Red Dead Redemption 2

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER show a clear sweet spot at Medium settings. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 126 FPS average with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate stability. The jump from Medium to High costs 20 FPS at 1080p (126 down to 106), while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 30 FPS (106 down to 76). That Ultra preset is hard to justify at 1080p when Medium nearly doubles the frame rate of Ultra while still looking respectable.

At 2560x1440, Medium again proves to be the most practical choice. The measured 94 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS keeps gameplay smooth on high-refresh monitors, while High drops to 79 FPS and Ultra falls to 57 FPS. For 4K gaming at 3840x2160, Medium is the only preset that maintains playable numbers: 62 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum and 72 FPS maximum. Low at 4K hits 83 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial. High at 4K sits at 52 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra at 4K drops to 37 FPS, which is not suitable for smooth play. The data strongly indicates Medium as the recommended preset across all resolutions for this combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, using the AD104 chip with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Memory configuration consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The card operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The GPU has 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores.

The GPU's performance characteristics directly shape this game's results. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world textures at the tested settings, and the 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame pacing in dense scenes. The pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s indicate strong fill-rate capability, which matters for the game's detailed environments and weather effects. In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 29995 in Passmark G3D and 43223 in average benchmark score, placing it at the 83rd percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rivals by average score include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB at 43262 (-0.1% delta), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile at 43268 (-0.1% delta), NVIDIA Quadro M6000 at 43301 (-0.2% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile at 43667 (-1% delta).

The frame rate scaling across settings shows the GPU is the primary driver when moving from Low to Ultra. At 1080p, Low produces 169 FPS, Medium drops to 126 FPS, High to 106 FPS, and Ultra to 76 FPS — a 55% reduction from Low to Ultra. This pattern holds at 1440p (126 to 57 FPS) and 4K (83 to 37 FPS), indicating the GPU's compute and memory resources are heavily taxed by the higher presets. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 16-pin power connector are consistent with its mid-to-high-end positioning, and the 550 W suggested PSU provides adequate headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF features 12 cores and 20 threads based on Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process with a 215 mm² die size. It runs at a 3.60 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock, with a 125 W TDP. Cache configuration includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 25 MB shared L3. The processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel bus, and offers PCIe Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes on the Intel Socket 1700 platform. The CPU is unlocked for overclocking and was released with a launch MSRP of $384.

In CPU benchmarks, the i7-12700KF demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 and a single-core score of 4071. The Geekbench multicore score of 14367 and single-core score of 2255 further confirm balanced performance. Passmark results show a multithread score of 34092, single-thread score of 3984, and notable strengths in integer math (113521) and floating-point math (87449). The 3DMark scores scale predictably with thread count: 2065 for 2 threads, 4011 for 4 threads, 7211 for 8 threads, 9282 for 16 threads, and 9983 for max threads. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 85, with an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700T at 35403 (-0.1% delta), Intel Core i5-13600T at 35305 (0.2% delta), Intel Core 5 213PE at 35428 (-0.2% delta), and Intel Core i7-12700K at 35287 (0.2% delta).

The CPU's role in Red Dead Redemption 2 becomes apparent when examining frame rates at lower resolutions where GPU load decreases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 169 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads help maintain consistency. The 3DMark max threads score of 9983 suggests the processor can handle the game's simulation and AI workloads without bottlenecking at these frame rates. At 1440p Low, the 126 FPS result is 25% lower than 1080p Low, indicating the GPU is beginning to take on more responsibility. The CPU's 25 MB L3 cache and 5.00 GHz boost clock are well-suited for the game's draw-call-heavy scenes, and the 80 KB L1 per core provides fast access for frequently used data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 660th out of 3714 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 18% of all configurations. This ranking reflects a strong pairing where neither component severely limits the other in most scenarios. The CPU's 85th percentile standing and the GPU's 83rd percentile standing are closely matched, which explains why the combo performs competitively relative to other systems.

The rank of 660 out of 3714 means this setup outperforms approximately 82% of tested combinations in this game. This is a solid result for a mid-to-high-end desktop configuration. The data shows the i7-12700KF's nearest CPU rivals have nearly identical average scores — the i7-13700T (-0.1%), i5-13600T (0.2%), Core 5 213PE (-0.2%), and i7-12700K (0.2%) — so the processor is a known quantity with consistent performance. Similarly, the RTX 4070 SUPER's nearest GPU rivals are within 1% of its average score, meaning small differences in other components could shift the ranking slightly.

In practical terms, this rank suggests the combo is well-balanced for Red Dead Redemption 2's demanding open world. The game benefits from both strong single-thread performance for AI and physics, and robust multi-threading for streaming and rendering tasks. The i7-12700KF's 12 cores handle the former, while the RTX 4070 SUPER's 7168 shading units manage the latter. The result is a configuration that avoids the common pitfall of pairing a high-end GPU with a weak CPU, or vice versa.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals how the limiting component shifts as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows 169 FPS, 126 FPS, and 83 FPS respectively. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25%, and from 1440p to 4K is 34%. This steep decline indicates the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises, even at the lowest quality preset.

At Medium settings, the same pattern holds: 126 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 25% from 1080p to 1440p, and 34% from 1440p to 4K — nearly identical to the Low setting scaling. This consistency suggests that resolution, rather than quality preset, is the primary factor driving frame rate differences. At High settings, the results are 106 FPS, 79 FPS, and 52 FPS, with drops of 25% and 34% respectively. At Ultra settings, 76 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K show drops of 25% and 35%.

The uniform scaling pattern across all four presets indicates the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting component from 1440p upward. At 1080p, the CPU's influence is more apparent, as the 169 FPS Low result suggests the processor can feed frames quickly enough. However, the fact that Ultra at 1080p (76 FPS) is 55% lower than Low at 1080p (169 FPS) shows the GPU's compute load scales significantly with quality settings. The 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for all tested resolutions, but the GPU's raw throughput becomes the bottleneck at 4K, especially at Ultra where the 37 FPS result is below playable thresholds.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results across settings are: Low averages 169 FPS, Medium averages 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and maximum of 145 FPS, High averages 106 FPS, and Ultra averages 76 FPS. The Medium preset offers the best combination of frame rate and visual quality, with the 107 FPS minimum ensuring smooth playback even in demanding scenes. The 169 FPS Low result shows the CPU can push very high frame rates when GPU load is minimal, while the 76 FPS Ultra result indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at maximum quality.

At 2560x1440, results are: Low averages 126 FPS, Medium averages 94 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS and maximum of 108 FPS, High averages 79 FPS, and Ultra averages 57 FPS. The Medium preset's 80 FPS minimum is still above 60 FPS, making it suitable for most displays. The High preset at 79 FPS average is close to Medium but offers better visual fidelity at a modest FPS cost. Ultra at 57 FPS is borderline for smooth play, though it may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration.

At 3840x2160, results are: Low averages 83 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 72 FPS, High averages 52 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The Medium preset is the only option that maintains a 60 FPS average, though the 53 FPS minimum means some stutter is possible in heavy scenes. High at 52 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast action, and Ultra at 37 FPS is too low for comfortable gaming. Low at 83 FPS is smooth, but the visual downgrade is significant for an open-world game where atmosphere matters. For 4K owners, Medium is the recommended preset, with High as a viable alternative if frame rate dips are tolerable. The data shows no resolution where Ultra delivers an acceptable frame rate for this combo, confirming that the RTX 4070 SUPER is better suited to Medium or High settings at 1440p and below.