Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 produces a wide spread of frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the data clearly showing how the balance of load shifts between the CPU and GPU as resolution changes. The measured results indicate that this is a combination capable of smooth play at lower resolutions, but one that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises. The dataset provides twelve distinct measurement points across three resolutions and four quality presets, offering a clear view of where this hardware duo excels and where it strains.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate trajectory from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable curve, but the magnitude of the drop is telling. At the Low preset, the system delivers 146.3 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 111.1 FPS at 2560x1440, and then drops to 73.6 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 49.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is a substantial hit but still leaves the game comfortably playable. The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is doing a significant portion of the work, as the RTX 3080 has ample headroom to push far beyond the measured figures.

Moving to the High preset, the same resolution steps produce 90.3 FPS at 1080p, 69.6 FPS at 1440p, and 44.1 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 22.9%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 36.6%. This steeper decline at the higher resolution step indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the added pixel count directly taxes the render pipeline. The RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed harder, and the data shows that the card cannot maintain the same efficiency at 4K.

At the Ultra preset, the pattern intensifies. The system produces 66 FPS at 1080p, 51.5 FPS at 1440p, and 30.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is a 54.1% reduction from the 1080p result, showing that Ultra settings at 4K are simply too demanding for this combination to maintain a fluid experience. The resolution scaling data overall reveals a system that is well-balanced at 1440p, where the CPU and GPU share the load more evenly, but becomes heavily GPU-limited at 4K and increasingly CPU-limited at 1080p with lower presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its characteristics directly shape the results. With a boost clock of 1710 MHz and 8704 shading units, the card has substantial raw compute power, reflected in its FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS. The 10 GB memory configuration with a 320-bit bus and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth provides the throughput needed for high-resolution textures, but the data shows that this capacity is strained at 4K with higher presets.

The GPU’s role is most evident when comparing the Low and Ultra presets at the same resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (146.3 FPS) and Ultra (66 FPS) is 80.3 FPS, a 54.9% reduction. At 4K, the same preset comparison yields 73.6 FPS versus 30.3 FPS, a 58.8% reduction. This consistency in the percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance changes when settings are adjusted, as the CPU’s workload remains relatively constant regardless of visual quality.

The RTX 3080’s percentile ranking of 80 versus all GPUs places it in the upper tier of tested hardware, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE with a deltaPct of -0.9 and the AMD Radeon 880M with a deltaPct of 0.4. These close margins suggest that the RTX 3080 sits in a competitive performance band, but the measured FPS in Red Dead Redemption 2 shows that it cannot overcome the demands of 4K Ultra, where the 30.3 FPS result falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The GPU’s 80th percentile standing is respectable, yet the game’s heavy reliance on fill rate and memory bandwidth exposes the card’s limitations at the highest settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides the processing foundation for this combination, and its specifications are well-suited to the game’s demands. With 10 cores and 16 threads, the CPU offers a mix of performance and efficiency cores that handle both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The boost clock of 4.60 GHz is the key figure for gaming, as Red Dead Redemption 2 benefits from high single-core performance, and the 3DMark single-thread score of 960 reflects this capability.

The CPU’s role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At the Low preset, the system achieves 146.3 FPS, which is a 35.3% increase over the High preset’s 90.3 FPS. This substantial jump indicates that at lower settings, the GPU has spare capacity, and the CPU is able to feed frames quickly enough to reach high frame rates. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21279 and single-core score of 3004 show that the i5-13400F has strong processing power, but the game’s engine does not appear to scale perfectly with additional threads, as the 16-thread configuration does not translate into proportionally higher FPS.

At 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes. The difference between Low (73.6 FPS) and High (44.1 FPS) is 29.5 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p. This narrowing indicates that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions, and the CPU’s processing speed is no longer the limiting factor. The i5-13400F’s percentile ranking of 82 versus all CPUs places it above the RTX 3080’s 80th percentile, suggesting that the CPU has slightly more headroom relative to its peers than the GPU does. The nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H with a deltaPct of 0.1 and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D with a deltaPct of -0.5, showing that the i5-13400F is closely matched with other capable processors.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-13400F and RTX 3080 achieves a rank of 508 out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 69.9th percentile of all pairings. This is a solid result that reflects the balanced nature of the hardware, as neither component is dramatically stronger or weaker than the other. The rank is slightly below what the individual component percentiles might suggest, likely due to the game’s specific optimization patterns that do not fully utilize the CPU’s multi-threading capabilities.

The ranking data shows that this combo sits in the upper-middle tier of tested configurations. The 508th position out of 1687 means that roughly 30% of tested combos outperform it, which is expected given that higher-end GPUs like the RTX 3090 or RTX 4080 would naturally achieve better results. However, the combo’s performance is respectable for its class, and the measured FPS figures confirm that it can handle the game at high settings with good frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The rank also indicates that no single component is holding the system back significantly, as the CPU and GPU are well-matched in their respective performance tiers.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience varies by resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 90.3 FPS, which is smooth and visually appealing, while the Medium preset offers 107 FPS for a 18.5% increase in speed. The Low preset at 146.3 FPS is the fastest but sacrifices visual quality. For most users at 1080p, the High preset provides the best balance, as the frame rate is well above the 60 FPS threshold and the visual improvements over Medium are noticeable.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 69.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The Medium preset at 81.2 FPS offers a better experience, providing a 16.7% improvement over High while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity. The Low preset at 111.1 FPS is the smoothest option, but the drop in visual quality may be too significant for some. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot at 1440p, as it keeps the frame rate comfortably above 60 FPS while preserving the game’s atmosphere.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The High preset at 44.1 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, and the Medium preset at 54.6 FPS is closer but still not smooth. The Low preset at 73.6 FPS is the only option that provides a fluid experience, but it significantly reduces visual quality. For 4K users, the Low preset is the recommended choice if frame rate is the priority, while those who value visuals may need to accept the trade-off and play at High with a lower frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combination in Red Dead Redemption 2 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 146.3 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 107 FPS, the High preset achieves 90.3 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 66 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 80.3 FPS, showing the full range of performance available at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 111.1 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 81.2 FPS, the High preset achieves 69.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 51.5 FPS. The spread here is 59.6 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to limit the higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 73.6 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 54.6 FPS, the High preset achieves 44.1 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 30.3 FPS. The spread is 43.3 FPS, the narrowest of the three resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 3080 delivers strong performance at 1080p and 1440p across all presets, but 4K Ultra is the only configuration that falls below 30 FPS. The i5-13400F provides sufficient CPU throughput to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions, but the combination ultimately cannot overcome the demands of 4K gaming with high visual settings.