Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

This combination pairs a 10-core Intel Core i5-13400F from the Raptor Lake generation with NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 5090 D, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four settings presets reveal a system that maintains playable performance at 4K Ultra while delivering exceptional headroom at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 146 at 1080p to 109 at 1440p, then falls further to 72 at 4K. That represents a 25% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 34% drop when stepping up to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests the RTX 5090 D remains the dominant factor throughout, but the CPU begins to exert more influence at lower resolutions.

Looking at Low settings, the trend becomes more pronounced. The i5-13400F and RTX 5090 D combination produces 217 FPS at 1080p, 175 FPS at 1440p, and 115 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 42 FPS is nearly identical to the 1440p to 4K drop of 60 FPS in absolute terms, but the percentage change tells a different story. The 1440p to 4K reduction of 34% is larger than the 1080p to 1440p reduction of 19%, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as resolution climbs.

Ultra settings show the steepest resolution scaling curve. At 1080p, the system delivers 105 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 79 FPS; and at 4K, it falls to 52 FPS. The 1440p to 4K transition alone accounts for a 34% performance loss, which aligns with the pattern seen at High settings. This consistent percentage drop across presets suggests the GPU's rendering load scales predictably with pixel count, while the CPU maintains sufficient throughput even at 4K Ultra.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max FPS data in the measured results. At 4K Medium, the system averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 99. The 25 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates some frame time variability, but the overall average remains well above playable thresholds. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 131 FPS with a 111 minimum and 150 maximum, while 1080p Medium achieves 175 FPS with a 149 minimum and 202 maximum.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the limiting component at 4K across all settings, given that even at Low the system only reaches 115 FPS. At 1080p, however, the CPU's role becomes more significant. The difference between 1080p Low at 217 FPS and 1080p High at 146 FPS suggests that both components contribute to the ceiling, with the CPU likely capping maximum frame rates in less demanding scenes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the balance between visual quality and frame rate. At 4K, the Medium preset delivers 86 FPS on average, which represents a 19% improvement over High's 72 FPS while still offering substantially better visuals than Low's 115 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 14 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 20 FPS, dropping to 52 FPS. Given that 4K Ultra approaches the lower boundary of smooth gameplay, Medium emerges as the most balanced choice for 4K displays.

For 1440p, the High preset at 109 FPS provides an excellent experience for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 131 FPS offers additional headroom for competitive play, while Ultra at 79 FPS remains perfectly playable for those prioritizing visual fidelity. The 1440p Ultra result of 79 FPS is notably higher than 4K High's 72 FPS, meaning users who prefer maxed-out settings should favor 1440p over 4K with this configuration.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset achieves 105 FPS, which is sufficient for most gaming scenarios. However, the High preset at 146 FPS provides a substantial 39% improvement, making it the recommended choice for 1080p users with 144Hz displays. The Low preset at 217 FPS will appeal to competitive players seeking maximum responsiveness, though the visual trade-off is significant.

The Medium preset's complete FPS data across all three resolutions makes it the most predictable choice. With minimums of 74 FPS at 4K, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 149 FPS at 1080p, this preset ensures consistent frame delivery without unexpected dips. Users prioritizing stable frame times over absolute maximums will find Medium the safest option.

For users with variable refresh rate displays, the High preset at 1440p and 1080p offers a compelling combination of visual quality and performance. The 72 FPS at 4K High sits within VRR ranges on most modern monitors, making it viable for those who own 4K displays and can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combination in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows 1440p High delivers 109 FPS average, which provides a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 4K, the system drops to 72 FPS on High settings, while 1080p High reaches 146 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 146 at 1080p to 72 at 4K, representing a 51% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 217 to 115 FPS, a 47% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 105 to 52 FPS, a 50% reduction.

Q: Can this system run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes. The measured data shows 4K Medium averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, and 4K High averages 72 FPS. Even 4K Ultra maintains 52 FPS, which remains above 30 FPS thresholds for playable performance.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-13400F bottleneck the RTX 5090 D in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a significant bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K, frame rates scale consistently with GPU load across settings, indicating GPU-bound performance. At 1080p Low, the 217 FPS result shows the CPU can sustain very high frame rates.

Q: What is the difference between Ultra and High settings in terms of measured FPS?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 105 FPS compared to High's 146 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra averages 79 FPS versus High's 109 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K, Ultra averages 52 FPS versus High's 72 FPS, a 28% reduction. The consistent percentage suggests a uniform rendering cost increase.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The measured results show no indication of VRAM-related performance degradation, as frame rates scale consistently across resolutions and settings. The 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity for Red Dead Redemption 2's textures at any setting.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 34th out of 2902 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places the system in the top 1.2% of all tested configurations, indicating exceptional overall performance relative to the broader database. The rank reflects the RTX 5090 D's position in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-13400F sits in the 77th percentile among all CPUs.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its high standing. The RTX 5090 D achieves an average benchmark score of 77712, placing it just above the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT's 76904 score with a 1.1% delta, while trailing the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT's 78940 by 1.6%. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB variants sit slightly ahead with scores of 79396 and 79605 respectively, representing 2.1% and 2.4% deltas. These comparisons show the RTX 5090 D performing in a tightly clustered group at the top of the GPU benchmark hierarchy.

The CPU's benchmark performance shows a similar pattern. The i5-13400F achieves an average benchmark score of 25292, nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS's 25284 with a 0% delta. The Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D score 25362 and 25365 respectively, each showing a -0.3% delta relative to the i5-13400F. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H trails slightly at 25201, representing a 0.4% delta in favor of the Intel chip.

The combination's 34th rank out of 2902 combos indicates that while individual components rank highly, the pairing of a mid-range CPU with a flagship GPU creates a system that outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. The rank suggests that in Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the RTX 5090 D's performance dominates the overall result, with the i5-13400F providing sufficient support without dragging down the combined score.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F brings 10 cores and 16 threads to this configuration, operating with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake-S architecture chip utilizes a 10 nm process and features 20 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. The 65W TDP classifies this as a mainstream desktop processor, yet its multi-threaded benchmark results demonstrate substantial processing capability.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-13400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and a single-core score of 3191. The Geekbench multicore score of 11068 and single-core score of 1996 further characterize its performance profile. The 3DMark results show scaling from 1880 with 2 threads to 7314 with 16 threads, indicating efficient thread utilization. The Passmark multithread score of 25032 and single-thread score of 3634 place the CPU solidly in the upper-middle tier of desktop processors.

For Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the CPU's role varies by resolution. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 217 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at very high frame rates. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and max-thread score of 7307 indicate consistent performance as thread counts increase, which benefits games that scale across multiple cores.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 77 among all CPUs means it outperforms roughly three-quarters of tested processors. Its nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS at 25284 (0% delta), Intel Core 5 120 at 25362 (-0.3% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D at 25365 (-0.3% delta), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H at 25201 (0.4% delta). These results show the i5-13400F performing at parity with a range of mobile and desktop chips.

The data indicates that at 4K resolution, the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor, as the GPU's rendering load dominates. At 1080p, the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates is demonstrated by the 217 FPS Low preset result. The 10-core configuration with 16 threads provides ample parallelism for modern game engines, and the boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance when needed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 217 FPS, Medium averages 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 and maximum of 202, High averages 146 FPS, and Ultra averages 105 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 52% reduction in average FPS, with each preset step costing between 29 and 41 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction from 1080p. Low settings average 175 FPS, Medium averages 131 FPS with a minimum of 111 and maximum of 150, High averages 109 FPS, and Ultra averages 79 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 96 FPS, representing a 55% reduction. The Medium preset's min/max spread of 39 FPS indicates some variability at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system delivers playable performance across all presets. Low settings average 115 FPS, Medium averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 99, High averages 72 FPS, and Ultra averages 52 FPS. The Low to Ultra reduction is 63 FPS, a 55% drop. The Medium preset's 25 FPS min/max spread is the tightest among all resolutions, suggesting more consistent frame delivery at 4K.

The Medium preset provides the only complete FPS data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 149 minimum and 202 maximum create a 53 FPS range. At 1440p, the 111 minimum and 150 maximum create a 39 FPS range. At 4K, the 74 minimum and 99 maximum create a 25 FPS range. This tightening spread at higher resolutions indicates that GPU-bound scenarios produce more consistent frame times.

The High preset shows a consistent scaling pattern: 146 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K. Each resolution step costs approximately 37 FPS, representing a nearly linear relationship with pixel count. The Ultra preset follows a similar but slightly steeper curve: 105 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K, with costs of 26 and 27 FPS per step.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory connects via a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth.

The GPU's raw specifications are substantial: 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores. The pixel rate reaches 423.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate hits 1,636.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS, with FP16 matching at 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1). The 575W TDP and 950W suggested PSU requirement indicate this is a power-hungry component, but the measured FPS results show the performance payoff.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 310674, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376915. The Passmark G3D score of 44065 and GPU compute score of 28396 further characterize its capabilities. The GPU ranks in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76904 (1.1% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 (-1.6% delta), NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 (-2.1% delta), and NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605 (-2.4% delta). These comparisons show the RTX 5090 D performing within a narrow band of high-end GPUs.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role is dominant at 4K resolution. The scaling from Ultra to Low at 4K (52 to 115 FPS) demonstrates the GPU's ability to handle varying rendering loads. The VRAM capacity of 32 GB ensures no texture-related bottlenecks even at Ultra settings, while the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution rendering without memory bandwidth constraints. The boost clock of 2407 MHz provides the computational throughput needed to maintain the measured frame rates.