Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a combination that produces severely limited frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2. The data indicates that this is an integrated-graphics pairing, with the GPU sharing system memory and drawing only 25 W. Benchmark results place this combo at rank 2670 out of 2902 tested configurations, putting it in the bottom 8% of all tested combos. The measured FPS figures confirm that this setup is not suitable for smooth gameplay at any resolution or preset, with the highest average frame rate achieved being 47 FPS at 1080p Low settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo can achieve in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 47 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that breaks past 40 FPS, and it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2670th out of 2902 total tested combos, placing it in the bottom percentile of all configurations. This indicates performance that is far below what most systems deliver for this title.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B370 a discrete graphics card?

A: No. The data lists it as an "IGP" (Integrated Graphics Processor) with a bus interface of IGP and a slot width of IGP. It has a TDP of 25 W and uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR5 system memory rather than dedicated VRAM.

Q: What is the CPU's performance class relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945, a delta of 0%. This places the Ultra 5 225 in a dead heat with that older AMD part in general compute benchmarks.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 10 on Ultra to 23 on Low. Even the lowest preset at 4K produces an unplayable experience.

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

A: At 1920x1080, moving from Low to Ultra drops the average frame rate from 47 FPS to 21 FPS. That is a 55% reduction in average FPS for the higher fidelity settings, resulting in a stuttery slideshow.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. It is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. The GPU's base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2400 MHz. It features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its FP32 performance is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS.

Critically, the GPU has no dedicated video memory. The memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This means the Arc B370 pulls from the same DDR5 memory pool as the CPU, which is a dual-channel configuration with a 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth. This shared memory arrangement is a major factor in the low performance, as the GPU must contend with the CPU for memory access, and the bandwidth available to the GPU is not optimized for graphics workloads.

The GPU's benchmark results are stark. Its only recorded benchmark score is 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (avg score 1186, delta -0.2%) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (avg score 1190, delta -0.5%). This places the Arc B370's raw graphics power at a level comparable to graphics cards from over a decade ago.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, this GPU limitation is evident across all measured resolutions. The data shows a direct correlation between resolution and frame rate. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 14 on High, 17 on Medium, and 23 on Low. Dropping to 2560x1440 yields 22 FPS on High and 35 on Low. At 1920x1080, the highest average is 47 FPS on Low. The pattern is clear: as the pixel count decreases, the frame rate increases, but never to a playable level.

The GPU's 25 W TDP is a telling statistic. A typical discrete graphics card consumes significantly more power and has a much larger thermal and power budget to work with. This integrated part is fundamentally limited in its ability to process the complex shaders and draw calls required by a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which was released in 2018 and is known for its demanding visuals.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a 20 MB shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a peak bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

In terms of compute performance, the Ultra 5 225 is a solid mid-range processor. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 25891, and its single-core score is 3655. It achieves a Passmark multi-thread score of 30459 and a single-thread score of 4412. The CPU is rated in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938.

The nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks are remarkably close. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has an average score of 36945, a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018, a delta of -0.2%. The Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112, a delta of -0.5%. This shows that the Ultra 5 225 is statistically tied with these other CPUs in general processing power, meaning its compute capabilities are not the primary issue in this gaming test.

Despite the CPU's adequate compute performance, the system's gaming results are poor. The bottleneck is not the CPU's ability to calculate game logic or physics, but rather the GPU's inability to render frames quickly enough. The CPU is likely waiting on the GPU for most of the frame time. The Passmark physics score of 2342 suggests decent game physics processing capability, but this does not translate to high FPS when the graphics pipeline is the limiting factor.

The CPU's architecture is Arrow Lake-S, which is a modern design. However, its role in this specific game is hampered by the integrated GPU. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is shared with the GPU, and the GPU's performance is heavily dependent on this shared resource, which is a major disadvantage.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in Red Dead Redemption 2 is 2670 out of 2902 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested, firmly in the low-performance tier. This ranking is a direct result of the GPU's limitations, as the CPU alone is a capable part.

To put this in perspective, if the CPU were paired with a dedicated graphics card, the ranking would be drastically different. The CPU's own performance percentile of 85 suggests it can hold its own in a balanced system. However, the integrated Arc B370 GPU drags the entire combo down to near the bottom of the chart.

The GPU's own percentile of 5 is the dominant factor. The delta between the Arc B370 and its nearest rivals is minimal, with the AMD FirePro M2000 being 1.4% faster. This indicates that the GPU is performing as expected for its class, but that class is very low. The combination of a 85th-percentile CPU with a 5th-percentile GPU results in a system that is severely unbalanced for gaming.

The rank of 2670 means there are 232 combos that perform worse. These are likely systems with even older or less capable integrated graphics or severely mismatched hardware. However, the sheer number of combos that perform better—2670 of them—highlights how far behind this setup is for a game like Red Dead Redemption 2. The data shows that this pairing is not a viable gaming platform for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data consistently shows that higher resolutions and quality settings lead to lower frame rates, but no configuration achieves a playable 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows:

• Ultra: 10 FPS average
• High: 14 FPS average
• Medium: 17 FPS average (min 15, max 20)
• Low: 23 FPS average

These are all unplayable frame rates. Even the Low preset at 4K produces a slideshow. The Medium preset shows a narrow band of 15 to 20 FPS, indicating the GPU is struggling to maintain a consistent frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance improves but remains inadequate:

• Ultra: 16 FPS average
• High: 22 FPS average
• Medium: 26 FPS average (min 22, max 30)
• Low: 35 FPS average

At 1440p, the Low preset reaches 35 FPS, which is playable in a turn-based strategy game but is still a poor experience for an action-adventure title like this. The Medium preset's range of 22 to 30 FPS shows significant frame pacing issues.

At 1920x1080, the best results are achieved, but they still fall short of smoothness:

• Ultra: 21 FPS average
• High: 29 FPS average
• Medium: 35 FPS average (min 30, max 40)
• Low: 47 FPS average

The 1080p Low preset is the only configuration that exceeds 40 FPS. The jump from Low to High at 1080p is a 38% drop in performance (47 to 29 FPS), which is a steep price for the visual quality increase. The Medium preset, with a range of 30 to 40 FPS, is the most consistent but still below the 60 FPS target.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the only viable settings for attempting to play Red Dead Redemption 2 with this hardware are at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This yields an average of 47 FPS, which is the highest achievable. While not a locked 60 FPS, it is the only configuration that approaches playability.

The Low preset at 1080p is the clear recommendation. The data shows a significant performance cliff when moving to Medium, which drops the average to 35 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 30 FPS is the threshold for "playable" on many PC games, but the average of 35 FPS is still a compromise.

At 2560x1440, even the Low preset only manages 35 FPS average. This is not recommended as the frame rate is too low for the action-oriented gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2. The 3840x2160 resolution is entirely unsuitable for this game with this hardware, as even Low settings produce only 23 FPS.

The system is heavily GPU-bound, so reducing graphical settings is the only way to improve performance. The CPU is not the limiting factor, as indicated by its high benchmark scores. The user should set the resolution to 1920x1080 and select the Low preset. If they require a higher frame rate, they may need to consider lowering the resolution further, but the data does not include measurements below 1080p. The Medium preset is not recommended due to the 30 FPS minimum, which will cause noticeable stutters during intense scenes. The best experience is locked to 1080p Low, and even then, users should expect frame rates in the 40s, which is a far cry from the smooth 60 FPS experience that more powerful hardware can provide.