GPU's compute capabilities are modest by modern standards, with FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s. In benchmark tests, the card scores 16462 in Passmark G3D and 2011 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its percentile ranking against all GPUs is 62, placing it in the upper-middle tier.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18093 is 0.4% behind the RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It is 1.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373) and 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A770M (18383). These small delta percentages confirm that the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in a competitive performance band, but its age shows in demanding titles like Red Dead Redemption 2.

The VRAM capacity is critical. At 4K High, the average FPS of 29 suggests the 8 GB buffer is being pushed to its limit, causing the GPU to swap data. The 4K Medium result of 34 FPS, with a minimum of 29 FPS, further supports this. The card's memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at 4K.

The GPU's power draw is rated at 175 W TDP, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The dual-slot design and single 8-pin connector are typical for this class. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers the API requirements of Red Dead Redemption 2.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2635 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. That places it in the 71st percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 71% of configurations but trails the top-tier rigs.

The ranking is driven by the GPU's mid-range standing. The CPU, by contrast, is a stronger performer. The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, which is 0% different from the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047), 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core 3 201E (19056), and 0.3% ahead of both the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982) and AMD EPYC 7773X (18979). The CPU's percentile ranking against all CPUs is 73, higher than the GPU's 62.

In practical terms, the combo's rank of 2635 reflects a system that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but struggles at 4K. The gap between the CPU's strong synthetic scores and the GPU's moderate scores means the RTX 2060 SUPER holds the combo back in GPU-intensive scenes. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 93 FPS, which is respectable, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 21 FPS.

The rank of 2635 out of 3714 is not a poor result; it indicates a balanced mid-range setup. However, the delta between the CPU and GPU percentiles (73 vs 62) suggests that users could see better 4K performance with a more powerful GPU, while the CPU would still keep pace.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings presets at three resolutions, providing 12 data points. At 1920x1080, the averages are 93 FPS on Low, 69 FPS on Medium, 58 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS, showing a 21 FPS spread. The Low preset has no recorded minimum or maximum, but the 93 FPS average is the highest of any configuration tested.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 69 FPS on Low, 52 FPS on Medium, 43 FPS on High, and 31 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again has the only min/max data, with a range of 44 to 60 FPS. The 1440p Low result of 69 FPS is exactly equal to the 1080p Medium result, suggesting that dropping one preset level compensates for the resolution increase.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 46 FPS on Low, 34 FPS on Medium, 29 FPS on High, and 21 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 29 FPS and a maximum of 39 FPS. The 4K Low result of 46 FPS is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability, while the 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is the worst across the entire dataset.

Cross-referencing the data, the step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 24-26 FPS on Low and Medium presets, while the step from 1440p to 4K costs 23-18 FPS depending on settings. The frame rate degradation is not linear; the 4K Ultra result (21 FPS) is exactly half of the 1080p Ultra result (42 FPS), indicating a hard ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience, the data points to 1080p Medium as the best balance. It delivers an average of 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS, ensuring no significant dips below 60 FPS. The 1080p High preset averages 58 FPS, which is playable but misses the 60 FPS target, and the 1080p Low preset at 93 FPS is not recommended because the visual quality drop is unnecessary when Medium achieves 69 FPS.

At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS. This is a viable option for users with a 1440p monitor who accept slightly lower frame rates. The 1440p Low preset at 69 FPS offers a smoother experience but sacrifices visual fidelity. The 1440p High and Ultra presets, at 43 FPS and 31 FPS respectively, are too inconsistent for action-heavy scenes.

At 4K, the Low preset at 46 FPS is the only configuration that approaches playability, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 34 FPS, with a minimum of 29 FPS, is borderline and may cause noticeable stutter. The High and Ultra presets at 29 FPS and 21 FPS are not recommended for any gameplay that requires responsiveness.

The measured rows suggest that the RTX 2060 SUPER's sweet spot is 1080p with Medium settings, where the 69 FPS average and 59 FPS minimum provide a stable experience. For 1440p, users should stick to Low or Medium to maintain frame rates above 45 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings are viable, and even then, the 46 FPS average is a compromise.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with an 18 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's synthetic benchmarks show strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 12380, and Geekbench multicore scores 9472. Single-thread performance is also solid, with Cinebench R23 singlecore at 1680 and Passmark single thread at 3481.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 73 against all CPUs places it well above average. In the nearest rivals comparison, the i5-12400F has an average score of 19039, which is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core 3 201E (19056) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982). This means the CPU is not a weak link in the combo.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to process game logic, AI, and draw calls. The 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient for this title, as evidenced by the 93 FPS result at 1080p Low. At higher resolutions, the frame rate drops are driven by the GPU, not the CPU, because the measured FPS scales inversely with pixel count.

The CPU's 3DMark scores are informative: 3DMark 16 threads scores 5895, 8 threads scores 4779, and single thread scores 909. These scores suggest that the CPU can handle moderate thread counts without issue. The Passmark physics score of 1202 is low, but this test is not directly representative of gaming performance.

The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, with a dual-channel bus, and has 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power consumption, and the LGA 1700 socket is current. The CPU's launch MSRP was $174, and it remains an active production part.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS is 93, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: No. The best 1440p result is 69 FPS on Low settings, but the Medium preset averages 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS, and High drops to 43 FPS.

Q: At what settings does the 4K resolution become unplayable?

A: At 4K, the High preset averages 29 FPS and the Ultra preset averages 21 FPS. The Low preset at 46 FPS is the only playable option, though it falls short of 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% behind the RTX 3060 Mobile and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5700. It is 1.5% and 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 and Intel Arc A770M, respectively.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data indicates no. The CPU's percentile ranking is 73 against all CPUs, and at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 93 FPS, showing the CPU can feed frames. The frame rate drops at higher resolutions are proportional to pixel count, indicating a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 59, with an average of 69 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS.