Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a strikingly narrow performance envelope in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a system that is fundamentally constrained by the graphics processor, with the CPU's substantial headroom going largely unused. This analysis breaks down the measured results across resolutions, presets, and the specific hardware dynamics at play.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent penalty as resolution climbs, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound configuration. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 47 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 35 FPS, a 25.5% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 23 FPS, which is a further 34.3% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern is not linear; the losses accelerate as pixel count increases, indicating that the Arc B370's rendering throughput is the limiting factor.

The same trend holds for the Medium preset. At 1080p Medium, the average is 35 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it falls to 26 FPS (a 25.7% decrease), and at 4K Medium, it bottoms out at 17 FPS (a 34.6% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly 25% between 1080p and 1440p, and roughly 35% between 1440p and 4K—across different settings presets strongly suggests that the bottleneck is the GPU's fill rate and shader processing capacity rather than any CPU overhead from draw calls or physics.

The data for High and Ultra presets reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p High, the average is 29 FPS, dropping to 22 FPS at 1440p (a 24.1% decrease) and then to 14 FPS at 4K (a 36.4% decrease from 1440p). Ultra settings are the most demanding; the system manages only 21 FPS at 1080p, 16 FPS at 1440p (a 23.8% decrease), and 10 FPS at 4K (a 37.5% decrease from 1440p). The fact that the relative performance losses between resolutions are nearly identical regardless of the preset (Low, Medium, High, or Ultra) is definitive. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect the delta between resolutions to shrink at lower settings where the GPU has less work to do. Instead, the consistent ~25% and ~35% steps show that the Arc B370 is saturated at every resolution.

The 4K numbers are telling. The highest average FPS at 4K is 23 on Low, and the lowest is 10 on Ultra. These are sub-playable figures. The 1080p numbers are also sub-60 FPS across the board, with the best case being 47 FPS on Low. The system's inability to push past 47 FPS even at 1080p Low, where the CPU should be idling, confirms that the GPU's absolute performance ceiling is low. This is not a case where resolution scaling reveals a CPU bottleneck; it reveals a GPU that is overwhelmed by even modest resolutions in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best-case average frame rate this combo can achieve in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded in the measured data is 47 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset. No configuration tested reaches 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B370's raw compute power compare to its direct competitors?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score is 1184. Its nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186, which is 0.2% higher. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% higher). The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, which is 1.4% lower.

Q: Is there any significant performance difference between the Core i7-12700K and its closest rivals?

A: The i7-12700K's average benchmark score is 35287. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13600T, scores 35305, a negligible 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 35365 (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403 (0.3% higher). The performance delta is within 0.4% for all listed rivals.

Q: What is the FPS range for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 35, with a minimum recorded of 30 FPS and a maximum of 40 FPS. This represents the only fully bracketed measurement set in the data.

Q: Does the CPU's core count or clock speed appear to influence the game's frame rates?

A: The data indicates no such influence. The i7-12700K has 12 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, yet the game's FPS is consistently low and scales directly with resolution and settings. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU one.

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

A: The combo ranks 2670 out of 2902 tested combinations. This places it in the lower 8th percentile of all systems measured (calculated from the rank and total), indicating that the GPU severely limits overall gaming performance in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a high-end desktop processor from the Alder Lake generation. It features 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its architecture, Alder Lake-S, is built on a 10 nm process. The processor's cache hierarchy includes an 80 KB L1 cache per core, a 1.25 MB L2 cache per core, and a shared 25 MB L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU performs admirably. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 19784, and its single-core score is 1850.5. Its Geekbench multicore score is 15790, with a single-core score of 2308. The PassMark multithread score is 34404, and the single-thread score is 4013. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 9276, and the max-thread score is 9979. These figures place the CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong all-round processing capability.

However, the benchmark results in Red Dead Redemption 2 show no evidence that this CPU power is being utilized. The FPS numbers are uniformly low, even at 1080p Low. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the FPS to remain constant across different resolutions at the same settings, since the CPU workload (AI, physics, game logic) is largely independent of resolution. This is not the case. The FPS drops significantly at every resolution step, which is the definition of a GPU bottleneck.

The CPU's high core count and clock speeds are irrelevant to the outcome here because the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough. The i7-12700K is capable of far higher frame rates in this title, as its benchmark scores suggest. The data implies that this processor is overqualified for the task at hand, leaving its performance headroom untapped. The system's performance is entirely dictated by the Intel Arc B370's limited capabilities, not by the CPU's ability to process instructions or manage threads.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured FPS data, the recommendations are straightforward. The only preset that yields an average FPS above 40 is 1080p Low, producing 47 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, though it still falls short of 60 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 12 FPS (from 47 to 35), which is a 25.5% performance penalty for what is likely a modest visual improvement.

At higher resolutions, the situation is dire. At 1440p, the best average is 35 FPS on Low, with Medium at 26 FPS. At 4K, the best average is 23 FPS on Low. None of these are acceptable for a smooth experience in an action-adventure title. The data suggests that players should prioritize resolution over settings, as the Low preset at a lower resolution will always provide a higher frame rate than a higher preset at the same resolution. For example, 1080p Medium (35 FPS) is better than 1440p Low (35 FPS), but 1080p Low (47 FPS) is superior to both.

The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at all resolutions, with averages ranging from 21 FPS at 1080p to 10 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset provides a minimum FPS of 30 at 1080p, which is the only recorded minimum above 30 FPS. If a consistent 30 FPS is the target, then 1080p Medium is the only viable option. However, for the best possible experience with this hardware, the data points to 1080p Low as the primary choice, sacrificing visual fidelity for the highest frame rate available. There is no setting combination that achieves a 60 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2670 out of 2902 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems measured, a position that reflects the GPU's severe performance deficit. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU's individual percentile ranking, which is 5th percentile among all GPUs.

The GPU's average benchmark score is a mere 1184, placing it alongside legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190) and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). These are not modern gaming parts. In contrast, the CPU's average benchmark score is 35287, placing it in the 84th percentile. The enormous disparity between the CPU's strong synthetic performance and the GPU's weak one explains the overall combo ranking. The system is effectively a high-end CPU paired with a low-end GPU, and the game's performance is dragged down to the GPU's level.

The combo's rank of 2670 out of 2902 is a direct consequence of this mismatch. While the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic, the GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 20 ROPs are insufficient for rendering the game at acceptable frame rates. The system is not competitive, and the ranking reflects a fundamental hardware imbalance that cannot be resolved through software settings. The data shows that this is one of the weakest configurations tested for this specific title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details every measured FPS value from the data, organized by resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average FPS 47. No minimum or maximum values recorded.
• Medium: Average FPS 35. Minimum FPS 30, Maximum FPS 40.
• High: Average FPS 29. No minimum or maximum values recorded.
• Ultra: Average FPS 21. No minimum or maximum values recorded.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average FPS 35. No minimum or maximum values recorded.
• Medium: Average FPS 26. Minimum FPS 22, Maximum FPS 30.
• High: Average FPS 22. No minimum or maximum values recorded.
• Ultra: Average FPS 16. No minimum or maximum values recorded.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average FPS 23. No minimum or maximum values recorded.
• Medium: Average FPS 17. Minimum FPS 15, Maximum FPS 20.
• High: Average FPS 14. No minimum or maximum values recorded.
• Ultra: Average FPS 10. No minimum or maximum values recorded.

The data shows a clear pattern: every increase in resolution or settings tier results in a linear degradation of performance. The only preset with a recorded minimum and maximum is Medium, which provides a stable but low frame rate. The Ultra preset at 4K is the absolute worst case, yielding an average of 10 FPS. The overall takeaway is that this system is only marginally playable at 1080p Low, and any attempt to increase graphical fidelity or resolution results in a significant, measurable drop in frame rate. The numbers are consistent and leave no room for interpretation regarding the hardware's limitations in this game.