Red Dead Redemption 2

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor built on Intel's Raptor Lake architecture, with a 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, drawing 125 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a desktop-class processor with a 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, indicating strong overall compute capability.

The data shows this CPU has substantial headroom in synthetic benchmarks. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32,544 multi-core and 4,594 single-core. Its Geekbench results are 17,085 multi-core and 2,445 single-core. PassMark multithread score is 38,697, and single-thread score is 4,273. The processor sits in close competition with AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which has an average score of 49,228 versus the i5-14600KF's 49,394 — a delta of just 0.3%. Similarly, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G trails by 0.4%, and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 trails by 0.8%. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 leads by 0.8%, showing the i5-14600KF is at the top of its immediate peer group.

What does this mean for Red Dead Redemption 2? The game's measured FPS data reveals a peculiar pattern. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 51 FPS average. At 1080p High, it drops to 32 FPS. These numbers are remarkably low for a CPU that ranks in the 90th percentile. The implication is that the game's engine is not leveraging the CPU's full potential in this pairing. The 14 cores and 20 threads are ample for modern titles, but the bottleneck appears elsewhere. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.30 GHz should theoretically help with single-threaded game logic, yet the frame rates suggest the processor is starved by the GPU's capabilities.

The CPU's memory support spans DDR4 and DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, which is standard for this platform. ECC memory support is present, a feature not commonly highlighted in gaming contexts. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes provides modern connectivity, but the integrated graphics is absent — this is a "KF" variant without iGPU, relying entirely on the discrete or integrated GPU in the system. For this benchmark, the CPU is paired with the Intel Arc B390, which is an integrated graphics solution.

The launch MSRP for this CPU is $294. The processor was released on 2023-10-16 and remains in active production. Its socket is Intel Socket 1700, and it uses the Raptor Lake-R codename. The die size is 257 mm², and the multiplier is unlocked, allowing overclocking. In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2's measured results, the CPU's raw power is not the limiting factor — the data shows FPS values that are more consistent with a low-end GPU bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank 2568 out of 2902 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2, despite having a top-tier CPU?

A: The combo rank reflects the entire system's performance in this specific game, not just the CPU. The Intel Arc B390 GPU has a 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,482. This places it near the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1,463, 1.3% delta) and GeForce 800M (1,460, 1.5% delta). The GPU's low relative performance drags the overall combo ranking down, even though the CPU is in the 90th percentile.

Q: What is the best measured FPS for this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest average FPS is 51, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 38 FPS at 2560x1440 Low. At 3840x2160 Low, the average drops to 25 FPS. The data shows that Low settings are the only way to approach playable frame rates, and even then, only at 1080p does it cross the 50 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance compare to its multi-core performance?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score is 4,594, while multi-core is 32,544 — a ratio of roughly 7:1 in favor of multi-core. The PassMark single-thread score is 4,273 versus 38,697 multithread. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the game's engine likely uses a limited number of threads, so the high multi-core scores may not translate directly to FPS gains if the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B390's memory bandwidth sufficient for this game?

A: The GPU uses System Shared memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." Since the memory type and bus width are System Shared, the actual bandwidth depends on the host system's memory configuration. The GPU's pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 7.680 TFLOPS. The measured FPS suggests the shared memory architecture creates a significant bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What does the 16 FPS minimum at 1080p Medium indicate?

A: The 1080p Medium preset shows an average of 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS and maximum of 44 FPS. This 33 FPS floor is the lowest minimum recorded across all settings at 1080p, indicating that even in the best-case resolution, the system can drop into the low 30s. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 24 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it's 16 FPS.

Q: How does this combo's CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49,394, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900's 49,228. It also leads the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G by 0.4% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.8%. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 is the only rival ahead, with a 0.8% higher score of 49,796.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a stark scaling pattern that points directly at the GPU as the primary limiter. Starting at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 51 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 38 FPS — a 25.5% decrease. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 25 FPS — another 34.2% drop from 1440p. This progressive decline with resolution is classic GPU-bound behavior.

For High settings, the pattern continues. At 1080p High, the average is 32 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 24 FPS (25% decrease). At 4K High, it falls to 16 FPS (33.3% decrease). The relative drops are similar across settings, suggesting the scaling is consistent regardless of quality level. This uniformity reinforces that the resolution increase is the dominant factor, not the settings change.

Medium settings show the same trend: 39 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p (25.6% drop), and 19 FPS at 4K (34.5% drop). Ultra settings follow with 23 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p (26.1% drop), and 11 FPS at 4K (35.3% drop). The percentage drops are remarkably consistent, hovering around 25-26% from 1080p to 1440p and 33-35% from 1440p to 4K.

This scaling pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B390's rendering throughput is the bottleneck. The GPU's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs, combined with its 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance, are insufficient to maintain frame rates as pixel count increases. The CPU, with its 90th percentile ranking, is unlikely to be the constraint — if it were, the FPS would remain flat across resolutions once the CPU's thread budget is saturated.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, Low delivers 51 FPS versus Ultra's 23 FPS — a 55% difference. At 4K, Low delivers 25 FPS versus Ultra's 11 FPS — a 56% difference. The similar percentage gap suggests the GPU is equally stressed by both resolution and settings, with neither factor dominating the other.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2568 out of 2902 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the bottom 11.5% of all tested combos, which is striking given the CPU's high individual ranking. The combo rank demonstrates that the GPU's weak performance dominates the system's overall capability in this game.

To contextualize this rank, consider the GPU's position: the Intel Arc B390 has a 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in 3DMark Steel Nomad are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1,463 score, 1.3% delta), GeForce 800M (1,460, 1.5% delta), GeForce GT 625 OEM (1,446, 2.5% delta), and GeForce GT 710 (1,443, 2.7% delta). All of these are entry-level or legacy GPUs, confirming the B390's low-end status.

The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 90th percentile. This extreme mismatch between CPU and GPU performance is reflected in the combo's low rank. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its demanding graphics, the GPU's limitations are amplified. The combo rank of 2568 suggests that most other tested combinations — even those with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs — achieve better FPS.

The data implies that the CPU is severely underutilized in this pairing. With an average benchmark score of 49,394, the i5-14600KF is capable of far higher frame rates in GPU-limited scenarios. The fact that this combo lands in the bottom 11.5% indicates the GPU is the binding constraint. If a different GPU were paired with this CPU, the combo rank would likely improve dramatically, though the data does not provide such comparisons.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 51 FPS average
• Medium: 39 FPS average, 33 FPS minimum, 44 FPS maximum
• High: 32 FPS average
• Ultra: 23 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 38 FPS average
• Medium: 29 FPS average, 24 FPS minimum, 33 FPS maximum
• High: 24 FPS average
• Ultra: 17 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 25 FPS average
• Medium: 19 FPS average, 16 FPS minimum, 22 FPS maximum
• High: 16 FPS average
• Ultra: 11 FPS average

The data shows a clear hierarchy: Low settings always deliver the highest FPS, followed by Medium, then High, then Ultra. This ordering is consistent across all three resolutions. The Medium preset is the only one with minimum and maximum FPS recorded, providing insight into frame time variance. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 33 to 44 FPS, a range of 11 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the spread is 24 to 33 FPS, also 9 FPS. At 4K Medium, the spread is 16 to 22 FPS, a range of 6 FPS.

The diminishing FPS range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming more consistently saturated, reducing the variance between frames. At 1080p, the GPU has some headroom, leading to occasional frame rate spikes. At 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, and the frame rate is more stable but at a much lower level.

Notably, the difference between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial. At 1080p, Low to Ultra is a 28 FPS gap. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 21 FPS. At 4K, the gap is 14 FPS. The narrowing gap suggests that at higher resolutions, the resolution itself becomes the dominant cost, reducing the relative impact of quality settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the only settings that approach playable frame rates are at 1080p Low, which delivers 51 FPS average. This is the single playable configuration in the dataset. All other settings and resolutions fall below 40 FPS, with most below 30 FPS.

For a target of 30 FPS or higher, only three configurations qualify: 1080p Low (51 FPS), 1440p Low (38 FPS), and 1080p Medium (39 FPS). Among these, 1080p Medium offers a better visual experience with a 39 FPS average and a minimum of 33 FPS, ensuring no drops below the 30 FPS threshold. The minimum of 33 FPS is actually higher than the average of 1440p Low, making 1080p Medium the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability.

If 30 FPS is the absolute minimum acceptable, then 1440p Low at 38 FPS average is a viable option, offering higher resolution at the cost of quality settings. However, the 38 FPS average does not have a recorded minimum, so the data cannot confirm frame time consistency. The 1080p Medium preset, with its 33 FPS minimum, provides a guaranteed floor above 30 FPS.

For users prioritizing 4K, the data shows that even Low settings at 4K only achieve 25 FPS average. This is below the 30 FPS threshold and would likely be a poor experience for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which benefits from stable frame rates. The 4K Medium preset at 19 FPS average with a 16 FPS minimum is not recommended.

The Ultra settings are not viable at any resolution, with the best case being 23 FPS at 1080p. The data suggests that Ultra presets should be avoided entirely with this combo. The High settings are marginal at 1080p (32 FPS) but drop below 30 FPS at 1440p (24 FPS) and 4K (16 FPS).

In summary, the recommended configuration is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, delivering a 39 FPS average and a 33 FPS minimum. This provides the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate stability in the measured data. The alternative is 1080p Low at 51 FPS for smoother gameplay, but with reduced visual quality.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU has 1,536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. It also includes 12 ray tracing cores. The memory is System Shared, meaning it uses the host system's memory rather than dedicated VRAM.

The GPU's compute capabilities are modest: 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and 15.36 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. These specifications align with an entry-level integrated GPU. The TDP is 80 W, and the GPU is marked as IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with no power connectors or dedicated slot width.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, these specifications produce the measured FPS results. The 24 ROPs are likely the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as the pixel fill rate of 60.00 GPixel/s becomes insufficient for 4K rendering. At 3840x2160, the pixel count is over 8.3 million, and the GPU must process each frame with limited rasterization throughput.

The System Shared memory is another critical factor. With bandwidth described as "System Dependent," the actual memory bandwidth depends on the host system's memory configuration. This creates a potential bottleneck, as the GPU competes with the CPU for memory access. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which has large textures and complex scenes, shared memory can cause significant performance degradation.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA entry-level GPUs from previous generations: GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710. The 1.3% to 2.7% deltas between these GPUs indicate the B390 is at the very bottom of the performance spectrum.

The boost clock of 2500 MHz is relatively high for an integrated GPU, but the low shading unit count and ROP count limit its real-world performance. The 12 ray tracing cores are present but are unlikely to provide usable performance in this game given the overall throughput constraints. The GPU's production status is Active, with a release date of 2026-01-26, making it a recent product despite its low performance tier.

The data shows that the GPU's limitations are the primary factor in the combo's poor performance. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking cannot compensate for a GPU that ranks in the 9th percentile. The measured FPS values, ranging from 51 FPS at 1080p Low to 11 FPS at 4K Ultra, consistently reflect the GPU's rendering constraints rather than any CPU-side limitation.