Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a commanding performance profile in Red Dead Redemption 2, with benchmark results placing this combination at rank 31 out of 2902 tested combos. The data shows a system capable of high-refresh-rate play at 1440p and solid 4K performance, though the specific settings and resolution choices matter significantly for the final experience. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across the three tested resolutions and four quality presets, interpreting what the numbers mean for practical gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for settings selection, and the data strongly favors the High preset as the optimal balance. At 1920x1080, High produces an average of 146 FPS, which is 41 FPS higher than Ultra’s 105 FPS average, while the visual difference between High and Ultra in Red Dead Redemption 2 is typically marginal compared to the performance cost. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 175 FPS average, but that extra 29 FPS over High comes at a noticeable reduction in draw distance and shadow quality, which are important for the game’s open-world vistas. Low at 1080p hits 221 FPS, but this preset strips away too much of the game’s visual identity—vegetation density, ambient occlusion, and lighting effects all take heavy hits—making it unsuitable for a game where atmosphere is a core component.

At 2560x1440, the High preset maintains a 109 FPS average, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and provides headroom for frame-time spikes. Ultra at 1440p drops to 79 FPS, still playable but with less margin for demanding scenes like Saint Denis or large firefights. Medium at 1440p yields 131 FPS, and while this is attractive for high-refresh-rate monitors, the step from Medium to High in this game includes significant improvements to texture filtering and particle effects that are noticeable during horseback rides through forests or dusty towns. Low at 1440p reaches 175 FPS, but as with 1080p, the visual compromises are too severe for the recommended experience.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. High produces 72 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS target and represents the best visual quality that still maintains playable frame rates. Ultra at 4K drops to 52 FPS, which falls below the ideal smoothness threshold and will be noticeable during camera panning or when multiple NPCs are on screen. Medium at 4K achieves 86 FPS, and this becomes the second-best option for 4K users who prioritize frame rate over absolute fidelity. Low at 4K hits 115 FPS, but the drop in resolution-scaled assets and shadow quality is more apparent at 4K than at lower resolutions, so this preset is only recommended for competitive play, which is unlikely in this single-player title. The recommendation is clear: use High at 1080p and 1440p for the best balance, and at 4K, High is the default choice with Medium as a fallback if specific scenes push the average below 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is far beyond what Red Dead Redemption 2 requires, even at 4K with Ultra textures, meaning the game never hits a VRAM ceiling—a factor that keeps performance consistent regardless of resolution. The GPU’s boost clock of 2407 MHz, based on a 2017 MHz base, drives 21,760 shading units across 680 texture mapping units and 176 raster output pipelines. The FP32 compute of 104.8 TFLOPS provides ample raw processing power for the game’s rendering pipeline, which includes heavy use of volumetric lighting and screen-space reflections.

The benchmark results for the RTX 5090 D show a Passmark G3D score of 44,065 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326, placing it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. In the context of this game, the GPU’s role is most evident when comparing the 1080p Low result of 221 FPS to the 4K Low result of 115 FPS—a drop of 106 FPS that occurs despite the same settings, indicating the GPU is scaling with resolution as expected. At 4K Ultra, the 52 FPS average shows the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU has ample headroom at this resolution. The nearest rival comparisons show the RTX 5090 D is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT in average benchmark score, though that comparison is across synthetic tests, not this specific game. More relevantly, the GPU sits 2.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB in average score, but the 5090 D’s 32 GB VRAM and modern architecture give it advantages in this game’s draw-call-heavy scenes that synthetic averages do not capture. The data indicates the RTX 5090 D is never the bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, and only becomes the primary constraint at 4K with higher presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a predictable scaling pattern that highlights where the bottleneck shifts. At Low settings, the progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows 221, 175, and 115 FPS respectively. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 46 FPS (a 20.8% reduction), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 60 FPS (a 34.3% reduction). This increasing percentage drop indicates the GPU is becoming more dominant as resolution rises, which is expected given the RTX 5090 D’s raw compute. At Medium settings, the values are 175, 131, and 86 FPS. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 44 FPS (25.1%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 45 FPS (34.4%). The consistent percentage drops here suggest the GPU is handling the workload evenly across resolutions, with no sudden bottleneck appearing.

At High settings, the progression is 146, 109, and 72 FPS. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 37 FPS (25.3%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 37 FPS (33.9%). These percentages mirror the Medium results closely, indicating the GPU’s scaling is stable for these presets. At Ultra, the numbers are 105, 79, and 52 FPS. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 26 FPS (24.8%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 27 FPS (34.2%). The pattern across all presets shows a consistent 25% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 34% drop from 1440p to 4K. This consistency indicates that the Intel Core i5-14400F is not introducing a CPU bottleneck at any resolution, because if it were, the 1080p to 1440p drop would be smaller as the CPU becomes less relevant. The data suggests the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions, but the RTX 5090 D is so powerful that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 52 FPS average. For users with 1080p or 1440p monitors, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU without holding it back, as evidenced by the linear scaling pattern.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 31 out of 2902 tested combinations places this system in the top 1.1% of all tested configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2. This ranking is noteworthy because it is achieved with a mid-range CPU in the Intel Core i5-14400F, which has a percentile rank of 83 among all CPUs, paired with a top-tier GPU in the RTX 5090 D, which has a percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs. The combination outperforms what the individual component percentiles might suggest, indicating that the game’s workload is well-matched to this pairing. The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U with a 0.1% higher average score, the Intel Core i9-11900 with a 0.2% higher score, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS with a 0.2% lower score. These are all mobile or older desktop chips that would not pair as effectively with the RTX 5090 D in this game, as the 14400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads with a 4.70 GHz boost clock provide sufficient single-thread performance for the game’s main simulation thread while leaving headroom for background tasks.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show the RTX 5090 D is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, but those are mobile GPUs that cannot sustain the same performance in a desktop context. The ranking of 31st out of 2902 combos means that only 30 other CPU-GPU pairings achieved higher average FPS in this game, and those likely involve top-tier CPUs like the Core i9 or Ryzen 9 series that cost significantly more. The data shows that the 14400F does not hold back the RTX 5090 D in this title, as the frame rates at 1080p Low (221 FPS) and 1440p High (109 FPS) are high enough that any CPU limitation would manifest as inconsistent frame times, which are not present in the measured averages. This combo ranks exceptionally well for the CPU’s price point, though pricing is not part of this analysis.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This is a Raptor Lake architecture part on the Intel Socket 1700 platform, built on a 10 nm process. The CPU has 20 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 per core and 80 KB of L1 per core. These specifications matter for Red Dead Redemption 2 because the game’s engine, while primarily GPU-bound at high resolutions, still requires a capable CPU for physics, AI, and draw-call processing. The 14400F’s multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21,645 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 11,268, provides ample headroom for the game’s background simulation. The single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,055 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,058, ensures that the game’s main thread does not become a bottleneck.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p with Low settings, where the system achieves 221 FPS. At this resolution and preset, the GPU is not heavily taxed, so the CPU must keep up with the frame generation rate. The fact that the 14400F sustains 221 FPS without dropping below that average indicates it can handle the game’s CPU workload at high frame rates. At 1080p High, the system hits 146 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, 105 FPS—both well above the 60 FPS target, showing the CPU does not limit the experience even at lower resolutions where CPU load is relatively higher. The CPU’s Passmark multi-thread score of 25,470 and Passmark single-thread score of 3,701 further confirm its capability, with the single-thread score being particularly relevant for a game that relies heavily on a primary simulation thread. The 14400F’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-11900, scores only 0.2% higher in average synthetic benchmarks, yet the i9-11900 has fewer cores (8 cores, 16 threads) and an older architecture, so the 14400F’s 10-core configuration provides better multi-tasking headroom for the game’s background processes. The data shows the CPU is not the limiting factor in any measured configuration, as the scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent and GPU-driven.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings is as follows: Low produces 221 FPS, Medium produces 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS, High produces 146 FPS, and Ultra produces 105 FPS. The Medium preset’s frame time data shows a spread of 53 FPS from minimum to maximum, which is the largest variance among all 1080p settings, indicating that Medium can have occasional dips during heavy scenes. High and Ultra do not have reported min/max values, but their averages suggest smoother experiences. The step from Low to Medium costs 46 FPS (20.8% reduction), from Medium to High costs 29 FPS (16.6% reduction), and from High to Ultra costs 41 FPS (28.1% reduction). The largest performance penalty is between High and Ultra, which supports the recommendation to use High.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 175 FPS, Medium at 131 FPS with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS, High at 109 FPS, and Ultra at 79 FPS. The Medium preset’s min/max spread is 39 FPS, which is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is handling the load more consistently at this resolution. The drop from Low to Medium is 44 FPS (25.1%), from Medium to High is 22 FPS (16.8%), and from High to Ultra is 30 FPS (27.5%). The percentage drops are nearly identical to 1080p, confirming the GPU’s scaling is consistent. At 1440p, the High preset’s 109 FPS average provides a 49 FPS margin above 60 FPS, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. Ultra at 79 FPS is still playable but will show more frequent dips in demanding areas.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 115 FPS, Medium at 86 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS, High at 72 FPS, and Ultra at 52 FPS. The Medium preset’s min/max spread of 25 FPS is the smallest of any resolution, indicating that at 4K, the GPU’s workload is more uniform. The drop from Low to Medium is 29 FPS (25.2%), from Medium to High is 14 FPS (16.3%), and from High to Ultra is 20 FPS (27.8%). Again, the percentage pattern matches the lower resolutions, showing the RTX 5090 D scales predictably. At 4K, the High preset’s 72 FPS average is the recommended choice, as it stays above 60 FPS while delivering the best visual quality. The Ultra preset’s 52 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and the Low preset’s 115 FPS average comes at too high a visual cost. The Medium preset’s 86 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum provides a safety margin, making it a viable alternative for users who want to ensure no drops below 60 FPS. Across all resolutions, the data shows that High is the most efficient preset, and the CPU-GPU combination maintains a consistent performance profile that is among the top 31 of 2902 tested configurations.