Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2: Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This pairing combines a six-core, six-thread Coffee Lake processor from 2018 with a top-tier Ada Lovelace GPU released in 2024, creating a significant generational gap that manifests clearly in Red Dead Redemption 2's frame rates. The data shows a system that delivers playable performance across all tested resolutions, but the scaling patterns reveal a configuration where the CPU becomes an increasingly prominent limiting factor as resolution drops and settings are relaxed.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a pronounced resolution-dependent bottleneck that shifts the system's character. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate sits at 42.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target many players prefer. Dropping to High settings at the same resolution yields 57.2 FPS, still shy of a smooth 60 FPS experience. The Medium preset at 4K produces 69.5 FPS, while Low settings jump to 95.1 FPS — a 123.8% improvement over the Ultra preset at the same resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with more headroom. Ultra settings average 65.5 FPS, High reaches 88.5 FPS, Medium hits 110.2 FPS, and Low delivers 133.6 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low at 1440p represents a 104% increase in frame rate, slightly less than the 4K scaling range. At 1920x1080, the frame rates cluster more tightly: Ultra averages 85 FPS, High 120.6 FPS, Medium 132.7 FPS, and Low 145.2 FPS. The Ultra-to-Low spread at 1080p is only 70.8%, indicating that the CPU is beginning to cap performance.

The resolution scaling tells a clear story about the limiting component. From 4K Ultra to 1080p Ultra, the frame rate increases from 42.5 FPS to 85 FPS — a doubling of performance. This substantial gain with reduced resolution suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. However, the diminishing returns between 1440p and 1080p at Low settings (133.6 FPS to 145.2 FPS, only an 8.7% gain) indicate that the Core i5-9400's six threads are reaching their ceiling. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system is CPU-limited, whereas at 4K Ultra, it is firmly GPU-limited.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this configuration achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The maximum measured average is 145.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the best-case scenario for the pairing, where the GPU has ample headroom and the CPU's six cores are pushed to their limit.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: At 4K with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 69.5 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. However, High settings at the same resolution produce 57.2 FPS, falling below that mark. Ultra settings at 4K average 42.5 FPS, requiring a reduction in graphical fidelity to achieve smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 53610 places it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414). It leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 2.1% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 2.9%.

Q: What CPU benchmark scores does the Core i5-9400 achieve?

A: The processor scores 803 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 3346 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, and 7969 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. Single-core results are 113, 472, and 1125 in the same respective tests. The average benchmark score is 2305.

Q: What is the performance gap between the i5-9400 and its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4 both score 0.2% higher on average (2300 and 2299, respectively). The Intel Xeon E-2134 trails by 0.4%, while the Intel Core i7-8809G leads by 0.6% with a score of 2319.

Q: How does the system rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combination ranks 173rd out of 1687 total tested combos, placing it in the top 10.3% of all configurations tested in Red Dead Redemption 2.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the 5 nm process with the AD103 chip and Ada Lovelace architecture. It packs 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output processors. The GPU operates at a 2295 MHz base clock and boosts to 2550 MHz, with memory running at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for handling the large textures and open-world streaming demands of Red Dead Redemption 2.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark results demonstrate its position in the hierarchy. It scores 6600 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 246994 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 226163 in Geekbench Vulkan. The Passmark G3D score is 34245, with a GPU compute score of 19822. The GPU sits at the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is statistically tied at 0.2% difference, while the RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9%.

In the context of this game, the GPU's role varies dramatically by resolution and settings. At 4K Ultra, the 42.5 FPS average shows the GPU is heavily loaded, with the frame rate scaling predictably as settings decrease. The 95.1 FPS at 4K Low indicates the GPU can deliver high frame rates even at this resolution when the graphical load is reduced. The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any tested configuration, as even the highest settings at 4K remain GPU-bound rather than memory-bound.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 145.2 FPS, which is the peak performance across all tested configurations. Medium settings reduce this to 132.7 FPS, a 9.4% drop. High settings average 120.6 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 85 FPS — a 41.4% reduction from Low. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p suggests the GPU still has some influence, but the relatively small gap between Low and Medium (12.5 FPS) hints at CPU involvement.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show more GPU influence. Low settings average 133.6 FPS, Medium 110.2 FPS, High 88.5 FPS, and Ultra 65.5 FPS. The Ultra-to-Low spread at 1440p is 68.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming a more significant factor as pixel count increases. The High setting at 1440p delivers 88.5 FPS, which is close to the 1080p Ultra result of 85 FPS, showing how resolution and settings interact.

At 3840x2160, the GPU dominates the performance equation. Low settings average 95.1 FPS, Medium 69.5 FPS, High 57.2 FPS, and Ultra 42.5 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K represents a 52.6 FPS range, with each settings tier producing a substantial frame rate penalty. Notably, the 4K Low result of 95.1 FPS exceeds the 1440p Ultra result of 65.5 FPS, demonstrating that settings have a larger impact than resolution in this configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It operates at a 2.90 GHz base clock with a 4.10 GHz boost clock, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, delivering 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes and includes integrated UHD 630 graphics, though these are irrelevant for this discrete GPU configuration.

The processor's benchmark results place it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 2305. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 indicate modest performance by modern standards. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8809G, outperforms it by just 0.6%, while the Core i3-10305 matches it within 0.2%. This positions the i5-9400 as a mid-range processor that was competitive at its 2018 release but is now firmly in the lower half of current CPU performance.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate data at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 145.2 FPS, but the gap between Low and Medium is only 12.5 FPS, and the Ultra setting still manages 85 FPS. The fact that 4K Low (95.1 FPS) is significantly lower than 1080p Low (145.2 FPS) shows the GPU is still the main constraint at 4K. However, the 1080p results suggest the six threads of the i5-9400 are nearing their limit, as the frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra is compressed compared to higher resolutions. The data indicates that players seeking maximum frame rates at 1080p would benefit from a newer processor with higher single-thread performance, while those gaming at 4K will find the GPU to be the limiting component.