Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces severely constrained frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the combo ranking in the 11th percentile of tested configurations. The Arc B390, operating as an integrated graphics solution with system-shared memory, delivers playable performance only at 1080p with Low settings, averaging 51 FPS. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the combination struggles to maintain smooth gameplay, with 4K Ultra averaging just 11 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck in nearly every scenario.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved by this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 51 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only measured configuration that reaches a level typically considered playable for most users.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 3306 out of 3714 total tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems, reflecting its limited capacity for this demanding title.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, moving from Low to Ultra settings drops the average FPS from 51 to 23. This represents a 55% reduction in frame rate, showing that the GPU's limited shading units and texture rate are quickly overwhelmed by higher graphical fidelity.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-12600KF bottleneck the Arc B390 in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the opposite. The CPU has a strong multi-core score of 23,391 in Cinebench R23 and a 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 9th percentile. The GPU's system-shared memory and 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance are the limiting factors.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 39 at 1920x1080 to 16 at 3840x2160. This is a 59% decrease in performance when scaling resolution from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the Arc B390's performance close to any competing GPUs?

A: The Arc B390's average benchmark score of 1482 is just 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M. It trails the GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5% and the GeForce GT 710 by 2.7%, placing it in extremely low-end territory.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390's specifications explain its constrained performance in Red Dead Redemption 2. Built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a 3 nm process, the GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. It features 1,536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units, alongside 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 7.680 TFLOPS.

Critically for this game, the memory configuration uses "System Shared" memory with system-dependent bandwidth. This means the GPU relies on the same DDR4 or DDR5 memory pool as the CPU, which is significantly slower than dedicated VRAM. The lack of dedicated video memory creates a severe bottleneck in a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which requires large texture loads and frequent memory access for open-world streaming.

The GPU's 80 W TDP and IGP slot width classify it as an integrated graphics solution, not a discrete card. Its performance percentile of 9 versus all GPUs places it at the very bottom of the performance spectrum, alongside legacy parts like the GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M. The measured 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 confirms this placement, showing the GPU lacks the raw compute throughput needed for modern AAA titles at high settings.

The boost clock of 2500 MHz is relatively high for an integrated solution, but the low shading unit count and shared memory bandwidth severely limit real-world gaming performance. In Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the data shows the GPU struggles to maintain even 25 FPS at 4K Low settings, indicating that memory bandwidth constraints are as impactful as raw compute limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B390 ranks 3306 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 11th percentile overall. This low ranking stems almost entirely from the GPU's position in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 79th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 27,799 places it within 0.3% of the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and 0.3% above the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE. This demonstrates the processor is competitive with high-end desktop parts from previous generations. However, the GPU's average score of 1,482 is within 2.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, a part designed for basic display output rather than gaming.

This massive disparity between CPU and GPU capability creates a system where the processor sits idle waiting for graphics work to complete. The combo ranking of 3306 reflects this imbalance, as other systems with similar CPUs but even entry-level discrete GPUs would rank substantially higher. The data indicates that in every measured resolution and settings combination, the GPU's system-shared memory and limited compute resources are the primary factors capping performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates show a clear progression across settings. Low settings achieve 51 FPS, Medium averages 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44, High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23 FPS. This 1080p Low result is the only configuration that approaches standard playability thresholds, while all other 1080p settings fall below 40 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance degrades further. Low settings average 38 FPS, Medium averages 29 FPS with a range of 24 to 33, High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings represents a 25% reduction in frame rate, while at Ultra settings the reduction is 26%.

At 3840x2160, the results become largely unplayable. Low settings average 25 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS with a range of 16 to 22, High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages just 11 FPS. The 4K Ultra result represents a 78% reduction from the 1080p Low result, highlighting how quickly the GPU's limited resources are exhausted at higher pixel counts.

The measured data shows consistent performance scaling across resolutions, with each settings tier showing predictable relative performance. Medium settings consistently deliver approximately 76% of Low settings performance at each resolution, while High settings deliver roughly 63% of Low settings performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only viable configuration for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves an average of 51 FPS. This is the sole setting combination that maintains frame rates above 45 FPS, providing a reasonably smooth experience for gameplay.

At 1080p Medium settings, the average drops to 39 FPS, which may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual quality over smoothness, but the minimum of 33 FPS indicates potential stuttering during intense scenes. The 1080p High setting at 32 FPS and Ultra at 23 FPS are both below the threshold for comfortable play, with Ultra approaching the 20 FPS territory that is generally considered unplayable.

For 1440p displays, Low settings at 38 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, though the 25% frame rate drop from 1080p makes even this marginal. All 1440p settings above Low fall below 30 FPS, which will result in noticeable judder and input lag.

At 4K, no settings combination achieves a playable frame rate. The best result is 25 FPS at Low settings, which is below the minimum threshold for most action games. Players with 4K displays should strongly consider lowering the resolution to 1080p to achieve acceptable performance.

The data suggests that players should prioritize 1080p Low settings for the best balance of performance and playability. Higher settings provide diminishing visual returns while exacting significant frame rate penalties that degrade the overall experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It uses the Alder Lake architecture on a 10 nm process, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and has a 125 W TDP.

Benchmark data shows this processor performs strongly across multi-threaded workloads. It scores 23,391 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,302 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 27,575. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,956 and max-thread score of 7,952 indicate consistent scaling across core counts.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is largely secondary due to the GPU's limitations. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking versus all CPUs places it well above the GPU's 9th percentile, meaning the processor has ample headroom to feed frames to the graphics pipeline. The nearest CPU rivals, including the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, show similar average scores, confirming the i5-12600KF is not a limiting factor.

The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3,302 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is beneficial for the game's main thread workload. However, the data shows that even with this capable CPU, frame rates are capped by the GPU's inability to process frames quickly enough. The CPU is effectively waiting for the GPU at every settings combination, as evidenced by the uniform performance scaling across resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent decline as resolution increases, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 51 at 1080p to 38 at 1440p and 25 at 4K. This represents a 25% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 51% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

At Medium settings, the progression is 39 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. This shows a 26% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 51% drop to 4K, similar to the Low setting scaling. High settings show 32 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K, with a 25% reduction to 1440p and 50% reduction to 4K.

Ultra settings demonstrate the steepest absolute decline: 23 FPS at 1080p drops to 17 FPS at 1440p and 11 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is only 48% of the 1080p Ultra result, showing that the GPU's limited fill rate and memory bandwidth are overwhelmed at high pixel counts.

The consistent 25% penalty from 1080p to 1440p and additional 34% penalty from 1440p to 4K indicates the GPU is scaling with pixel count rather than being limited by CPU overhead. This behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound system, where the graphics processor must render each pixel regardless of scene complexity. The system-shared memory configuration amplifies this effect, as the GPU contends with CPU memory traffic for every frame.