Red Dead Redemption 2

# Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Red Dead Redemption 2 on this Intel Core i7-14700F + Intel Arc B390 combination reveals a clear hierarchy across the four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 51 FPS average, which is the only setting tier that crosses the 50 FPS threshold in this entire dataset. The Medium preset produces 39 FPS, High drops to 32 FPS, and Ultra falls to 23 FPS. Given that the data includes no minimum FPS readings for Low, High, or Ultra at 1080p, the only preset with a documented frame time floor is Medium, which shows a 33 FPS minimum against a 44 FPS maximum.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that achieves a playable average frame rate above 50 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 12 FPS (from 51 to 39), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 7 FPS (from 39 to 32). The Ultra preset at this resolution delivers 23 FPS, which is less than half of what Low provides. At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 38 FPS average, which is still below the 40 FPS mark that many users would consider a minimum for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 25 FPS.

The data indicates that no preset at any resolution produces a 60 FPS average. The highest measured average across the entire matrix is 51 FPS at 1080p Low. Therefore, the recommendation is straightforward: for the least compromised experience, select the Low preset at 1920x1080. This gives a 51 FPS average, which is 34% higher than the next best configuration (1440p Low at 38 FPS) and more than double the 23 FPS from 1080p Ultra. Users who prioritize visual fidelity over smoothness might consider Medium at 1080p, which offers a 39 FPS average with a documented minimum of 33 FPS, but the data clearly shows that preset quality has a severe impact on performance with this GPU.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is a mobile-oriented integrated graphics solution built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a 3 nm process node. Its GPU benchmark profile places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. The nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% lower), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% lower), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% lower), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% lower). This positioning explains the measured frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2 — the B390 is competing with decade-old entry-level discrete GPUs rather than modern gaming hardware.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 1536 shading units. The 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs produce a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. However, the critical constraint is memory: the B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent," which means the GPU is entirely reliant on the host system's DDR4 or DDR5 memory bandwidth. In a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which is known for heavy texture streaming and large open-world assets, this shared memory arrangement is a severe bottleneck.

The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the B390 manages 51 FPS, but raising the preset to Medium drops the average to 39 FPS, and Ultra falls to 23 FPS. The frame time variance at Medium (33 FPS minimum, 44 FPS maximum) suggests that memory bandwidth constraints cause inconsistent frame pacing. At 1440p, the Low preset produces 38 FPS, and at 4K, even Low drops to 25 FPS. These numbers align with the GPU's 9th percentile ranking — the B390 is not designed for high-resolution or high-quality gaming, and the data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution and settings increase.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread desktop processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel's 10 nm process node. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU's benchmark results are strong: it scores 35122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 4958 in single-core, 19620 in Geekbench multi-core, and 2429 in single-core. Its percentile ranking is 91st among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 53620 places it near the Intel Xeon 6505P (53701, 0.2% higher), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469, 0.3% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (53288, 0.6% lower), and AMD EPYC 7313P (53206, 0.8% lower).

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is largely to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. Given that the i7-14700F has 20 cores and a 5.4 GHz boost clock, it is more than capable of handling the game's CPU demands. The data supports this: the FPS differences between resolutions at the same settings are consistent with GPU-bound behavior. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 51 at 1080p to 38 at 1440p (a 25% drop) and then to 25 at 4K (a 51% drop from 1080p). If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions because the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by the 4958 Cinebench R23 single-core score and 2429 Geekbench single-core score, is more than sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2's main thread. The game was released in 2018 and does not utilize the full 28 threads of this processor. The data suggests that the i7-14700F is not the bottleneck in this combination; instead, the Arc B390's limited GPU throughput and shared memory architecture are the primary constraints. This is further evidenced by the fact that the CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are server-class Xeon and EPYC processors, which would have no issue feeding this GPU in a game from 2018.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combination achieves in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 51 at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. No other configuration in the measured data reaches 50 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443). It sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At Low settings, FPS drops from 51 at 1080p to 38 at 1440p and 25 at 4K, showing clear resolution scaling. The i7-14700F ranks in the 91st percentile of CPUs, while the B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of GPUs.

Q: What is the frame time range at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the measured minimum and maximum FPS are documented: 33-44 FPS at 1080p, 24-33 FPS at 1440p, and 16-22 FPS at 4K. No min/max values are provided for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: How does the i7-14700F compare to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, while the Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53288, making the Intel processor 0.6% higher. The i7-14700F is also 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon 6505P and 0.3% higher than the Intel Xeon Phi 7290.

Q: What memory configuration does the Arc B390 use?

A: The B390 uses System Shared memory for size, type, and bus width, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." This means it relies on the host CPU's memory subsystem rather than dedicated VRAM.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveals the scaling behavior of this combination. At Low settings, the progression is 51 FPS at 1920x1080, 38 FPS at 2560x1440, and 25 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 25.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 51.0% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 39, 29, and 19 FPS respectively — a 25.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 51.3% drop to 4K. At High settings, the values are 32, 24, and 16 FPS, showing a 25.0% drop to 1440p and a 50.0% drop to 4K. At Ultra, the numbers are 23, 17, and 11 FPS, with a 26.1% drop to 1440p and a 52.2% drop to 4K.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets is significant. Going from 1080p to 1440p increases pixel count by roughly 78%, yet FPS drops by only about 25%. Going from 1080p to 4K increases pixel count by 300%, yet FPS drops by about 50%. This pattern suggests a component that is not purely pixel-bound. If the GPU were fully saturated at every resolution, the FPS drop would be roughly proportional to the pixel count increase. Instead, the FPS drop is much gentler than the pixel count increase, indicating that at lower resolutions, the system is not fully utilizing the GPU's limited capabilities — likely due to the shared memory bandwidth bottleneck. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes more saturated, but even at 4K, the frame rates are so low (11-25 FPS depending on preset) that the experience is marginal.

The data also shows that the relative ordering of presets remains consistent at every resolution: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 28 FPS at 1080p (51 vs 23), 21 FPS at 1440p (38 vs 17), and 14 FPS at 4K (25 vs 11). The diminishing absolute gap at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU's throughput limits are being approached regardless of settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 51, Medium 39, High 32, and Ultra 23. The Medium preset at this resolution has documented min/max values of 33/44 FPS, showing a frame time spread of 11 FPS. No min/max data is available for Low, High, or Ultra at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 38, Medium 29, High 24, and Ultra 17. The Medium preset shows min/max of 24/33 FPS, a spread of 9 FPS. This is a tighter frame time distribution than at 1080p, which suggests that at 1440p, the GPU is more consistently loaded and frame pacing is slightly more stable despite the lower average.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 25, Medium 19, High 16, and Ultra 11. The Medium preset shows min/max of 16/22 FPS, a spread of 6 FPS. The frame time variance narrows further at 4K, but all values are in the 11-25 FPS range, which is below playable thresholds for most users.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, which allows for an analysis of frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the average is 39 FPS, with the minimum at 33 (15% below average) and maximum at 44 (13% above average). At 1440p Medium, the average is 29, with minimum 24 (17% below) and maximum 33 (14% above). At 4K Medium, the average is 19, with minimum 16 (16% below) and maximum 22 (16% above). These consistent percentage deviations suggest that frame pacing variance is a fixed characteristic of this GPU in this game, independent of resolution.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent step: Low to Medium costs 12 FPS at 1080p, 9 FPS at 1440p, and 6 FPS at 4K. Medium to High costs 7 FPS at 1080p, 5 FPS at 1440p, and 3 FPS at 4K. High to Ultra costs 9 FPS at 1080p, 7 FPS at 1440p, and 5 FPS at 4K. The step sizes shrink as resolution increases, which is consistent with the GPU becoming the absolute bottleneck at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2568 out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the bottom 11.5% of all tested system configurations, which is consistent with the GPU's 9th percentile ranking. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking means the processor is well above average, but the GPU drags the overall combo down significantly.

The rank of 2568 out of 2902 means that 89.4% of tested combos achieve better performance in this game. The data shows that this is a severely GPU-limited configuration — the i7-14700F has the processing headroom to drive much higher frame rates, but the Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and shared memory architecture cap the system's performance. The nearest GPU rivals (GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, GT 710) are all ancient entry-level parts, and the B390 only marginally outperforms them in synthetic benchmarks (1.3-2.7% deltas). In Red Dead Redemption 2, this translates to sub-60 FPS at all settings and resolutions, with the best case being 51 FPS at 1080p Low.

The ranking also contextualizes the CPU's role. The i7-14700F's nearest CPU rivals are the Xeon 6505P (0.2% higher score), Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% lower), Ryzen 9 7900X (0.6% lower), and EPYC 7313P (0.8% lower). All of these are high-end desktop or server processors that would typically be paired with discrete GPUs capable of 60+ FPS in this game. The fact that this combo ranks at 2568 despite the strong CPU confirms that the Arc B390 is the limiting component. If the B390 were replaced with even a mid-range discrete GPU, the ranking would likely improve dramatically given the CPU's headroom.