Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a severely constrained gaming experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the benchmark data indicating the graphics solution is the primary bottleneck across all tested configurations. The combination ranks 2568th out of 2902 tested combos, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems, a result that aligns with the Arc B390’s individual 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs. While the CPU is a high-performing desktop part, the integrated graphics solution limits the entire system to frame rates that are mostly below playable thresholds.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are dramatic, revealing a graphics pipeline that is overwhelmed at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 51 FPS at 1920x1080 to 38 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 13 FPS, and then further down to 25 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 51% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K at the lowest preset, indicating that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are severely taxed as resolution increases.

Moving to High settings, the scaling pattern is steeper in relative terms. The average FPS drops from 32 at 1080p to 24 at 1440p, and then plummets to 16 at 4K. The 4K figure is exactly half of the 1080p result, underscoring how the Arc B390’s 24 ROPs and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate become a hard ceiling. The data suggests that the limiting component is unambiguously the GPU; the Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is not the constraining factor in this scaling curve, as the frame rate collapses in a manner consistent with pure pixel-pushing limitations.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory, with averages of 39 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. Interestingly, the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium is 24, which is higher than the average FPS at 4K High, illustrating that resolution has a more significant impact on stability than the preset level. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, starting at 23 FPS at 1080p and falling to 17 FPS at 1440p and 11 FPS at 4K. This scaling behavior confirms that the Arc B390 is the decisive factor; no CPU, regardless of its 5.00 GHz boost clock, can compensate for the GPU’s inability to process geometry and shading at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the only configuration that approaches a playable experience is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 51 FPS. This is the sole setting and resolution combination that breaks the 50 FPS barrier, making it the clear choice for any gameplay attempt. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a modest visual upgrade but drops the average to 39 FPS, a 24% reduction, which may be acceptable for users prioritizing image quality over smoothness, though the minimum FPS of 33 in this mode suggests occasional stutter.

For users with 1440p displays, the Low preset is the only viable option, yielding 38 FPS on average. This is a marginal 3 FPS difference from the 1080p Medium setting, suggesting that resolution scaling is more punishing than preset scaling in this range. The High preset at 1440p falls to 24 FPS, which is generally considered unplayable for a fast-paced action adventure title. At 4K, all presets are effectively non-functional, with even Low struggling to reach 25 FPS; the Ultra preset at 4K bottoms out at 11 FPS, rendering the game a slideshow.

The data indicates that the performance ceiling is so low that visual fidelity must be sacrificed entirely. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 12 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs another 7 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 9 FPS. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the Arc B390’s 1536 shading units and 48 TMUs are saturated even at Low settings, and each incremental preset increase disproportionately impacts frame rate. Therefore, the recommended path is clear: lock to 1080p and Low to maximize playability, accepting that the game will look dated but run at a tolerable speed.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics part based on the Xe3-LPG architecture and built on a 3 nm process node by Intel. Its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the host system’s RAM for video memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This architecture is fundamentally unsuited for a demanding title like Red Dead Redemption 2, as evidenced by its 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of just 1482.

The GPU’s clock speeds, with a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz, do not translate into gaming performance due to the memory bottleneck. The 24 ROPs and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are the primary limiters at higher resolutions, explaining the steep FPS drops observed from 1080p to 4K. The 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 compute figure is respectable on paper, but the shared memory interface severely restricts effective throughput in real-world gaming workloads.

The nearest rivals for this GPU, based on average benchmark scores, are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710. The Arc B390’s score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the GT 710. This places the Arc B390 in the same performance tier as integrated and entry-level discrete solutions from over a decade ago, which explains why Red Dead Redemption 2, a game released in 2018, runs so poorly on it. The GPU’s 12 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are irrelevant when the raw rasterization throughput is this low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i7-12700KF and Arc B390 ranks 2568th out of 2902 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 11.5% of all systems tested. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s poor performance; the CPU is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 85th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 35365. The disparity between the CPU’s high standing and the GPU’s low standing creates a massively unbalanced system where the graphics solution drags down the entire experience.

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Core i7-12700KF is essentially tied with the Core i7-13700T, Core i5-13600T, and Core 5 213PE, with delta percentages ranging from -0.2% to +0.2%. This indicates that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo’s ranking; any of these processors would produce nearly identical results when paired with the Arc B390. The combo’s rank is therefore almost entirely determined by the GPU, which sits at the 9th percentile and competes with GPUs from the early 2010s.

The fact that the combo ranks 2568th out of 2902, despite having a CPU that ranks in the 85th percentile, demonstrates the severity of the GPU bottleneck. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is heavily GPU-bound at most settings, the CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are largely idle while the GPU struggles to maintain double-digit frame rates. This ranking serves as a cautionary tale about pairing high-end CPUs with low-end integrated graphics, as the system’s overall capability is defined by its weakest link.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, featuring a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It has a 25 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores impressively, with a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 28838 and a single-core score of 4071, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

However, in Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s role is minimal due to the GPU bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation; frame rates are consistently low across all presets and resolutions, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would typically be more stressed, the average FPS is 51, which is well below what this processor is capable of in other titles. The CPU’s Passmark multithread score of 34092 and integer math score of 113521 indicate ample headroom for game logic and physics, but the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough to utilize this power.

The CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2’s threading model, which typically scales well beyond 8 threads. The data suggests that even a significantly weaker CPU would produce identical FPS numbers when paired with the Arc B390, as the GPU is the sole limiting factor. The Core i7-12700KF’s 5.00 GHz boost clock and high single-thread performance (Geekbench single-core score of 2255) are irrelevant when the GPU’s frame delivery is capped at 51 FPS in the best case.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS of 51, followed by Medium at 39 FPS, High at 32 FPS, and Ultra at 23 FPS. The Medium preset records a minimum FPS of 33 and a maximum of 44, indicating a relatively stable range. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 28 FPS, showing that the GPU’s 1536 shading units are the bottleneck as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 38 FPS, which is only 3 FPS lower than the 1080p Medium preset, highlighting the impact of resolution. Medium averages 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 33, while High drops to 24 FPS and Ultra falls to 17 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently lower than their 1080p counterparts, with the Low preset losing 13 FPS, Medium losing 10 FPS, High losing 8 FPS, and Ultra losing 6 FPS when moving up in resolution.

At 3840x2160, all presets are below 30 FPS. Low averages 25 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS with a minimum of 16 and maximum of 22, High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe: Low loses 13 FPS, Medium loses 10 FPS, High loses 8 FPS, and Ultra loses 6 FPS. The data confirms that the Arc B390 cannot handle 4K in any capacity, and even 1440p is only marginally playable on the lowest settings. The only configuration that approaches a smooth experience is 1080p Low, and even that falls short of the 60 FPS target.