Red Dead Redemption 2

The data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows a configuration that excels at high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming but demands careful settings management at 4K. The measured results provide a clear picture of how this pairing behaves across three resolutions and four quality presets. This analysis walks through the optimal settings, the distinct roles of the CPU and GPU, and the scaling behavior that defines the experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows indicate that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, High produces 136.1 FPS, which is 24.5 FPS higher than the Ultra preset’s 97.6 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, High delivers 102.6 FPS, again a substantial improvement over Ultra's 70.5 FPS. Even at the demanding 3840x2160 resolution, High maintains a playable 67.2 FPS, whereas Ultra drops to 44.4 FPS.

The Medium preset presents an alternative for users prioritizing framerate over visual fidelity. At 1080p, Medium yields 161.6 FPS, and at 1440p it reaches 118.8 FPS. However, the jump from High to Medium at 4K is less dramatic, with only a 13.6 FPS difference (80.8 vs 67.2). The Low preset provides the highest frame rates, reaching 214.1 FPS at 1080p, but the visual compromise is significant. For the majority of users, the data suggests that High is the sweet spot: it retains the core visual enhancements of the title while staying above the 60 FPS threshold at 4K and comfortably exceeding 100 FPS at 1440p. Ultra, while visually rich, consistently underperforms relative to the other presets, making it viable only for users with 1080p or lower refresh rate displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the data confirms that it is the primary driver of performance in Red Dead Redemption 2. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This large memory pool is rarely a limiting factor even at 4K with high-resolution textures. The card’s boost clock is rated at 2520 MHz, with a base clock of 2235 MHz, and its FP32 compute power is listed at 82.58 TFLOPS.

The benchmark results show that the RTX 4090’s raw compute strength is the reason the frame rates are as high as they are. At 1080p with Low settings, the card pushes 214.1 FPS, demonstrating that it is barely taxed by the game’s workload at lower resolutions. The performance difference between Low and High at 1080p is 78 FPS, which is a significant drop, but this is expected as the GPU begins to process more complex shading and lighting effects. The card’s position in the broader market is strong; it sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs based on average benchmark scores. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, have average scores that are within 1.3% of the RTX 4090, but those are professional workstation cards with different driver optimizations. In this gaming context, the RTX 4090’s architecture is designed to excel, and the measured FPS reflects that advantage.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It features a 20 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The CPU’s benchmark scores are respectable; its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 21279 and its single-core score is 3004. In terms of overall CPU performance, it ranks in the 82nd percentile, with its average benchmark score of 25236 being nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% difference).

However, the data from Red Dead Redemption 2 indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The evidence lies in the scaling across resolutions. When the resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at High settings, the average FPS drops from 136.1 to 67.2, a reduction of over 50%. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU’s workload (draw calls, physics, game logic) does not change with resolution. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 at 1080p, where the GPU is working less, allowing the frame rate to peak at 214.1 FPS on Low. This suggests that even at the highest frame rates, the i5-13400F is keeping up without holding the GPU back. The processor’s single-thread performance, as measured by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 960, is strong enough for the game’s primary thread, which is often the limiting factor in older titles. Here, it is not.

How This Combo Ranks

The specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds a rank of 41 out of 1687 tested combinations in this game. This top 2.4% placement indicates that this is a high-performing configuration for Red Dead Redemption 2. The rank is a composite measure of how well the two components work together in this specific title. Given the GPU’s performance percentile (91st) and the CPU’s percentile (82nd), the combination’s rank is slightly better than either component’s individual standing would suggest. This implies that the CPU’s performance is more than adequate to complement the GPU’s strengths in this game.

The high rank also reflects the balance of the system. While the RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product, its performance remains elite, and the i5-13400F, though a mid-range desktop processor, does not create a significant bottleneck. The data shows that other tested combos with similar GPU power but weaker CPUs would likely fall lower in the rankings due to the CPU holding back the GPU at lower resolutions. In contrast, a combo with a faster CPU but a much slower GPU would be limited by the graphics card, especially at higher resolutions. This pairing avoids both pitfalls, resulting in a rank that places it in the top 41 configurations out of 1687.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this setup. At High settings, the progression is 136.1 FPS at 1080p, 102.6 FPS at 1440p, and 67.2 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is a 24.6% reduction in frame rate, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is a further 34.5% reduction. This pattern is consistent with a system where the GPU is doing the heavy lifting. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 50.6%, which is a massive penalty, but it is expected given the 4K resolution has four times the pixels of 1080p.

This scaling behavior confirms that the limiting component is the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates at 1080p would be closer to those at 4K. The fact that the frame rate nearly halves at 4K indicates that the RTX 4090 is being fully utilized, while the i5-13400F has headroom to spare. At 1080p with Low settings, the frame rate hits 214.1 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum output for this game. However, even at this extreme, the CPU is not causing a stutter or a plateau; it is simply providing enough data for the GPU to render at that speed. The data suggests that users playing at 1440p will get the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the 102.6 FPS average at High settings is above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all presets. The Low preset averages 214.1 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Moving up to Medium reduces the average to 161.6 FPS, a drop of 52.5 FPS. High further reduces it to 136.1 FPS, and Ultra brings it down to 97.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 116.5 FPS, showing the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset’s enhanced effects. Even at Ultra, the 97.6 FPS average is smooth for most displays.

At 2560x1440, the results show a similar trend but with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 158.1 FPS, Medium averages 118.8 FPS, and High averages 102.6 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 70.5 FPS, which is the first time in this resolution that the frame rate falls below 100 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 87.6 FPS. The High preset at 1440p offers a 102.6 FPS average, which is ideal for a 144Hz monitor, providing a smooth experience without the steep performance penalty of Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s workload becomes intense. The Low preset averages 109.2 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates the RTX 4090’s raw power. Medium averages 80.8 FPS, and High averages 67.2 FPS. The Ultra preset plummets to 44.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target that most users prefer. The scaling at 4K is steep; the difference between Low and Ultra is 64.8 FPS. The data shows that for 4K gaming, the High preset is the maximum viable option, and users seeking higher frame rates would need to use Medium or Low. The 67.2 FPS average at High is playable, but the 44.4 FPS at Ultra is not recommended for a smooth experience.