Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the combo ranking in the 54th percentile overall (2013rd out of 3714 tested combinations). The data shows this pairing is firmly a 1080p performer, where it achieves 69 FPS at High settings, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K, dropping to just 34 FPS at the same preset. The RTX 4060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus (272.0 GB/s bandwidth), becomes the limiting factor as resolution scales, while the 10-core, 16-thread i5-12600KF provides ample headroom for the game's CPU demands.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 69 FPS at 1920x1080 to 51 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 26% reduction), then to 34 FPS at 3840x2160 (a further 33% drop from 1440p). This pattern — where each resolution step costs roughly a quarter to a third of the remaining performance — indicates the RTX 4060's rendering throughput is the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The Low preset tells the same story with different numbers: 110 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest settings, 4K resolution cannot reach 60 FPS, confirming that the GPU's raw fill rate and memory bandwidth (272.0 GB/s) are insufficient for 4K gaming in this title. The 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB VRAM capacity are the structural bottlenecks here; Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world textures and draw distances demand more memory bandwidth than this card can provide at high pixel counts.

Interestingly, the scaling between Medium and High presets is relatively modest at each resolution. At 1080p, Medium yields 82 FPS versus 69 FPS for High — a 19% difference. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 61 FPS versus 51 FPS (20% difference), and at 4K it's 41 FPS versus 34 FPS (21% difference). This consistent proportional gap suggests the game's High preset adds visual fidelity without disproportionately taxing the GPU, making it a reasonable middle ground for this hardware.

The Ultra preset, however, exacts a severe toll. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 49 FPS — 29% below High's 69 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra produces 37 FPS, and at 4K it collapses to 24 FPS. The data indicates Ultra settings push the RTX 4060 beyond its comfortable operating range, with the 4K Ultra result falling below playable thresholds. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 15.11 TFLOPS and 48 ROPs are simply not enough to handle the game's most demanding visual configuration at high resolutions.

The measured FPS data includes min/max values only for the Medium preset: 70-95 FPS at 1080p, 52-71 FPS at 1440p, and 35-47 FPS at 4K. These ranges suggest frame pacing is stable at Medium settings, with the 4K minimum of 35 FPS indicating occasional dips below the average. For competitive or fast-paced play, the 1080p Medium range of 70-95 FPS provides the safest margin, while 4K Medium's 35 FPS floor makes it a marginal experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60 FPS on 1080p?

A: Yes, at Medium and High settings. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 is 82 FPS for Medium and 69 FPS for High, both exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings reach 110 FPS, while Ultra falls short at 49 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming feasible with the RTX 4060 in this game?

A: Not at playable frame rates for most presets. The best 4K result is 54 FPS at Low settings, but Medium drops to 41 FPS, High to 34 FPS, and Ultra to 24 FPS. Only the Low preset approaches 60 FPS, and even then it falls short.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3% behind the Intel Core i9-10900K (27872) and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (27896), and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27712). It sits in the 79th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings combination for a smooth experience?

A: 1440p Medium at 61 FPS offers a strong balance of visual quality and performance. Alternatively, 1080p High at 69 FPS provides higher fidelity with a similar frame rate. For maximum smoothness, 1080p Low at 110 FPS is the safest choice.

Q: Does the RTX 4060 face significant competition from integrated graphics?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639, which is only 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17588). This surprisingly close margin suggests the 780M's integrated solution is competitive in synthetic benchmarks, though the RTX 4060's dedicated 8 GB GDDR6 memory and higher sustained performance make it more suitable for demanding titles like this one.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 2013th out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the 54th percentile. This means roughly 54% of tested systems perform worse, while 46% perform better in this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings substantial processing power to this pairing. With 10 cores (6 performance and 4 efficiency cores based on the Alder Lake architecture) and 16 threads, it offers strong multi-threaded capability. The CPU's boost clock of 4.90 GHz and base clock of 3.70 GHz provide the single-thread performance that Red Dead Redemption 2's game logic and physics systems rely on. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain data locality for the game's streaming open world.

Benchmark data shows the i5-12600KF excels in multi-threaded workloads: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 23391, while single-core reaches 3302. The 3DMark results are revealing — 16-thread scores (7956) nearly match max-thread scores (7952), indicating the CPU's thread scaling is efficient up to 16 threads. The 2-thread score of 1995 and 4-thread score of 3806 show linear scaling, suggesting the game can fully utilize multiple cores without bottlenecking.

However, in this game at 1080p, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The RTX 4060's frame rates at Low settings (110 FPS at 1080p) suggest the GPU is still the primary constraint, as the CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3925 and multi-thread score of 27575 place it well above the threshold needed for high-FPS gaming. The CPU sits in the 79th percentile of all processors, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i9-10900K, which it trails by just 0.3% in average score. This means the i5-12600KF provides consistent, reliable performance that will not hold back the RTX 4060 in most scenarios.

The CPU's 125W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a mainstream desktop part, but its performance characteristics — particularly the 3DMark 8-thread score of 6128 versus 16-thread at 7956 — indicate that games using 8 or fewer threads will see minimal benefit from the additional cores. Red Dead Redemption 2, released in 2018, likely uses fewer than 8 threads effectively, meaning the CPU's single-core boost clock of 4.90 GHz is more important than its total core count for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2013 out of 3714 tested combinations places this system in the lower-middle tier of the database. This is a modest ranking when considering the individual components: the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. The combination's 54th percentile ranking suggests that the RTX 4060's performance ceiling, rather than the CPU's capabilities, drags the overall result down.

The ranking context becomes clearer when examining the GPU's nearest rivals. The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, a -0.2% difference) and AMD Radeon 780M (17588, a +0.3% difference). This clustering suggests the RTX 4060's raw compute performance is not exceptional for its class, even though it offers modern features like DLSS and ray tracing cores. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which does not heavily utilize ray tracing, the card's conventional rasterization performance determines its ranking.

The CPU's presence in the combo provides a strong foundation, but the measured FPS data shows that at 4K resolutions, the system falls below 60 FPS even at Medium settings. This indicates that the combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where it can deliver smooth experiences. The 3714 total combos in the database include systems with higher-end GPUs that handle 4K more effectively, explaining why this combo sits at the 54th percentile despite having a capable processor.

Notably, the combo's performance at 1080p High (69 FPS) and 1440p Medium (61 FPS) shows that it can handle mainstream gaming resolutions well. The ranking would likely improve significantly if the database weighted playable resolutions more heavily, but as a raw average across all tested scenarios, the 4K performance drags the overall position down.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and performance priorities. For 1080p displays, High settings at 69 FPS offer the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. The jump from Medium (82 FPS) to High (69 FPS) costs 16% performance but provides noticeably better texture and shadow quality. Ultra at 49 FPS is not recommended, as the 29% drop from High makes the game feel less responsive without a proportional visual gain.

For 1440p, Medium settings at 61 FPS are the clear recommendation. High at 51 FPS is borderline playable but risks dropping below 60 FPS during intense scenes. Low at 82 FPS provides headroom for competitive play but sacrifices significant visual fidelity. Ultra at 37 FPS should be avoided entirely, as it falls well below smooth gameplay thresholds.

At 4K, the situation is challenging. Low settings at 54 FPS is the only preset that approaches playability, but even this is not a locked 60 FPS experience. Medium at 41 FPS and High at 34 FPS are not recommended for a smooth experience. Users with 4K displays should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p or accepting Low settings as the only viable option with this hardware.

The Medium preset's min/max FPS data provides additional insight. At 1080p, the 70-95 FPS range shows consistent frame pacing with no severe drops. At 1440p, the 52-71 FPS range indicates occasional dips below 60 FPS, though the average of 61 FPS suggests these are brief. At 4K, the 35-47 FPS range shows a tighter but lower overall performance envelope, with the 35 FPS minimum representing the worst-case scenario during heavy action sequences.

For the best overall experience, 1080p High at 69 FPS is the top pick, offering high visual quality with a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The 1440p Medium option is a close second for users prioritizing resolution over detail. Both configurations leverage the RTX 4060's strengths while avoiding the GPU's weaknesses at high resolutions and Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 110 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average (min 70 FPS, max 95 FPS)
• High: 69 FPS average
• Ultra: 49 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 82 FPS average
• Medium: 61 FPS average (min 52 FPS, max 71 FPS)
• High: 51 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 54 FPS average
• Medium: 41 FPS average (min 35 FPS, max 47 FPS)
• High: 34 FPS average
• Ultra: 24 FPS average

The 1080p Low result of 110 FPS demonstrates the system's peak capability when GPU load is minimized. The 1440p Low result of 82 FPS exactly matches the 1080p Medium result, suggesting that resolution scaling and settings scaling have similar performance costs at these levels. The 4K Low result of 54 FPS shows that even minimum settings cannot achieve 60 FPS at 4K, underscoring the GPU's resolution ceiling.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling penalties: from 1080p to 1440p, performance drops 24% (49 to 37 FPS), and from 1440p to 4K, it drops 35% (37 to 24 FPS). This progressive degradation indicates that Ultra settings amplify the GPU's memory bandwidth limitations, as the 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle to feed the higher-resolution textures and effects.

The Medium preset's min/max data reveals stable performance at 1080p (70-95 FPS range, a 36% spread) and 1440p (52-71 FPS, a 37% spread), but the 4K range of 35-47 FPS (a 34% spread) shows similar relative consistency, just at lower absolute values. This consistency suggests the game's engine handles Medium settings well across all resolutions, making it the most predictable configuration for this hardware.

Overall, the data shows a system that excels at 1080p and handles 1440p competently, but cannot deliver a satisfactory 4K experience. The RTX 4060's 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus are the fundamental constraints, while the i5-12600KF provides more than enough CPU power for the game's requirements. For users targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo delivers solid performance; for 4K, it falls short of playable standards on all but the lowest settings.