Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 — Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, but 4K Ultra is a stretch. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: at 1080p Low this combo hits 166.1 FPS, which drops to 72.5 FPS at 1080p Ultra. That is a 56% performance loss from the lowest to the highest preset at the same resolution, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint as settings scale up. At 4K, the gap widens dramatically—79.3 FPS on Low versus 36.8 FPS on Ultra—confirming that resolution and preset both heavily tax the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 192-bit bus.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how this combo responds to resolution changes. At High settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 27.5 FPS (102.8 down to 75.3), and moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 27.7 FPS (75.3 down to 47.6). The scaling is nearly linear, which suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at High preset across all three resolutions. At Low settings, the pattern holds but with larger absolute drops: 166.1 FPS at 1080p falls to 124.5 FPS at 1440p, then to 79.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result still clears 60 FPS, but just barely.

Ultra preset tells a harsher story. The 1080p Ultra score of 72.5 FPS is playable, but 1440p Ultra drops to 53 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 36.8 FPS. These numbers indicate that for smooth 4K gameplay, users must stay at Medium or below. The Medium preset at 4K produces 60.3 FPS, which is right at the edge of acceptable for many players. The data suggests that resolution scaling in Red Dead Redemption 2 is heavily GPU-bound, with the RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth being the decisive factors.

The CPU's role in resolution scaling appears minimal. The i5-13400F's 10 cores and 16 threads, boosting to 4.60 GHz, provide ample headroom even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed. The fact that 1080p Low hits 166.1 FPS without any reported CPU bottleneck in the measured data reinforces that this combo is GPU-limited across the board. Players targeting high refresh rates at 1080p will find the GPU's pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s sufficient, but those wanting 4K Ultra should look elsewhere or accept lower presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 123.4 FPS, which is more than enough for high-refresh displays. At 1440p Medium, 92.8 FPS remains comfortably above 60, and even 4K Medium hits 60.3 FPS. This makes Medium the universal recommendation for this GPU-CPU pairing.

High preset is viable for 1080p and 1440p but marginal at 4K. The 1080p High score of 102.8 FPS is excellent, and 1440p High at 75.3 FPS is still smooth. However, 4K High at 47.6 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, so users with 4K displays should stick to Medium. Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where 72.5 FPS is playable, but even then the jump from High to Ultra costs 30.3 FPS, which is a steep price for the visual upgrade.

Low preset is unnecessary for most users given the headroom. The 1080p Low score of 166.1 FPS is impressive for competitive play, but the visual degradation in a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, with its detailed open world, is not worth the frame rate gain. The data shows that Medium at 4K outperforms Ultra at 1440p by 7.3 FPS, so adjusting presets is more effective than dropping resolution. The RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for Medium at 4K, but Ultra at 4K may exceed comfortable memory usage given the 192-bit bus.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070's specifications directly explain the measured results. With 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, the GPU has substantial raw throughput. The 2512 MHz boost clock and 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 compute translate to strong rasterization performance, which Red Dead Redemption 2 relies on heavily. The 12 GB GDDR7 memory with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at all presets, but the 4K Ultra result of 36.8 FPS suggests the memory subsystem becomes a constraint at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this game, as Red Dead Redemption 2's DX12 implementation does not emphasize ray tracing in the measured presets. The passmark G3D score of 29137 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 place the RTX 5070 in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, yet the nearest rivals include the RTX 3090 with a deltaPct of 0.6, showing that this is a high-end card but not a flagship. The 250 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is a notable consideration. At 4K Ultra, the combination of high-resolution textures and heavy post-processing likely pushes memory usage near the limit, contributing to the 36.8 FPS result. The data does not report VRAM usage, but the performance cliff from 4K Medium (60.3 FPS) to 4K High (47.6 FPS) to 4K Ultra (36.8 FPS) suggests that memory bandwidth—not just compute—is a limiting factor. The 192-bit bus is narrower than what some rivals offer, and this shows in the resolution scaling.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1080p and 1440p are the sweet spots. At 1440p Medium, the combo delivers 92.8 FPS, and 1440p High hits 75.3 FPS. 4K is playable only at Medium or below, with 4K Medium producing 60.3 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured 4K Ultra average is 36.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Even 4K High at 47.6 FPS is marginal. The RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus appear insufficient for Ultra at this resolution.

Q: How does the i5-13400F perform in this game?

A: The CPU has a 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its 10 cores and 16 threads, boosting to 4.60 GHz, provide ample performance. The measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed.

Q: Is the Medium preset the best choice?

A: Yes, based on the data. Medium produces 123.4 FPS at 1080p, 92.8 FPS at 1440p, and 60.3 FPS at 4K. This is the only preset that achieves 60 FPS or higher at all three resolutions tested.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to other GPUs?

A: The RTX 5070 sits in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41687. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, has a deltaPct of 0.2, meaning they perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks. The RTX 3090 is 0.6% ahead.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, High produces 102.8 FPS while Ultra produces 72.5 FPS. That is a 30.3 FPS drop for the Ultra preset. At 1440p, High yields 75.3 FPS versus 53 FPS for Ultra, a 22.3 FPS difference.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 348th out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 21% of all configurations. That ranking reflects the balance between the i5-13400F and RTX 5070, where neither component significantly bottlenecks the other. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25236 places it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H and 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, indicating strong mid-range performance. The GPU's average score of 41687 puts it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 and 0.6% behind the RTX 3090.

The 348th rank out of 1687 combos suggests that while this pairing is strong, there are many higher-performing configurations, likely featuring more powerful GPUs or CPUs. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across all presets, and at 4K up to Medium. The rank reflects the overall package, not just peak performance—the i5-13400F's 65 W TDP and the RTX 5070's 250 W TDP make this a power-efficient combination that still ranks in the upper quintile.

For context, the combo's position in the ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU is in the 82nd percentile and the GPU in the 83rd percentile. The game's action-adventure nature, with its large open world and many NPCs, benefits from the CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and the GPU's 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. Players looking to improve their rank would need to upgrade either component, but the data shows this combo is well-matched for its intended resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F plays a supporting but essential role in this combo. With 10 cores (likely 6 performance and 4 efficient) and 16 threads, it provides the multi-threading headroom that Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world simulation demands. The 2.50 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost clock ensure strong single-thread performance, which the 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3004 confirm. The 20 MB shared L3 cache helps with the game's streaming assets and NPC logic.

The CPU's benchmark results show balanced performance across synthetic tests. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21279 and Geekbench multicore score of 10971 indicate strong all-core capability, while the PassMark single-thread score of 3634 shows it handles lightly-threaded tasks well. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 2 threads (1880) to 16 threads (7314), a 3.9x improvement, which is typical for a hybrid architecture. The i5-13400F's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, is only 0.5% faster on average, making them effectively equal in synthetic workloads.

In actual gameplay, the CPU's role is evident from the consistency of frame rates. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (166.1 FPS) is high enough that a weaker CPU would likely bottleneck, but the data shows no such issue. The CPU's 16 threads handle the game's background tasks while the GPU renders frames. The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a practical choice for builders, and the lack of integrated graphics is irrelevant when a discrete GPU is present. The launch MSRP of $196 positions it as a mid-range option, but the performance data shows it punches near higher-tier rivals.