Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a dramatic spread of performance in Red Dead Redemption 2, with the data showing a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 204 FPS, but this drops to 127.1 FPS at High and 94.1 FPS at Ultra, a decline of roughly 54% from the lowest to the highest preset. Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern tightens: Low yields 155.8 FPS, High delivers 98.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 68.1 FPS. At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more severe, with Low producing 103.6 FPS, Medium 74.1 FPS, High 62.3 FPS, and Ultra dropping to 46.7 FPS. The delta between 1080p Low and 4K Ultra is stark—204 FPS versus 46.7 FPS—indicating that the RTX 5080 is the limiting component at higher resolutions, while the i7-12700KF has ample headroom to feed frames at lower settings. The 4K Ultra result of 46.7 FPS is only 23% of the 1080p Low figure, which suggests the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are saturated by the game's most demanding visual features, whereas at 1080p the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are sufficient to avoid becoming a constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader database of tested configurations, this pairing sits at rank 80 out of 1687 combos for Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 4.7% of all tested systems. This is a strong showing, but the percentile data reveals nuance: the CPU and GPU each hold an 89th percentile ranking among their respective categories, yet the combo's overall rank is slightly lower than either component's individual standing suggests. The i7-12700KF's average benchmark score of 35355 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14400, which scores 35336 with a delta of 0.1%, meaning the two CPUs are effectively interchangeable in synthetic workloads. The gap widens slightly against the Intel Core i9-12900HX, which trails by 0.2%, and the Intel Core i5-13600T, which is 0.3% behind. On the GPU side, the RTX 5080's average score of 59188 is 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M, but 1.9% behind the Intel Arc Pro A60, suggesting that in pure compute terms the 5080 is not dominant over all rivals. However, in this specific game, the measured FPS data indicates the combo outperforms what the raw component scores might predict, as the rank 80 placement reflects real-world gameplay rather than synthetic averages. The deltaPct values show that the CPU's closest competitor, the i5-14400, is within 0.1%, which means any FPS differences in this game are likely attributable to the GPU rather than the processor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the primary driver of frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2, and its specifications explain the scaling behavior observed. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the game's large textures and open-world streaming. The base clock of 2295 MHz boosts to 2617 MHz, and the memory runs at an effective 30 Gbps, providing the throughput needed to sustain high frame rates at lower resolutions. The 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs handle the game's rasterization workload, while 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores support advanced features, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance. The GPU's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is substantial, but the 4K Ultra result of 46.7 FPS suggests that memory bandwidth, not raw compute, is the limiting factor, as the 960.0 GB/s figure is high but not unlimited. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game, as no settings combination in the measured data shows signs of VRAM exhaustion, which would manifest as stuttering or severe FPS drops. The RTX 5080's 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59188, aligns with its performance class, and its nearest rivals in synthetic tests—the Intel Arc A570M at 1.6% behind and the Arc Pro A60 at 1.9% ahead—do not reflect the 5080's real-world advantage in this title, where it delivers playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates, with Low settings producing 204 FPS, Medium 154 FPS, High 127.1 FPS, and Ultra 94.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 50 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 33 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase. At 2560x1440, the results are 155.8 FPS on Low, 113.4 FPS on Medium, 98.3 FPS on High, and 68.1 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings: Low falls by 48.2 FPS, Medium by 40.6 FPS, High by 28.8 FPS, and Ultra by 26 FPS, which indicates the GPU is becoming more influential but the CPU still has headroom. At 3840x2160, the frame rates are 103.6 FPS on Low, 74.1 FPS on Medium, 62.3 FPS on High, and 46.7 FPS on Ultra. The transition from 1440p to 4K is more punishing, with Low dropping by 52.2 FPS, Medium by 39.3 FPS, High by 36 FPS, and Ultra by 21.4 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure of 46.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth, while 4K High at 62.3 FPS is playable, and 4K Medium at 74.1 FPS offers a comfortable margin. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the i7-12700KF is sufficient to keep the RTX 5080 well-fed, as the FPS scaling from Low to Ultra is relatively linear, but at 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the CPU's role diminishes, as evidenced by the tighter FPS spread between settings at that resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 204 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 155.8 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 103.6 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 46.7, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. For smoother gameplay, 4K High delivers 62.3 FPS, and 4K Medium achieves 74.1 FPS.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 1080p versus 4K?

A: At 1080p, the CPU has ample headroom, as the FPS scales from 94.1 FPS at Ultra to 204 FPS at Low, suggesting the GPU is the primary limiter. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the FPS range narrows to 46.7 FPS at Ultra and 103.6 FPS at Low.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its closest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59188, which is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M (58239) and 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A580 (57756), but 1.9% lower than the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326).

Q: What is the CPU's ranking relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, placing it 0.1% above the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336) and 0.2% above the Intel Core i9-12900HX (35289), but 0.3% below the Intel Core i5-13600T (35256).

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes, the measured data shows no signs of VRAM-related performance drops across any resolution or settings combination. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for Red Dead Redemption 2, even at 4K Ultra.