Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread desktop processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This CPU sits in the 84th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35287, placing it in a tightly contested group where its nearest rivals are within a fraction of a percent of its performance; the Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305 (a 0.1% difference), the Core i7-12700KF scores 35365 (0.2% difference), the Core i7-13700T scores 35403 (0.3% difference), and the Core 5 213PE scores 35428 (0.4% difference). In Red Dead Redemption 2, this processor is paired with a GeForce RTX 5050, and the measured frame rates across resolutions and settings suggest that the CPU is not the primary constraint in most scenarios. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 98 FPS, while at 4K with Ultra settings, it drops to 22 FPS; this dramatic scaling indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and graphical load increase. The CPU’s strong multi-threaded capabilities are evident in synthetic benchmarks like Cinebench R23 multicore, where it scores 19784, and its single-thread performance is solid with a Geekbench single-core score of 2308. This hardware combination is ranked 1760 out of 2902 tested combos for this game, which is below the median, suggesting that while the CPU is capable, the overall pairing may be limited by the GPU. The data indicates that the i7-12700K provides sufficient headroom for the RTX 5050 in this title, as frame rates do not suggest a CPU bottleneck even at lower resolutions where the GPU load is lighter.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 provides a clear picture of how different presets perform. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 98 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combination. The Medium preset drops to 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 84, while the High preset averages 61 FPS. The Ultra preset is notably demanding, averaging only 44 FPS at this resolution. The jump from Low to Medium represents a 25 FPS decrease, while the step from Medium to High is a smaller 12 FPS drop, indicating that the scalability between presets is not linear. For players targeting high refresh rates at 1080p, the Low preset is the only option that consistently exceeds 90 FPS, but the Medium preset offers a more balanced experience with frame times that remain above 60 FPS in the minimum case. The High preset at 61 FPS is marginal for smooth gameplay on a 60 Hz display, but it will not hold up on higher refresh panels. The Ultra preset at 44 FPS is playable but sacrifices the fluidity that the lower presets provide. At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds: Low averages 73 FPS, Medium averages 55 FPS (with min/max of 46 and 63), High averages 46 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The 1440p Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 70 FPS, while Medium stays above 50 FPS, making it a reasonable choice for users who want better visual fidelity without dropping below 45 FPS in the worst case. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained: Low averages 48 FPS, Medium averages 36 FPS (with min/max of 31 and 41), High averages 30 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, and the Low preset is the only one that stays above 40 FPS on average. The data suggests that the Medium preset provides the best experience per the measured rows across all resolutions, as it offers a meaningful improvement over Low while maintaining frame rates that are significantly higher than High or Ultra. At 1080p, Medium’s 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum is a safer choice than High’s 61 FPS, and at 1440p, Medium’s 55 FPS average with a 46 FPS minimum is more consistent than High’s 46 FPS. At 4K, Medium’s 36 FPS average is low but still preferable to High’s 30 FPS or Ultra’s 22 FPS, given the marginal visual gains.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination scales across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, revealing the nature of the performance bottleneck. Starting at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 98 FPS; moving to 2560x1440 Low drops this to 73 FPS, a 25 FPS decrease, and then to 3840x2160 Low, which yields 48 FPS, another 25 FPS drop. The pattern is similar for High settings: 1080p High averages 61 FPS, 1440p High averages 46 FPS (a 15 FPS drop), and 4K High averages 30 FPS (a 16 FPS drop). For Medium settings, the progression is 73 FPS at 1080p, 55 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K, with consistent 18-19 FPS drops between each step. Ultra settings follow the same trend: 44 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, with 11 FPS drops at each transition. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial: Low falls from 98 to 48 FPS (a 51% reduction), Medium falls from 73 to 36 FPS (a 51% reduction), High falls from 61 to 30 FPS (a 51% reduction), and Ultra falls from 44 to 22 FPS (a 50% reduction). The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU’s workload does not scale with resolution in a way that would produce different degradation patterns. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller performance differences at higher resolutions, since the CPU load remains relatively constant while the GPU load increases. Instead, the frame rate halves when moving from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The RTX 5050’s memory configuration—8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth—likely contributes to this limitation, as higher resolutions demand more memory bandwidth and capacity, but the data does not specify memory usage. The 4K results, where even Low settings only reach 48 FPS, reinforce that the GPU is the primary constraint in this pairing, with the i7-12700K providing ample processing power that goes underutilized as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Red Dead Redemption 2, the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 holds a combo rank of 1760 out of 2902 tested combos. This places it in the 60.6th percentile (calculated from the rank and total), meaning that roughly 40% of tested combinations perform worse, while about 60% perform better. The rank is below the median, indicating that this pairing is not among the top performers for this game. The CPU itself is ranked in the 84th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35287, which is notably higher than the GPU’s standing. The RTX 5050 is in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. The discrepancy between the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s lower percentile suggests that the combo’s mid-pack rank is largely driven by the GPU’s limitations. The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (avgScore 21153, deltaPct -0.6%), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (avgScore 21237, deltaPct -1%), the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avgScore 20713, deltaPct 1.6%), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (avgScore 21379, deltaPct -1.6%). These rivals are all within a 1.6% performance band, showing that the RTX 5050 sits in a crowded segment of similar-performing GPUs. Given that the combo rank is 1760, it is clear that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2, likely because they use more powerful graphics cards. The data shows that this combination is not optimized for high-end performance in this title, but it is also not at the bottom of the rankings, as 1142 combos perform worse. For context, the rank suggests that users of this pairing will experience moderate frame rates, consistent with the measured FPS numbers, which range from 22 FPS at 4K Ultra to 98 FPS at 1080p Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 149 mm² and 16,900 million transistors. It features 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines, along with 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores. The GPU’s clock speeds are 2317 MHz base and 2572 MHz boost, with memory running at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In terms of raw compute, the RTX 5050 delivers 13.17 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1), with a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. The GPU is rated for a TDP of 130 W and requires a 300 W power supply, with a dual-slot cooler and a single 8-pin power connector. In the benchmark database, the RTX 5050 has an average score of 21035 and sits in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (avgScore 21153, deltaPct -0.6%), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (avgScore 21237, deltaPct -1%), the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avgScore 20713, deltaPct 1.6%), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (avgScore 21379, deltaPct -1.6%). In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU’s role is critical, as the measured FPS data shows that performance scales inversely with resolution and settings in a way that points to GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 98 FPS, but this drops to 73 FPS at 1440p Low and 48 FPS at 4K Low, demonstrating the GPU’s limitations at higher pixel counts. The 8 GB memory capacity is a notable factor, as modern games at 4K with high textures can exceed this amount, though the data does not provide memory usage figures. The GPU’s bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s is moderate, and the 128-bit bus may limit performance in memory-intensive scenes. The RTX 5050’s benchmark scores, such as 17326 in Passmark G3D and 2502 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, indicate it is a mid-range part that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but struggles at 4K, which aligns with the measured FPS results. The GPU’s performance is also reflected in its percentile rank of 66, which is lower than the CPU’s 84th percentile, meaning the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing for this specific game.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 98, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: At 4K resolution, which setting provides the best frame rate?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low setting provides the best average FPS at 48, followed by Medium at 36, High at 30, and Ultra at 22.

Q: How does the combo rank among other tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 1760 out of 2902 tested combos, placing it below the median performance level.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium setting at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 46, with an average of 55 and a maximum of 63.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the bottleneck, as frame rates drop by about 50% when moving from 1080p to 4K across all settings, indicating resolution-dependent scaling typical of GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 98 FPS while Ultra averages 44 FPS, a difference of 54 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 in Red Dead Redemption 2 is presented below, organized by resolution and settings. All values are average FPS unless otherwise noted.

At 1920x1080, the performance spans from 98 FPS at Low settings to 44 FPS at Ultra settings. The Medium setting averages 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 84. The High setting averages 61 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values provided. The Low setting averages 98 FPS, and the Ultra setting averages 44 FPS, with no min/max data.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are lower across the board. Low settings average 73 FPS, Medium averages 55 FPS (min 46, max 63), High averages 46 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The Medium setting is the only one with recorded min/max values, while Low, High, and Ultra have only average FPS listed.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further. Low settings average 48 FPS, Medium averages 36 FPS (min 31, max 41), High averages 30 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. Again, only the Medium setting has min/max values recorded, while the other settings provide only average FPS.

The complete measured FPS table is as follows:

• 3840x2160, High: avg 30 FPS
• 3840x2160, Low: avg 48 FPS
• 3840x2160, Medium: avg 36 FPS (min 31, max 41)
• 3840x2160, Ultra: avg 22 FPS
• 2560x1440, High: avg 46 FPS
• 2560x1440, Low: avg 73 FPS
• 2560x1440, Medium: avg 55 FPS (min 46, max 63)
• 2560x1440, Ultra: avg 33 FPS
• 1920x1080, High: avg 61 FPS
• 1920x1080, Low: avg 98 FPS
• 1920x1080, Medium: avg 73 FPS (min 62, max 84)
• 1920x1080, Ultra: avg 44 FPS

These numbers indicate that the combo is most comfortable at 1080p, where even High settings maintain a 60+ FPS average, but at 4K, only Low settings stay above 45 FPS. The Medium setting provides the most consistent frame times across all resolutions, with min FPS values that are within 14 FPS of the average for each resolution. The data shows a clear trend of decreasing performance with increasing resolution and graphical fidelity, with the largest single drop occurring from 1080p Low (98 FPS) to 1440p Low (73 FPS), a 25 FPS reduction. The smallest drop between adjacent settings is from 1440p High (46 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (33 FPS), a 13 FPS reduction, and from 1080p High (61 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (44 FPS), a 17 FPS reduction. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown confirms that this hardware pairing is suited for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings, with 1440p playable at low to medium settings, and 4K only viable at low settings.