Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 lands at rank 1760 out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. That places this configuration in the 61st percentile of all tested pairings, meaning it outperforms a majority of systems but sits firmly in the mid-pack rather than at the top tier. The ranking reflects a combination that can run the game, but with significant compromises required at higher resolutions and quality presets. The data shows a system that is balanced toward 1080p play, with performance degrading predictably as resolution climbs. The CPU is a strong performer in synthetic benchmarks, ranking in the 90th percentile against all processors, while the GPU sits at the 66th percentile against all graphics cards. This gap between CPU and GPU capability is the defining characteristic of this combo, and it shows up clearly in the measured frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1760 out of 2902 tested configurations places this system just above the median of all tested hardware pairings for Red Dead Redemption 2. In percentile terms, this means roughly 39 percent of tested combos deliver higher frame rates, while about 61 percent fall below this mark. The ranking is not flattering, but it is not damning either. The system is positioned well below the top performers, likely dominated by configurations with higher-tier GPUs that can sustain high frame rates at 4K Ultra settings. However, the ranking also shows that this combo avoids the bottom quartile, where aging or entry-level hardware would struggle to maintain playable frame rates even at 1080p Low.

The CPU contributes strongly to this mid-pack ranking. The Core i5-14600KF's average benchmark score of 49394 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scoring 49228 (a 0.3 percent delta) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49196 (a 0.4 percent delta). The CPU is clearly not the bottleneck in this pairing. The GPU, however, tells a different story. The RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 places it within 1.6 percent of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713. This is a modest GPU by current standards, and its performance ceiling directly limits what the combo can achieve in a demanding title like Red Dead Redemption 2. The measured frame rates confirm this: the system struggles to reach 60 FPS at 1080p High and falls below 30 FPS at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It packs 16,900 million transistors into a 149 mm² die, with a transistor density of 113.4M per mm². The GPU operates with a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with memory running at 2500 MHz for 20 Gbps effective speed. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a critical factor for Red Dead Redemption 2, a game known for large open-world textures that can pressure VRAM at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU's compute capabilities are modest: 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 82.30 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 205.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 13.17 TFLOPS. The measured results in Red Dead Redemption 2 reflect these specifications. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 55 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS. The performance scaling across resolutions is consistent with a GPU that has enough bandwidth for 1080p but runs out of headroom as pixel count increases.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 66 against all GPUs places it in the upper two-thirds of graphics cards, but its nearest rivals are telling. The RTX 5050 sits within 1.6 percent of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT and within 1 percent of the AMD Radeon HD 8970M. These are not modern high-end parts, and the comparison underscores that the RTX 5050 is an entry-level to mid-range GPU. In Red Dead Redemption 2, this means the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K and a secondary limiter at 1440p, where the CPU could theoretically push higher frame rates if the GPU were stronger.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of which settings preset delivers the best experience for this combo. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 98 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset drops to 61 FPS average, still playable but with less headroom. The Medium preset sits at 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS, offering a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset falls to 44 FPS average, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold but still playable for many users.

At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 73 FPS average, which is solid for this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 55 FPS average with a minimum of 46 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced action but acceptable for a slower-paced game like Red Dead Redemption 2. The High preset falls to 46 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 33 FPS average. At 4K, only the Low preset approaches playability at 48 FPS average, while Medium drops to 36 FPS, High to 30 FPS, and Ultra to 22 FPS.

The data suggests that the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo. It delivers 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS, ensuring consistent frame times without dipping below 60 FPS. The visual quality gain over Low is substantial, and the performance cost is manageable. For users prioritizing higher resolution, 1440p Low at 73 FPS is the best option, but the visual fidelity loss is significant. At 4K, the Low preset at 48 FPS is the only viable choice, and even that is below ideal smoothness. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it delivers 44 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, all of which are below acceptable thresholds for a responsive experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of this combo's performance envelope. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 98 FPS average, the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset achieves 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. The High preset drops to 61 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 44 FPS average. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a steep performance curve: moving from Low to Medium costs 25 FPS, from Medium to High costs another 12 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 17 FPS.

At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 73 FPS average, which is identical to the 1080p Medium result. This suggests that the GPU is still capable at this resolution with reduced settings. The Medium preset drops to 55 FPS average with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS. The High preset falls to 46 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 33 FPS average. The step from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 18 FPS, from Medium to High costs 9 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 13 FPS.

At 4K, the Low preset achieves 48 FPS average, which is the only result above 30 FPS at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 36 FPS average with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS. The High preset falls to 30 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 22 FPS average. The scaling at 4K is severe: moving from Low to Medium costs 12 FPS, from Medium to High costs 6 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 8 FPS. The minimum FPS of 31 at 4K Medium indicates that the game remains technically playable but with occasional stutters.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the limiting component in this combo. At the Low preset, the average FPS falls from 98 at 1080p to 73 at 1440p, a 25 FPS drop, and further to 48 at 4K, another 25 FPS drop. This represents a 51 percent reduction from 1080p to 4K. At the Medium preset, the average FPS falls from 73 at 1080p to 55 at 1440p, an 18 FPS drop, and to 36 at 4K, a 19 FPS drop. This is a 51 percent reduction as well. At the High preset, the average falls from 61 at 1080p to 46 at 1440p, a 15 FPS drop, and to 30 at 4K, a 16 FPS drop. This is also a 51 percent reduction. At the Ultra preset, the average falls from 44 at 1080p to 33 at 1440p, an 11 FPS drop, and to 22 at 4K, another 11 FPS drop. This is a 50 percent reduction.

The consistent 50 percent reduction across all presets indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, is not the bottleneck at any resolution. The 4K results, which range from 22 to 48 FPS depending on preset, are all below the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that the RTX 5050 cannot handle 4K in this game without significant compromises. The 1440p results, ranging from 33 to 73 FPS, show that this resolution is viable only at Low or Medium presets. The 1080p results, ranging from 44 to 98 FPS, demonstrate that this resolution is the GPU's comfort zone, with playable frame rates across all presets.

The resolution scaling also highlights the GPU's 8 GB VRAM limitation. At 4K, textures and geometry demand more memory, and the 320.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a constraint. The 128-bit memory bus is narrow by modern standards, and this shows in the steep performance drop at 4K. The data suggests that the RTX 5050 is optimized for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being a secondary capability at lower presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boosts to 5.30 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and uses an Intel Socket 1700. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 32544 and single-core scores 4594, while Geekbench multicore scores 17085 and single-core scores 2445.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The game is known to be CPU-intensive in populated areas, but the i5-14600KF's 14 cores and high boost clock are more than sufficient for this workload. The data confirms this: the combo's performance scales almost entirely with GPU load, as shown by the consistent 50 percent FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K across all presets. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not drop as steeply with resolution, because the CPU's workload would remain constant while the GPU's workload increases.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 90 against all processors places it well above the GPU's ranking of 66. This imbalance means the system has headroom for a more powerful GPU, but it also means the current GPU cannot fully utilize the CPU's capabilities. The nearest CPU rivals, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with an average score of 49228 and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49196, are all within 0.4 percent of the i5-14600KF's 49394 average. This tight grouping shows that the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo; the GPU is the limiting factor. For Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the CPU's strong single-core performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594, ensures that the game's main thread is well-served, but the overall frame rate is capped by the RTX 5050's rendering capabilities.