Red Dead Redemption 2

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Red Dead Redemption 2 presents a significant imbalance, with the GPU's immense power being held back by the CPU's age. Benchmark data shows that while the RTX 5090 D is capable of delivering high frame rates, the scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system constrained by the processor's six-core, six-thread architecture. The measured results indicate that this pairing ranks in the 193rd position out of 2902 tested combos, placing it in the top 10% of all configurations, yet the performance ceiling is clearly limited by the i5-9400 in lower resolutions. This analysis will break down the resolution scaling, the combo's standing, the GPU's role, and the optimal settings based strictly on the provided measured FPS data.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K in Red Dead Redemption 2 shows a classic pattern of GPU load shifting, but the absolute numbers reveal a unique bottleneck. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 122 FPS, which drops to 109 FPS at 1440p and further down to 72 FPS at 4K. This represents a 41% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial drop that indicates the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. However, the more telling data comes from the Low and Medium settings, where the CPU is forced to work harder relative to the GPU.

At Low settings, the frame rate only drops from 144 FPS at 1080p to 131 FPS at 1440p, and then to 114 FPS at 4K. This is a mere 21% decrease from 1080p to 4K, which is unusually small. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is the bottleneck even at 4K, as the GPU has plenty of headroom to render frames quickly but is waiting on the processor to feed it data. The i5-9400's six threads are likely maxed out, preventing the RTX 5090 D from reaching its full potential. In contrast, at Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 105 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p and then to 52 FPS at 4K, a 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a more typical GPU-bound scaling pattern.

The Medium settings data provides the clearest picture of the bottleneck. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 130 FPS, which drops to 118 FPS at 1440p and then to 86 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result is 34% lower than the 1080p Medium result, showing a moderate GPU dependency. However, the fact that the 1080p Medium score (130 FPS) is only 8 FPS higher than the 1440p Medium score (118 FPS) suggests that the CPU is nearing its limit at 1080p, as the GPU should be able to push much higher frame rates at that resolution. The data shows that the scaling is not linear; the gap between 1080p and 1440p is much smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K for all settings, which is a sign of CPU limitation at lower resolutions.

The limiting component is clearly the Intel Core i5-9400 at 1080p and 1440p, especially at Low and Medium settings where the GPU is underutilized. At 4K, the RTX 5090 D begins to take over as the primary bottleneck, but even then, the CPU's lack of threads prevents the system from achieving the frame rates that the GPU alone could deliver. The verdict is that this is a CPU-bound pairing at all resolutions below 4K, and only at 4K does the GPU start to become the limiting factor, though the CPU still holds back the overall performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 193 out of 2902 tested combinations places it in the top 6.7% of all configurations tested for Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a strong showing, but it is important to contextualize this rank given the hardware involved. The RTX 5090 D is a top-tier GPU with a percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs, while the Core i5-9400 has a percentile rank of only 47 among all CPUs. This massive disparity in percentiles directly explains why the combo does not rank higher; the CPU is dragging down the overall performance.

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (a 0.2% difference) and the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2264 (a 0.4% difference). The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, which is 0.4% lower than the i5-9400. These rivals are all mid-range processors, confirming that the i5-9400 is not a high-end part in synthetic benchmarks. The data shows that the CPU is roughly on par with these older mid-range chips, which means it cannot keep up with the RTX 5090 D's capabilities.

For the GPU, the RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76904 and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940. This places the RTX 5090 D in a competitive bracket with these mobile GPUs, which is surprising given that the RTX 5090 D is a desktop flagship. The deltaPct values show that the RTX 5090 D is only slightly faster than the RX 6650M XT and slightly slower than the RX 6850M XT in these synthetic tests, which suggests that the GPU's real-world gaming performance may be limited by other factors, such as driver overhead or the specific game's engine.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the combo's rank of 193 indicates that there are 192 other configurations that perform better. Given that the GPU is a top-tier component, the rank is almost entirely determined by the CPU's limitations. The data suggests that pairing the RTX 5090 D with a significantly faster CPU would result in a much higher rank, as the GPU would no longer be starved for data. The benchmark results indicate that this combo is a classic case of a high-end GPU being paired with a mid-range CPU, resulting in a performance ceiling that is far below what the GPU could achieve on its own.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the star of this pairing, with a 32 GB GDDR7 memory pool and a 512-bit bus that provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This immense memory bandwidth is crucial for Red Dead Redemption 2's large open world, as it allows the GPU to stream textures and geometry quickly. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz are high, but the measured FPS data shows that these clocks are not being fully utilized at lower resolutions due to the CPU bottleneck.

The RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2, even at 4K Ultra settings. The game is unlikely to exceed this amount, so VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios. The data shows that the GPU is capable of delivering 114 FPS at 4K Low, which indicates that the GPU's raw compute power is enormous. However, the fact that the 4K Low score is only 21% lower than the 1080p Low score suggests that the GPU is not being pushed to its limits at 4K Low, as a fully GPU-bound scenario would show a much larger drop.

The GPU's role in this combo is to provide the raw rendering power, but it is consistently held back by the CPU. At 1080p High, the GPU is only producing 122 FPS, which is far below what the RTX 5090 D is capable of. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and the Passmark G3D score of 44065 indicate that the GPU has plenty of headroom, but the game's engine is not able to leverage it with the i5-9400. The GPU's performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 is therefore limited by the CPU's frame pacing and draw call submission, which are bottlenecks for a six-core, six-thread processor.

The RTX 5090 D's memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) is high, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is a key advantage. In Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for its detailed textures, this bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame rates even when the GPU is working hard. However, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is only fully utilized at 4K Ultra settings, where it produces 52 FPS. This is the only scenario where the GPU is likely the primary bottleneck, and even then, the CPU's limitations may still be contributing to the low result. The data indicates that the GPU is a powerful component that is wasted in this pairing, as the CPU cannot feed it enough frames to keep it busy.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and the user's preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 122 FPS, which is smooth and playable. However, the Ultra preset at 1080p only drops to 105 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS and offers better visuals. The data shows that the 1080p Ultra is a viable option, as the 17 FPS drop from High to Ultra is relatively small and the resulting 105 FPS is still very playable.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 109 FPS, which is excellent for a high-refresh-rate monitor. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 118 FPS, which is 9 FPS higher than High, but the visual quality is lower. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 79 FPS, which is still playable but may not be ideal for competitive play. The data suggests that the 1440p High preset is the sweet spot, as it provides a good balance between visual quality and frame rate. The 1440p Medium preset is also a good option for users who prioritize frame rate, as it delivers 118 FPS, which is 9 FPS higher than High.

At 4K, the High preset delivers 72 FPS, which is playable but not optimal for a high-refresh-rate display. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 86 FPS, which is 14 FPS higher than High and offers a better experience. The Low preset at 4K delivers 114 FPS, which is very smooth, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. The Ultra preset at 4K only delivers 52 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS threshold for many players. The data clearly shows that the 4K Medium preset is the best choice for this combo, as it provides the highest frame rate that is still above 60 FPS while maintaining a reasonable level of visual quality.

The best experience per the measured rows is the 1080p Ultra preset, which delivers 105 FPS with the highest visual quality. For users with a 1440p monitor, the High preset is recommended. For 4K users, the Medium preset is the only option that maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS. The Low presets are not recommended for any resolution, as they provide lower visual quality without a significant frame rate benefit, except at 4K where the 114 FPS is a notable improvement over Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 144 FPS, which is the highest frame rate measured for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 130 FPS, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 149 FPS. The High preset at 1080p delivers 122 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 105 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 39 FPS, which shows that the CPU is able to maintain high frame rates even at the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 131 FPS, which is a 13 FPS drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 118 FPS, with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 135 FPS. The High preset delivers 109 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 79 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 52 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to play a bigger role. The 1440p Ultra result of 79 FPS is a 26 FPS drop from 1080p Ultra, which shows that the GPU is being pushed harder at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 114 FPS, which is a 17 FPS drop from 1440p Low. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 86 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. The High preset delivers 72 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 52 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 62 FPS, which is the largest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS is a 27 FPS drop from 1440p Ultra, showing the heavy toll that 4K takes on the GPU.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only setting that has measured minimum and maximum FPS values, which are 110/149 at 1080p, 100/135 at 1440p, and 74/99 at 4K. This suggests that the Medium preset provides a stable frame rate with limited variance. The High and Ultra presets do not have min/max data, but the average FPS values indicate that they are less stable. The Low presets also lack min/max data, but the high average FPS suggests they are likely stable as well. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown reveals that this combo is capable of high frame rates at all settings, but the CPU bottleneck becomes more apparent at lower resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 144, achieved at 1080p with the Low preset. This is the only setting that reaches the 144 FPS mark, and it is followed by 131 FPS at 1440p Low and 130 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D being fully utilized with the Core i5-9400?

A: No. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo only produces 144 FPS, which is far below what the GPU is capable of. The CPU's percentile rank of 47 versus the GPU's rank of 92 indicates a significant bottleneck, and the small FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings confirms that the CPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the best 4K setting for this combo?

A: The Medium preset is the best 4K option, delivering an average of 86 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that exceeds 60 FPS, as the High preset delivers 72 FPS and the Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS. The Low preset at 4K delivers 114 FPS but sacrifices significant visual quality.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 193rd out of 2902 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.7% of all tested configurations. This rank is high, but it is limited by the CPU, which has a percentile rank of 47, while the GPU has a percentile rank of 92.

Q: Does the 32 GB VRAM of the RTX 5090 D make a difference in this game?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is more than sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth helps maintain frame rates. However, the measured data shows that VRAM is not a limiting factor, as the performance is constrained by the CPU at lower resolutions and the GPU's raw power at 4K.

Q: Which rival GPU is closest in performance to the RTX 5090 D in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT is the closest rival, with an average score of 76904, which is 1.1% lower than the RTX 5090 D's score of 77712. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.6% higher at 78940.