Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2: Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable but demanding experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with performance varying dramatically across resolution and quality settings. The data shows a 12-core, 20-thread CPU paired with an 8 GB GDDR6 GPU, placing this combo at rank 986 out of 1687 tested combinations. The measured frame rates reveal a system that excels at 1080p Low settings but struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K Ultra, indicating a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 107.8 FPS average, which is the highest measured performance in the dataset. For a more balanced experience, 2560x1440 at Medium settings delivers 61.1 FPS, while 1920x1080 at High settings yields 68.3 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181, sitting 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321) and 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338). It is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Arc B580 (23021) and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon 760M (22999).

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K ranks in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, scores 35802, which is 0.3% higher.

Q: Does the GPU bottleneck the system at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the data indicates a significant GPU limitation at 3840x2160. Even at Low settings, the average FPS drops to 52.8, and at Ultra settings it falls to 27.1 FPS. This represents a performance drop of over 50% compared to 1080p Low settings.

Q: What are the key specifications of the RTX 4060's memory subsystem?

A: The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2125 MHz with 17 Gbps effective speed, while the core operates at 1830 MHz base and 2460 MHz boost clocks.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its single-threaded results?

A: In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 29241 in multicore and 4128 in singlecore tests. The ratio of approximately 7:1 between multicore and singlecore reflects the benefit of its 12 cores and 20 threads, with the 3DMark max threads score of 9979 versus single thread of 1043 showing a similar pattern.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, featuring the AD107 chip with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. The GPU contains 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units, along with 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores. Its compute capabilities include 15.11 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 operations, with pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s.

The memory configuration of 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical factor in Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world rendering. The GPU's clock speeds range from 1830 MHz base to 2460 MHz boost, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). With a TDP of 115 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, this is a power-efficient card that uses a single 12-pin connector.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4060 achieves a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 101030. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2302, while DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 Passmark scores are 175 and 76, respectively. The GPU ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. The nearest rivals show very tight competition: the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23321 (0.6% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338 (0.7% higher), while the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021 (0.7% lower) and the AMD Radeon 760M scores 22999 (0.8% lower).

The 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions and quality settings, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops when moving from 1080p to 4K. The GPU's 128-bit memory bus, while efficient for its class, restricts bandwidth compared to wider implementations, which affects texture-heavy scenes typical of Red Dead Redemption 2's detailed environments.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, indicative of the GPU being the primary bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 107.8 FPS, which drops to 83.5 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 22.5% reduction) and further to 52.8 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 51.0% reduction from 1080p). This scaling suggests that while the CPU can feed frames efficiently at lower resolutions, the GPU's rendering capacity becomes saturated as pixel count grows.

At High settings, the resolution scaling is more pronounced: 68.3 FPS at 1080p drops to 50.4 FPS at 1440p (26.2% reduction) and 33.4 FPS at 4K (51.1% reduction). The Ultra settings show the most severe impact, with 46.6 FPS at 1080p falling to 38.8 FPS at 1440p (16.7% reduction) and 27.1 FPS at 4K (41.8% reduction from 1080p). This non-linear scaling indicates that at higher settings, the GPU is already struggling at 1080p, so the relative drop to 4K is less dramatic but still substantial.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution provides insight into the system's headroom. At 1080p, the gap between Low (107.8 FPS) and Ultra (46.6 FPS) is 61.2 FPS, while at 4K the gap narrows to 25.7 FPS (52.8 vs 27.1). This compression at higher resolutions reinforces the conclusion that the GPU is the limiting component, as the settings-based performance difference shrinks when the GPU is already maxed out.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 986th out of 1687 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution. This ranking reflects the GPU's position in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, which is modest compared to the CPU's stronger 89th percentile standing. The imbalance between CPU and GPU capabilities means the system's gaming performance is primarily constrained by the graphics card.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores demonstrate its high-end positioning: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and singlecore of 4128, with a Geekbench multicore of 13892 and singlecore of 2561. Its nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802, 0.3% higher), Intel Core i7-13700T (35468, 0.6% lower), Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940, 0.7% higher), and Intel Core i7-13800H (35416, 0.8% lower). This places the i7-12700K in a tight cluster of similarly performing processors.

In contrast, the GPU's nearest rivals are much closer in performance, with all four within 0.8% of the RTX 4060's average score. This indicates that the GPU's gaming performance is competitive with its immediate peers but does not stand out in synthetic benchmarks. The combo's overall rank of 986 suggests that while the CPU is overqualified for the GPU's capabilities, the system as a whole delivers consistent, if not exceptional, performance in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process with a 215 mm² die size. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache, totaling a substantial amount of on-chip memory for gaming workloads.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance provides ample headroom for the game's simulation and AI systems. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and 3DMark max threads score of 9979 indicate that the processor can handle demanding workloads, while the singlecore scores of 4128 (Cinebench R23) and 1043 (3DMark single thread) show competitive per-core performance. The Passmark multithread score of 34404 and physics score of 1790 further confirm the CPU's capability in gaming-related tasks.

The CPU's benchmark performance places it in the 89th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35684. Its nearest rivals show negligible differences: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is 0.3% faster, the Intel Core i7-13700T is 0.6% slower, the Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% faster, and the Intel Core i7-13800H is 0.8% slower. This clustering indicates that the i7-12700K is well-positioned among contemporary processors, though not at the absolute top of the performance hierarchy.

The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, with PCIe Gen 4 providing 20 lanes from the CPU. It includes integrated UHD Graphics 770, though this is irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU. The CPU's unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking, and its Intel Socket 1700 compatibility makes it a versatile choice for various motherboard platforms. The launch MSRP of $409 positions it as a high-end desktop processor, though pricing considerations are separate from its measured performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance ceiling. With Low settings, the average FPS reaches 107.8, providing a smooth experience well above typical 60 FPS targets. Medium settings reduce this to 79.6 FPS (26.2% lower than Low), while High settings yield 68.3 FPS (36.6% lower than Low). Ultra settings drop performance significantly to 46.6 FPS, a 56.8% reduction from Low, indicating that the GPU struggles with the highest quality presets even at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve shifts downward. Low settings produce 83.5 FPS, which is 77.5% of the 1080p Low result. Medium settings achieve 61.1 FPS, High settings reach 50.4 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 38.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 44.7 FPS, compared to 61.2 FPS at 1080p, showing that the GPU's limitations become more apparent as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the system operates at its most constrained. Low settings deliver 52.8 FPS, which is barely playable for many users, while Medium drops to 39.2 FPS and High to 33.4 FPS. Ultra settings bottom out at 27.1 FPS, which falls below standard 30 FPS thresholds for smooth gameplay. The performance degradation from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 55.0 FPS (51.0% reduction), while the Ultra settings show a 19.5 FPS drop (41.8% reduction) across the same resolution range.

The data reveals that the system is best suited for 1080p gaming with medium-to-high settings, or 1440p gaming with low-to-medium settings. At 4K, even Low settings struggle to maintain 60 FPS, and the 8 GB VRAM capacity likely contributes to the steep performance penalties at higher resolutions. The combination of a high-end CPU and mid-range GPU creates a system where the graphics card consistently limits frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions and quality presets.