Red Dead Redemption 2

# Red Dead Redemption 2: Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER sits at rank 128 out of 1,687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the top 7.6% of all configurations. The pairing leverages a 16-core, 24-thread Raptor Lake CPU with a 30 MB shared L3 cache alongside an Ada Lovelace GPU featuring 10,240 shading units and 80 RT cores. Benchmark results indicate a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU's headroom becoming evident only at 1080p Low settings where frame rates approach 200 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 128 out of 1,687 tested combinations, this system outperforms roughly 92% of all configurations tested in Red Dead Redemption 2. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component bottlenecks the other at typical gaming resolutions. The CPU's average benchmark score of 47,282 places it in the 93rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU's average score of 53,610 lands in the 88th percentile among all graphics cards. This close percentile alignment suggests the two components are well-matched for this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700KF with an average score of 47,334 (a 0.1% delta), the AMD EPYC 4364P at 47,131 (0.3% faster), and the Intel Core i9-12900F at 47,081 (0.4% faster). The AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 leads this group slightly with 47,527, representing a 0.5% advantage. These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, indicating the i7-13700K sits at the top of its performance tier. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at 53,489 (0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 53,414 (0.4% faster), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S at 52,505 (2.1% faster). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9% with a score of 52,086, showing the RTX 4080 SUPER maintains a clear edge over its closest competition.

In game-specific performance, the combo achieves playable frame rates across all settings at 4K, with the Ultra preset dipping to 42 FPS average. The data shows a system that can handle 1440p High at 92.2 FPS and 1080p High at 121.4 FPS, making it a strong contender for high-refresh-rate monitors at lower resolutions while still delivering smooth 4K experiences on High settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear sweet spot for this configuration: the High preset at 1440p delivers 92.2 FPS average, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios while maintaining visual fidelity. At 1080p, the High preset achieves 121.4 FPS, comfortably exceeding 120 FPS for high-refresh displays. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 145.1 FPS, providing additional margin for competitive play, though the visual trade-off may not be worth the 23.7 FPS gain over High.

For 4K displays, the High preset at 61.2 FPS is the optimal choice, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 42 FPS, which is noticeably stutter-prone for action sequences in Red Dead Redemption 2. The Medium preset at 4K provides 70.4 FPS, offering a 9.2 FPS improvement over High, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is often more noticeable than the frame rate gain suggests.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset achieves 65.7 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 92.2 FPS provides a 26.5 FPS buffer over Ultra, making it the recommended choice for consistent performance. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 195.3 FPS, demonstrating that this combo has substantial headroom for esports-style play, though Red Dead Redemption 2's cinematic nature makes such high frame rates less critical than in competitive shooters.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that becomes progressively more GPU-limited as resolution increases. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 121.4 at 1080p to 92.2 at 1440p (a 24% decrease) and then to 61.2 at 4K (a 33.6% further decrease). This pattern indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, with the CPU's 3.40 GHz base and 5.40 GHz boost clocks providing ample processing power even at 1080p.

The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 195.3 FPS at 1080p dropping to 141.6 FPS at 1440p (a 27.5% reduction) and then to 92.4 FPS at 4K (a 34.7% reduction). This steep decline at 4K Low suggests the GPU's rendering pipeline becomes saturated despite the minimal graphical load. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth handles the data throughput, but the 2,295 MHz base and 2,550 MHz boost clocks ultimately determine the ceiling.

The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 145.1 FPS at 1080p, 107.8 FPS at 1440p, and 70.4 FPS at 4K. The scaling factor from 1080p to 4K is roughly 2.06x for High (121.4 to 61.2), 2.11x for Medium (145.1 to 70.4), and 2.11x for Low (195.3 to 92.4). This consistent ~2.1x scaling factor across presets indicates that resolution is the dominant factor in performance, with the CPU contributing minimally to frame rate variance at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The High preset at 4K achieves 61.2 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset drops to 42 FPS, while Medium reaches 70.4 FPS. For consistent 4K performance, the High preset is the recommended setting.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K scores 47,282 on average, placing it 0.1% behind the i7-13700KF (47,334) and 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 (47,527). It outperforms the AMD EPYC 4364P by 0.3% and the Intel Core i9-12900F by 0.4%.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p with High settings?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers 92.2 FPS average. This provides a smooth experience for most displays, with the Ultra preset at 65.7 FPS as an alternative for those prioritizing visual quality over frame rate headroom.

Q: Does the GPU's 16 GB VRAM provide sufficient memory for this game?

A: Yes. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for Red Dead Redemption 2 at all tested settings and resolutions, as evidenced by the measured frame rates.

Q: How does the GPU rank against its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 53,610 on average, outperforming the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 0.2%, the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M by 0.4%, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 2.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9% with a score of 52,086.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The Low preset achieves 195.3 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 84.8 FPS. This represents a 110.5 FPS difference, or a 2.3x performance gap, highlighting the significant impact of graphical settings on this configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER plays a decisive role in Red Dead Redemption 2's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's large open-world textures at 4K. The 2,295 MHz base clock and 2,550 MHz boost clock drive the 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs to deliver the measured frame rates across all settings.

The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this title, as Red Dead Redemption 2's rendering is primarily rasterization-based. The Ada Lovelace architecture's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance provides ample compute headroom, as evidenced by the GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all graphics cards. The 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die at 5 nm process node from TSMC contribute to the card's efficiency, though the 320 W TDP requires a 700 W suggested PSU.

The benchmark data shows the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where frame rates across presets range from 42 FPS at Ultra to 92.4 FPS at Low. At 1080p, the GPU still dominates performance, with the Low preset reaching 195.3 FPS, but the CPU's 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock ensure it never becomes a bottleneck. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 and PassMark G3D score of 34,245 reflect its strong rasterization performance, which translates directly to the measured frame rates in this game. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, trails by just 0.2% in average benchmark score, yet the RTX 4080 SUPER's additional VRAM and newer architecture provide better future-proofing for upcoming titles.