Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 with Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a top-tier Red Dead Redemption 2 experience, ranking 4th out of 1,687 tested combos. This combination places it in the 99.8th percentile of all configurations, with the RTX 5090's Blackwell architecture providing the dominant performance headroom while the 14-core i5-14600K keeps pace without becoming a bottleneck at most settings. The measured data reveals a system that crushes 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K Ultra demands compromise or upscaling to maintain fluid frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that resolution scaling follows the expected GPU-bound curve. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 141.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 103.1 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 27.2% reduction), then to 65.9 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 36.1% further drop). This progressive decline indicates the RTX 5090 is the primary limiting component as pixel count rises, with the i5-14600K providing ample headroom at lower resolutions.

The Low settings preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 221.7 FPS at 1080p drops to 166.1 FPS at 1440p (25.1% decrease) and then to 110.5 FPS at 4K (33.5% decrease). This pattern persists across Medium and Ultra presets, with the 4K-to-1080p ratio consistently hovering around 46-51% of the original frame rate. The uniformity of these drops—regardless of settings—strongly suggests that pixel throughput, not CPU logic, is the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Interestingly, the gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p. For instance, at Medium settings, 167.3 FPS at 1080p becomes 125.2 FPS at 1440p (25.2% drop), but 4K falls further to 83.6 FPS (33.2% drop from 1440p). This non-linear scaling reflects the 4x pixel count jump from 1080p to 4K versus the 2.25x jump from 1080p to 1440p, with the RTX 5090's 32 GB GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth handling the increased data demands admirably.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that Ultra settings are the most demanding configuration, producing the lowest frame rates at every resolution. At 4K Ultra, the system averages just 51 FPS—technically playable but below the 60 FPS threshold many consider essential for smooth action-adventure gameplay. Dropping to High settings at 4K yields 65.9 FPS, a 29.2% improvement that brings the experience into comfortable territory.

For 1440p gaming, High settings deliver 103.1 FPS, which is excellent for a game with Red Dead Redemption 2's visual fidelity. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 28.6 FPS (from 103.1 to 74.5), a significant penalty for marginal visual gains. Medium settings at 1440p provide 125.2 FPS, offering a smoother experience if competitive frame rates are prioritized over maximum graphical detail.

At 1080p, the story is different: even Ultra settings achieve 98.7 FPS, while High reaches 141.6 FPS and Medium hits 167.3 FPS. Low settings at 1080p produce 221.7 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The data suggests that High settings provide the best balance across all resolutions, delivering 65.9 FPS at 4K, 103.1 FPS at 1440p, and 141.6 FPS at 1080p. For players with 144Hz+ displays at 1080p, Medium settings (167.3 FPS) offer headroom above refresh rate while maintaining visual quality.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed performance driver in this configuration, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz, combined with 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs, explain its dominance in this benchmark. The measured results validate the architecture's design: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 221.7 FPS, demonstrating the raw compute power of the Blackwell 2.0 chip.

The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are reflected in the scaling patterns. When settings increase from Low to Ultra at 1080p, the frame rate drops from 221.7 to 98.7 FPS—a 55.5% reduction that highlights how heavily Ultra presets tax even this flagship card. The 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where the 8.3 million pixels per frame require substantial fill-rate resources.

The RTX 5090's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 and Passmark G3D score of 39,650 place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, scores nearly identically (0.1% delta), while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 trails by 1.3%. The 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die at 5 nm demonstrate the sheer scale of this processor, with a 575 W TDP requiring substantial power delivery.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers outstanding performance across all presets. Low settings average 221.7 FPS, Medium 167.3 FPS, High 141.6 FPS, and Ultra 98.7 FPS. The 123 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates the massive impact of settings on this GPU, with each preset tier costing roughly 25-30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, frame rates remain highly playable. Low settings produce 166.1 FPS, Medium 125.2 FPS, High 103.1 FPS, and Ultra 74.5 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by approximately 25% across all settings, consistent with the increased pixel count. Notably, 1440p High (103.1 FPS) nearly matches 1080p Ultra (98.7 FPS), suggesting that the RTX 5090's headroom allows for resolution upgrades without sacrificing visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become apparent. Low settings average 110.5 FPS, Medium 83.6 FPS, High 65.9 FPS, and Ultra 51 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only sub-60 FPS measurement in the entire dataset, indicating that this combination can handle 4K gaming but requires settings optimization. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 59.5 FPS difference, with each preset tier costing approximately 15-20 FPS—a steeper penalty than at lower resolutions due to the increased pixel workload.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 4th out of 1,687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 0.24% of all systems benchmarked. This exceptional ranking reflects the synergy between the i5-14600K's strong single-thread performance and the RTX 5090's overwhelming GPU power. The data confirms that this is a flagship-tier combination capable of delivering near-best-in-class frame rates.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 49,166 places it in the 93rd percentile of all processors, with its nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (0.2% higher) and the Intel Core i5-14600KF (0.4% lower). The GPU's average benchmark score of 84,306 places it in the 94th percentile, with the RTX 5090 D as its closest competitor (0.1% higher). This near-identical performance between the 5090 and 5090 D suggests that the standard 5090 offers no measurable advantage in this title.

The rank of 4th among 1,687 combos means only three other configurations outperform this pairing in Red Dead Redemption 2. Given the game's 2018 release date, this result is remarkable—the system delivers 141.6 FPS at 1080p High, more than double the 60 FPS target, and maintains 65.9 FPS at 4K High, proving that modern hardware can handle this demanding title with ease.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K provides the computational foundation for this system, featuring 14 cores and 20 threads with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The processor's Raptor Lake architecture includes 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per core L2 cache, with 80 KB per core L1 cache. This configuration delivers strong single-thread performance—evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,642—which is crucial for Red Dead Redemption 2's game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are equally impressive: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,881 and Geekbench multi-core score of 15,846. These results place the i5-14600K in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with its average benchmark score of 49,166 nearly matching the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49,062, 0.2% lower). The Passmark multi-thread score of 38,682 and physics score of 2,473 indicate that the CPU can handle complex simulations without stuttering.

In this benchmark, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but at 1080p Low settings (221.7 FPS), the i5-14600K demonstrates its ability to feed the RTX 5090 effectively. The 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures that frame generation and draw calls are processed quickly, while the 125 W TDP (with DDR4 and DDR5 memory support) provides efficient operation. The processor's integrated UHD Graphics 770 and PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes complete a well-rounded package for gaming.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p High settings deliver 103.1 FPS, which balances visual quality and smoothness. For maximum performance, 1080p Low achieves 221.7 FPS, while 4K High provides 65.9 FPS for those prioritizing resolution.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 51 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold. Dropping to High settings at 4K improves this to 65.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84,306 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 5090 D (84,241) and 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (83,209). The performance delta in-game is negligible.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking and how does it affect performance?

A: The i5-14600K ranks in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 49,166. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scores 49,062 (0.2% higher), while the i5-14600KF scores 49,367 (0.4% lower).

Q: How much does the FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 141.6 at 1080p to 103.1 at 1440p (27.2% reduction) and then to 65.9 at 4K (36.1% further reduction). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 75.7 FPS.

Q: Is the i5-14600K a bottleneck for the RTX 5090?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 221.7 FPS, indicating the CPU keeps pace with the GPU. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock and 14 cores providing sufficient headroom throughout the benchmark.