Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a formidable performance profile in Red Dead Redemption 2, with benchmark data indicating a strong balance between CPU and GPU capabilities across various resolution and settings combinations. The measured frame rates reveal how this combination scales under load, offering clear insights into which component acts as the primary bottleneck at different graphical presets.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable yet steep performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 136.7 FPS at 1080p to 99.1 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 65.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 27.5% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 33.9% decrease from 1440p to 4K, demonstrating that the RTX 4090's immense pixel-pushing power begins to feel the strain of 4K rendering.

The pattern becomes more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the frame rate drops from 99.7 FPS at 1080p to 73.5 FPS at 1440p, and then to 45.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling: it is the only tested configuration that falls below 60 FPS, indicating that even the flagship RTX 4090 cannot maintain high refresh rates at maximum quality in this title. The scaling factor from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is roughly 2.2x the pixel count, yet the frame rate drops by 54.6%, suggesting that the GPU is the limiting factor at this extreme end of the spectrum.

At Low settings, the RTX 4090 shows its raw capability, with 217 FPS at 1080p, 159.9 FPS at 1440p, and 105.6 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Low result stands out as the only configuration exceeding 200 FPS, and the relatively modest drop to 4K Low (a 51.3% reduction) suggests that CPU overhead becomes more relevant at lower graphical loads. The gap between Low and High settings at 1080p is 80.3 FPS, while at 4K it narrows to 40.1 FPS, reinforcing that resolution scaling compresses the performance envelope.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings a 12-core, 20-thread configuration based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This hybrid design, featuring performance and efficiency cores, provides substantial multi-threaded headroom that proves valuable in Red Dead Redemption 2's open-world simulation. Benchmark scores reflect this capability: Cinebench R23 multicore results reach 28979, while single-core performance hits 4091, and Geekbench multicore scores 13596.

The CPU's role becomes apparent when examining frame rate behavior at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 217 FPS result suggests that the i7-12700KF's 20 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 without creating a significant bottleneck, though the 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 indicate that the processor's parallel capabilities are well-utilized. The Passmark multithread score of 34092 and integer math score of 113521 further corroborate strong multi-core performance for handling game logic and physics.

However, the CPU's influence wanes as resolution increases. The 65.5 FPS at 4K High versus 99.1 FPS at 1440p High shows a 33.9% drop, which aligns with GPU-bound rendering rather than CPU limitation. The i7-12700KF's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support provide adequate bandwidth for this game's asset streaming, but the data suggests that the CPU is not the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The processor's percentile ranking of 89 among all CPUs indicates it sits in the upper tier of desktop processors, yet its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i5-14400, Core i7-13800H, Core i9-12900HX, and Core i5-13600T—show deltaPct values within 0.3%, demonstrating that the 12700KF's performance is tightly clustered with these alternatives.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant force in this pairing, with its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 16384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units provide massive compute throughput, reflected in its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz ensure high sustained performance, while the 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores support advanced rendering features.

The RTX 4090's percentile ranking of 91 among all GPUs places it at the top tier, though its nearest rivals—the NVIDIA Tesla T4, Tesla P40, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, and Quadro P6000—show deltaPct values between -1.3% and 0.5%, indicating that the 4090's average benchmark score of 66473 is closely matched by workstation-class cards in synthetic tests. Yet in Red Dead Redemption 2, the 4090's gaming-oriented design becomes evident in the measured frame rates.

The GPU's VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K Ultra, where the demanding textures and draw distances benefit from the 24 GB allocation. The frame rate progression from 45.3 FPS at 4K Ultra to 80.8 FPS at 4K Medium shows a 78.4% improvement, highlighting how the GPU scales with reduced graphical load. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 270615 indicate strong DirectX 12 and Vulkan performance, both APIs that Red Dead Redemption 2 can leverage. The Passmark G3D score of 38194 and GPU compute score of 26613 further demonstrate the card's compute and rasterization strengths.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 217 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, representing the only configuration exceeding 200 FPS in the test data.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K High settings, the combo achieves 65.5 FPS, and at 4K Medium it reaches 80.8 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 45.3 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the i7-12700KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals in average benchmark scores?

A: The i7-12700KF scores 35355 on average, which is 0.1% above the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336), 0.2% above the Core i9-12900HX (35289), and 0.3% above the Core i5-13600T (35256), while being 0.2% below the Core i7-13800H (35416).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 136.7 at 1080p to 65.5 at 4K, a decrease of 71.2 FPS or 52.1%, indicating significant GPU scaling pressure.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM show any limitations in this game?

A: No data suggests VRAM limitations; the 24 GB capacity appears sufficient across all tested resolutions and settings, as frame rates scale consistently with graphical preset changes.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's Passmark G3D score compare to its GPU compute score?

A: The Passmark G3D score is 38194, while the GPU compute score is 26613, indicating stronger rasterization performance relative to compute workloads in synthetic benchmarks.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 34 out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places the combination in the top 2% of all tested systems, reflecting the strength of pairing a high-end 12th-gen Core processor with the flagship Ada Lovelace GPU.

The rank of 34 is notable given the i7-12700KF's position in the CPU hierarchy. While the processor sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, it is not the absolute fastest available, yet the combination still outperforms 1653 other combos. This suggests that the RTX 4090's dominance in GPU-bound scenarios compensates for any CPU shortfall, particularly at higher resolutions where the frame rate data shows the GPU as the primary driver. The measured FPS at 4K High (65.5) and 1440p High (99.1) demonstrate that the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are well-matched to this game's requirements.

The rank also reflects the balance between the two components. The i7-12700KF's 20 threads and 5.00 GHz boost clock prevent CPU bottlenecks at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 217 FPS at 1080p Low, while the RTX 4090's raw compute handles the demanding 4K Ultra preset at 45.3 FPS. The combination's position at 34rd in a field of 1687 underscores its capability as a top-tier gaming platform for Red Dead Redemption 2, with only 33 other combinations delivering higher frame rates across the tested settings.