Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a playable but heavily GPU-limited experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 2060 is the primary bottleneck at nearly every resolution and settings preset, with the powerful 14th-gen CPU left with significant headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K confirms that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component in this combination. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 87 FPS at 1920x1080 to 60.6 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 30.3% reduction), and then further to 39.7 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 54.4% reduction from the 1080p baseline). This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is saturated by pixel throughput demands.

The gap between resolutions widens dramatically at higher presets. At Ultra settings, the game delivers 40.9 FPS at 1080p, drops to 26.5 FPS at 1440p (35.2% lower), and bottoms out at 20.7 FPS at 4K (49.4% lower than 1080p). The relatively linear scaling from 1440p to 4K — where pixel count increases by 2.25x but frame rate only drops by about 22% — indicates that the GPU is already so constrained at 1440p Ultra that additional resolution has diminishing marginal impact on the bottleneck.

Conversely, the jump from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (87 to 60.6 FPS) shows a much steeper drop than the pixel count would suggest, implying that even at Low settings the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are stressed by the increased memory footprint at higher resolutions. The data indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS, and only at Low or Medium settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, provides 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. The memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), yielding a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost of 1680 MHz, delivering a FP32 throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS. These specifications place the card in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074, putting it 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.7% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the VRAM capacity appears to be a critical constraint. The measured frames show that moving from Medium to High at 1080p costs 13.1 FPS (from 64.9 to 51.8), while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 10.9 FPS (from 51.8 to 40.9). The 6 GB frame buffer is likely insufficient for Ultra textures at 1440p and above, explaining why 4K Ultra collapses to 20.7 FPS. The card's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but largely irrelevant here, as the game's rasterization load dominates.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1382nd out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. That places it in the bottom 18% of all pairings, which is consistent with the GPU being a mid-range part from 2019 paired with a high-end CPU from 2024. The CPU alone sits in the 94th percentile of all processors, while the GPU sits in the 58th percentile — a significant mismatch.

The ranking implies that most other tested combos deliver higher average frame rates across the measured presets. The i7-14700F's performance headroom is wasted in this pairing; the CPU's cinebench R23 multicore score of 35443 and single-core score of 5003 indicate it could drive a much faster GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The combo's low rank is not a reflection of either component's individual capability, but rather a consequence of the GPU's inability to keep up with the CPU's output potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 delivers 87 FPS on Low, 64.9 FPS on Medium, 51.8 FPS on High, and 40.9 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 46.1 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance drops to 60.6 FPS on Low, 49.6 FPS on Medium, 38.4 FPS on High, and 26.5 FPS on Ultra. The Low preset remains playable, but Ultra falls below 30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the card manages 39.7 FPS on Low, 31 FPS on Medium, 27.1 FPS on High, and 20.7 FPS on Ultra. Even the lowest settings struggle to maintain 40 FPS at 4K.

The data reveals that the difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is 22.1 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is 13.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 10.9 FPS. This diminishing returns pattern suggests that the GPU has limited headroom for quality improvements at any resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience at 1080p, the Medium preset at 64.9 FPS is the optimal choice — it clears 60 FPS while offering substantially better visuals than Low. High at 51.8 FPS is acceptable for players prioritizing image quality over frame rate, but Ultra at 40.9 FPS is not recommended given the steep performance cost.

At 1440p, Low at 60.6 FPS is the only preset that reaches 60 FPS. Medium at 49.6 FPS provides a more visually appealing experience and remains fluid enough for most players. High at 38.4 FPS and Ultra at 26.5 FPS are best avoided unless the user accepts significant frame rate compromises.

At 4K, no preset delivers a consistently playable experience. Low at 39.7 FPS is the only viable option, and even that will produce noticeable stutter in demanding scenes. Medium at 31 FPS and High at 27.1 FPS are marginal, while Ultra at 20.7 FPS is effectively unplayable for action sequences.

The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the "sweet spot" for this combo, offering the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. For 1440p, users should either accept Low settings or consider lowering resolution scale.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 35443 in cinebench R23 multicore and 5003 in single-core, with a passmark multithread score of 41765.

The CPU's performance percentile of 94% places it among the top processors available, and its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, which scores marginally higher (54450 vs 54097 average, a 0.6% difference). In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor — the measured frame rates are consistently constrained by the GPU's capabilities.

The fact that the combo ranks 1382nd out of 1687 while the CPU alone ranks in the 94th percentile underscores that the RTX 2060 is the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the 87 FPS result likely approaches the GPU's maximum output, not the CPU's. The i7-14700F could easily push 144+ FPS in this title with a more capable GPU, but the RTX 2060's 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth cap the system's performance. Players upgrading from this combo should prioritize the GPU first, as the CPU has ample headroom for several more generations.

FAQ

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system consistently exceeds 60 FPS, with 87 FPS on Low and 64.9 FPS on Medium. At 1440p, only Low settings reach 60 FPS (60.6 FPS), while 4K never exceeds 39.7 FPS even at Low.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, placing it 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.7% behind both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (16351 each). It also sits 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786).

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F the bottleneck in this setup?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile of all processors with an average benchmark score of 54097, while the GPU ranks in the 58th percentile. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions indicates the RTX 2060 is the limiting component.

Q: What settings should I use at 1440p for the best experience?

A: Low at 60.6 FPS is the only preset that hits 60 FPS. Medium at 49.6 FPS offers a better visual experience and is still smooth, while High (38.4 FPS) and Ultra (26.5 FPS) are significantly less fluid.

Q: How much performance is lost moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, 1080p delivers 87 FPS while 4K delivers 39.7 FPS, a 54.4% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 40.9 FPS to 20.7 FPS, a 49.4% reduction.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance relative to its multi-thread?

A: The i7-14700F scores 5003 in cinebench R23 single-core and 35443 in multicore, a ratio of roughly 1:7. It also scores 2711 in geekbench single-core and 16571 in multicore, showing strong scaling across its 20 cores.