Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a clear hierarchy where the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor as resolution climbs, while the CPU provides a stable foundation that rarely bottlenecks the frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions reveal a steep performance curve that is characteristic of a GPU-bound title at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 102 FPS average, which drops to 76 FPS at 1440p and further to 50 FPS at 4K. This represents a 50% performance loss from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the rendering pipeline scales almost linearly with pixel count.

Moving to High settings, the pattern becomes more pronounced. The average frame rate falls from 64 FPS at 1080p to 48 FPS at 1440p, a 25% reduction, and then to 31 FPS at 4K, another 35% drop. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings is particularly steep, suggesting that the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the higher resolution's texture and shader demands.

The Medium preset shows a similar scaling pattern: 77 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. Interestingly, the 4K Medium result of 38 FPS is only 7 FPS higher than the 4K High result, indicating diminishing returns when reducing settings at this resolution. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 23 FPS, which is essentially unplayable, while 1080p Ultra maintains 46 FPS.

These results indicate that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at lower resolutions to the GPU at higher ones. At 1080p, the i5-12400F's six cores and 12 threads can keep up with the RTX 2070 SUPER, allowing the GPU to stretch its legs. However, at 4K, the GPU's raw throughput and memory subsystem become the bottleneck, as evidenced by the dramatic frame rate collapse when moving from Medium to Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide solid single-thread performance, which is crucial for Red Dead Redemption 2's game logic and physics simulation. The 3DMark benchmarks show a single-thread score of 909 and a 4-thread score of 3067, indicating strong per-core efficiency that helps maintain consistent frame pacing.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core provide ample storage for frequently accessed game data. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 12380 in multicore and 1680 in single-core, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. This positions it well above the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, which has a nearly identical average benchmark score of 19047 versus the i5-12400F's 19039, a delta of 0%.

At 1080p Low settings, the 102 FPS average suggests that the CPU is not the primary limiter, as the frame rate is well above what the GPU can sustain at higher quality presets. However, the gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (102 vs 77 FPS) shows that the CPU still has headroom. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and max-thread score of 5912 indicate that the processor can handle the game's multi-threaded workloads without saturating all available cores.

The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 19433 and single-thread score of 3481 reinforce its balanced performance profile. For Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its demanding open-world simulation, the i5-12400F provides enough computational headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck at 1080p and 1440p, though the data suggests that at 4K, the GPU's limitations overshadow any CPU considerations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, along with 40 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU's base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz deliver 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles at 4K.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a critical specification for Red Dead Redemption 2, which uses large, high-resolution textures. The benchmark results show that at 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor, particularly at High and Ultra settings. The drop from 38 FPS at 4K Medium to 31 FPS at 4K High suggests that the additional texture detail is taxing the memory subsystem beyond its comfortable range.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 18169 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable for a card from the GeForce 20-series. When compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2070 SUPER trails the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M by 1%, the RTX 3070 Mobile by 1.2%, and the Intel Arc B570 by 1.3%. These small deltas indicate that the 2070 SUPER remains competitive even against newer hardware.

The 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS is the clearest indicator of GPU limitation. At this setting, the card's 9.062 TFLOPS of compute throughput and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient to maintain smooth gameplay. The 4K Low result of 50 FPS shows that the GPU can achieve playable frame rates when settings are reduced, but the visual compromise is significant.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p is the most comfortable resolution, with all presets except Ultra achieving at least 64 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium settings maintain playable frame rates above 48 FPS. 4K is only viable at Low settings, with a 50 FPS average.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to the RTX 3070 Mobile?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, while the RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, representing a 1.2% difference. This places the desktop card slightly behind the mobile chip in raw compute performance.

Q: Is the i5-12400F a bottleneck at 4K?

A: No. The frame rate drops from 50 FPS at 4K Low to 23 FPS at 4K Ultra indicate a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration and high boost clock provide sufficient headroom at this resolution.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Medium averages 57 FPS while High averages 48 FPS, a 9 FPS difference. This suggests that High settings provide a modest visual improvement at a noticeable performance cost.

Q: Does the game support ray tracing on this GPU?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has 40 dedicated ray tracing cores, but the measured FPS data does not include any ray tracing settings. The performance figures reflect standard rasterization workloads.

Q: How does the i5-12400F's single-thread performance affect gameplay?

A: The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1680 indicate strong per-core performance, which helps maintain consistent frame times in Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world environment.

How This Combo Ranks

The Core i5-12400F + RTX 2070 SUPER combination ranks 2154 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 42nd percentile. This is a mid-pack result, reflecting the GPU's age and the CPU's mid-range positioning. The rank is heavily influenced by the 4K performance, where the combo struggles, while its 1080p results are more competitive.

When compared to other combos in the database, this pairing's 1080p High average of 64 FPS is respectable for a system built around a GeForce 20-series GPU. However, the 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS drags down the overall ranking. The combo's strength lies in 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver solid performance at reasonable quality settings.

The CPU's percentile rank of 73rd among all CPUs is notably higher than the GPU's 65th percentile, indicating that the processor has more headroom than the graphics card. This imbalance suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor in most scenarios, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU's average benchmark score of 20282 is only 1% below the Quadro M4000M and 1.2% below the RTX 3070 Mobile, showing that it remains competitive with its immediate peers.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p is the clear recommendation. This setting delivers 77 FPS average with a minimum of 65 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without requiring significant visual compromises. The 1080p High preset at 64 FPS is also viable, though the 13 FPS drop from Medium may not justify the visual improvements.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the only sensible choice for consistent gameplay, offering 57 FPS average with a 49 FPS minimum. The High preset at 48 FPS is borderline playable, but the frame rate dips below 50 FPS may cause noticeable stuttering in action sequences. The Low preset at 76 FPS provides the smoothest experience but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for most players.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 50 FPS is the only option that maintains playable frame rates. The Medium preset at 38 FPS is technically playable but will feel sluggish, while High at 31 FPS and Ultra at 23 FPS are not recommended. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding titles or reduced settings.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as even at 1080p it only achieves 46 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra settings, which likely includes higher draw distances and more detailed shadows, outweighs the visual benefits at this hardware level. Players seeking higher frame rates should prioritize the Medium or High presets, which provide the best overall experience for this combination of CPU and GPU.