Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a performance profile in Red Dead Redemption 2 that is heavily dictated by resolution and graphical presets. The measured frame rates show a clear progression of scaling from 1080p to 4K, with the GPU becoming the dominant bottleneck as pixel count increases. This combination ranks 797th out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database, and the data indicates that the system is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming but will struggle to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet significant drop as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 73.8 FPS, which drops to 51.9 FPS at 1440p and further to 36.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 50.4% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load is scaling nearly linearly with pixel count. The performance curve suggests that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom to maintain playable frame rates even at Ultra settings, where it hits 55 FPS.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 114.9 FPS, which is nearly double the 4K Ultra result of 27.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions: at 1080p, the difference is 59.9 FPS (114.9 vs 55), while at 4K, the difference shrinks to 31.3 FPS (58.9 vs 27.6). This narrowing gap at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the absolute performance ceiling is reached regardless of settings.

The data shows that 1440p represents a practical sweet spot for this combo. At Medium settings, the system delivers 68 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At High settings, 1440p yields 51.9 FPS, which is playable but requires some compromise. The 4K results are the most telling: even at Low settings, the system only manages 58.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and Ultra settings drop to 27.6 FPS, which is not suitable for action-oriented gameplay. This scaling behavior confirms that the RTX 5060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus are not sufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and boosts to 2497 MHz, with a memory clock of 1750 MHz running on 8 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 128-bit bus. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is a critical factor in this game’s results, as Red Dead Redemption 2’s open-world environments demand substantial texture streaming and asset loading.

The benchmark results show that the GPU’s shading units, totaling 3840, and 120 tensor cores are capable of handling the game’s DirectX 12 Ultimate workload, but the memory configuration limits performance at higher resolutions. The 8 GB frame buffer becomes a constraint at 4K, where the game’s High preset requires more memory than is available, leading to potential texture thrashing. The pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the FP32 throughput of 19.18 TFLOPS is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with Ultra settings.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Radeon RX 570 at -0.2, and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 at 0.5. The RTX 5060’s average benchmark score of 30109 places it directly between these cards, with the RX 7700 XT being the closest competitor. The performance parity with the RX 7700 XT is notable, as both cards occupy a similar tier in the database, and this is reflected in the measured FPS data where the RTX 5060 produces results that are consistent with a mid-range GPU in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF provides a strong foundation for this gaming configuration. With 14 cores and 20 threads, the CPU runs at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boosts to 5.30 GHz, based on the Raptor Lake architecture on a 10 nm process. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 contribute to the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with data. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 32889 and a single-core score of 4643, indicate strong processing power that is unlikely to bottleneck the GPU at any resolution.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is primarily to manage game logic, physics, and AI, which are not as demanding as the GPU’s rendering tasks. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 114.9 FPS, which is close to the CPU’s practical limit for this engine. As resolution increases, the CPU’s influence diminishes, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 49367, confirms that it is a high-performing processor that will not constrain the RTX 5060 in this title.

The Intel Core i5-14600KF’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600K with a deltaPct of 0.4, the AMD EPYC 4345P at -0.5, and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X at 0.6. The i5-14600KF’s average score of 49367 is slightly higher than the i5-14600K’s 49166, but the difference is marginal at 0.4%. This indicates that the KF variant, which lacks integrated graphics, offers nearly identical performance to the K variant in this game. The CPU’s 20 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s multi-threaded workload, and the boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is not a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 797th out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 47.3rd percentile of all configurations in the database. This ranking reflects a balanced system where both components are well-matched for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the GPU’s limitations become apparent at 4K. The rank of 797 indicates that there are 796 combos that perform better, primarily those with higher-end GPUs or more powerful CPUs.

The combo rank is consistent with the individual component rankings: the CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking is higher than the GPU’s 73rd percentile ranking, suggesting that the CPU is the stronger component in this pair. This imbalance means that upgrading the GPU would yield a larger performance improvement than upgrading the CPU, as the i5-14600KF has more headroom than the RTX 5060. The data shows that at 1080p High, the combo achieves 73.8 FPS, which is 34.2% higher than the 4K High result of 36.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The measured FPS results place this combo in a competitive position relative to other mid-range configurations. At 1440p High, the 51.9 FPS result is within the playable range, and at 1080p Ultra, the 55 FPS result is acceptable for most gamers. However, the 4K Ultra result of 27.6 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and the 8 GB memory limitation is evident in this scenario. The combo’s rank of 797 suggests that it is a solid mid-tier configuration that excels at 1080p and 1440p but is not suited for 4K gaming.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 51.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but still playable.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest rival in the database?

A: The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 30109, which is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with a deltaPct of 0, making them performance peers.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 27.6 FPS, and the GPU’s 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints, as the CPU has sufficient headroom.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking among all tested configurations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 797th out of 1687 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database.

Q: Does the i5-14600KF outperform the i5-14600K in this game?

A: The i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49367, which is 0.4% higher than the i5-14600K’s 49166, indicating nearly identical performance.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 114.9 FPS, while at 4K Low, it drops to 58.9 FPS, representing a 56 FPS reduction due to the higher pixel count.