Red Dead Redemption 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 reveals a clear pattern: this combo is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the system delivers 61 FPS, but dropping to Low settings at the same resolution pushes that to 98 FPS. The jump from High to Low at 1080p represents a 60% performance increase, which strongly indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck even at the lowest tested resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect smaller gains from lowering graphical settings.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates scale predictably downward. At High settings, the average drops from 61 FPS at 1080p to 46 FPS at 1440p, a 25% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 98 FPS to 73 FPS, a 26% reduction. This consistent scaling across settings suggests the RTX 5050's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are being saturated as pixel count increases. The 4K results tell an even more restrictive story: High settings yield only 30 FPS, Medium produces 36 FPS, and Low manages 48 FPS. The difference between 1440p High (46 FPS) and 4K High (30 FPS) is a 35% loss, which is substantial.

The data shows that at 4K, even the lowest settings cannot reach 60 FPS. This is not a CPU limitation—the i7-13700K with 16 cores and 24 threads has ample headroom. Rather, the RTX 5050's 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth simply cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K in this title. The Ultra preset at 4K produces just 22 FPS, which is borderline unplayable. At 1080p Ultra, the system hits 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players target. The pattern is consistent: every resolution shows a steep penalty for moving from Medium to Ultra, suggesting the Ultra preset's additional effects (likely volumetric lighting and shadow quality) disproportionately tax the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific CPU+GPU combination ranks 1760 out of 2902 tested combos for Red Dead Redemption 2. That places it in the 39th percentile overall, meaning roughly 61% of tested configurations deliver better performance in this game. This is a modest ranking that reflects the RTX 5050's position as an entry-level Blackwell GPU paired with a high-end 13th Gen Intel CPU.

The CPU itself is far more capable than the GPU. The i7-13700K scores an average benchmark of 46881 and sits in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971 average score, 0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, 0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, 0.5% lower), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, 0.5% lower). These deltas are minuscule—all within half a percent—indicating the i7-13700K is firmly in the top tier of CPUs for this game's engine.

The GPU, by contrast, scores 21035 on average and ranks in the 66th percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, 0.6% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, 1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713, 1.6% lower), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379, 1.6% higher). The RTX 5050's average score is essentially on par with these older or mobile-class parts, which explains why the combo rank in-game is only middling. The 1760th position out of 2902 combos suggests that while the CPU is overkill for this pairing, the GPU holds the combo back from higher rankings. In CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions, the i7-13700K's power is evident, but the RTX 5050 becomes the limiting factor as resolution rises.

FAQ

Q: Can this setup run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60 FPS on 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 98. At Medium settings, the average drops to 73 FPS, and at High it falls to 61 FPS. Ultra settings yield only 44 FPS, so a locked 60 FPS experience requires dropping below High.

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the only resolution where the system consistently exceeds 60 FPS. At 1440p, the highest average FPS is 73 on Low, but High settings drop to 46 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS; the best result is 48 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the i7-13700K compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900 scores 46971 (0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 scores 47022 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX scores 46654 (0.5% lower), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 scores 46653 (0.5% lower). All are within half a percent of each other.

Q: Is the RTX 5050 better or worse than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035, while the RX 5600 XT scores 20713. The RTX 5050 is 1.6% faster, which is a negligible difference in real-world gaming. Both cards are closely matched in raw compute.

Q: What is the maximum FPS recorded for this combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 98 at 1080p with Low settings. The maximum FPS values are only listed for Medium settings: 84 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K.

Q: Does the i7-13700K bottleneck the RTX 5050 in this game?

A: No. The data shows that lowering graphics settings at 1080p yields large FPS gains (from 61 to 98 FPS between High and Low), which indicates the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide more than enough processing power for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 98 FPS. Medium settings average 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. High settings average 61 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 44 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 54 FPS, which is the largest range across all resolutions tested. This wide gap confirms that the RTX 5050's performance scales significantly with graphical fidelity, and the CPU is not holding back frame rates at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages compress noticeably. Low settings yield 73 FPS. Medium settings average 55 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 63 FPS. High settings average 46 FPS. Ultra settings produce just 33 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 40 FPS, narrower than at 1080p but still substantial. Notably, the 1440p High result (46 FPS) is identical to the 1080p Ultra result (44 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is hitting a similar performance ceiling regardless of whether the resolution increases or settings are raised.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 48 FPS. Medium settings average 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS. High settings average 30 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 22 FPS. The 4K Low result is 35% higher than 4K High, but even the best case at 4K is below the 50 FPS threshold. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (31 FPS) indicates occasional stutters, which would be noticeable during intense scenes. The data here shows a clear wall: 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay with this GPU, regardless of settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark results are uniformly strong: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 30745 and singlecore scores 2116, Geekbench multicore scores 19429 and singlecore scores 2529, and 3DMark max threads scores 12412. These numbers place the CPU in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, confirming it is far more powerful than needed for Red Dead Redemption 2.

In this game, the CPU's role is minimal because the RTX 5050 is the bottleneck. Evidence comes from the FPS scaling: at 1080p, dropping from High to Low increases FPS from 61 to 98, a 60% improvement. If the CPU were limiting, such setting changes would have a smaller effect. The i7-13700K's 3DMark 16-thread score of 10717 and 8-thread score of 8193 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, which is relevant for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 that can use multiple cores for physics and AI. However, the GPU's 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is simply insufficient to push high frame rates at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals (AMD Ryzen 9 5900, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX, Intel Xeon w3-2535) all score within 0.5% of the i7-13700K, meaning any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical results in this game when paired with the RTX 5050. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking versus all CPUs is irrelevant in practice because the GPU holds the combo back. The only scenario where the CPU might matter is at 1080p Low settings, where the system hits 98 FPS—but even there, the GPU is likely still the primary constraint, as the RTX 5050's 82.30 GPixel/s pixel rate limits fill-rate-heavy scenes.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1920x1080, the data shows that Medium settings are the sweet spot. The average FPS at Medium is 73, with a minimum of 62 FPS, meaning the system never drops below the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at 1080p average 61 FPS, but since no minimum FPS is listed for High, there is a risk of dips below 60 in demanding scenes. Given the 73 FPS average and 62 FPS minimum at Medium, this preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance stability.

At 2560x1440, no preset achieves a consistent 60 FPS. Low settings average 73 FPS, but Medium drops to 55 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS. Players targeting 1440p should consider Low settings for playable performance, as the 73 FPS average is solid, though visual fidelity will be reduced. Medium at 1440p is borderline, with the minimum FPS dipping into the mid-40s, which may cause noticeable hitches during heavy action sequences.

At 3840x2160, even Low settings average only 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Medium averages 36 FPS with a 31 FPS minimum, making it barely playable. Given the data, 4K is not recommended for this combo unless the player accepts sub-30 FPS at Ultra settings or can tolerate Low settings at 48 FPS. The best experience at 4K would be Low settings, but the 48 FPS average still falls short of smoothness expectations.

Across all resolutions, Ultra settings are the worst choice. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 44 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, 33 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, 22 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra is steep, and the visual gains are marginal compared to High. The measured data indicates that Medium settings at 1080p is the optimal configuration for this combo, offering a 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS floor, which ensures a stable experience without sacrificing too much graphical detail. For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 98 FPS is the fastest option available.