Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread desktop processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running on the Intel Socket 1151 platform. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, alongside a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141. Its average benchmark score of 2254 places it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range part that sits just below the top half of tested processors. The data shows that the i5-9400’s nearest rivals are extremely close in performance: it trails the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 by just 0.2%, leads the Intel Core i7-10710U by 0.3%, and edges out the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 by 0.4%. In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, this processor’s six physical cores without hyper-threading are sufficient to feed the massive GPU in this pairing, but the benchmark results reveal that at lower resolutions, the CPU becomes a significant bottleneck, limiting frame rates well below what the graphics card alone could deliver.

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

The Core i5-9400 brings a modest six cores and six threads to the table, a configuration that is competent for gaming but lacks the extra thread headroom of hyper-threaded or higher-core-count rivals. Its 2.90 GHz base clock and 4.10 GHz boost clock are respectable for the Coffee Lake generation, and the 9 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores. However, the processor’s 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests that it is not a top-tier part, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935 shows that while individual core performance is decent, it is not exceptional by modern standards.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role becomes increasingly visible as resolution drops. At 4K Ultra, the game is almost entirely GPU-bound, with the i5-9400 providing enough throughput to keep the RTX 4090 busy, resulting in an average of 48 FPS. But when the resolution drops to 1440p, the CPU’s limitations begin to surface; at 1440p High, the average FPS jumps to 100, and at 1080p High, it reaches 122 FPS. This scaling pattern—where frame rates do not double when pixel count is halved—indicates that the CPU is preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low preset yields 144 FPS, which is the highest average recorded for this combo, but even that figure is constrained by the processor’s six threads, as the RTX 4090 is capable of far higher frame rates in less CPU-limited scenarios.

The benchmark data shows that the i5-9400 is the limiting component at 1080p, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS gains when moving from Medium to Low settings. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 130 FPS, while dropping to Low only increases that to 144 FPS—a 14 FPS gain that is smaller than the GPU’s headroom would suggest. This is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck, where the processor’s six threads cannot keep up with the GPU’s ability to render frames quickly. The CPU’s 6-thread design, while adequate for many games, struggles to fully exploit a flagship GPU like the RTX 4090 in a title as demanding as Red Dead Redemption 2, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU’s workload is lighter.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth of a graphics card, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It houses 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory runs across a 384-bit bus, delivering a massive 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 2235 MHz, boosting up to 2520 MHz, and its FP32 performance is rated at 82.58 TFLOPS. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4090 scores 38,194 in Passmark G3D and 255,416 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it at the 88th percentile of all GPUs—a top-tier position that its nearest rivals barely approach, with the Intel Arc Pro A60 matching its average score exactly (0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M trailing by 2.5%.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the RTX 4090’s raw power is evident in the 4K results, where it drives the game at an average of 66 FPS on High settings and 106 FPS on Low settings. The GPU’s 24 GB of VRAM is far more than the game requires, ensuring that memory capacity is never a limiting factor at any resolution or settings level. The card’s high memory bandwidth is also beneficial for the game’s large open world, allowing for smooth texture streaming without stutter. However, the GPU’s performance is heavily throttled by the i5-9400 at lower resolutions. At 1440p High, the combo averages 100 FPS, which is only 34 FPS higher than at 4K High—a modest gain that reflects the CPU’s inability to feed the GPU faster. At 1080p High, the average climbs to 122 FPS, but this is still far below what the RTX 4090 could achieve with a stronger processor, as evidenced by its synthetic scores.

The RTX 4090’s percentile ranking of 88 shows that it is a top-tier GPU, and its benchmark scores—such as the 9,223 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12—confirm its dominance. Yet, in this pairing, the data reveals that the GPU is frequently underutilized. The 4K Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, yields 48 FPS, indicating that even at maximum settings, the GPU is not fully saturated because the CPU is struggling to keep up with the game’s simulation and draw call overhead. The GPU’s role in this combo is to provide immense headroom for future upgrades; with a more capable CPU, the RTX 4090 would likely deliver significantly higher frame rates across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 357th out of 3,714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 9.6% of all systems tested. This ranking is impressive at first glance, but it must be interpreted carefully. The high rank is almost entirely due to the RTX 4090’s dominance; the CPU is a mid-range part that likely pulls the combo down from what it could achieve with a top-tier processor. The data shows that the combo’s performance is strong at 4K, where it averages 66 FPS on High settings, but the CPU bottleneck becomes glaring at 1080p, where the average FPS of 122 on High settings is far lower than the GPU’s capabilities would suggest.

Comparing this combo to others in the database, the 357th rank out of 3,714 indicates that there are 356 systems that perform better, and most of those likely pair the RTX 4090 with a more powerful CPU. The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—such as the Intel Core i7-10710U, which is only 0.3% faster—would likely produce nearly identical results in this game, as the bottleneck is the CPU’s six threads, not its clock speed. The RTX 4090’s nearest rivals, like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, which is 2.5% slower in average benchmark score, would not meaningfully change the game’s performance because the GPU is not the limiting factor at most settings. The combo’s ranking reflects the GPU’s power, but it also highlights the inefficiency of pairing a budget CPU with a flagship GPU, as the system does not scale well with resolution reduction.

The benchmark results indicate that the combo’s strength lies in 4K gaming, where the CPU bottleneck is less pronounced. At 4K Ultra, the 48 FPS average is playable, and at 4K High, the 66 FPS average is smooth. This suggests that the combo is best suited for high-resolution gaming, where the GPU’s massive compute resources are fully utilized. The 357th rank out of 3,714 is respectable, but it is a far cry from the top rankings that a balanced system with a high-end CPU would achieve, showing that the i5-9400 is the weak link in this otherwise powerful pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded for this combo is 144 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU bottleneck affect performance at different resolutions?

A: At 4K, the CPU bottleneck is minimal, with High settings averaging 66 FPS. At 1440p, the average on High settings is 100 FPS, and at 1080p, it is 122 FPS. The relatively small gains when lowering resolution indicate the CPU limits frame rates more severely at 1080p.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 357th out of 3,714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 9.6% of systems.

Q: How does the RTX 4090’s synthetic performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60,347, which is exactly matched by the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta). The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% slower, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% slower.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 48, achieved at 4K resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU’s synthetic score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,254, which is 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (score 2,259) and 0.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (score 2,246).

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

The resolution scaling data reveals a clear pattern of CPU limitation. Moving from 1080p to 1440p on High settings, the average FPS drops from 122 to 100, a 22 FPS decrease (18%). Going from 1440p to 4K on High settings, the average FPS drops from 100 to 66, a 34 FPS decrease (34%). The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is larger than from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. However, the absolute FPS at 1080p—122 FPS on High—is far below what the RTX 4090 should achieve, indicating that the CPU is the primary limiter at lower resolutions.

The data shows that at 4K, the system is more balanced, with the GPU’s workload being heavy enough to keep the CPU busy. At 4K High, the 66 FPS average is likely close to the GPU’s maximum in this game, while the CPU has enough headroom to feed it. But at 1080p, the RTX 4090 is starved of data, as evidenced by the small FPS gains when lowering settings. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (130 FPS) and Low (144 FPS) is only 14 FPS, whereas at 4K, the difference between High (66 FPS) and Low (106 FPS) is 40 FPS. This disparity confirms that the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p, while the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K on Ultra settings further illustrates this. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 96 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, it averages 48 FPS—exactly half. This halving of frame rates with a quadrupling of pixel count suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU is the limiting factor even at 1080p, because the game’s ultra preset places a heavy load on the graphics card that the CPU can manage. The 1440p Ultra result of 72 FPS fits this pattern, showing a consistent GPU-bound scaling at the highest settings. This indicates that for this combo, the Ultra preset is the best choice to avoid CPU limitations, as it shifts the bottleneck to the GPU where the RTX 4090’s immense power is fully utilized.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo is achieved at 1440p with High settings, which delivers an average of 100 FPS. This represents a sweet spot between visual quality and performance, as the frame rate is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while the High preset provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium. At 4K, the High preset averages 66 FPS, which is also playable and offers the best visual fidelity at the highest resolution, but the 1440p High option provides a higher frame rate with only a modest visual compromise.

For players seeking maximum frame rates, the 1080p Low preset provides 144 FPS, but this comes at a significant visual cost and still does not fully utilize the RTX 4090’s potential. The data shows that the Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields 48 FPS at 4K, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 96 FPS at 1080p—all of which are lower than the High preset at the respective resolutions. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 130 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K, but the High preset provides better visuals for a relatively small FPS cost at 1440p and 4K.

The best overall experience is at 1440p High, where the 100 FPS average is smooth and the visual quality is high. This setting balances the CPU and GPU loads, ensuring that the RTX 4090 is not completely starved while still delivering a high frame rate. At 4K High, the 66 FPS average is acceptable for slower-paced exploration, but for action-heavy scenes, 1440p High is superior. The data clearly indicates that High settings at 1440p is the optimal choice for this combo, as it provides a high frame rate without sacrificing the visual richness that the RTX 4090 is capable of delivering.