Red Dead Redemption 2

Resolution Scaling

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a demanding title, and the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination shows exactly how the load shifts as resolution climbs. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers 95 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 71 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 47 FPS, which is a 51% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions — the RTX 4070's compute and memory bandwidth become the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the spread is from 152 FPS (Low) down to 68 FPS (Ultra), a 55% penalty for maxing out the visual fidelity. At 1440p, the spread is 113 FPS (Low) to 51 FPS (Ultra), a 55% penalty as well. At 4K, the Ultra setting yields just 34 FPS, while Low produces 75 FPS — a 55% drop. This consistent percentage across resolutions indicates that the settings themselves impose a similar relative cost, but the absolute headroom shrinks as the GPU works harder at higher pixel counts.

What this means in practice: at 4K, even Medium settings only reach 56 FPS, which is playable but not smooth on high-refresh displays. The 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS is essentially a slideshow for action sequences. The data strongly suggests this combo is best suited to 1440p gaming, where High settings deliver 71 FPS and even Ultra hits a respectable 51 FPS. At 1080p, the CPU still has enough headroom to push High settings past 95 FPS, but the GPU is already the primary constraint at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its L3 cache is 20 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 25,891 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,655 in single-core. These numbers place it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms roughly 85% of tested processors.

For Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role is significant but secondary to the GPU at most settings. The game's open-world simulation, NPC AI, and physics calculations do benefit from strong single-thread performance, which the 3,655 single-core score in Cinebench R23 reflects. However, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases — at 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely waiting on the GPU to render frames, while at 1080p Low, the CPU has more headroom to feed frames to the GPU.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has an identical average benchmark score of 36,945 (0% delta), while the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% slower, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 is 0.4% slower, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% slower. This places the Ultra 5 225 in a very competitive position for gaming workloads — it trades blows with these established chips. The 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2's multi-threaded tasks, but the absence of hyperthreading (10 threads equals 10 cores) means it won't have extra logical threads to spare for background tasks while gaming. The 65W TDP and 3nm process node from TSMC suggest efficient power delivery, though the data does not include in-game CPU utilization figures.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 95 FPS, which is smooth for most displays and indicates the combo handles 1080p High without issue.

Q: Can this setup run 4K at playable frame rates?

A: At 4K High, the average is 47 FPS, which is borderline playable. At 4K Medium, it improves to 56 FPS, but 4K Ultra drops to 34 FPS. For consistent 60+ FPS at 4K, you would need to use Low settings, which achieve 75 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 scores 37,648 on average, with the NVIDIA Tesla P4 being 0.1% slower, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 being 0.4% slower, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 being 1.3% slower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is in the 85th percentile, meaning it outperforms 85% of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has a nearly identical average score.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 113 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 51 FPS — a 55% reduction. Medium settings land at 85 FPS, and High at 71 FPS.

Q: Does the combo rank well among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 648th out of 2,902 tested combinations, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations. This is a solid mid-to-upper tier result for Red Dead Redemption 2.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 648th out of 2,902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the 78th percentile — better than roughly 78% of all other configurations tested for this game. Given the GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking, this combo performs slightly below what each component's individual percentile might suggest. This is likely due to the game's specific optimization patterns, where the RTX 4070's 12 GB of VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are sufficient but not exceptional for Red Dead Redemption 2's large textures and open-world streaming.

The rank of 648 out of 2,902 means there are 647 combinations that deliver higher FPS in this specific title. These would include configurations with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4080 or 4090, or possibly CPUs with better single-thread performance for CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions. However, the 648th rank is still a strong showing — it places this combo comfortably in the upper quartile, meaning it will handle the game well at most settings, with the caveat that 4K Ultra is not viable.

When interpreting this rank, consider that the database likely includes many combos with much more expensive components. The fact that this mid-range CPU paired with a last-generation GPU (the RTX 4070 is marked as end-of-life) achieves a top-22% rank speaks to the balance of this pairing. The CPU's 10 cores at 4.90 GHz boost provide enough throughput to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1440p, which is where this combo shines.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5nm process. It features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, along with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz and boosts to 2475 MHz. Memory consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's FP32 performance is 29.15 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the GPU's role is dominant at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that at 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor — even at Medium settings, the average is only 56 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS. The 12 GB VRAM is adequate for this game at 1440p and below, but at 4K with Ultra textures, the memory bandwidth and capacity may struggle, contributing to the low frame rates. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is respectable but not exceptional for 4K gaming, which requires rapid texture streaming across a massive open world.

The RTX 4070's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-to-high tier position. It scores 26,927 in Passmark G3D, 154,858 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 174,152 in Geekbench Vulkan. In the database, it ranks in the 81st percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% slower), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% slower), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (1.3% slower), while the RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster. These deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 4070 sits in a tightly contested performance band. For this game, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are the key specifications — they allow 1440p High to run at 71 FPS, but the 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS shows the card's limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 152 FPS average
• Medium: 114 FPS average (min 97, max 131)
• High: 95 FPS average
• Ultra: 68 FPS average

At 1080p, this combo has ample headroom. Even Ultra settings clear 60 FPS, and Low settings approach 152 FPS, which is suitable for high-refresh monitors. The jump from Medium to High costs 19 FPS, while High to Ultra costs another 27 FPS. This suggests that High is the sweet spot for visual quality per frame at 1080p.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 113 FPS average
• Medium: 85 FPS average (min 72, max 97)
• High: 71 FPS average
• Ultra: 51 FPS average

1440p is where this combo shows its best balance. Low settings deliver 113 FPS, which is smooth for competitive play, while High at 71 FPS is excellent for story-driven exploration. Ultra at 51 FPS is playable but not optimal for fast-paced sequences. The Medium setting's min of 72 FPS ensures consistent performance without dips below 60.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 75 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average (min 48, max 64)
• High: 47 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

At 4K, the GPU is clearly overworked. Low settings barely maintain 75 FPS, and High drops to 47 FPS. The Medium min of 48 FPS indicates occasional stutters, likely from VRAM pressure or memory bandwidth limits. Ultra at 34 FPS is not viable for serious play. If 4K is a must, Low settings are the only reasonable option, and even then, the 75 FPS average may dip in busy scenes.

The overall pattern across resolutions and settings confirms that this combo is best deployed at 1440p with High or Medium settings, where it delivers a strong balance of visual fidelity and frame rate. At 1080p, it excels with headroom for high refresh rates, while 4K requires significant compromises in settings to remain playable.