Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2 — Intel Core i7-12700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The combination of Intel’s Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, with measured frame rates that shift dramatically across settings tiers. At 1080p, the pairing produces smooth gameplay in most presets, but 4K Ultra proves too demanding for the GPU, dropping to 21 FPS average. The data indicates a system where the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the 12-core CPU provides ample headroom even in the most taxing scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases, highlighting the GPU’s dominance in determining frame rates. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 93 FPS average, which drops to 69 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 46 FPS at 3840x2160 — a 50.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K at the same settings tier. This scaling pattern is consistent across all presets, with the High preset showing 58 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K, representing a 50% decline between the lowest and highest resolutions.

The Medium preset exhibits similar behavior, with average frame rates of 69 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. Notably, the Medium preset at 4K has measured minimum and maximum values of 29 and 39 FPS respectively, indicating frame time variance that could affect perceived smoothness. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, delivering 42 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and just 21 FPS at 4K — a 50% drop from 1080p to 4K, mirroring the pattern seen in other presets.

This consistent halving of performance from 1080p to 4K across all settings points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. The RTX 2060 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus width, faces increasing pixel throughput demands that scale directly with resolution. The CPU’s role remains relatively static across resolutions, as the frame rate declines are proportional to pixel count rather than scene complexity, confirming that the graphics card is the constraining factor in this configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER serves as the performance ceiling in this system, with benchmark results showing it operates in the 62nd percentile against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 18093 places it in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, -0.4% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, -0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, -1.5% delta). The GPU’s Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, features 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, along with 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores.

The memory subsystem comprises 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds are rated at 1470 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost, with memory operating at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s provide theoretical throughput that the measured FPS data shows is insufficient for 4K Ultra in Red Dead Redemption 2. The GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 14.36 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1) indicate reasonable compute capacity, but the game’s demands at high resolutions overwhelm this mid-range part.

The frame rate collapse at 4K — from 46 FPS at Low to 21 FPS at Ultra — demonstrates how quickly the GPU saturates as both resolution and visual fidelity increase. At 1080p, the GPU manages 93 FPS at Low, but this drops to 42 FPS at Ultra, showing a 54.8% performance penalty for the highest preset. The data suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in this title, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF provides substantial processing headroom that never becomes the limiting factor in Red Dead Redemption 2. This Alder Lake-S architecture processor, built on Intel’s 10 nm process, features 12 cores and 20 threads with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark results place it in the 85th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35365.

Synthetic benchmarks reinforce the CPU’s strength, with Cinebench R23 scores of 28838 in multi-core and 4071 in single-core tests. The 3DMark results show scaling from 1043 in single-thread to 9983 in max-threads, indicating efficient utilization of its hybrid core configuration. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.1% delta), Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, -0.2% delta), Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, 0.2% delta), and Intel Core i7-12700K (35287, 0.2% delta), showing performance parity with newer and similarly positioned parts.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU’s high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071) ensures that the game’s primary thread remains unconstrained, while the multi-core capabilities (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838) handle background tasks and streaming without impacting frame rates. The measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU limitation — frame rates scale inversely with resolution in a manner consistent with pure GPU bottlenecking. Even at 1080p Low with 93 FPS, the CPU maintains sufficient headroom, as evidenced by the lack of frame rate plateaus that would indicate processor saturation.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2635 out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places the configuration in the lower third of all tested systems, reflecting the GPU’s mid-range positioning rather than any CPU deficiency. The rank of 2635 indicates that approximately 71% of tested combinations deliver higher average frame rates in this game, a statistic that underscores the RTX 2060 SUPER’s limitations relative to more powerful graphics cards.

The CPU’s strong standing — 85th percentile among all CPUs — contrasts sharply with the GPU’s 62nd percentile ranking, creating an imbalance that is clearly visible in the measured results. This pairing demonstrates a classic bottleneck scenario where a high-end processor is paired with a mid-range graphics card, resulting in performance that is constrained by the GPU at every resolution and settings combination tested. The combo rank reflects this imbalance, as systems with similarly powerful CPUs but stronger GPUs would naturally achieve higher frame rates and better rankings.

The data suggests that users seeking improved performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU change, as the i7-12700KF already provides ample processing power. The 2635th rank out of 3714 combos places this system in a position where it can handle the game at moderate settings, but it will not compete with high-end configurations featuring newer or more powerful graphics cards.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this system in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Based on measured data, 1920x1080 provides the most consistent performance, with average frame rates ranging from 42 FPS at Ultra to 93 FPS at Low. The 2560x1440 resolution is also viable, with 31-69 FPS depending on settings, while 3840x2160 only achieves playable frame rates at Low (46 FPS) and Medium (34 FPS) presets.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 18093 places it slightly below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, -0.4% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, -0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, -1.5% delta), while being marginally ahead of the Intel Arc A770M (18383, -1.6% delta).

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No, the CPU does not appear to limit performance in Red Dead Redemption 2. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a consistent halving pattern across all settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 suggest substantial headroom.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 69 FPS average, while the Ultra preset delivers 31 FPS average — a 38 FPS difference representing a 55.1% performance reduction for the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the system support modern graphics APIs for this game?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, providing compatibility with Red Dead Redemption 2’s rendering requirements and allowing for current-generation graphics features.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark performance compare to its direct rivals?

A: The i7-12700KF’s average benchmark score of 35365 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.1% delta) and Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, -0.2% delta), while being 0.2% ahead of both the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305) and Intel Core i7-12700K (35287).

Settings Recommendations

For the optimal balance of visual quality and performance, the data indicates that the High preset at 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience with 58 FPS average. This falls within the range typically considered smooth for action-adventure titles, and the frame rate is sufficiently above the 30 FPS threshold to maintain responsiveness. Players prioritizing higher frame rates should consider the Medium preset at 1080p, which achieves 69 FPS average with a measured range of 59-80 FPS, offering a substantial improvement over High while maintaining decent visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 52 FPS average, which is playable but requires some compromise on visual settings. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 69 FPS, making it a viable option for players who prioritize smoothness over graphical detail. The High preset at 1440p drops to 43 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration but could feel less responsive during action sequences. For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 46 FPS is the only setting that approaches playability, while Medium drops to 34 FPS and High falls to 29 FPS, both below the ideal smoothness threshold.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it delivers 42 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K — all below the 60 FPS target that many players prefer. The performance cost of Ultra over High is substantial, with a 27.6% reduction at 1080p (58 to 42 FPS), 27.9% at 1440p (43 to 31 FPS), and 27.6% at 4K (29 to 21 FPS), without a commensurate visual benefit in most scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for this configuration in Red Dead Redemption 2 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 93 FPS average, the Medium preset delivers 69 FPS average with a range of 59-80 FPS, the High preset provides 58 FPS average, and the Ultra preset reaches 42 FPS average. This represents a performance spread of 51 FPS between the lowest and highest quality settings at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 69 FPS average, the Medium preset achieves 52 FPS average with a range of 44-60 FPS, the High preset delivers 43 FPS average, and the Ultra preset provides 31 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 38 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 46 FPS average, the Medium preset delivers 34 FPS average with a range of 29-39 FPS, the High preset provides 29 FPS average, and the Ultra preset reaches 21 FPS average. The 4K resolution shows the largest relative performance drop, with Ultra delivering only 45.7% of the Low preset’s frame rate.

The data shows a consistent pattern where each settings tier costs approximately 15-20% of performance relative to the previous tier, regardless of resolution. The Medium preset’s measured minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions indicate frame time variability, with 1080p showing a 21 FPS range, 1440p a 16 FPS range, and 4K a 10 FPS range — suggesting that higher resolutions produce more consistent frame pacing despite lower average frame rates.