Red Dead Redemption 2

Intel Core i5-14600KF and Intel Arc B570 form a combination that lands near the bottom of the tested hierarchy for Red Dead Redemption 2, ranking 2335 out of 2902 combos. This pairing of a high-end 14-core CPU with a mid-range 10 GB GPU produces playable frames only at lower resolutions and settings, with the data revealing a severe bottleneck that shifts between components depending on the workload. The benchmark results paint a picture of a system that is CPU-strong on paper but GPU-limited in practice, and the measured FPS numbers across four settings at three resolutions clarify exactly where the boundaries of playability lie.

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 from the Core 14th Gen series, built on Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz boosts up to 5.30 GHz, and it carries 24 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 2 MB per-core L2 and 80 KB per-core L1. This is a desktop-class CPU on Intel Socket 1700 with a 125 W TDP, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 32544 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4594 in single-core, while Geekbench results show 17085 multi-core and 2445 single-core. Its Passmark multithread score reaches 38697, and the average benchmark score sits at 49394, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

Against its nearest rivals, the i5-14600KF is essentially tied in average score. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228 with a delta of 0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 with a 0.4% delta. Intel Core Ultra 5 245 trails slightly at 48995 with a 0.8% delta, while AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 leads by a hair at 49796 with a -0.8% delta. These differences are within noise, meaning the i5-14600KF is not a differentiator in this combo — its processing power is more than adequate for Red Dead Redemption 2.

Yet the measured FPS in-game tells a different story than the CPU's raw potential. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 79 FPS average, which is the highest number recorded across all tested configurations. Dropping to 1440p Low yields 59 FPS, and 4K Low falls to 39 FPS. These figures suggest the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings — the frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p Medium, the average is 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 68, and at 1440p Medium it drops to 44 FPS with a 38-51 range. The CPU's 20 threads and high boost clock are likely handling the game's simulation and AI workloads without breaking a sweat, but the data does not isolate CPU performance directly — it only shows the combined result.

What the numbers imply is that the i5-14600KF is overqualified for this pairing. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which was released in 2018 and is known for its demanding open-world rendering, the CPU's 90th percentile standing should provide headroom for high frame rates. The fact that 1080p High only reaches 49 FPS average, while 1080p Low hits 79 FPS, indicates that the settings scaling is steep and the bottleneck lies elsewhere. The CPU's role here is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data, and with 20 threads available, it is unlikely to be the constraint. The data supports this interpretation: even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is most stressed, the CPU does not appear to cause a collapse beyond what resolution scaling would predict.

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

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage-generation GPU with the BMG-G21 chip, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz for 19 Gbps effective speed. The memory subsystem consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS FP16, with a 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate. The TDP is 150 W with a dual-slot cooler and a single 8-pin power connector, requiring a 450 W suggested PSU. It uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.

In GPU benchmarks, the Arc B570 scores 2649 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 83514 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 96844 in Geekbench Vulkan. Passmark results show 14195 in G3D and 7281 in GPU Compute, with the average benchmark score at 20556, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 with a 0.1% delta, the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 with a -0.1% delta, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 with a 0.4% delta, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662 with a -0.5% delta. This places the Arc B570 in a competitive mid-range tier, but the in-game results show it struggling with Red Dead Redemption 2's demands.

The GPU's role becomes clear when examining the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 79 FPS, but at 1080p Medium it drops to 59 FPS, and at 1080p High it falls to 49 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 20 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 10 FPS — this non-linear drop suggests the GPU is hitting its limits as settings increase. At 1440p, the pattern repeats: Low gives 59 FPS, Medium gives 44 FPS, and High gives 37 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is overwhelmed: Low yields 39 FPS, Medium 29 FPS with a 25-34 range, High 24 FPS, and Ultra just 18 FPS. The 10 GB VRAM buffer is likely sufficient for most settings at 1080p, but the 160-bit bus and 380 GB/s bandwidth may throttle performance at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth becomes critical.

The data indicates the Arc B570 is the primary bottleneck in this combo. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking is far below the CPU's 90th percentile, creating a mismatch where the GPU cannot leverage the CPU's full potential. At 4K Ultra, the 18 FPS average is a clear sign of GPU saturation, and even at 1080p High, the 49 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider smooth. The GPU's fixed clock of 2500 MHz does not vary, so performance scaling is entirely dependent on the workload, and the measured FPS shows that Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world rendering taxes the Arc B570 heavily.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern of resolution scaling that identifies the GPU as the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 79 at 1080p to 59 at 1440p, a 25.3% decrease, and then to 39 at 4K, a 33.9% decrease from 1440p. At Medium settings, the drop is from 59 at 1080p to 44 at 1440p (25.4% decrease) and then to 29 at 4K (34.1% decrease). At High settings, the pattern holds: 49 at 1080p to 37 at 1440p (24.5% decrease) and then to 24 at 4K (35.1% decrease). At Ultra settings, the numbers are 36 at 1080p, 27 at 1440p (25.0% decrease), and 18 at 4K (33.3% decrease).

These percentage drops are remarkably consistent across all settings, hovering around 25% from 1080p to 1440p and 34% from 1440p to 4K. This uniformity is a classic signature of a GPU-bound system — the CPU's performance remains constant, while the GPU's workload scales with pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain flat across resolutions, but instead it drops proportionally to the increase in pixel count. The pixel count from 1080p to 1440p increases by 77.8%, but the FPS only drops by 25%, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom at 1080p to absorb some of the extra load. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 125%, but the FPS drops by 34%, showing that the GPU is becoming progressively more saturated.

The data strongly suggests the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU could theoretically push higher frame rates, the GPU caps the performance at 79 FPS. The consistent scaling pattern rules out any CPU limitation, as a CPU bottleneck would show larger FPS differences at lower resolutions where the CPU is more stressed. The Arc B570's 10 GB VRAM and 380 GB/s bandwidth are the likely culprits, as Red Dead Redemption 2's detailed textures and draw distances require substantial memory throughput. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, with even Low settings failing to reach 40 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60 FPS?

A: The only measured configuration that reaches 60 FPS or higher is 1080p Low, which averages 79 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS mark, while 1440p Low averages 59 FPS as well.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Arc B570 scores 20556 on average, while the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 with a delta of -0.1%, meaning the A750 is marginally faster. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 with a 0.1% delta, putting the Arc B570 essentially in the same performance tier.

Q: Does the CPU's 90th percentile ranking help in this game's higher settings?

A: No, the data shows the GPU is the limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 18 FPS despite the CPU's strong benchmarks, indicating that the Arc B570 cannot keep up with the GPU workload at high resolutions and settings.

Q: What is the FPS range at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 1440p Medium, the combo averages 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS, providing a playable but not smooth experience for most users.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2335 out of 2902 total combinations, placing it in the bottom 20% of tested hardware configurations for Red Dead Redemption 2.

Q: Is there any setting where the combo exceeds 80 FPS?

A: No, the highest measured average FPS is 79 at 1080p Low, and no configuration reaches 80 FPS. The next highest is 59 FPS at both 1440p Low and 1080p Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings average 79 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS with a range of 50 to 68, High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 20 FPS drop, while the step from Medium to High is 10 FPS, and from High to Ultra is another 13 FPS. This scaling shows diminishing returns at higher settings, with the GPU struggling to maintain frame rates as graphical fidelity increases.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 59 FPS, Medium averages 44 FPS with a range of 38 to 51, High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, between Medium and High is 7 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 10 FPS. The 1440p results show that only Low settings approach the 60 FPS target, while Medium and above fall below 45 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low settings average 39 FPS, Medium averages 29 FPS with a range of 25 to 34, High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The differences between settings are 10 FPS from Low to Medium, 5 FPS from Medium to High, and 6 FPS from High to Ultra. At 4K, even Low settings fail to reach 40 FPS, making this resolution largely unplayable for smooth gameplay.

The only configuration with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values is Medium settings across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 50 to 68 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 38 to 51 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 25 to 34 FPS. These ranges indicate that the frame pacing is relatively stable, with variance of about 30% from the average, but the absolute values are too low for a consistent experience at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience comes from 1080p Low settings, which averages 79 FPS and provides the smoothest gameplay. This is the only configuration that clears the 60 FPS threshold with room to spare, making it the recommended choice for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The 20 FPS drop from Low to Medium at 1080p is significant, and while Medium still averages 59 FPS, it is right at the edge of playability.

For players who want better visuals, 1080p Medium is the next best option, averaging 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS. This stays above 48 FPS at all times, which is generally considered acceptable for a single-player game, but it lacks the headroom of Low settings. The 1440p Low setting also averages 59 FPS, offering a higher resolution with the same frame rate as 1080p Medium, but the minimum FPS is not recorded, so stability is uncertain.

The data suggests avoiding High and Ultra settings entirely. At 1080p High, the average drops to 49 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it falls to 36 FPS, both below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, High averages 37 FPS and Ultra 27 FPS, which are borderline unplayable. At 4K, all settings are below 40 FPS, making the resolution impractical for this combo. The sweet spot is 1080p Low for maximum smoothness, with 1080p Medium or 1440p Low as compromises that trade some frame rate for higher resolution or detail.

The measured rows show that the combo's performance scales steeply with settings, so the recommendation is to prioritize frame rate at 1080p Low, or accept a lower frame rate for better visuals at 1080p Medium. The 1440p Low option is also viable, but without minimum FPS data, its stability is unverified.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2335 out of 2902 tested combos for Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the bottom 19.5% of all configurations. This low ranking is surprising given the CPU's 90th percentile performance, but it aligns with the GPU's 65th percentile standing. The data indicates that the Arc B570 drags down the overall performance, as the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's processing demands.

The GPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a 0.1% delta and the Intel Arc A750 with a -0.1% delta, meaning the Arc B570 is essentially in the same performance class as these GPUs. However, the in-game results show that this class of GPU is insufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2 at higher settings. The combo's rank of 2335 out of 2902 suggests that most other tested combinations perform better, likely due to more balanced pairings where the GPU is not the limiting factor.

The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank highlights the importance of GPU selection. A CPU in the 90th percentile cannot compensate for a GPU in the 65th percentile when the game is GPU-bound. The measured FPS data confirms this, showing consistent GPU-limited scaling across resolutions. For comparison, the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, would likely produce similar results when paired with the same GPU, since the CPU is not the bottleneck. The combo rank is therefore a reflection of the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities, and the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield significant FPS improvements, while upgrading the CPU would have minimal impact on this game's performance.