Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a playable but demanding experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, ranking in the 20th percentile of all tested combos. The data shows this pairing is positioned for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K Ultra proving too heavy for the Arc B570's 10 GB frame buffer and 160-bit memory bus. The CPU is a top-tier performer, but the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck as resolution and settings scale upward.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 2335 out of 2902 tested configurations in Red Dead Redemption 2. That places it in the lower 20% of all CPU-GPU pairings, which is a crucial context for interpreting the measured frames. The ranking reflects the Arc B570's position as a mid-range GPU, not the i9-14900K's capability. The CPU itself sits in the 95th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 79097, making it one of the most powerful consumer chips available.

The gap between the CPU's elite status and the combo's mid-pack ranking highlights a severe imbalance. Benchmark results indicate the i9-14900K is barely stressed by this game's engine, while the Arc B570 carries nearly all the rendering load. When looking at the GPU's rivals, the Arc B570 scores 20556 on average, sitting within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, +0.1% delta) and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, -0.1% delta). This means the B570 delivers roughly equivalent raw compute to those cards, but in Red Dead Redemption 2 specifically, the combo's rank suggests optimization or memory bandwidth limitations cap the final result.

The i9-14900K's nearest rivals show how close the top CPU tier is: the 14900KF scores 79371 (-0.3% delta), the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574 (-0.6% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041 (-1.2% delta). The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 trails at 77740 (+1.7% delta). These tiny percentage differences mean the CPU choice among top-tier parts will not change Red Dead Redemption 2's frame rates. The combo rank is therefore almost entirely a GPU story, with the Arc B570's 65th percentile standing as the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using a 5 nm TSMC process. It packs 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, with 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The GPU runs at a fixed 2500 MHz for both base and boost clocks, which is unusual and simplifies thermal management. Memory consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 2375 MHz memory clock translates to 19 Gbps effective, which is the key specification for Red Dead Redemption 2's large open-world textures.

In this game, the GPU's memory subsystem proves decisive. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages just 18 FPS, and at 4K High it only reaches 24 FPS. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is insufficient for 4K Ultra textures, causing the card to spill into system memory over the PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. The 160-bit bus width at 380.0 GB/s cannot feed the renderer fast enough at high resolutions. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s sound adequate on paper, but the measured results show the card struggles past 1440p.

The Arc B570's FP32 throughput is 11.52 TFLOPS, placing it in the mid-range segment. Its nearest rivals—the RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, and R9 M390X—all have similar average scores, but the B570's 5 nm process and 19,600 million transistor count give it architectural advantages in modern APIs. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, all of which Red Dead Redemption 2 can leverage. However, the game's engine appears to favor wider memory buses, as the B570's 160-bit bus underperforms compared to its compute potential. The 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU rating indicate this is a power-efficient card, but efficiency does not translate to 4K capability here.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not at playable settings. The measured data shows 4K Low averages 39 FPS, 4K Medium averages 29 FPS, 4K High averages 24 FPS, and 4K Ultra drops to 18 FPS. Only the Low preset approaches acceptable smoothness, while Medium and above fall below 30 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The B570 scores 20556 on average, which is nearly identical to the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, +0.1% delta) and Arc A750 (20582, -0.1% delta). It edges out the Quadro M4000M (20480, +0.4% delta) but trails the R9 M390X (20662, -0.5% delta). These are all within 0.5% of each other, meaning the B570 is competitively positioned in raw benchmarks.

Q: Is the i9-14900K bottlenecked by the Arc B570?

A: Yes, the data strongly suggests a GPU bottleneck. The i9-14900K ranks in the 95th percentile of all CPUs with a multithread score of 58674 in PassMark, yet the combo ranks 2335th out of 2902 in this game. The CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads are overkill for Red Dead Redemption 2, which is GPU-bound at most settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1080p is the sweet spot. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 79 FPS average; at 1080p Medium, it drops to 59 FPS; at 1080p High, it reaches 49 FPS. The 1440p Low preset also works at 59 FPS, but 1440p Medium falls to 44 FPS, making 1080p the most consistent choice.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance affect this game?

A: Red Dead Redemption 2 benefits from strong single-core performance. The i9-14900K scores 2262.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 4697 in PassMark single-thread, both elite figures. This ensures the CPU never limits frame pacing, even at low settings where the GPU has less work.

Q: Does the Arc B570 have enough VRAM for this game?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the 10 GB appears sufficient based on the measured FPS. At 4K Ultra, the 18 FPS average indicates the VRAM capacity and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed. The 4K Low result of 39 FPS suggests reducing texture quality mitigates the VRAM pressure.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings tiers. At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly low. The Low preset delivers 39 FPS average, which is the only 4K option above 30 FPS. Medium drops to 29 FPS average with a minimum of 25 FPS and maximum of 34 FPS, showing notable frame variability. High falls to 24 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 18 FPS. None of these 4K numbers indicate a smooth experience, with even the best case (Low) showing significant frame pacing issues.

Moving to 2560x1440, the picture improves meaningfully. Low settings hit 59 FPS average, which matches the 1080p Medium result and demonstrates the card's capability when texture and shadow loads are reduced. Medium settles at 44 FPS average with a range of 38 to 51 FPS, providing a playable but not locked experience. High produces 37 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS. The 1440p results suggest that Low and Medium are the only viable presets, with High being borderline and Ultra unusable.

At 1920x1080, the combo shows its best performance. Low settings produce 79 FPS average, which is the highest measured result across the entire test matrix. Medium averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS, indicating stable frame delivery. High reaches 49 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 36 FPS. The 1080p results clearly show a linear scaling pattern: each settings tier costs roughly 10-15 FPS, with Low being the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is steep. At High settings, the progression is 49 FPS (1080p) to 37 FPS (1440p) to 24 FPS (4K), representing a 24% drop per resolution step. At Ultra, the progression is 36 FPS to 27 FPS to 18 FPS, showing the GPU's memory bandwidth limitations become more pronounced at higher resolutions. The Medium preset's minimum FPS numbers (50 at 1080p, 38 at 1440p, 25 at 4K) highlight that frame drops are consistent and scale with resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process with a 257 mm² die size. It operates at a 3.20 GHz base clock and boosts to 6.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 36 MB shared L3. This is a desktop-class chip with a 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 79097 places it in the top tier.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The data shows the i9-14900K excels at this. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39399.5 and Geekbench multicore score of 21697 indicate massive headroom for any game engine. The PassMark multithread score of 58674 and integer math score of 210622 further confirm the CPU's capability. Even the most demanding open-world scenes in Red Dead Redemption 2 will not stress this processor beyond a fraction of its capacity.

The CPU's single-core performance is equally impressive for this game. A Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and PassMark single-thread score of 4697 ensure that the game's main thread and physics calculations run without delay. The boost clock of 6.00 GHz is particularly relevant, as Red Dead Redemption 2's engine benefits from high clock speeds rather than raw core counts. The 32 threads handle background tasks like asset streaming, but the game rarely uses more than 8-12 threads effectively.

The i9-14900K's nearest rivals show that no CPU upgrade would meaningfully change this combo's results. The 14900KF scores 79371 (-0.3% delta), the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574 (-0.6% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041 (-1.2% delta). The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 at 77740 (+1.7% delta) is slightly behind. These differences are negligible for gaming, meaning the CPU choice is effectively irrelevant once a top-tier processor is selected. The bottleneck is unequivocally the Arc B570.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset is the best balance, delivering 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS. This maintains smoothness while allowing for better visual fidelity than Low. The Low preset at 79 FPS is ideal for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, but Medium's 59 FPS is acceptable for most players. High at 49 FPS is playable but not ideal, and Ultra at 36 FPS shows visible stutter.

At 1440p, the Low preset at 59 FPS is the only option that provides a consistently smooth experience. Medium drops to 44 FPS average with a range of 38 to 51 FPS, which is borderline. High at 37 FPS and Ultra at 27 FPS are not recommended for extended play sessions. The data suggests that 1440p users should prioritize lowering texture quality and shadow settings to maintain frame rates above 50 FPS.

At 4K, no preset delivers a satisfactory experience. The Low preset's 39 FPS is the best case, but it still falls below the 60 FPS target that most gamers prefer. Medium at 29 FPS and High at 24 FPS are too choppy for action sequences, and Ultra at 18 FPS is effectively a slideshow. The 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply insufficient for 4K in Red Dead Redemption 2, regardless of settings.

The overall recommendation is to play at 1080p with Medium settings for the best combination of visual quality and performance. The 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum provides a stable baseline, and the maximum of 68 FPS shows the GPU has occasional headroom. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors, the 1080p Low preset at 79 FPS is the only measured configuration that approaches 80 FPS. The 1440p Low preset at 59 FPS is a viable alternative for those prioritizing resolution over settings, but it offers no FPS advantage over 1080p Medium and sacrifices visual fidelity.